Queen Mother Minerva's POV
"Mom, don't die. Please, don't leave me alone," I begged my mom who was lying on a hospital bed. Her heart monitor was beeping loudly and fell into a flat line.
I cried until my eyes had dried.
My dad cheated on my mom. They were already engaged and their wedding had been set. But he cheated. He left us. He flew to another country with her new girlfriend. I heard the girl was rich. Maybe that was why he chose her instead of us his family.
My mom and dad were childhood sweethearts, when they grew up, they realized that they were in love with each other, and the fruit of that love was me. I was born out of wedlock. They didn't get married because of a lack of money and also they believed that as long as they loved each other, that was enough. But I didn't agree with that, so I was the one who suggested that they should level up their relationship and make it official since I saved up a little bit enough for a simple wedding, but it came to this situation and everything was ruined.
My mom fell into depression because of it. She couldn't eat, process, and sleep properly, thinking about why my dad left us. A few weeks later, I couldn't even have a proper conversation with her, it was as if I was talking to air. Until months had passed and she fell sick. I rushed her to the hospital, but no one would accept her with no cash deposit first. We were so poor and I only have my part-time job, I didn't have the chance to go to college and so I couldn't get a decent job. I almost went to all the hospitals in town but only one of them accepted mom. It was a public hospital and in one room, there were 10 patients.
After a year, mom had given up and left me. I had no one. I didn't know any of my relatives. I had no friends. I only had myself.
I was left with lots of debts. I paid some of the hospital bills with the money that I had saved up for their wedding, but it wasn't enough, I still needed a large amount of money. And so, I went to loan sharks for help. I had to pay the hospital bills and other debts that my mom and dad left. I had no choice, I didn't want to get locked up in jail. I still had my dream. I dreamed of having my own good, happy family. I dreamed of meeting my soulmate. I dreamed of being happy once again. But my dreams ended on that day. The day when I was being chased by the loan sharks. I was running away not because I had no intention of paying them back but because they wanted me as the payment. Why would I sell my body? Why would I throw my dignity? I would rather die than stoop that low. But I wasn't a fast runner. They reached me and then they forced themselves on me. I was begging for them to stop, but they didn't listen. They ruined me. I couldn't do anything. Three big men versus a frail lady, what was supposed to happen? But I was sorta thankful that they didn't leave me alive. They stabbed me so many times that I was bathing with my own blood. I died at 32.
That was when a strange man appeared. I was extracted from my body before my last breath. Brandon made me a healer cupid like him. I didn't wanna forget anything. I wanted to remember every detail of how painful my memories were. That was what I believed to become stronger than before. Those memories were who I was today.
Years had passed, and being a healer cupid wasn't a bad thing, I enjoyed every mission and the perks we had. Vacation in the human world and also the cupid card. If only I had it when I was still a human, then my dad wouldn't cheat, my mom wouldn't be sick, and I wouldn't have died. Everything would never end up like that.
During my observation in the Cupid Kingdom, I realized that there was a possibility that my dad cheated on my mom not because he wanted to, but because he could be matched to another woman. And my intuition was right. My hunchs were always right. I found out that it was possible to be matched to another person even if they were already in a relationship or even married. It was absurd! They weren't matching people for the good, they were destroying other people's lives! How could they match a person who was already in love? That was when I began to hate the Cupid Kingdom, their system, and most of all, the Royal Family. My hatred grew, even more, when I found out that the Princess of the Cupid Kingdom was the one who matched my father to another woman. I knew it because I befriended the Prince who was 10 years younger than me. I did my best to seduce him, to make him fall for me, and I succeeded. I had the upper hand, he was in love with me, so it was easy to manipulate him.
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I was at the Royal Garden to meet Cerius secretly when I accidentally heard Heart and King Vertroth's conversation.
"Really, father?" Heart said with amusement in her voice.
"Yes, my daughter. Your brother already has the Perceiver ability, he can assign pairs to match but his title isn't official yet, however, he doesn't have to know about this. And as for you, you will be the ruler of the Kingdom," King Vertroth stated. "My children are really incredible. I couldn't be happier."
What was the meaning of that? Why was the throne would be given to the Princess instead of the Prince? It was a Kingdom and that meant the ruler must be a king.
"But why me, father? Brother would be madder at me when he finds out about what you said."
"He will soon face the truth, but for now, let's keep this a secret between us."
Oh well, I just came up with a brilliant idea.
I told the Prince about what I heard in the Royal Garden and he felt so angry and betrayed, that was when he said, "I wish Heart to disappear! I really hate her. She is father's favorite even though she was the reason why our mother died. Father even hid about my ability."
I secretly smirked as I massaged his back and shoulders. "I have a proposal for you. I'm sure you'll like it."
He looked up at me behind him. "What is it?"
I smiled at him as I leaned forward, my arms around his neck from the back. "What if Heart is sent to hell?"
"What do you mean?"
"Since you have the Perceiver ability, why don't we take advantage of that?"
"I don't understand what you mean."
I whispered in his ear, "there will be the next mission for tomorrow. Why don't we make her commit a sin that would lead her to hell?"
His eyes widened and his lips formed a smirk. He kissed me on the lips before he said, "what would I do without you? Let's do it."
We were now in the Perceiver's room. Cerius was the first one sucked by the vortex door since he was one of the royal family. So before I could enter the room, there would be a need for approval from him.
"Now we're here, but how will I do it?" Cerius asked looking handsomely dumb. He was handsome but dumb.
"Do you think I know better than you?" I asked as I rolled my eyes, but then an idea came to my mind. "Why don't you try chanting like the King?"
"You mean, this?" There was a brief pause before he spoke again. "With the power bestowed upon me as a king, I or—"
I cut him off. "Are you serious, Cerius? Why would you say king when you're not even the king?"
He chuckled. "Right, why did I say that? Okay, let me do it again."
I nodded at him and then he continued, "with the power bestowed upon me as a prince, I order you to show me the pair assigned to Heart Cupid."
We waited for a few minutes but nothing appeared.
"Why isn't working?" he whined impatiently.
"That's odd. I definitely heard the King say that you have the Perceiver's ability," I said as I walked idly.
If saying he was the prince didn't work, I guessed not all the princes could have that ability. Right, the King said that his children were incredible. That must mean, this was a rare case.
"What now?" he asked.
I smirked. "I think I got it now. Try saying that you are the son of King Vertroth."
His brows furrowed. "Do you think it will work?"
I sighed. "Just try it."
He nodded. "I am the son of King Vertroth."
I heaved an exasperated sigh as I tried to calm myself. How could he be this dumb?
"That's not what I meant. Say the chant again, and instead of saying 'as a prince,' try saying 'as the son of King Vertroth,' do you get it now?"
Cerius finally did it right and Heart's next mission appeared. It was a large holographic image suspended in the air. Heart's assigned pair was Theressa Gomez and Keelan Miller.
"I did it! I really did it, Minerva!" he celebrated.
After that, Cerius tried to use the earth beneath us. That was when we discovered that he could see humans in real-time in the human world and their profiles. When he found Theressa's location, I told him to observe her and tell me who was the person that she would likely see every day, and then he said the name Harry Redwoods.
"Now, with that name you have mentioned, change Theressa's match to Harry Redwoods, and then after Heart is done with them, undo the changes and return it to Keelan Miller," I instructed.
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Everything went according to the plan. It was easy so since there was no one who could reveal the truth. Heart was already taken care of and was dragged into hell, Cerius and I celebrated our successful plan, and then that time, he also proposed to me. He wanted me as his queen. I accepted his offer because it would be my chance to eliminate all of them one by one, but there was a hindrance. A royal cupid couldn't marry a healer. It wasn't allowed. Cerius told me about it, that his father was against our relationship. This made me anxious, how could I make the King accept me? or should I just eliminate him? But how would I do that?
Luckily, a few days later, the King had just disappeared without a trace. Luck was on my side after all.
Without the King, there was no hindrance between me and Cerius anymore. I was proclaimed the queen and Cerius was the new king.
Then that was how I began my plan to kill him without him knowing. I made sure that my plan would work even if it was slowly, but surely. In his tea, I would always put the powder that I had given an effort to make from the toxic plant I found in the Cupid Forest. Since he was dumb, he wouldn't notice anything.
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I was once happy again, I found myself genuinely smiling when I had my first baby. Carl brought joy to my life. I was even happier when Marcy, my daughter, came into the picture. I had my own family. That was when I started to be thankful to my husband. I learned to love him. That was why when he became paralyzed, I felt sorry for him. I regretted what I had done, but then I also brushed off that thought and convinced myself that it was all according to my plan. I couldn't be disheartened by a mere feeling of love. I didn't use the healing arrow on him.
I thought everything was in my control. I thought I didn't have to commit sin any longer. But that was just my thought until Marcy saw the prophecy of the chosen one returning. I already knew that Eurivin was Heart, Cerius and I knew it from the start since I told him to keep an eye on Theressa—she was our responsibility after all. We made her life a mess. When Theressa took her own life, I sent Brandon to collect her soul. It was my gift for him since he was the reason I became a healer cupid. It was also a stroke of luck for him since he only needed one soul to ascend to the Cloud Palace.
Through Marcy, I found out that Eurivin was the woman Keelan had mismatched and that Vanessa was in contact with her too, so I summoned these two cupids to confirm everything.
Why did Keelan match her to another man? Eurivin's assigned match was specifically chosen to make her life miserable. Why did he have to ruin everything? Well, either way, she was still mismatched, so it was okay.
When I placed my hands on Keelan's head, I read his memories and even the human memories that were kept deep down within him.
I found out that this Eurivin was indeed Heart—their faces were exactly the same—I didn't believe Cerius at first when he told me that, but now that I saw her face, I was certain now. Meanwhile, with Keelan's human memories, I realized that he was the Keelan that was supposed to be the match of Theressa, and surprisingly, this Theressa was the Vanessa I knew—I thought they had only looked alike since their names were different. So she chose to have a new name.
They were all connected. It was as if the luck was on my side again. I was glad that I sent Brandon to Theressa as his final mission.
Suddenly, I was as if had awoken from the past. Was that all a dream?
"Everything makes sense now. It was all Minerva's doing," a voice said, there was a wave of anger and frustration in it. My mind came to the realization that my memories were read by Heart. My eyes widened in surprise, why didn't I notice it? It was as if I was back in the past and now I was back in the present. My attention went to Heart when she huffed and said, "I couldn't believe you pulled that off,"
I scoffed. "Thank you for the compliment."
She smirked at me. "We all have seen your memories like a movie. You can't deny anything now."
"I see," was the only thing I said.
"Mom, I can't believe you did all that. I'm so disappointed in you." Carl's words were hurtful, but I deserved them.
Now, I'm ready to go to hell.