The Lovely Princess, in detail:
When Jennette was born, Penelope died giving birth to Jennette, but Jennette's aunt hid Jennette away in the care of the Alpheus family.
Eventually,
"Supported by her father, the king, she was wed to Prince Alpheus, the best man in the Empire fit to be a husband, and lived happily ever after..." -Anastasia
Jennette spends a lot of time with Claude, loved by her father Claude.
She marries Ijekiel Alpheus, too, and is free to travel between and sleepover at both the Alpheus Mansion and the Obelian Palace.
Jennette spent several years living with Claude, who was cold towards everyone except Jennette.
One day, Jennette's aunt snuck poison into the tea that Athanasia made for Jennette. When Athanasia gave the tea to Jennette, Jennette was poisoned, screams in pain and sweat, and blacks out.
...
When she finally woke up, she found out that Athanasia was on trial, accused of an attempted murder on her.
Jennette tried hard to remember what just happened, and the last memory she has was of drinking Athanasia's tea, looking at Athanasia smiling at her drinking the tea, and next thing she knows, she feels a jolt of pain inside of her and loses consciousness. She doesn't know whether the shock on Athanasia's face was just her imagination or real, it was only a split second vision in between the blinding pain that made her vision go gray and white, so she didn't see properly, before she promptly lost consciousness for days.
Until now, when she wakes up to everyone telling her that Athanasia was caught red-handed trying to murder her.
Jennette was conflicted, she didn't know whether to believe them, she couldn't decide whether Athanasia TRULY tried to kill her. Maybe Athanasia was jealous of me, because Claude loves me but not her? So, Athanasia tried to kill me? The tea, Athanasia put in my hands, for me to drink, were poisoned...
Jennette felt betrayed by her best friend; Athanasia had taught Jennette palace customs. She thought they were really friends, sisters even. But out of everyone in the world, only Athanasia would have a motive to kill Jennette. It seemed Claude reached the same conclusion, separately.
Before the trial even concluded, Claude sent Athanasia to the Gallow, to be hanged.
Jennette gets traumatized, seeing Athanasia getting hanged. But she understands her father's decision, and continues being nice to Claude afterwards.
(Jennette still was shocked at Athanasia's betrayal, and turned her eyes away in sadness when Athanasia was hanged. )
That didn't mean the trial and ongoing investigation stopped, however. Just because the suspect was hanged before the investigation concluded, did not mean the investigators would drop their research.
The investigators took the poisoned tea to the laboratories, and tested the poisoned herbs, to see where they came from. They find out that the ingredients came from Jennette's aunt's garden, gardenhouse, and herbal store! This specific poison comes from the Noble Judith Family's gardens.
Thus, the truth was revealed, the culprit behind the attempted assassination was none other than Jennette's aunt, Miss Judith (sister of Penelope Judith.)
That means, Athanasia was innocent.
Miss Judith was betting on the fact that, even if she gets caught, Athanasia is loved by absolutely no one, not even Claude. So even if Miss Judith gets caught, she won't get in trouble.
Miss Judith getting caught causing harm to Athanasia, won't get her in trouble. But Miss Judith getting caught causing harm to Jennette, WOULD get her in trouble.
To resolve that, Miss Judith can explain that she was NOT actually trying to kill Jennette, because she used an incredibly weak dosage of poison, which is curable by the Palace doctors; in fact, she's the woman who hid Jennette away into the Alpheus family's protection 14 years ago; Miss Judith had a hand in protecting Jennette from the day she was born. So Claude will not punish Judith for hurting Jennette, because Judith only helps Jennette.
Judith outright confesses to Claude, "Alright, I did it. I wanted Jennette to be the first in line for the throne, so I wanted to get Athanasia out of the way. I didn't expect you to kill Athanasia, I just wanted Athanasia to not block Jennette's path."
Knowing she won't get punished, because her intent was not the execution of Athanasia (though no one cared about Athanasia so even if she wanted Athanasia dead, she probably would've got off scott free,) and most definitely NOT the death of JENNETTE, Miss Judith confesses to Claude.
Claude's response was, "Is that so?"
And he let Judith off, not feeling an ounce of guilt or regret on killing his first daughter. What mattered was that Jennette lived, and as much as Claude wanted to punish Miss Judith for poisoning Jennette, Claude understood that Judith only wanted to "help" Jennette, and is still useful for Jennette's wellbeing, and cares for Jennette. Out of love for Jennette, Claude allows Miss Judith to live.
In other words:
Eventually, the truth was revealed, that Athanasia is innocent. And Jennette's aunt was guilty.
Claude didn't care, Miss Judith went back to her Judith Estate.
But Jennette...
Jennette was furious, shocked, angry, in tears.
At the Alpheus Estate:
"Athanasia was innocent?!" Jennette screamed. "I can't believe it! I thought she was guilty. I thought she tried to kill me."
"Calm down Jennette," Ijekiel said.
"No! I didn't stop Claude from killing Athy." Jennette cried. "I thought Athy tried to kill me...But it was my aunt all along!"
She sobbed more, her shoulders shaking. "I thought my sister had betrayed me..."
"I didn't try to stop her execution... I wish I tried harder, but I didn't even try!" Jennette smashed the expensive Alpheus vases into shards.
Ijekiel's father, Duke Alpheus, came into the room. "What is that commotion?!" He sees Jennette smashing the expensive heirloom vases of the Alpheus family, passed through the generations.
These are priceless vases, being smashed by an insane Jennette?! Duke Alpheus roughly grabs Jennette's hand, ignoring the fact that it's bleeding, and yells. "STOP, JENNETTE! Don't forget, you are a GUEST in this house. We housed you from the day you were born, let you grow up here, living on our food, our shelter, our Mansion's services. Despite the fact that you are not an Alpheus, we raised you. We raised you for 14 years. Without us, you would have been a homeless orphan on the Streets, or killed on the day you were born, by Claude, if we didn't hide you at the time of his insanity spree.
"And this is how you pay us back? No, you pay us back the PROPER way. By keeping yourself in the King's good graces, helping us hold an Influence on the King and the Crown."
Jennette cried. "But Athy was innocent!"
"That does not matter. Athanasia was a bug, blocking your inheritance to the throne. Now, you are the sole heir to the throne, you are the Crown Princess. In fact, it is good that she died. Your aunt, Miss Judith, intended for Athanasia to only be disgraced and removed from the Line of Succession. However, disgraced royalty can always RETURN to the Line of Succession. But dead ones can't. This is good for you, and for us. Now, get over it."
Jennette burst out crying.
"Father, please," Ijekiel gasped, and pushed Lord Alpheus outside of the room. "Please get out. Leave us alone."
As Lord Alpheus stood by the doorway, he turned his head backwards to stare wide-eyed at Jennette. "Not only will you be *even more* in the King's Good Graces, as his *sole* remaining daughter. When Claude eventually dies of old age, or whatever, YOU will be Ruler of the Obelian Empire. Our direct influence over the kingdom. This is your way of repaying your debt to us." Lord Alpheus got the last word in, before slamming the door shut to them in a loud SNAP.
...
All quiet.
Shards of broken glass in the room, and Jennette looking down, hazel-brown hair over her diamond-blue eyes, filled with tears, silently sobbing. Blank eyes, blank stare at nothingness.
Ijekiel made sure the door was locked, and walked back over to Jennette. He grabbed Jennette and hugged her tightly.
Jennette started sobbing quietly again, and hugged Ijekiel back. "S-S-She was my sister...and I let her die..."
"Shhh, it's okay."
"It's all my fault. It's all because of me. If it weren't for me, Athanasia would have lived...Even if I didn't do anything, Father killed Athanasia BECAUSE of me...If I didn't exist... If I never set foot in that Palace to begin with, if I never met Claude, Athy could have lived..." Jennette sobbed into Ijekiel's arms and chest, wetting her tears into his gray suit.
"And what's worse... even back then, I could have stopped it when it first came out. But I truly thought she hated me and tried to kill me, and didn't try to stop my Father... I was a coward, fearing for my life, thinking I would be safer if I let Father do what he did...But I was wrong...And I didn't try to stop him from killing...killing...h...h..." Jennette started shaking and shivering, unable to control her hands and fingers.
"You couldn't have known. You're not an omnipresent goddess." Ijekiel replied quietly, rubbing Jennette's back. He held Jennette close, and held her warmly and in his embrace, for hours, until she calmed down. "I am sure Athanasia would not want you to beat yourself up over this. If Athanasia is truly your friend, she would want you to live happily ever after, and not hurt yourself or be depressed over her, for ages. She would want you to move on..."
Jennette shook her head, she felt it was wrong to do so. She felt survivor's guilt. And actually, she felt partially responsible for NOT stopping Claude when she had the chance. Claude was head-over-heels for her, she could have stopped Claude if she threatened to cut ties with him if he hurt Athanasia. But she didn't.
There was no arguing that logic-
But suddenly, she looked up, and saw the stress lines around Ijekiel's eyes, and face. She felt some shivers, and realizes she's not the only person trembling. Ijekiel was trembling while holding Jennette.
Jennette realizes, I should stop making Ijekiel so worried and stressed and anxious... He's done so much for me. He's put up with my petty demands from the time I was a child, up until now, and he comforted me every time I was crying over SMALL and trivial things such as losing my dolls. He always has solutions for those, like being able to find the dolls and instantly cheering me up.
But now, this is the first time Ijekiel is faced with a crying Jennette that he CAN'T cheer up, and has no solution for- after all you can't bring back the dead.
Being perfect and smart in every aspect, Ijekiel always has a solution for everything I cry about, but this is the ONE thing he does not have a solution for. And this is the first time, he's faced with a problem he can't solve. For the first time, Ijekiel can't fix my problem...the problem that I'm crying about, he can't fix it, so he can't stop my crying... So now he's in deep pain.
Jennette notes that Ijekiel had clamped his eyes shut, in deep pain with stress lines at his temples, holding, squeezing Jennette tightly.
Jennette bit her lip in unease. Ijekiel was NOT like his father, Duke Alpheus. Yet Jennette kept putting so much pressure on Ijekiel, she felt sorry for putting all her burdens on this boy who's only slightly older than her. (Man, now, husband.)
"You're right."
Ijekiel opened his eyes, and looked down at a soft-eyed staring Jennette, gazing back into his eyes. "What?"
Jennette wrapped her arms around Ijekiel, hugging him back and patting his back. "I said you're right. It's not my fault that Athanasia died... And you're right, Athanasia was my good friend. She would not want me crying over her for too long, she'd want me to live my life to the fullest." Jennette forced a smile, but it was a charismatic, convincing smile because for some reason, her smiles always managed to fool and win over anyone, no matter who they were. "Thanks, Ijekiel. You've always been by my side."
Ijekiel relaxed in Jennette's embrace. "Oh...Yes. That." Ijekiel moved his hand down to hold Jennette's hand. "Let's move on, and just live well. Don't think about the stressful past anymore, and don't think about anything stressful, Athanasia-related. You will get depressed and hurt if you dwell too much on the painful, tragic past...especially, that insanity that happened back at the Palace..." Ijekiel gazed out the window. "One day, we will get away from all this insanity."
Jennette nodded. "You're right... You're absolutely right. One day, we will." Jennette resolved herself. I will find a solution to all of this.
"Jennette. One day, I will take my father's place and become Duke of this Kingdom. And one day, you'll inherit the Throne of this Empire. Now, the Throne matter isn't important," Ijekiel stated, he didn't agree with his Father Alpheus's powerhungry tendencies. "But, I am sure Claude needs you to comfort him... He's a cold-hearted King who loves no single human being in the entire kingdom, except for you. A King like that, would go insane, he needs someone. And you are his only friend...So I recommend just staying by Claude's side, whenever you get a chance. So that he doesn't die of loneliness and distrust. All humans need some relaxed, social interaction."
Jennette nodded. "Yes, that's why I've always been nice to Claude... I didn't expect him to warm up to me, but he did. He's a father I never thought I'd get, and now I have one ^^"
Ijekiel smiled. "Then, this all works out. My father the Duke will be satisfied since you're technically still following his instructions, and get off our backs. And you keep doing what you wanted to do anyway. And I get to do what I do, and eventually inherit the title of Duke of the Kingdom." He pat her hair. "I love you, Jennette."
"I love you too, Ijekiel." Jennette answered.
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Optional: I love you so much...So I'm sorry... but I am sure, we will be together in the next life.
That is how The Lovely Princess OFFICIAL ENDS. But what happens NEXT?:
In the past, Anastacius killed Claude's mother, and attempted to kill Claude next, but Claude turned out to be stronger, and killed Anastacius instead. Penelope Judith escaped, and died while giving birth to Jennette.
In the ORIGINAL The Lovely Princess (and you already read these lines from the previous -chapter):
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EXCERPT FROM THE PREVIOUS CHAPTER:
Right before Jennette was born, Anastacius dabbled in dark magic; his intention wasn't exactly to make Jennette magically powerful in order to get a strong daughter- that was a lie to Penelope. His intention was to ensure that if he ever dies or gets killed, that's not the end of it. (Besides, Anastacius plans to kill both Claude and Claude's mother soon, and this is his contingency plan if he ends up losing his life instead. If Claude manages to kill him instead, the black magic spell infused within Jennette will bring him back. )
His intent with infusing dark magic into Jennette at her birth, was to ensure, that if he gets killed, his body may physically die, but he will be back:
Perhaps either with a new, physical body, or perhaps as just a ghost, or something else.
He will infuse Jennette with dark magic, and his own magic (Anastacius's revival spell is made entirely of dark magic.)
He does not know whether he will be able to appear a lot or only a little bit, or whether he'll get a real body, or just be a ghost. All he knows, at least, is that he will be able to influence Jennette even after he dies, because she's born with HIS dark magic infusions.
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This is what happens AFTER the Ending of The Lovely Princess, IN DETAIL.
What if Jennette didn't make the black magic deal to turn back time?
Or what if Jennette, did not make the deal YET?
This event is happening in a universe in which Jennete DID NOT make the black magic deal, or in a universe during a time period BEFORE Jennette finally makes the black magic deal.
So ignoring the Black Magic Deal entirely, this is what happens after the ending of "The Lovely Princess:"
(These were not covered in the book The Lovely Princess, because The Lovely Princess ended before the following scenes.)
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REFERENCE:
Jennette is cursed by Anastacius's dark magic infusion curse from the moment she was born.
Anastacius infused two curses on Jennette. One curse, will bring him back, whether in the form of a ghost or in the form of a physical body.
The other curse, is specifically an anti-Obelian bloodline curse, specifically tailored to hurt Claude. This curse on Jennette, would contaminate Claude the closer she sticks to Claude.
During Jennette's birth, when Anastacius infused Jennette with Dark Magic, he also infused a spell that would give Claude tons of headaches and brain damage and even amnesia, if she sticks close to Claude.
By sticking to close to Claude, Jennette will contaminate Claude with Anastacius's dark magic, slowly eroding away Claude's health, magic power, brain functions, memories, and give him brain damage and excruciating headaches. Eventually, this dark magic will kill Claude, or if not, at least it will make Claude an easy, vulnerable target to kill.
This was Anastacius's plan for revenge.
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Story Continuation After The Ending:
After Jennette finishes crying in Ijekiel's arms, she goes visit Claude everyday at his Palace. She drinks tea with Claude, watches him do his paperwork and diplomacy, handling State Affairs, and holds, what she considers, a father-daughter relationship with Claude.
She's the daughter of His Majesty, Claude de Alger Obelia.
Claude never smiles, but Jennette and Felix are the only two people that Claude allows in his Marble Palace (although Felix had stopped visiting the Palace for years, for some strange reason..) So technically, Jennette is the only PERSON allowed in his Marble Palace, in the whole continent.
Jennette was also free to visit Claude in his office while he was working, even though he oozes murderous intent at anyone else who barges into his work office.
Jennette quite liked this arrangement, going between the Alpheus Mansion at night to sleep with her husband, Ijekiel, and going to Claude's Palace in the daytime and mornings to hang out with Claude and watch him handle Government Matters, (and also potentially learn, in case she eventually inherits the Throne.)
Jennette was allowed to roam anywhere she wanted, it seemed Claude did not mind if she just walks into a Government Meeting full of high-rank nobles, wearing casual clothing. In fact, Claude being the most powerful man in the continent, let Jennette do whatever she wanted, and even allowed her to interrupt meetings with foreign Presidents. Claude didn't mind, and the other foreign diplomats and leaders didn't say anything or complain, because their nations were ten to a hundred times weaker than the Obelian Empire...And they were straight out terrified of Claude.
So all that was happening, but what no one knew:
Jennette was cursed from the day she was born, as a child artificially created from dark magic; and parts of her curse was latching onto Claude.
Everyday that Jennette visits Claude, and every time Jennette touches Claude, parts of Jennette's curse contaminates Claude.
Little by little, Claude notices his health, energy and stamina deteriorating, he feels his magic power becoming dirty and muddy, instead of being as clear as freshwater diamonds. It's only a little bit, but Claude wonders what's happening to him.
Claude starts to get headaches. He gets random migraines everyday too. Sometimes, he completely forgot what he ate for lunch that day, or what he ate for breakfast, or where he left his stuff. He loses little bits of memories.
These were mild memory loss, he hasn't forgotten anything important, just trivial things, so Claude does not think he's in danger.
But he will kill the one who is causing him such a nuisance.
!
But suddenly, he realizes, this all started happening to him, ever since he met Jennette.
He realizes that Jennette is probably the cause, and if that's true, he probably won't kill Jennette after all... But might have to ban her from the Palace...
The thought of that made Claude's heart hurt.
But he might.
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The next day he waits for Jennette to visit. When Jennette shows up to the palace, Claude runs a magic analysis on Jennette, and finds the girl was artificially created with Dark Magic, so there's no way to break the curse. She was just born like this, the dark magic infused inside her while she was still in Penelope's womb.
That bastard, Anastacius, must have infused dark magic inside Penelope's womb, while she was pregnant with MY daughter, Jennette.
(At the time, since DNA tests didn't exist, Claude knew it was a coin tossup of whether Jennette was biologically his daughter, or Anastacius's daughter. So he simply goes with the assumption of Jennette being his daughter.)
...
Claude frowned. He does not want to destroy Jennette's mental fortitude, or let her know that she was born with dark magic. In fact, Jennette's curse does not seem to affect ANYONE except himself, so Jennette will be fine if she never finds out she was born from Dark Magic, for her whole life.
Claude clenched his fist. I already executed Athanasia, who Jennette loved; this action has already ruined Jennette's emotions for a while, and she finally recovered from it. I don't want to send Jennette back into that depression-spiral again, and nothing would do that better than by telling her that she's a cursed being whose curse affects only me.
Claude loved Jennette, Jennette was the only person alive who he truly cared about. He trusted no one else, and Felix...
Felix had eventually LEFT Claude... He didn't really understand why. But the Red Knight, Felix, who always fought by his side, for years, and helped him attain his War Hero status, and sided with him when he killed his brother the Standing Emperor at the time, and pushed his reputation upwards and helped elevate him to the throne... Felix, who was his most loyal knight... had simply left the Palace one day... A few weeks after Athanasia was executed.
(Perhaps, despite the fact that Felix never interacted with Athanasia, he still was never comfortable with serving a King who would execute his own 18-year-old daughter. That type of King was not what he, as a Knight, pledged his life to protect, and he swore his oath to something like a Knight's Honor Code, despite being the bloodiest, most efficient killer in the wars, he still had his own personal Honor Code.)
And Claude realized just then, how alone he truly was, if he let Jennette go. Then he has no one left...
And he didn't have anyone.
((His memories of Diana were erased in the original The Lovely Princess.
"But original Claude became the way he was because by the time he met Athy, he'd already had his memories of Diana wiped away. Original Claude loved Diana. When she died, he used black magic to cut off those memories just like current Claude. Difference is, current Claude met Athy before all those memories were truly sealed. Remember he said 'one more year and I would've forgotten her completely' ? At that time Athy was 5 So when original Athy met him at 9, it was goneeeee." -midwinteroasis))
Penelope betrayed him, and died.
Felix had left.
Athanasia was never in his vision, and now, never will be.
He didn't have anyone left, except Jennette.
And besides, without him, Jennette would become an orphan. Jennette's mother, Penelope, was dead.
Since Claude believed Jennette was his daughter, he knew that if he abandoned Jennette, Jennette would have zero parents.
He can't just leave her alone... She grew up always surrounded by manipulative, despite being a pure sunflower, with an angel's personality. Only Claude could protect his daughter.
Claude suddenly felt heavy responsibility for Jennette.
I'm the Emperor, Claude de Alger Obelia, the strongest magician in the entire Continent; I am stronger than a measly curse. I will not lose to a curse my Brother placed on Jennette. I defeated my brother in the past, and I will defeat him again.
Claude resolved himself. He didn't want to abandon Jennette, and he enjoyed every second of Jennette's visits, they were more precious than his own health. So he braced himself.
He'll try to be strong, and the curse feels like a mosquito bite on him. "Slightly painful," (it was actually quite painful but Claude refused to acknowledge that,) but ultimately harmless, and Jennette stays happy.
...
...
...
...
But months later, the headaches have skyrocketed from a pain level of 3/10 into a pain level of 20/10. He felt his brain just tore in half, and Claude started coughing out blood.
He felt his magic system chopped into pieces. Day to day, he can't even make his way to the bathroom without grasping the walls or crawling there. He was feeling disabled by the curse, and began letting the Maids into the plain Marble Palace to help him get through day to day functions.
(Violating never letting the maids or anyone into his personal living quarters, now he lets workers come into his palace to help him.)
Claude can no longer attend to State Affairs or government meetings, he's become extremely weak. His vocal cords feel broken.
And he screamed.
He struggles to say any word. He only remembers one word, "Jennette."
He screams "JENNETTE!" Calling for his daughter, in his pain.
Even if he's under a lot of pain, even if he knows seeing her will worsen his condition, he wants to see her. After all, if this is truly his last moment in his life, he wants his last sight to be his daughter. Besides, he's already past the point of no recovery (no medics can cure this,) so not seeing Jennette won't suddenly stop his pain or cure him. "JENNETTE!"
"Father!" Jennette runs into the room.
(if you can't see the above images, here are image links:
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REFERENCE:
"Anastacius infused two curses on Jennette. One curse, will bring him back, whether in the form of a ghost or in the form of a physical body.
The other curse, is specifically an anti-Obelian bloodline curse, specifically tailored to hurt Claude. This curse on Jennette, would contaminate Claude the closer she sticks to Claude.
During Jennette's birth, when Anastacius infused Jennette with Dark Magic, he also infused a spell that would give Claude tons of headaches and brain damage and even amnesia, if she sticks close to Claude.
By sticking to close to Claude, Jennette will contaminate Claude with Anastacius's dark magic, slowly eroding away Claude's health, magic power, brain functions, memories, and give him brain damage and excruciating headaches. Eventually, this dark magic will kill Claude, or if not, at least it will make Claude an easy, vulnerable target to kill.
This was Anastacius's plan for revenge."
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Using the dark magic fusion that was inside Jennette's core, Anastacius revives himself to the physical realm. He materializes, into a physical body, rather than just a ghost.
As it turns out, the entire time, without her knowledge, Jennette has been draining Claude's life force, using it to power up Anastacius's revival spell.
Now Anastacius has a physical body and is back to life, at the cost of Claude's life.
Anastacius smirks, standing in his solid form, looking down at Jennette who's on her knees holding Claude.
"Jennette." Anastacius says. He knows that the revival spell that was used to revive him, requires a sacrifice of a life. A death for a life. And that sacrifice, was Claude.
And even on the 1% chance that Claude somehow survives, the damage done to Claude is already irreversible, he's basically a vegetable.
Anastacius isn't even going to bother doing the finishing blow on Claude.
He grinned. "Leave that be. Let's go."
[That's the end of the manga scene, here's it expanded:]
Jennette looked up at Anastacius. This man looks so similar to Claude... "I refuse to leave Claude! You are insane to tell me to 'leave that be'! Claude is not a 'that.' He is my father! Who the hell are you? How did you get in here?!"
"That thing, is not your father. I'm your real father." Anastacius said. "And the former Emperor of this Empire, before Claude killed me..."
Jennette stared up at him blankly, in shock.
Anastacius smirked evilly. "And I'm back now, here to reclaim my throne. And you, Princess, are my real daughter."
"Reclaim your throne?! Claude was always Emperor!" Jennette yelled, holding a trembling Claude in her arms.
Anastacius shook his head, and unsheathed his blade. Jennette recoiled, hoping he wouldn't slice her or Claude, not letting go of him.
"I was always the Emperor to begin with. Claude's rule is illegitamate. He killed me and ruled illegitimately, I was the firstborn Price and original heir to the throne, with the name of an Emperor. Claude was the 2nd born, my younger brother with the name of a Cripple."
Anastacius pointed his blade straight at Jennette.
"Make your decision now, Jennette. Will you live happily and behave, as my daughter, the daughter of the Emperor. You will have reputation, positions, riches, glory and reverence."
He points his blade towards Claude. "Or will you keep claiming Claude to be your father- even though he technically isn't- and claim yourself as the daughter of a cripple! Hahahaha, sweet irony. Claude named after a cripple finally becomes a cripple.
His eyes, face and voice suddenly turned serious and ominous. "Not only that, you will be marked the daughter of a traitor. The child of a powerhungry traitor who attempted to assassinate the Empire's original Emperor, conquered this empire and ruled this empire for the last 14 years, before devolving into insanity that made him nonfunctional as a human. Do you want to be seen as the daughter of that?
"I will also have a valid reason to execute you, and end your misery right here and now. In fact, I probably will. I don't want my daughter running around tending to a cripple, you have so much potential, I MADE you with Dark Magic. Don't waste it."
Jennette panicked.
"It is always the victors who write history," Anastacius finished. "Make your choice."
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Choice 1: Jennette chooses to stay with Claude.
Anastacius draws his sword, and kills both of them.
(This choice doesn't happen in The Lovely Princess.)
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Choice 2:
Jennette listens to Anastacius's "Jennette. Leave that be, let's go."
She reluctantly lets go of Claude, and Claude reaches out for her but misses as she steps backwards. Claude collapses on the ground, and Jennette reluctantly follows Anastacius outside of the room, glancing back at Claude writhing alone on the ground.
That night... Claude dies alone.
(If there was a cure, they would have found it and used it earlier, but there was no cure. His death was inevitable. )
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Few days later:
Jennette swallows.
Eventually, Anastacius "talked" to everyone in the Palace and government, whether verbally or with violence and muderer. He turns out to be vastly more stronger than Claude, having been revived as an entity of dark magic. No one could defeat him...
So now, Anastacius sat on his Throne, reigning Emperor of the Obelian Empire.
With only one heir, Jennette.
But Anastacius didn't have to worry about that, for he was practically immortal now.
"You get to live in the Royal Palace again, and continue being married to Ijekiel. Everything stays the same for you," Anastacius tells Jennette. "Except the guy sitting at the throne. So stop looking so sad. Enjoy your life. In fact, you, and the empire is safer now, with a better, stronger Emperor." Anastacius laughs.
Yeah, an Emperor who dabbles in Dark Magic, sacrifices 100s of people a day to demons and arrests innocent people in the Empire in order to conducts Dark Magic experiments on them. Sure. Real Better. I prefer the psychopathic, bloodthirsty murderer Claude over this. Jennette thought.
[THE END. THIS IS THE TRUE "AFTER THE ENDING" OF THE LOVELY PRINCESS.]
OPTIONAL:
Due to all this.
Eventually, she does the Dark Magic deal (from this story's Chapter 1) to turn back time and bring Athanasia back. Which begins, "Who Made Me a Princess," Athanasia's story.