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The wedding in the Saerith Empire was a sight to behold. Taking place at the beach before the sunrise, most of the audience were in tears due to the symbolism of the couple starting the day as wife and wife. The brunch banquet was divine, and the water shows were incredible; the citizens of the empire knew the empresses before they were given the title and were doing their best to celebrate their union. The empire was happy, the guests were happy, and the married couple were happy.
“ONDINE!”
At least until he arrived.
“YOUR KNIGHT IN SHINING AROMOR HAS ARRIVED!”
The crowd muted at the sight who was claiming the new empress for himself: a tall monkey with human features in cladded in a light jade armor that would let him be nimble as he hopped around the tables and swinging around the curtains. He landed right in between the newly-weds.
“Monkey Prince…” Empress Ondine was doing her best to hide her anger. “I thought they trapped you under a rock for your tomfoolery for centuries to come.”
“My imprisonment and claims were highly exaggerated.”
“It sounded like the right amount of time out. Also, wedding crashers usually crash the event DURING the wedding.”
“I overslept. I forgot that the time of the wedding was five pass midnight.”
“If you remembered why I wanted the wedding to be at that time, you wouldn’t had been crawling like a sad dog back here. Also, when are you going to realize that you placed yourself in a bad position?”
The monkey prince felt like he was bind in invisible ropes. He saw how his shadow was being warp by the person behind him, The shadow manipulated the body to turn around so that she could see him eye-to-eye.
“So…” Sabrina spoke to him, “this is the ex-boyfriend that Ondine was talking about.”
“And who are you supposed to be?” Monkey Prince tried to set his plan in motion. “All I see is a bandit and a thief!”
The crowd gasped in amazement.
“Why are you saying that like it was unknown news? Everyone in this Empire and the guests known my reputation in one way or another. The first thing Ondine did as Empress was pardoning my actions and giving my family sanctuary.”
“Yeah! It’s because of her time as The Blind Bandit the Empire was saved from a tyrant!” One of the guards shouted out loud, living up the room with agreements.
“W-well, YOU weren’t her first love, I was!” Monkey Prince tried to fight back with words.
“You’re still acting as childish as when you stumbled in my way. How cute.” Ondine giggles shifted into a cold “I still not going to forgive you for the things you did.”
Now the self-proclaiming price was sweating bullets. He thought that talking about the lovable things he did for Ondine will give him favor. He flailed to shift his sights on her.
“Wha-what about the gifts I’ve made for you? The natural lake so that you could be next to my kingdom?”
“You flooded an entire village in the mountains to do it.”
“The bouquets of flowers that I would give you every morning?”
“The jungle that you used to pick those flowers became a desert.”
“The jewelry-?”
“The same jewels you stole them from the Jade Emperor and the reason why they trapped you in the first place.” Ondine walks next to her wife. “It took me a while to notice that I wasn’t fond of you, you were just amusing to be with. I also realized the hard truth: you only cared about me because of my status as an empress’ daughter but back then, once you gained a title higher than mine, you left me like I was a ragged piece of cloth. You never loved me for who I am now what I did, you only liked the fame and fortune that you got while being around me; unlike this beautiful, caring, and honest woman that I’m proud to call my true love and my wife.”
Ondine gave an assuring nod to Sabrina, which ticked the prince off.
“Then what does she have that I don’t? She’s famous, she has fortune thanks to her quests, she’s as infamous as me!”
“True, but she has something that you’ve still haven’t done.” Ondine kissed Sabrina in her cheek. “Begged for penance and atoned for her crimes.”
Just then, guards from a foreign land rushed into the room, Ondine was familiar of the Jade Empire patterns in the armor. They were here to pick the escaped prisoner. They surrounded the monkey man and bonded him in chains.
“Guards, will you please escort our uninvited guest to the gates?” Monkey Prince was shocked that the orders were given by a peasant, and even more in incredulity when the guards understood her status and followed her orders.
It took a couple of hours in getting the atmosphere back the way it was when the ceremony began.
The way back to the kingdom was harsh, not only did the portable cell was cramped, but there were no stops for drinks nor meals. Monkey Prince was bitter that they caught him in his most humiliating state. What was more humiliating was the fact that something took out the guards and left him in a bind and trapped in a box.
Once the magic of the guards depleted, he broke the chains and got himself free. The first thing he did was notice the dragon that towered him. It looked like it was offering a ring big enough to use as a necklace that was in one of it’s claws. Since he didn’t want to become the dragon’s next meal, he obliged and pulled the ring out. It shrunk into the size of a circlet and wrapped itself around the prince’s head.
A sharp pain grew in his head as the circlet tightened itself in the egomaniac’s head his sight shifted as the dragon that once was disappeared, only leaving a woman in the middle of the path. He could see a rope of light tying the circlet he’s wearing with a bracelet that the woman was using as a leash.
“Who are you?! What is your name?!” Monkey Prince shouted in pain. The woman strutted towards him.
“I go by many names that I have forgotten what was my real one.” She whispered on his ear. “but you may call me-” With a move of her arm, Monkey Prince kneeled in front of her, like he was a puppet on strings.
“-your Mistress.”