Dual Cultivation God Returns-Chapter 989: Everything...

A middle-aged looking woman stood in a luxurious room, near one of the large windows with great scenery, looking at the horizon with an absentminded gaze.

She wasn’t very beautiful, most would have described her as ’pretty’ in her youth rather than a great beauty. Now, however, a few strands and thin patches of gray in her hair, as well as mild wrinkles on her face, gave her a kind of wizened grace and elegance.

However the expression in her eyes, and a trace left by tribulations of life gave her appearance a cold and even slightly callous impression.

A lady in waiting carefully came through the open archway serving as the room’s door, hesitating to disturb the woman’s quiet contemplation.

"What is it? Staring at my profile, it seems to me, is not the purpose you had in mind when entering", the woman’s cold voice sounded abrupt in the tranquil silence. She did not turn away from the window, nor moved her gaze from the horizon, but the expression on her face solidified, as if it became a mask, and the look in her eyes became focused.

The lady-in-waiting shuddered, "P-Pardon me Y-y-your Majesty... H-his Majesty is..."

"Stop bullying the poor girl, my Empress. She’s just trying to notify you that I arrived", a deep and powerful voice entered the room from beyond the archway entrance, and soon its owner - a middle-aged man with more white hair than dark but somehow still giving off an impression of youthfulness, at least to be considered on par in age with the Empress despite physically looking older than her - followed inside, turning to the lady-in-waiting with a benevolent tone and expression on his face, "It’s alright, you can go on and leave us"

"T-thank you, Your Majesty", the lady-in-waiting glanced at the Empress and seeing her slightly nod, quickly left the room.

"I see your habit of not bothering with etiquette is still alive and well...", the Empress only half-turned her face and turned her eyes to the man, "...as is your habit of commanding everyone including my personal attendants in my presence... Your Majesty"

"I am the Emperor, there is no place here and for many Worlds beyond this one that I cannot enter as I please, and every human within is mine to command as my subject or a guest of my domain", the Emperor shrugged. His tone was light and gentle from the moment he appeared, and gave a sense of serenity - as if he was high above the clouds and nothing could touch him.

"Are you here to brag about your authority again?", she raised her eyebrow.

The Emperor sighed with a wry smile, shaking his head, and approached another large window not far from the Empress, casting his gaze on the horizon she was looking at before he arrived.

He then turned his head to look at a veiled woman standing still in the corner of the room, whose presence was so thin it seemed the room was empty besides the Empress before this, "Must she always be around you? I’d like to be able to speak to my wife in private every now and then, you know" 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

"She is my most trusted confidante, and I have no secrets she doesn’t know, you know better than anyone that she never speaks of anything that happens in her presence", the Empress spoke in a tired voice, touching her forehead with the tips of her fingers.

His gaze lingered on this gesture, and then turned back to the veiled woman.

They spent some time in silence, during which, after some time, the Empress turned her gaze to him, and he returned the look, as they stared at each other for a full three minutes.

In the end, the Empress let out a heavy sigh, "Leave us"

The veiled woman silently moved, leaving the room like a gust of wind, and once more silence ruled the room for some time as both of them resumed to look at the same horizon from two different windows.

The approaching twin sunset caused the light in the room to dim and colored the rays cutting into it from the windows a rich reddish orange.

"I have received word that the delegation is about to arrive", the Emperor broke the silence.

"Are you happy now? Weren’t you worried that the watchdog and dagger you placed near my son isn’t responding?", her voice became tinged with emotion for the first time in their entire conversation, and yet sounded even colder and more detached than before.

"I told you, he is my son too, and the man I sent was there to protect him, as he did dutifully the entire time"

"Why was he ’my guard’ and not yours then?"

"You know why. You know damn well why. Why do you insist on pursuing this argument every time?", he said with some frustration, "I cannot show care for someone, that is a death sentence to them, not protection!"

"You were the one who promised me that this would not be our fate! You were the one who said you were not going to be the Emperor, that our lives would be free of all of this!", her gaze turned to him, sharp and biting.

The Emperor, who maintained a powerful and dignified presence, was forced into silence this time. But not for long.

His mouth opened seemingly before he could stop it, "I thought we got over that"

"Got over?", her pupils shrank in a threatening gaze as she turned fully to him, while he muttered a curse under his nose, and then she repeated in a slightly higher pitch, "Got over?!"

"I meant me becoming the Emperor, not the other part..."

"Other part? What other part? Say it. What part?"

"Empress..."

"Say what part, you coward!", her voice rose to a shout, as he sighed, turning away from her, as if ready to leave.

"You can’t be reasoned with", he shook his head.

"Say it, you bastard! Say what we ’got over’!", and not receiving a response, watching him walk away, tears broke her voice as she shouted, "Say that it was the part where my son died!"

"He was my son too!", he turned around, shaking from anger, but seeing her face, his expression faltered.

"But not your firstborn", she whispered, her eyes shining with deep grudge through tears.

He raised his eyes, to the ceiling, "Damn it woman, I told you over and over again - that didn’t matter"

"Then why was the murderer of my son set free? Why was he merely exiled and not put to justice?! Wasn’t it because he was your firstborn, the oh-so-important ’First Prince’? Wasn’t that explicitly the reason?! The Elders even talked about reinstating him!"

"And I rejected it! Over and over again!"

"It was your fault in the first place. You sought an excuse to diminish the power of noble families, so you saw an opportunity! You watched and did nothing as my son was dragged into the filth and grime of politics and intrigue, knowing how dangerous it was. No, you actively encouraged it!"

"Yes I did! I did what I had to do as an Emperor! And I paid grievously for it!", he shouted, "I thought I could protect him! Yes, I failed, but I mourned his loss just as much as you did! And yes, that day, I lost two sons, not one!"

"One is alive and well for all that I know", the Empress turned away from him this time.

"And, you, became the Empress!", he shouted, but immediately, regret showed in his eyes as she turned to look at him.

The anger, hate and disgust in her eyes made him recoil, and unable to find any words while her silence seemed to scream.

This brought another long silence, during which both took some time to calm down.

He then spoke in a quieter, gentler voice again, "Why are you digging up that past now? We fought, we grieved, we mourned, we struggled. But did we not agree to put it all behind us? Did we not see a new light together?"

"Because you broke your promise!", she turned her eyes to look into his again, "You’re doing it all over again! You said this time would be different! You said that Yuanjie would be safe, that he would be away from the politics of the Imperial Court, away from the fight for the throne. But look! As soon as it became convenient, you changed your mind"

"He stumbled into it on his own! And yes, I gained a big advantage from it. But it is not the same. He is not the main focus, that girl is. And, let’s stop the outrage, it was you who started meddling in the fight for succession first!", the Emperor narrowed his eyes.

"I certainly did not!", the Empress became almost out of breath from indignation, "You know damn well I care only that my son is safe"

"Your other son is in this too", he smirked.

"You sent out his real mother out of this room"

"Quiet!", a panicked look appeared in his eyes as he came a bit closer to her, "Are you out of your mind?"

"I am!", she shouted, and then spoke in a completely different tone as she stepped forward and grabbed the sides of the Emperor’s robe with trembling hands, "I am going insane with fear. I’m terrified! That boy knows nothing of the outside world. And you allowed him to go with a suspicious and very likely very dangerous man who came who-knows-from-where and with Heaven-knows-what intentions"

"He is no longer a boy, Empress. He is growing to be a man. In our quest to protect him, in our fear, perhaps we went too far. I realized that when I saw him make a decision of his own, perhaps for the first time, I felt how much it gave his life more meaning, more purpose to do things he decides, not what we prepare for him. I could not refuse that request. We are getting old, I... am getting older, and weaker, I don’t have more than a 100 years on the throne even if I refuse to step down after the battle of succession is over, and what then? Who will shield him then? We cannot protect him forever, his life will go on long after us. Just think how lost he would be without our protection if we don’t give him space to be his own man. As for that man you talk of... I may not know his goals, but I didn’t see any connections to any of our enemies despite deploying every possible means at my disposal. As far as I can tell he’s really just a stranger"

"Then why did he approach our son? Why did he confuse his mind? Why did he take him away to travel so far?"

"He was the change that Yuanjie needed", the Emperor shook his head, "It was he who brought about that spark in our son"

"Your Majesty... Zhung... protect our son. Please... I beg you... I cannot bear another loss, I cannot-...", she choked at the end, not able to continue.

The Emperor slightly shook at being called by his first name, for the first time in thousands of years after they became estranged, "I will"

This tender moment, however, did not last, as they were both very aware of time, parting not long after as both outwardly returned to their demeanor before they met.

However, doubt and suspicion still lingered in the minds of both, as the Emperor snorted with distrust while remembering the Empress denying meddling in succession battles, while she couldn’t forget that he admitted that their son was ’useful’ in his politics again.

"I cannot trust him"

"I cannot trust her"

They muttered at the same time as she looked at the last bits of sunlight going beyond the horizon, and he was walking the corridor with that same scenery visible through the windows in the background to his side.

"But he’s..."

"But she’s..."

They then added while she turned away from the window, while he stopped to look at the the window, ""...everything I have""