Empire of Siya: Varis Dynasty

unedited

Siya rubs her thumb against the base of her right wrist and still tries to understand what has happened a few days back. It was not until Ginni asked her about the missing Holy thread that was tied in her hand. Firstly, she brushed it off thinking she might have dropped it somewhere but when she clearly observed her wrist in her alone time, she found a bright lotus mark printed at the center of her wrist. She tried to rub it off but it seemed like a birthmark to her. She clearly remembered, she did not have a birthmark on her wrist in her past life, so how now? She was lost in her thought when suddenly she felt been sucked into a void and when she again opened her eyes, she was in a new place. The place is different from hers. It was full of vitality and there is a small cascade of water. When she tried to find out more, she was suddenly pulled out into her world. This event has left her perplexed. How can she enter a void whenever she wants? She never has heard of it? In fear that will pull disaster on her family, she has not told this secret to anyone. However, after two days of observation, she finds a piece of very interesting news—the water inside has a magical effect. Firstly, secretly, she used that water on herself and slowly in just a few days she feels more energetic and her cheeks have become rosier, her vision has improved and her fatigue has recovered much faster. She was astonished and somewhat afraid. Having a treasure is also a curse. Humans are greedy. For the sake of everyone's safety, she had secretly altered the water source of her house. Now without the risk of getting exposed, she let everyone have it daily.

Siya is not like other ladies, raised within the four walls of her household and restricted to going out often. She is filled with vigor and a bit hot temper—pampered like a princess. There is no one in the family that prevents her from doing anything she liked. However, in spite of that Siya had never left the city on her own since she was born—precisely her father and brother never allowed her to step out. She can literally count the number of times her father took her outside the city, on her fingers. Even then they were surrounded by their guards.

Varis Dynasty is situated at the north of the Green Hills. The Green Hill is a range of hills, covered by a large forest that remains green throughout the year. It links three kingdoms together.

Guessing the sun will set down soon, Siya can only go to the outer area of the forest for now and try to find out some herbs for her need. Then she will return here after a few days.

Leaving the carriage at the base of the hill, Siya along with Ginni and Xian walks on the mountain road. The cool and fresh air fills her systems and the smile on her face brightens. She admires the vivid and lush green series of trees and flowers. The melodious chatter of birds covers the whole forest. She spread her arms and closes her eyes, this is the supreme joy of life, to be free and roam around the world without any restriction.

She wore a pure white blouse with a baby pink skirt embodied with beautiful calming white roses. Her silky charcoal black hair dances with the wind. Under the strained rays of the sun in the forest, she appears to be an alluring beauty that has not matured yet.

This is the first time she has left the city, so Siya reduced her pace and looks everything around her—enjoying the scenic views.

"Come, let us go a little bit deeper," Siya motions while hurrying inside, causing Ginni and Xian to run after her to keep up.

"Young Lady, you have already collected so many herbs," Ginni huffs to catch a breath as she complains, running behind Siya. "Young Master has warned us not to go deep inside the forest. There are many wild animals."

"Stop crying, Ginni," Siya laughs. "We will not go deep. I am searching for one important herb that I had not found yet. Moreover, the sun has not set down, we will definitely reach home in time."

"But—"

"Shh . . ." Siya instantly gestures Ginni to be silent when suddenly the sound of fight traveled into her ears. She has practiced sword and archery in her previous life so she is very sensitive to the slightest noise, whereas the smell of blood has become a part of her life.

Xian pulls out his sword from the scabbard (case) and walks in front of Siya. "Someone is here," he whispers before looking around. "Young Miss, it is better to return."

Ginni holds Siya's hand and looks at her with a pleading face. "Young Lady, we can come back here with more guards next time to pick what is left in the list."

"Let's see from the hiding first," Siya dismisses their requests and slowly peeks from the shrubs.

In keen and observant eyes scan at the small battlefield in the forest. A man wearing a purple muslin cloak that is circular below the waist is surrounded by five men covered in black clothes from head to toe. When she sees the face of the person standing in the center, her eyebrows flutter. She recognizes the charming and handsome face at the first glance.

He is known but unknown.

Marquis Oliver. He is the youngest first rank Marquis of Varis Dynasty and the well feared God of War, all over the world.

However, Siya never thought she would meet him of all the people, in this forest.

Marquis Oliver is someone she had no contact with in the past life but just saw him from afar once or twice. He is not from the royal family, has his own private army. For some reason, even the Emperor does not fear him to rebel in order to take over the throne, the Emperor awarded him the title of Marquis. In her past life, Oliver used to be very famous among and desired by all the females of the capital due to his polite and respectful nature. It was ironic because he rarely made any public appearance. Every household in the capital racked their brains to push their daughter into his household even though he was infamous for his killing temperament in the royal court. He had killed thousands of enemies, planned dozens of battles—in all he had never lost any battle. She still remembers that in her past life, he had married the Prime Minister's daughter and cherished her more than his own life. Their love story was famous all around the capital city—childhood lovers to a highly envied married couple. He never took any other woman in his household making all the women of the capital city jealous of the luck of his wife. Both he and his wife were happy, content and so in love. 

However, Siya does not know what happens to him in the end, after Ryder took the throne, she died too early. At that time, the only thing she vaguely recalls, Oliver was out on an expedition.

││ʕ'•ᴥ•'ʔ││

Oliver's majestic and unparalleled face is pale and wan but still, it cannot hide the aura of death that comes from his body. His sharp eagle-like charcoal black eyes look at the assassins surrounding him with no fluctuation of emotion. He has always been devoid of feeling any emotion for long. It is another thing that others one emotion towards him—fear and killing. Despite his dark guards being scattered and he being poisoned, there is no sense of panic on his face. He is sure he will not die even if these five assassins double the number.

"The Fifth Prince thinks really highly of me that he even dispatched his personal assassins to entertain me on my way back to the capital," Oliver's robe flutters with the wind while his face remains cold and ruthless as if the demon king of the underworld has shown up himself.

The assassins, who chase after him, clutch their swords hard. If they do not kill Oliver today to complete their mission then only death will await for them. However, even if they try to kill Oliver, it is not entirely sure that they will be alive. To be true, they are scared at the moment. When they arrived here to pursue Marquis Oliver, they were a team of twenty but now they do not know how many have survived other than them. The five assassins share a look and nod in a telepathic conversation. If they attack together, there is still a silver lining to stay alive.

However, even though Oliver is poisoned, his actions are as fast as lightning. In just a few breaths, all the assassins are lying on the ground in a pool of their own blood.

Oliver stumbles back and supports his body against a tree before getting down on the ground. His handsome face pales more as a feeling of nausea attacks him.

Siya hiding behind the bushes watched everything from start to end. She is not surprised to know the fifth prince tried to assassinate Marquis Oliver. The first reason, the fifth prince is an over-excited person with no sense of self-bearing. It is very easy for others to use him by pumping up his ego for their own mean. She does not believe that this incident solely comes from the brain of the fifth prince. There must be some mastermind who is using the fifth prince as a puppet.

The second reason, she sighs, is Oliver himself. His private army is a hot potato in the entire empire. In the history of mankind, the king has always been insecure towards the throne and never let any of his subordinates or subjects rise in power. Even though in the case of Oliver, the Emperor does not say a thing but all the prince fears him and his power which is a constant threat to the throne. Who knows when Oliver's heart change and he starts the conquest of the throne?

After a death in the past life, Siya does not have a tendency to be a nosy person. She will never be kind and soft-hearted towards someone if it does not give her any benefit. However, watching Oliver, sitting under the tree all alone and dyed in blood, she thought of herself from before.

Despite Ginni's stronghold on her hand, Siya slowly comes out of the hiding, reducing the distance between them.

Oliver's senses pick up the sound of the unusual movement and his eyes snap open. He observes the little girl who slowly makes her way out from the bushes. Her face radiates a glow just like snow sparkles under the sun, a pair of clean and clear eyes that can make anyone mesmerize to forget the world. In her presence, the world appears dull and bleak.

Oliver feels impossible to break his eyes from her face. He feels a bit uncomfortable in his heart but still vigilant. He cannot feel the repulsive feeling towards her. He knows he is immune to any beauty due to his hold and unsocial nature but this girl is pleasant to his eyes. She has an elegant and comfortable aura around her that makes the surroundings fall at peace.

Siya clearly knows who Oliver is but does not let any sign slip from her action to be an old acquaintance from the past. She guesses he is eighteen or nineteen years old this year. His towering height and chilling look on his face make others feel to avoid him at any cost. When she reaches near him, she observes him closely. He wore a purple muslin cloak with a matching wide-sleeved robe, a blue colored jade with executive words hung at his waist. He has long black hair, eyebrows as sharp as a sword, a perfectly craved face, and thin yet enticing lips. The last ray of sunlight falls over him, making him appear as a desired painting. 

Siya only blinks her eyes once as she stands next to Oliver and then leans down to look at him.

Oliver stiffens in his place. Ever since he had won the first war at the age of twelve, no one dared to get close to him—either male or female. However, the sweetness of roses that comes from her body has an instant effect. She does not smell anything like cosmetics or overrated perfume but she has a natural aroma of herbs and roses wrapped around her.

"You have been poisoned. The more you will move, the faster it will act in your body," the crisp and melodious voice of Siya falls into Oliver's ears. She turns to Xian and Ginni and orders, "Xian go and see if you can find some fresh water nearby. Ginni, go back to the carriage and bring some cloth to wrap the wound."

"But—"

"Young Lady—"

Both Xian and Ginni open their mouth to show their dissatisfaction but a glare from Siya makes them eat their words back. How can they leave their Miss with an unknown man? Just a moment ago, they saw the ruthlessness of this man who has single-handedly killed the five people. However, they feel defeated in front of their Young Lady.

When the two disappear from Siya's sight, she carefully observes the poison in Oliver's body. Actually, he is not much injured but she wants them to leave, and also the poison is not risky for life but it slows down the one's movement, giving the opponent enough time to launch a murderous attack. Thankfully, she has an antidote in her body. In addition to that, she had modified it by using the cascade water in her void. She pulls her purse and ducks in before passing a small pill to him. "Have it. It will help you out."

Oliver studies Siya from start to end. She does not look harmful. So, he takes the pill and gulps it down. Instantly, a cooling and soothing sensation spread throughout his body. He stares at her with surprise. He had been injured and poisoned many times but this is the first time when a medicine has shown an instant effect.

When Siya saw him slightly better, she gets up to leave. She saved him because she felt a part of her old self in him. She had no relation with him nor did she want to be related to anyone new in this life.

"Wait!" Oliver exclaims when he snaps out from his self-evaluation. His voice is hoarse, lazy and magnetic.

Siya stops and turns to face Oliver with a puzzled expression. She cocks her eyebrows up in a silent question: What?

"Why did you save me?" Oliver cannot help but ask. He has lived in the barrack since he was twelve. He very well knows, there is no free lunch in this world. Is she sent to seduce him? Not many people, other than his subordinates and the emperor, have seen his face because he is used to wearing a mask all the time. Those who saw are killed the next second. However, here this girl had seen his face but he does not feel any killing instinct towards her.

Siya shrugs her shoulders. "There are many questions that do not have a proper answer and things that cannot be explained. Maybe we were destined to meet today."

Her nonchalant attitude and disinterest pick up Oliver's interest. He knows that he himself never cared about the view of others. "You have saved my life. You can ask anything in response. I will fulfill it." He has never taken someone's favor in his life. He likes to be clean and clear of it so that in the future no one can use his name to gain some personal gain.

Siya never imagines that the most feared God of War actually has this character. But she really does not know what she asks from him in return? She practically has everything in her life. Suddenly, her eyes lighten up at a thought. It is perfect. "Protect my mother, father and elder brother on the way to the capital city." If they all go to the capital under Oliver's protection, whoever dared to attack them will be sent to pay a visit to the Underworld Lord.

Oliver does not find that his lips stretch to the end. This little girl is really interesting. He slightly tilts his head to a side without breaking eye contact. "You want to go to the capital?"

"Women in the house do not have a right to decide, do they?" Siya pouts without her knowledge. It is her habit when she says something sarcastic.

Oliver throws his head back and lets out a loud laugh. His mesmerizing laughter echoes throughout the forest. "You asked me to save your mother, father and elder brother. What about you yourself?" He raises the corner of his right sword-like eyebrow.

"I do not need anyone's protection. I can protect myself," she cuts her words short and pulls her skirt before following the same path from which she came. She does not tell him her name, she is sure it is not needed. His people will find everything about her before the sunrise.

"Young Lady?" Siya is half-way back when she heard Ginni and Xian, while they are carrying a small bundle of clean cloth and water in their hands respectively. "You here?"

Siya smiles softly and shakes her head. "There is no need of it now. Let's return."

W O R D S - 2 9 9 5

1. Geez, I am excited for Oliver and Siya!! Are you?

2. Do you think, will Siya replace the Prime Minister's daughter?