her obedient servant. | remarried empress x f!reader

Duke Ergy was not a pervert, and has never been. He swears by his life! He has never harbored perverted thoughts for women, only seeing people as nothing but stepping stones for his path of revenge. The rumors about him being a playboy? Yeah, he's never gone beyond sultry words and exchanging smooth wine. The women bragging about spending the night with him? Yeah, he paid them to say all that.

But you? You were no stepping stone. You were a mountain he could not conquer. He thought at first he knew how to have you trapped in the palm of his hand. He thought he knew your kind, that he's seen a people like you more than a thousand times. The emotional kind, often lead by anger and irrationality, much like the Western Empress' brother, Koshar. The kind who loved to parade being independent, but behind closed doors was either a mommy's girl with daddy issues or the exact opposite. 

That's what he thought until that day he found out about a secret of yours.

Ever since, he has viewed you differently. You were not governed by your emotions—heavens no, the truth was so much further from that. Each event, each scenario and each movement by everyone in this palace has been specifically orchestrated by you. Each and every person entering and leaving this place has always been under your watchful eyes.

No one knew it, because they were too busy being blinded by the personality you loved you parade around. The (y/n) they know is the (y/n) you want them to see. That smile? Those arrogant words? That confident stride? It's all a facade hiding a disgusting part of you that no one will ever see. 

A side Duke Ergy knows he will never either, and God does it ignite that flame in his heart. The idea of him having to spend an entire lifetime to unravel the layers of your soul bit by bit? Yeah, it's got something down there crying and it isn't because of sadness and it isn't crying tears either.

He grunts when his feels his little friend twitch against the cold hard floor the moment you nudge him with your foot, asking why he still refuses to stand up from that seemingly uncomfortable position. He's just flopped on the floor on his stomach with his face flat on the ground. 

"I need to fake an injury so I can threaten Rashta." He changes the suject, lifting his right arm and signaling for you to come over.

You do, rolling your eyes as you take the knife strapped to your thigh, holding the blade against the skin of his wrist. Very lightly, you make a scratch to draw bood. You hold the bracelet under the small wound, allowing the blood to drip onto the shining pearls. He doesn't make a sound, only waiting for you to finish your task.

"Threaten her how?" You sit on the floor next to him, crossing your legs. 

"I'm gonna threaten to leave."

"Then?" 

"Dunno." He shrugs, "If she begs me to stay and professes her undying love for me, I'll say I want a port with a signed paper saying the Empress promises it to me." 

"And if she doesn't?" You raise an eyebrow

"Dunno." He shrugs again, as if he was absolutely sure the Empress would do as he predicted. Wow, his confidence really was as high as his ego. 

You roll your eyes, "You're absolutely hopeless, Duke." 

"What? I've spent months upon months taming that spoiled brat and getting her to attach to me, I'm pretty confident in the hard work I've putting through." He hums nonchalanty, beginning to get comfortable on the floor.

You continue to stare at him, forgetting that Duke Ergy was still Duke Ergy, even if he was an idiot on the floor. He was still the same cunning man who manipulated the poor girl on the throne, and still the same guy who made plans with the Emperor of the Western Empire to overthrow the Eastern Empire.