The Space Empress He Craved

Chapter 149

POV: Lyra

"Your Grace, it's a pleasure to meet you." The young female Lyrokan said and offered an obligatory bow to Annie.

Annie returned the gesture and smiled warmly at the brown-haired beauty. "It's a pleasure to meet you too. May I know your designation?"

"I'm Dorothy Dawson, Your Grace. I'm here as someone's plus-one. And if I may, Your Grace, I have a burning question that I hope you don't mind me asking." Her green eyes sparked mischief as her synthetic lips curled into a grin, showing her dental alignments.

Annie continued smiling as she asked amicably, "What would you like to know, Dorothy?"

"How do you do it, Your Grace? How do you be okay with...not being able to give the High Commander offspring?"

Annie's eyebrows raised in surprise. "Dorothy, are you facing reproductive problems? Because..."

"Oh, I'm not, Your Grace. I doubt I would. I just wanted to know how you mustered the self-esteem to stand next to the second most powerful creature in the Empire with so little to offer." She blinked her green eyes like she was asking an innocent question, when it was clearly an attempt to make Annie feel small and unworthy.

When Annie realized what Dorothy was doing, she put aside her initial sympathy before saying, "A female is more than a reproduction unit, Dorothy. I'm here to support my match as a partner and as his matched High Commander."

"But we've never seen you before in these things. Why the sudden need for support? Is the High Commander facing a certain problem that requires your presence with him?" There was that glint in her eye again. She knew more than she was saying. Seeing Annie was speechless, Dorothy continued, "Your Grace, you seem a little tongue-tied. I hope I didn't make you uncomfortable. I was simply trying to understand the level of self-entitlement one requires to..."

"To join a government event and speak to anyone she pleases?" My stern voice came loud and strong from the side. The fast clicks of my foot coverings exuded confidence.

Orion mind-linked me that Annie needed help when his sharp hearing caught bits of the conversation between Annie and Dorothy. I abruptly paused my conversation with Phelton and excused myself before making quick steps toward Annie.

"Your Eminences." Dorothy bowed toward us. We both nodded curtly in acknowledgment.

When Dorothy's head raised, she let out a light chuckle. "Well, this is quite a surprise. I didn't expect to have the opportunity to speak to you so soon, my Empress." She knew pleasing me was more important than pleasing the Emperor, so her efforts were solely to butter me up, as much as she was dreading it inside.

I smiled menacingly. "Well, perhaps you didn't expect to speak to an Empress-to-be but creature-to-creature, we've already spoken in last cycle's collaboration, Dorothy Dawson."

Her eyes widened in genuine surprise at me knowing her full designation even without an introduction. Dorothy faked an apologetic look. "Oh, this is embarrassing. I don't seem to recall our encounter, Your Eminence." Inside, she prayed she hadn't done anything to insult me.

Her prayers were denied when I said, "Hm. That's hardly surprising. I doubt you remember the number of Kaelari you insulted in the cleansing chambers last cycle. When I was defending my Station Leader after you insulted her attire, you told me to shut my vocal output before you used your male companion's influence to burn my station to the ground." Dorothy froze in fear as Orion's eyes turned black. And as if the Emperor's seething anger wasn't enough, Dorothy began feeling something else.

There was something radiating from me, an energy compelling Dorothy to avert her gaze and hold her head down. Even Orion and Annie felt it. Dorothy's mouth quivered, and her mind suddenly felt like a vacant chamber. Hollow, cold, and lonely. Her own inner consciousness was covering its eyes and curled into a ball in fear of what would happen next.

Just then, Christian returned and asked Annie cheerfully, "Hey, sorry I took so long. What did I miss?" Registering the daunting energy from me, his cousin's black eyes, and his match's discomfort, Christian's smile faltered as he studied the female before them.

A young male appeared by Dorothy's side and bowed without greeting the royals. He then tugged Dorothy's arm, whispering, "Dory, what are you doing? Come on."

My sights shifted to him. "Mr. Martin, is this your companion?"

"Uh...y-yes, my Empress." The young blonde responded carefully. The chatters in the chamber were dying down.

"What an interesting creature you've chosen, one who has the audacity to question the presence of a High Commander's match." I noted, making Christian's own eyes turn black.

Herbert Martin immediately fell on one knee before apologizing, "I am deeply sorry for my companion's...insubordination, my Empress. Please, forgive us. It won't happen again." Like his companion, he knew better than to anger the Empress.

It was clear from the collaboration mishaps that if the Emperor was angered, the Empress would calm him. But the Emperor himself would never think of restraining his match from unleashing her wrath on any of them. The whole dining chamber was silent at this point when everyone saw a Lyrokan kneeling before me.

Toby, from afar, muttered to himself, "Oh, cosmos. What now, Lyra?" Juan and Hale were getting worried too.

I looked at Herbert Martin, who in the previous cycle, touched my lower back with no remorse before I slapped him. He smirked coyly in return like I did no damage to his thick dermis. I would've pounced on him right then if Juan hadn't held me back. Tate and Toby growled to shoo Herbert away before Juan released his grip on his frantic sister. As furious as we all were at what happened, we knew challenging a Lyrokan would never end well for a Kaelari, so the matter was swept under the mat. But that was last cycle.

This cycle, I wasn't going to let Herbert or his companion get away with disrespecting me or Annie. I simpered. "Insubordination, Mr. Martin? That's putting it too lightly, don't you think? This is a matter of willful disrespect, the respect that should be given to any individual, not just to a superior figure in the Empire."

My sights returned to Dorothy. "You seem a little tongue-tied, Ms. Dawson. I hope I didn't make you uncomfortable. I was simply trying to understand the level of self-entitlement one requires to poke into the personal life of another."

After a moment, Dorothy quivered. "I-I apologize, my Empress."

"Whatever for? Was I the one you said those insidious words to?" I continued pressing mercilessly.

Dorothy's head raised to meet Annie's eyes before Christian's glare compelled her to look down as she uttered as loudly as she could manage, "I'm sorry, Your Grace. I am so sorry for my behavior."

Herbert stood slowly and placed an arm over his companion's shoulder before asking cautiously, "I can assure you it won't happen again, Your Graces. Would you forgive her?"

Annie threw me a grateful smile, which seemed to have calmed Christian slightly. Annie gave Herbert and Dorothy a nod, and relief showed in their eyes as they started stepping back.

Just then, I spoke again. "Now, where are you two going?"

Their relief vaporized as I noted, "Forgiveness is not a dismissal. None of us have dismissed you two yet."

The two stood rooted to their spot, and Orion had to close his eyes to take in my scent from my cranial strands to calm himself as I spoke. "Dorothy, what business do you have here?"

"I-I'm his plus-one, Y-your Eminence."

"That wasn't the question, Dorothy. I asked: what business do you have here? In other words, what contribution are you intending to make by being here? Are you here to contribute as a minister, a future minister, a warrior, a leader, an expert, perhaps?"

"N-No, my Empress."

"And you, Mr. Martin. Are you here as a future minister, the offspring who will follow in his mother's footsteps?" Anyone could hear the sarcasm in my voice, and things weren't any better when everyone knew his mother was arrested for corruption charges.

"W-Well, I hope to do better, my Empress."

"Better how?"

He was dumbfounded. No one had ever asked him that before. He fumbled over his words unintelligibly for a moment before Orion decided he'd had enough of the nonsense. The Emperor pressed a sweet kiss on my temple before glaring at the two youngsters. "If you two have no business here, then you shouldn't be here in the first place. Do you need to be escorted out?"

"N-No, my Emperor. We'll take our leave now. Thank you."

As they made their way out, I pressed a kiss on Orion's jawline. The lilac shades were returning as they focused on my soft black eyes, but the moment was short-lived when Orion's eyes caught something at the dining chamber entrance.

I turned to see what Orion was seeing and was surprised to see two security officers behind four ministers. The two officers stood in front of Herbert and Dorothy, preventing them from leaving. And the four ministers were pacing toward us in quick steps.