~~

A week before the wedding.

~~

CAVILLOR POV

A fit of coughs once again assaulted me. After I struggled to calm myself down with deep breaths, I took out my phone and looked at the time. Great, still have a few hours before I need to get back to my queen.

After getting these severe coughs, I continuously postponed the idea of going to a check-up. Just never had the time and care to do it, I guess.

Well, would there be anything more important than going straight home to see the love of my life?

This has been going on for months already, and before, I thought that this would pass by, but until now, it hasn't. Instead, it became worse.

I didn't want Regina to worry, so I hid it from her. She doesn't need to think about such heavy things.

Thinking resolutely, I decided to go on a detour to the hospital.

Ah, this is just probably nothing.

~~

"Hmm..."

I frowned, feeling impatient. What is taking so long? It's just a simple prescription, does this doctor need to make me wait so long before he answers?

My Regina is waiting, and she hates it especially when I come home late.

"Mr. Flare..."

Finally.

"Before I tell you my diagnosis, I would like to ask a few questions." The doctor said, looking stiff.

I raised a brow, "Fine, but make it quick. I have a woman to get home to." I'm not ashamed of that fact, so I say it outright.

He coughed uncomfortably, then proceeded on questioning me, "Since when have you been having these coughs?"

I think about it, "If we're being specific, then about four to five months ago. I didn't pay attention then."

To my surprise, the doctor paled white. Before I could question what was up with his reaction, he already continued questioning me.

"Starting from three to four years ago, have you been having a drink or food that you always consume? One that barely misses a day to enter your system?"

Again, I frowned, not quite getting what was with his alarmed expression. Nonetheless, I think about what he said. After a while, I answer him.

"No, none that I recall. Why is that?"

Hearing my answer, the old doctor frowned, then heaved a heavy sigh. Alright, to admit, this is making me uncomfortable. If only I wasn't here as a patient, and the fact that Regina is waiting for me...

Taking off his glasses, the doctor then said, "Before I say what my diagnosis is, I have to warn you, from now on, all the food that you have in stock, throw them away. If you have any cooks or maids, then I suggest it's about time to let them go. If there's anyone that you don't fully trust in your household, throw them out."

I'm taken aback.

Getting my composure together, I ask with a heavy heart, "Why is that?" I don't think I want to know, but I'm aware that I should know.

"Sir..."

"You've been poisoned."

~~

"Honey, I'm home!" I holler.

"The fuck took you longer than usual?" Regina's voice drifted to my ears.

I felt my heart swell at her words. See? She was worried about me. Not that there's anything to worry about, since I don't plan on telling her my prompt trip to the doctor. I only want to let my queen live her life leisurely without any worries or distress.

"Just a few mishaps, nothing for you to worry about, my queen," I said, grinning with a sense of contentment.

She sneered, "Who's worrying for you and your pitiful, insignificant life? Get the hell away from me, stronzo." {asshole}

Not minding her hypocritical words, I continued smiling happily and followed her as she walked into the kitchen. When she entered the door, I quickly grab her waist and spin her around. Without giving any reaction to her scowl, I swiftly capture her lips with mine.

Those soft, luscious lips that seem to make me drunk and addicted. I can never get enough of this.

I believe that never in my life will I ever want another woman, this woman right here with me is more than enough already.

~~

"Damn... lips... swollen..." Regina muttered, occasionally casting a glare at me as she moved about in the kitchen. "Wipe off that cheeky smile of yours before I do the job."

I didn't erase my expression, "Oh, please. By all means."

She raised a brow, "'All means' he says. Alright then, I'll let you have your request."

Then she moved to get something, making my eyes widen and my body stiff.

Yelping and cowering away, I conceded at the sight of the knife, because I just know that she really wouldn't hesitate. "No, no! I'll behave now!"

I went to sit like a good and behaving person then. No good angering the devil.

Regina snorted, then turned around to use the knife in her hand to chop carrots.

After a while, I couldn't sit tight anymore.

Thankfully, Regina noticed my uneasiness and then placed in front of me my daily coffee. I seriously can't go a day without this.

Watching me gulp the hot caffeine, Regina eyed me with slight disgust at my horrid way of drinking. "Seriously. I've given you this every day, but until now I cannot get used to how you drink that like it's plain water."

I put down the mug, smiling at her as I reply, "Why wouldn't I get excited? You've given this to me almost every single day..." My smile slowly chipped off. "... Starting from three years ago..."

I...

"Exactly. Which is why I still don't understand why you get excited every day about it. Whatever, just... Go back to the room or something. Stop bothering me here."

I don't know how I walked up to my room, but everything seemed to be in a haze to me. When I sat down on the soft cushion of the bed was when I realized I had climbed up.

Shoving my head in my hands, I shook my head frantically.

No... No. I-I refuse to believe it...

"You've been poisoned."

She... She wouldn't!

"Starting from three to four years ago, have you been having a drink or food that you always consume? One that barely misses a day to enter your system?"

No!

"Here's your pois- I mean, coffee."

"Your daily poison."

"Here's your poisonous caffeine."

"Hope you die from choking on that poison."

She... She was serious all along...

Regina always called the coffee she made me 'poison'. At first, I thought it was her cursing me, then her just being sarcastic, and then I didn't even pay attention to it anymore.

I was just used to it by this point.

But actually... She wasn't joking. Not in the slightest.

Regina has been poisoning me.

W-wait. No. I'm sure she's not. Plus, this poison... The doctor never told me that it was lethal! So far, aside from the coughs, nothing has happen--

Just as I thought about this, a sudden fit of coughs attacked me, perfectly in the timing.

But then, why does it feel worse than usual?

Covering my mouth with my hand, I felt something sticky land on my palm, making me freeze.

My hands shook rapidly, and I felt my face pale. With great hesitation in my movement, I looked toward my hand. And yes, I was right.

There's blood.

Regina wanted to kill me.

~~

It's nearly the middle of the night now.

Regina is already asleep here in my arms. She thought that I was already asleep earlier, which made her go to sleep earlier than usual too.

But I can't sleep.

Heaving a sigh, I turn to face the girl in my arms. Silky, straight hair the color of the night sky, complexion in the perfect middle of tan and pale, long lashes that make her look innocent, and sharp eyebrows that make her look devilish. High cheekbones accent her face wonderfully, a long, narrow nose that makes me want to poke it. And finally, her lips. Oh, those lips that I am addicted to. Soft and sweet, that's how I'd like to describe it.

Again, I sighed. I've been doing that too much today, haven't I?

Lifting my hand and brushing away a loose strand that was obstructing my view of my queen, I whisper, knowing well that she won't hear me.

"Why, Regina?"

Her soft, unchanging breathing answered me.

I continued speaking while brushing her hair with my fingers, "Do you hate me so much? Do you despise me as much as I love you?"

After a few beats of me just watching her sleep deeply, I lowered my head and put a soft kiss on her lips.

Leaning my forehead against hers, I vow, "If you want to kill me, then do it. I promised myself to give you everything you want, however the way. And if it is my life you want to take, then it is all yours. If I'm an idiot for loving you and letting you have my life, then let me be the king of all idiots."

"Kill me, Regina. Do with me as you will, for only to you, my queen, my love, my Regina, will I surrender."

~~

Back to present.

~~

THIRD PERSON POV

In an ocean of silence, Regina stood there, looking like a goddess of death. Then, surprising everyone, she threw her bouquet on Cavillor's corpse, like they were meant for this occasion.

Unbeknownst to everyone but her, they were.

Aconite means 'hatred'.
Red and black dahlia means 'betrayal'.
Orange lily means 'disdain'.
Petunia means 'resentment'.

"Your king is dead."

The remaining loyal ones sucked in a narrow breath.

"I am now your queen. And as per the late king's orders, the whole Mafia, Italian and British, is now under my control. This is my first order: anyone that dares to oppose my superiority is considered a dead man walking."

Still, under the haze of processing what had just happened, the people in question couldn't make their mouths talk, only ended in blankly gaping at Regina.

This... Did she play Cavillor like that?! All those years...

Seeing no words from anyone, Regina turned to leave the cathedral, as well as the corpse of her new husband. However, once she turned around, a series of clicks and a bang resounded.

"Aah! Fuck!"

Soren looked coldly at the one that dared to try and kill the new queen. Nicholas' movements were quick, but thankfully, Soren was quicker.

Before Nicholas could pull the trigger that was already aimed at Regina's back, Soren had already shot his shoulder. The pain caused him to yelp and curse, but because his dominant arm was now injured, he couldn't try and continue his plan.

"You dare to assassinate the queen? Well then, don't expect me to be merciful." Soren then signaled to his men, and with no words said or time wasted, a bullet was shot straight at Nicholas' brain.

"No! Why you..." Nicholas' father exclaimed. Taken aback at his son's sudden death, he couldn't help but see red. Without a sense of proper thinking, he started to blindly rain bullets everywhere.

Seeing the former second-hand man of the late Xavier Flare starts to go out of control, the others that were still loyal to their own fought alongside him.

They'd rather die now than be traitors to the one to who they were truly loyal.

But although they had the will and courage, they were still clearly outnumbered. Not long later, corpses were littered on one side of the cathedral, most of them either dead or in critical condition. Except for Victoria Flare, who had moved far from that group. Seeing that this woman didn't plan on doing anything, nobody paid much attention to her.

Seeing that the opposing group was now down, Zachary, who had switched over to Regina's side long ago, walked to the nearly-dead group on the floor.

Coming to his destination, he ruthlessly grabbed the collar of Angelo, who was still alive, but barely, and forced Angelo to look into Zachary's eyes.

"Oh, no you don't. You're not going to die that easily, you motherfucker. While I may not be a torturer, I am going to enjoy torturing you." Zachary said in a low voice to his nemesis.

The last thing Angelo saw before fainting was a pair of eyes that were eager to make him suffer.

And from that moment on, Angelo started wishing, dreaming, praying for a death that never came.

Throughout this situation, Regina didn't even look back but continued to walk. Everyone's sight was glued to the goddess of death that seemed as if instead of walking, she was gliding. And on the hem of her dark black gown was an even darker color because of a stain that came from the blood of her now-deceased husband.

~~

Regina opened the door of their- her apartment. A room of darkness greeted her, which looked completely unlike her usual view of this place that seemed to be always in the light.

Tossing her heels on the floor somewhere, Regina inwardly cursed the bloody death contraption. Then, with only the light of the moon aiding her, she climbed the stairs all the way to the room that she had shared with Cavillor.

When she got in the room, the first thing she did was open the lights, and when she did, a white sheet of paper quickly caught her attention, as it was in stark contrast to the dark blue covers of the bed.

Slightly furrowing her eyebrows in confusion, she reluctantly walked towards the item, sitting down as she arrived. Still clad in her gown, she picked up the paper and opened it, and started to read.

Regina's eyes widened.

"Dear my love, my queen, my Regina,

I love you. I love you, I love you, I love you. I can repeat those words again and again, and they will never be enough to fully express my feelings.

But even though I love you more than my own heart can handle, I also know that you don't love me. And that's okay. I... Don't regret loving you, even if you're planning on killing me, which I know you already are.

Now, I'm sure that while you're reading this, I'm already dead by your poison."

Regina sucked in a breath.

"Yeah, I've known just recently. This poison... I found an antidote for it... But I don't plan on using it. I have already promised you, my queen, that I anything I would do for you, anything I would give you.

Even if that is my own life.

So, now that you have had your revenge, there's only one wish I'd like to ask of you. Please live well. Take care of yourself, don't overwork, and find someone who you will come to love, unlike how you felt for me. Of course, they can't not love you as much as I do, but it should at least reach the tip."

Regina chuckled breathlessly, "Dumb mutt. He still has the gall to joke at such a time..."

"Well... I don't have anything else to say, Regina. Goodbye, and I love you. I always have, and always will. If the day comes that we are reborn once again, let's not be in a Mafia business, alright? That way... Maybe...

With love from the bottom of my heart,
Cavillor"

~~

Opening the door that led to the terrace, Soren swept his eyes over the place. After not being able to find Regina anywhere in the whole penthouse apartment, the final place to look was here, before he went outside and tried to find her somewhere else.

True to his final guess, there she was, leaning against the railway, staring at the empty, starless sky with only a single full moon in sight.

Soren neared the woman, looking at her before following her gaze to the moon. In silence, they stayed there, simply watching the white sphere, but with such complicated thoughts that only they knew.

After minutes of nothingness, a sound broke out.

A choked sob.

Gritting her teeth, Regina forced herself to stop, but she just couldn't. The tears were coming down like a waterfall, her sobs wretching on her chest, forcing to exit her throat. She lifted a hand to her head, clutching her hair among her fingers in agony.

Then, a pair of arms pulled her into an embrace, one of the two hands started to rub her back in an effort to make her more comfortable.

An effort merely in vain.

"Let it out, Regina. Let it out."

Hearing those words from the only shoulder that she can lean on, Regina finally burst open her dam of tears. Quiet sobs were produced out of her throat, ones she didn't bother trying to stop. Her tears had continually flowed now, and she did not move to hinder their fall either. Her shoulders shook uncontrollably, and she stared off into the distance, appearing quite dazed in sorrow.

They continued there for several minutes; Soren holding Regina in his arms, comforting her, and Regina, for once, seeking comfort in another and letting herself be comforted.

She then slowly started to calm down, only her heavy panting and some sniffles now and then were the sounds that she had made. Surprisingly, she didn't feel ashamed of her weak show but felt as though a small part of her heavy burden had been lifted.

But it wasn't enough. She had to get it out.

Still leaning on the auburn's shoulder, Regina laughed humorlessly, almost mockingly, and said, "You know, Soren... Cavillor left me a note. Turned out that the blonde mutt had known that I was killing him slowly by slowly for a while already."

Soren looked at her shocked, but made no movements to disturb her, or said any words.

She continued, "That fucker even found an antidote, but... He said that he didn't want to use it. Let him be a martyr for my satisfaction or some shit."

Seeing her go quiet after saying that, Soren thought for a moment and gazed at her. This woman... He had been in love with her for years, but she...

"You... Love him, don't you?"

Regina turned to look at Soren when he softly asked this question. Seeing the flurry of emotions of grief in his eyes, she glanced down, unable to take it all in.

Turning to look at the moon once again, she answered under her breath, "What are you saying, Soren? Of course I... I..."

Regina frowned to herself, getting annoyed.

'Come on, just fucking say it, you cowardly bitch! You hate that blonde mutt, you know damn well you do!' She inwardly scolded herself, which also made her confused. Why would she need to scold and convince herself?

"I..."

"I... Do."

"I love him."

Hearing her answer, Soren wasn't even surprised anymore. Ever since that meeting of theirs in the café when he heard her hesitate, he'd already had his suspicions, and this just confirmed it. But just because he wasn't shocked, doesn't mean that he still wasn't hurt.

However, he currently suppressed his feelings and consoled her. 'At this time... It's about her, not me.'

Still rubbing her back, Soren suddenly asked a question that she had hoped he wouldn't.

"Then, why would you still..?"

Regina smiled forlornly, "Because I have to. Yes, I may love him, but what he meant in his note was correct too. I will never be calm unless I eradicate all those that have hurt my family. They can torture me any day, but hurt who I love, all will pay."

Having said her peace, Regina stood and left, once again leaving Soren alone behind her, watching her go further and further away from him.

Like always.

But Soren didn't stay there sitting. He stood up, and followed after her, as he swore to himself. 'Even if you won't look at me, Regina, you will always be the one whom I will follow. Wherever you go.'

~~

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