"For the blood of innocents you shed and for the murder of my father- I, Boris Igorevich, with the power vested in me as the new emperor declare you executed by beheading"
'Ironic,' Adelheid thought, an obvious look of disdain on her face 'Considering he was the reason I performed all those murders'. She was a princess to be an empress, now in chains and about to be beheaded before the people of Imperial Krevia. This should have been a thing of disgrace but compared to what Adelheid had faced earlier today, this was nothing.
[Flashback]
At Sanctus Cathedral, Imperial Krevia.
The hall was extremely quiet although a congregation of nobles were seated. Only the voice of the Prince reciting his vows could be heard. The prince was being crowned emperor.
Adelheid was seated at the front row of the cathedral, looking at the altar in excitement. Yes, her husband was being crowned, but that was not the source of her excitement. She would soon be crowned 'Queen'- In other words, empress consort.
This position should have come to her easily since she was the prince's wife and the prince would be emperor, but she had to work for it.
She remembered how she mingled with commoners, attended sermons regularly, constantly gave to the poor, and most importantly- killed all nobles preventing Boris from becoming emperor.
Before you start to judge her, understand this: Boris had a concubine, Tatianka, whom he openly associated with in public. Not that this was against the law or something of sort, but he soiled his image publicly...and he didn't even care! She had to perform a series of actions (the ones she mentioned earlier) to maintain his image and improve hers. She was dark skinned so the odds were never in her favour.
At dinner one fateful evening, Boris announced Tatianka as his 'Empress consort'. Adelheid was shocked, and although she knew his word held no power, she was still scared because Boris, knowing him fully well, would stop at nothing to achieve what he had said.
Because of this, Adelheid struck a bargain with Boris. She would help him in eliminating anyone who stood in his path to power if in return he made her empress.
He agreed. Together they took down these nobles, one by one. Boris did all the strategizing and planning while Adelheid did the execution since she was skilled at fighting.
Her position was secure… or so she thought.
"And with the power vested in me by the supreme lord, I crown you Boris Igorevich, the new emperor of Imperial Krevia," The bishop placed the crown on Boris' head, then turned to the congregation of nobles before him "Nobles of Imperial Krevia, I present to you- His Imperial Majesty, Emperor Boris Igorevich,"
All nobles rose, clapping. Boris sat upon the Imperial throne, sceptre and orb in his hands, his smirk betraying his thoughts
'Let the drama begin'
---
Adelheid had her head faced downwards pretending to dust some freckles of confetti off her gown while she was fighting so hard to avoid breaking out into a weird smile. She could hardly contain her excitement. It was time, her moment! From this day forward she would be an Empress. The first dark skinned empress Europe would ever know. She would be so noble that her name would be written in history books. She would achieve what other empresses could not achieve, give women a voice and may eventually grant women equal power as men.
"Let the Empress consort come forth," The bishop announced.
Adelheid stood almost instantly, took a deep breath and began walking towards the altar. Each step she took not only brought her closer to the altar but accelerated her heartbeat. This had been her goal since she got married. 'So this was what it felt like to achieve a goal'
Adelheid was at the foot of the altar when she realised something- She had heard no footsteps behind her.
An empress consort is usually escorted to the altar by two duchesses on her coronation, she didn't want hers to be different. She was dark skinned, a mistake on her part would attract the attention and criticism of the whole world.
Adelheid paused in her tracks and turned around to confirm her suspicion. Someone, who probably knew why she had turned back, snickered softly in the crowd. The quiet halls created a room for an echo. As though on cue, everyone erupted in laughter. And guess who they were laughing at…her! Obviously she was a joke. Adelheid spotted the duchesses which were supposed to have escorted her to the altar. She had tried so hard to be friends with them. Their laughter was the loudest.
As though to prove to Adelheid that the entire congregation thought she was a joke, she heard from the Bishop at the altar "We begin"
Begin what? She was not even at the altar. Surely they would still respect the fact that she was royal blood and not crown another woman in her stead. Right?
Not right, because when Adelheid turned, she saw another woman at the altar, kneeling before the bishop and the emperor like he belonged there. Adelheid could picture herself laughing maniacally, then giving the bishop some injuries and finally threatening him to crown her empress.
The thought alone was satisfying, but she couldn't do that in public, she had an image to maintain.
Adelheid's eyes scanned the altar as she thought of what to do, then her eyes met his. That betrayer, that backstabbing piece of nonsense. She had even forgotten about him. Her husband.
That scoundrel promised her this position, she worked for this position. She killed for this position, and yet here she was, standing aimlessly at the foot of the altar watching him give her position to another woman. This wasn't some random man she made a deal with. He was her husband. Her husband!
Boris averted his eyes after a few minutes, maybe he couldn't handle the glare she was giving him.
Adelheid's fists were clenched by her side now, and if not for the fact that she cared about her public reputation she would have not hesitated to beat the living daylight out of that man who called himself her husband.
The more she thought about it, the more she got angry. Where had she gotten it wrong as a wife? She fixed his public image, improved it even, obeyed every order, every instruction…she had just one simple request. It wasn't even supposed to be a request because that title was hers normally.
She worked for this! And then he saw another woman deemed fit for her position and chose to disgrace her?
It was Boris' turn to give his blessings to the 'empress consort' and that's when Adelheid saw the face of the woman clearly.
Tatianka?
Oh no he did not! 'Adelheid calm down. Remember you're in public. Maintain your image….maintain your image". She tried to remind herself where she was but being so filled with anger, her leg and hand began to move on their own accord and before anyone could say anything…
"From this moment on," Boris had the crown in his hand and was about to crown his concubine, "You shall be known as…"
SLAP!
The slap echoed repeatedly and it sounded like Adelheid had delivered the slap a thousand times.
The slap didn't land on Boris, neither was it on the bishop…but on…
"You whore," Adelheid took a pistol from a guards waist belt "How dare you…"