CHAPTER 80: CHAPTER EIGHTY: DAMIEN’S STORY XX: MY HEART BLEEDS FOR YOU BUT I’LL ENJOY IT.

Word had spread quickly about the death of the queen a week after her sacrificial suicide.

Before that, no one was aware of her death. All they had noticed was the king had shut himself up in their chambers and had forbidden anyone from entering.

When her death was finally announced, the entire kingdom was plunged into days of mourning for their lovely queen. No one knew what had happened and none even made a move to know. They had already guessed how heartbroken and dead their king must be feeling now that his wife was gone. Even the council members couldn’t get any answer from the king. All they were told was that there would be an official statement regarding it.

As expected, they were furious to be treated as commoners on such a grave issue but what could they do?

He was the king and so had supreme power.

Because there was no body to present, the king, in close contact with his men, presented a body with similarities to the late queen. Alexandria hated the idea with a burning passion but knew there was no other choice. On the day of the burial, the council members and chiefs couldn’t tell it was a fake body because of how similar it looked to Mira’s. The face of the body was hidden from the public as it was laid open in the royal cemetery where several townsfolks gathered to witness it.

"Our precious queen! Oh death took the wrong person this time!"

"She was so young and radiant. How could she leave us like this?"

"Queen Mira was the perfect definition of love. She had a kind word for everyone."

The wailing became worse and the people threw themselves to the floor to honor her. There was no villager who didn’t love Queen Mira. Everything about her had no wrong or blemish. She was a pure, forgiving, beautiful soul who loved with her whole being.

Alex blankly stared at the coffin that held the fake body. They were right. His wife was a real jewel. An irreplaceable one at that. On the night she left him, he had locked himself in their bedroom and cried his eyes out.

It was so unbefitting for a king but right then, he didn’t care. It got to a point that he couldn’t even cry anymore. The tears had refused to come out and he just sat there, dead and lost in his own thoughts. He was helpless: a complete sucker for his woman.

It was at that moment that he yearned for her touch, her smile, her lips. Occasionally, he would doze off and see her in his dreams, looking happy and cheerful like her normal self. He too would have a big, satisfied smile on his face. However, whenever he woke up and realized it was just a dream, the aching depression would attack him again.

Within that one week of isolation, he had suppressed his powers and forced himself to sleep. That was the only way he could see her. It was the only way to feel her love and warmth again.

Even with all that, those dreams were always short-lived and cut short by sudden jerks from sleep. When his powers could no longer be suppressed, they’d break free from the barrier and spring up suddenly, causing him to feel excruciating pain worse than anything else. But he never minded that.

Instead, he increased his suppression. The agonizing pain afterwards dulled his mind from the suffering his empty life brought when he eventually wakes up so it was a win win wasn’t it?

His mind had wandered about during his self confinement. Deep down, every ounce of life in him was long dead. He just sat there like a hollow shell of his former self, slumped against the side of the bed with her bonnet in his hand and several of her clothes scattered around him. He was crushed, devastated, shattered and miserable.

Alex was losing it. He was going mad with grief.

Ezra and the rest decided to give him space for a while, being the only ones who knew the truth behind her death. But after a full week had passed and still nothing from him, they didn’t sit still.

They had called out to him severally, banging the door but obviously got no reply.

"You can’t remain locked up forever, Alex." Ezra had said as a matter of fact. He felt terrible at his friend’s loss and he got that he was heartbroken. He really did, but there were still matters he had to attend.

Not as a grieving husband, but as a king responsible to his people.

One of those issues was to answer the burning question: where the heck was the queen?

An official statement proclaiming her death was yet to be released. Ezra knew it had to be done fast so as to veer off any suspicion that may arise if action wasn’t taken quickly.

"If you don’t open up I’ll break this door down." Ezra said calmly as if telling him the weather was great.

But Alex didn’t answer. Not even a peep was heard. Ezra turned to the other men that stood beside him and nodded. With one punch to the door, the structure came crumbling down like paper on fire.

Ezra stepped in nonchalantly, sweeping his gaze over the spacious room for his anguished friend.

He walked slowly towards the bed where a pile of clothes was scattered by the foot. There, he saw the great king swaddled in his wife’s clothes with her bonnet on his head.

Ezra almost burst out in laughter at how pathetic he looked.

He didn’t though. He still valued his head pretty much.

"Look at you." he started calmly, going over to him and sliding down beside him on the floor. "You should—"

He turned to him and was about to put his arms around his shoulder when he paused midway.

Ezra’s eyes fell on the large, empty tumblers of blood scattered all around him.

Ten.... seventeen...twenty-five?!

His eyes darted to the almost dead looking man with his head bowed between his knees.

This dummy had gulped down twenty-five ginormous tumblers of blood?!

"Hey!" Ezra roared out at him, kicking the tumblers with his feet.

"Did you really down all these drums in your system?" he asked, shaking one of them in front of him.

Just three of those held more blood than a whole hybrid wolf-donkey could ever carry!

And they were the size of an entire bungalow!

"Are you insane?! Are you trying to end yourself?!"

No answer came out of him. He just sat there perfectly still, his head dangling lazily between his knees.

Ezra, not caring that he was a king, grabbed his hair and swooshed his head upwards.

He scoffed upon seeing him fast asleep. "You really want to join her don’t you?"

Ezra instantly knew what he and been doing. No wonder this bastard needed this ridiculous amount of blood. The more blood he consumed, the longer he could suppress his powers and force himself to sleep.

But he couldn’t stay angry at him for long. He released him and let his head fall back on the bed before doing the same.

How devastated must he have been to have continued this agonizing action over and over again.

With the amount of drums around him, he would have forced himself to sleep a little bit over five hundred times.

Just within a week of her death!

Ezra sighed tiredly as he turned his head to look at Alex. Even his breathing was uneven and he had semi-dried blood pools all over his palms that still looked fresh. This damned man...he was bleeding just to have a few minutes of fantasy with a dead lover.

Ezra couldn’t help but shake his head. He was a strong, stoic and often perceived as an unfeeling man. He had never given his heart out to anyone and had never taken anyone either. He didn’t believe in love. It was just an idle, crappy shit.

But here this idiot was, suffering immeasurable pain just to experience ’love’ for a while.

It just didn’t make sense to him. It never would...

"Papa?" A small, shrill voice echoed from the broken door, jolting him out of his thoughts. Ezra jumped up quietly, careful not to wake the madman beside him. If he could repeat such action over and over again without getting sick of it, then at least he should get a minute’s peace for his pain.

Ezra’s gaze lingered on the small, thin boy that rested weakly on the wall. Great, another pathetic sight.

Her death happened because of him. Mira had been so bent on saving her son, she gave up her body, soul and spirit to a foreign object. According to his knowledge, he was the primary purpose for her ’suicide’ but deep down, he still hoped the little boy would never know that.

Ezra walked towards him with a small smile. What? He was a tough guy but no monster. Especially to the child of the woman who had loved him with all his difficulties. Mira had never looked down on him just because he was of a lesser background. The moment he was introduced to her by Alex after their marriage, a day had never passed that she didn’t give him a big hug.

Sometimes just a small peck on the cheek, while other times a flower. She infected him with her cherry blossom brightness that slowly became a little part of him. He could say that was the reason why he had softened up a little for the first time in his life.

Ezra ran his hand through Damien’s hair before picking him up in his arms. Damien wrapped his lean, tired arms around his neck.

"I’ve been looking everywhere for mama." his small voice came out close to his ear.

Ezra froze up momentarily. He didn’t know?

He drew back and faced him squarely. Damien looked at him innocently confused. How was this possible?

"Let him down, Ez."

"Papa!"