Devouring Monarch: Rebirth of the Profane Phoenix

Asura clched his fists tightly as he looked at Delta, who stood beside him; she tried to comfort him but understood the complicated relationship betwe Verana and Asura.

"Please allow us some private space, Miss Delta." Verana Drakkur spoke in a polite yet arrogant tone as she glanced at Delta with a charming smile, but Asura noticed Verana's eyes showed the true colours of this woman... A snake ready to devour him whole.

Delta nodded reluctantly as she exited the room.

'....'

"Why are you looking through confidtial documts, Miss Drakkur?"

Asura played along with Verana. He acted polite but cold as he moved closer to the desk and pulled the documts away from her slder fingers.

"I apologise, Lord Asura. I am merely impressed with your talt; the momt I read, I became grossed."

Verana stood elegantly before walking towards Asura with a charming smile. Yet he felt disgusted as he smelled her sweet perfume, reminding him of his nightmare. 'No, this sct is wrong... this is the sct of my dreams with that doll. The fake Verana!'

"Is it possible for you to share this agricultural technique? As you know, the people of my territory are struggling with their harvests and..."

"Why would I share it with you for nothing?" Asura interrupted Verana; he smiled faintly while placing the documts in a locked drawer.

"Th how about we marry as previously arranged by our parts? I would offer t thousand gold and myself to you?"

'Yourself? That tainted body, sure... It may be pure now. Yet why should I forgive such a foul woman?'

Asura sat at the table, leaving only the documts he deemed too difficult for her to decipher, while here, the codes and differt runes were something he created with her all those years ago... A feeling like a dagger stabbing his heart appeared as he remembered those sweet days once again.

'Those damn dreams!'

"Lord Asura, are you alright? You look pained..." Verana's soft hands touched Asura's, and he felt sicked as he pulled away instantly.

"Don't touch me... never approach me again." Asura stood and glared at Verana, causing her beautiful ruby eyes to wid as she looked surprised.

"Am I not good ough to ter your eyes compared to the princess?" Her blood eyes watched him, focused like a snake. Asura knew he needed to play along and find a reason to reject her without causing suspicion.

"Miss Drakkur, please leave. I do not wish to talk any longer. Thank you for the supplies delivered, but your presce disturbs me..." He felt unable to respond like normal, because of the frequt dreams and...

Before he realised, she came close, stepping towards him, pressing her voluptuous chest onto his chest and wrapping her arms a his neck... Her soft lips touched his earlobes, whispering.

"Do I disturb you this much? Is it because of my elemt? The foul rumours that follow it? But please relieve yourself, Asura. I can only use my clones for battle and simple tasks."

"My talt is combat, not seduction!" Verana pushed herself away, showing a frustrated expression...

'Damn... She's acting... you seduced me so good I gave you my tire life, my family...'

Asura grabbed her wrists, stopping her from moving away completely, and he looked into her eyes. There was a hint of desire... but the biggest emotion seemed to be curiosity and that look he remembered before she sullied it all.

"Verana... Don't tempt me. I am gaged to three wom already; I want to protect Wolfsheim, the Phoix Glade, not destroy it because of a war."

"Asura... Are you afraid of me?"

"!!!"

Asura pushed Verana away before glaring at her with a dark expression... "Get out! I will cancel our gagemt and sd it to the que to review!"

His emotions became unstable... His memories clashed with reality... There were too many similarities to their nostalgic time, the time of his first love. A vulnerability that any man suffers, he can make many brave remarks...

But she was his first, the spark that made him believe he could achieve something despite being a No-mag!

Verana smirked slightly, crimson eyes watching Asura's face, filled with frustration and anger.

She moved close to his ear once more...

"I do not care if you hate me. If you give me a chance, I will prove myself to you. There is no time to become emies."

Her voice contained hints of seduction, but he felt her seriousness... She caressed his cheeks gtly... Asura remained silt before pushing her away and pointing towards the door...

"Get out!"

"Until we meet again... My future husband." Her hand held the basic plans for his agricultural revolution. In return, she took off the necklace a her neck... and tossed it onto the ormous table as its heavy weight slammed down on the parchmts.

'The necklace of Drakkur!? The mother serpt!'

"Why..."

Asura grasped the pdant, his fingers tracing the black snake's lovely scales. Since becoming more dragon, he could tell poor scales from beautiful ones. This is the sign of the heir to Drakkur...

Passing it to him is saying... "You are the next heir."

"..." Verana left with a faint smirk...

Asura collapsed into his chair... clasping the necklace within his palm... Helia appeared... And stroked his hair gtly with a sad expression... She had many things to say, but sometimes learning through actions and experice was better than words... She could only comfort him as he reflected on the pain and happiness of his first love.

"Helia... I don't understand. With this, I could usurp her tire title and land...."

"If you choose to accept it... you will lose a reason to get revge, but what would you gain? Do you not think there are more than your memories alone in the past? There were many things you never realised or understood." Helia spoke softly.

"There is a reason she brought it now... Think carefully... Also, that sct was not perfume but a natural sct... Now think why you might smell the same sct from a lifeless doll..."

These were all the hints she could give him, any further, and there might be more changes to the timeline that she couldn't fix or repair.

Helia faded soon after... Leaving Asura alone with his thoughts.

Delta knocked on the door; she watched Verana board the carriage before returning to Asura, only to find him sleeping on the small black throne, where he whispered Verana's name.

Delta left soon after, putting a blanket over his body.

"That woman... Why does she have such a strange effect on Lord Asura?"

****

⁜ Verana POV ⁜

Verana boarded the carriage; she ordered her guards to depart straight away... Inside her large carriage, she giggled softly as she held the agricultural designs Asura had worked so hard on...

"Hmmm? Is my sister so happy with some pathetic pieces of paper?" Vera waited inside the carriage, her form not the same as usual, but she looked idtical to one maid from the Drakkur palace.

"You killed a maid to serve as your doll again!?"

"Hey~ big sister, the prince is so demanding. She wouldn't sleep with him, but now it's neither cheating nor rape because she will accept as it's me controlling the body~ hahaha!"

"Disgusting!"

Verana threw a sharp bolt of shadow magic towards Vera... Who dodged swiftly, but it tore through the maid's chest, causing the two to be separated, leaving both sisters facing each other as it pierced through the carriage door... Causing her to glare at Verana...

"Big Sis, that hurt~" Vera held a tearful expression as she acted like a child...

"Young Lady, are you okay!?" a knight shouted from outside.

Verana ignored her annoying younger sister... She turned towards the knight with a charming smile... "Everything is fine! We hit a bump, and the spell I was practising shot out of my control. Oh my, these roads need to be repaired!"

The carriage continued as Vera healed her clone, dressed in the maid's clothes once more... "Hmmm... why do you seem differt?" She noticed the bright face of her sister, this was something she had never se before. The small pieces of paper in her hand made her smile ev more.

Vera recalled Asura's face.

"Could it be!? Big sister fell for that damn former no mag?" She teased her sister... who remained silt, pretding to ignore her as she gazed out the carriage window...

"He is a wonderful man and will make a spldid lord."

Vera couldn't believe her ears... She almost burst out laughing until she saw the serious expression of Verana.

"Sister, are you insane!?" She rushed over, grasping Verana's shoulders and shaking her. "You are taking this gagemt seriously? To those Fix bastards?" Vera cursed.

"Silce, Vera! You know nothing! If you dare mess anything up... I will castrate that scum you are sleeping with!"

"Huh!?" Verana's demonic aura caused Vera to gulp... Never... Never had she stood against Vera. No matter how much she pushed her, Verana would just let it happ and pay no heed.

"You..."

"Really?"

Verana smirked, holding her little sister's cheek gtly before grabbing her throat and tighting her grip, forcing Vera to submit, unable to refuse because of their bloodline oath...

"Remember your place, Little Sister. I know of your plans to kill me, to make me one of your little dolls and to aid that scum from the east to take over our duchy."

Darkness filled the carriage, creating an evil, malevolt aura that crushed Vera's soul...

"H-how did you?"

"Our blood oath... Tells me everything... So remember... You cannot betray me; you cannot kill me, or you will lose everything..."

'Asura Fix... Ev as a No-Mag, you didn't change... Ev after that suffering...'

Verana transformed at that momt, her back filled with deathly wings, tattered and covered in black smoke; she grabbed her sister once again. Her fingertips grew long claws, and her eyes became cold and empty of emotions, filled with a dark light.

"Now... Go to the capital... Play your games with that scum prince... But if he dares to harm you or our people, I will rip him limb from limb... along with his tire kingdom."

"S....sister... you.... how are you stage five....!?"

"Hahahaha.... after suffering such tormt... selling my soul for power is nothing! This time, it will be differt..."

Verana transformed fully... A monstrous appearance similar to Mu Xue mixed with Helia, but darker... With hair-like blood cascading over her body and tattered black wings spread wide, covering the carriage with shadows, Verana smirked evilly at Vera, whose face turned pale.

"You... are undead...!?"

The next momt, the sharp claws of Verana petrated her sister's head, deleting all of her memories of today and replacing them with ones she would deem acceptable.

"Go... Little Sister... Make sure you joy your time playing house with that prince. Soon... I will bring you something fun to play with... Hahahaha." Verana released Vera...

Who collapsed unconsciously...

"Soon... Asura Fix... I will win your heart... Ev if I must suffer once more..."

Verana returned to her human appearance; she wiped away the sweat dripping from her forehead... What was strange was that her chest made the sound of two differt hearts beating.

"Ev if you have forgott... I will never forget our nostalgic time together, Asura..."