Sitting at the top of the food chain; the new emperor of Arcland who took the crown by force, was the ruthless and cold-hearted former general of the Royal army, Carzus Luis de Saltiere. He was widely known as the Death Sword of the battlefield who slaughtered kingdom after kingdoms with a wave of his sword. Not only that, his beast mask that covers his entire face added a ferocious aura on his already intimidating presence. But this very man that frightened everyone who cross paths with him acted like a shy puppy in front of Chiara ──a woman who was brave enough to ask him for a dance during the royal ball. The emperor was possessed! by .... love?
View MoreOf course, why would father and mother love me? It's clear that they adopt me to prevent this humiliation from happening to their precious daughter, Clareen.
Chiara bit her lower lip with a heavy heart as her father continued his ruthless words.
"Chiara, don't you think this is the perfect time to repay all your debts to this family? After all, we've fed you and dressed you for so many years, this is just a little payment I'm asking for."
His cold voice crushed her fragile heart, how long has it been since she lived here in the Florentine mansion as a slave?
Yes, a slave.
She was the first lady of this family by paper, but in reality, she was treated like a slave that even servants would dare to harass her.
What fed? What dressed? All the foods she ate in this house are leftovers by her little sister, the real daughter of the Duke of Florentine household. Even the dogs could get more than that. And aside from the shabby and torn dresses she's wearing everyday, she never experienced wearing even a tiny bit of jewelry.
How cruel, she was adopted as a daughter of the Duke ... but her fate is worse than animals.
Now her father is demanding a 'little' payment from her, which is to get married to the emperor who was already old enough to be her grandfather and was known for having a whole town of concubines.
"Father, don't do this to sis! You're the duke, right? You can do something to not let this happen, right?"
Chiara's little sister, Clareen, cried and pleaded with her father, but the latter knows more than anyone else in the world how cunning and manipulating this little devil is.
The duke frowned and sighed, "My dear, I already fathom that this will eventually happen sooner or later. The emperor likes young ladies and as a ducal family who is next to the royal family in rank, I will have to eventually sacrifice my own daughter if the emperor wishes to."
Clareen hugged her older sister and pretended to cry more, but she didn't forget to tease Chiara at that moment. She moved her mouth and whispered, "My dear sis, we will eventually cross paths again ... because I will soon marry the crown prince. Now, should I practice calling you Mom?"
Chiara trembled in humiliation. All the things she experienced in this house are merely appetizers for what is yet to come, because the main dish that she didn't anticipate is actually more disgusting than her meals.
Awful.
For the first time in her life, she could feel the coldness of jewels on her bare skin. She was finally able to wear an elegant dress befitting of a noble lady. Her hair was finally freed from all the hair ties she has to wear everyday because Clareen doesn't like the way her hair falls, especially its unique silver color.
For the first time in her life, she saw how beautiful she is ... But happiness can't seem to touch her heart no matter how many luxury things she wears.
In a week's time, her marriage with the emperor will take place at the royal villa. What's more disgusting is that the emperor seemed to already favor her even before they met, because their wedding will be the biggest wedding of the century and the Florentine household couldn't be happier.
Chiara visited the capital with six royal guards assigned by the emperor himself to accompany her, so they eventually caught unwanted attention even if she didn't want to.
She lowered her head and hid her face behind her hair, but she could still feel the people's eyes digging a hole on her back.
"Is that the first daughter of Duke Florentine? The one to wed the emperor next week? She's so young ..."
"Not so young, she's probably of marriageable age ... though yeah, she's too young for the emperor."
"That duke something is too greedy to send his daughter to an old man, don't you think so?"
"You're right, but that lady must've liked it this way, she'll become a royal and live in the palace with the 99 more ladies like her. *Giggles*"
"Hey, do you want to get arrested? Huh? Don't talk like that about royals and nobles again! Go somewhere else!" An old woman interrupted the ladies talking in front of her little souvenir stall.
"Why? It's the talk of the whole town, why are we not allowed to talk about it? Isn't that the lady that auntie was talking about?"
"You dumb brat! Come back and I'll give you a good beating!"
Those mocking voices and humiliating words came from commoners who had nothing compared to their status, but truly, she wanted to become like them who's living a simple life without worrying about political marriage.
"Don't mind them ... please." Chiara whispered when she noticed that one of the guards was about to approach the commoners who spoke ill of His Majesty.
The guard looked at the pitiful lady and somehow felt his heart ache for her. Such a waste ... He thought.
A week passed and the rightful day came. Chiara was wearing the most luxurious handmade dress that is solely made for her, even the jewelries around her neck and hair are the finest and highest quality. Her face is covered with a thin make-up that complimented her angelic face even more, such a rare beauty to be found.
This is supposed to be the best day for every woman, but for her, this is the end of everything.
She boarded the carriage with an empty soul and resigned to her fate for the last time, because she already decided to take her life in front of everyone's eyes during the wedding, right before they exchanged vows. But halfway through, the carriage abruptly stopped. The ground was shaking like there's a battalion of armies going their way, next, she was forcefully pulled out of the carriage and dragged away with her eyes covered.
Never did she know that when she resigned completely to her fate, it moved in a different way than what she expected.
Red light district, located at the western part of the empire. This is the only land in the empire that isn't owned by a noble, this was given by the previous emperor to the current head── Elissa Beatrice.The only woman who beat the previous emperor in swordsmanship during their early twenties.This piece of news isn't new to Chiara. This is in fact one of the reasons why she wanted to come here, to see this woman who made a name for herself.But ...Chiara turned her head and saw several ladies wearing pieces of thin clothings on their bodies, revealing their sexy curves and alluring breasts.She turned red in embarrassment. She squinted her eyes at one of the ladies and those bouncing boobs made her self esteem decrease.'Ahh, why am I not blessed with large breasts like hers? Hah.'She thought helplessly, while the knights with her we
"We've stopped the interrogation since they're barely breathing. Both of them didn't admit who was behind that incident, Your Majesty." Zandro reported. He just came back from the underground prison of the palace.Carzus expected this much since those servants have families of their own. The Duke must've already done protective measures right before they hired those servants."Let them starve to death." He said coldly as he touched the mask on his face. "If Francia wasn't there, It wouldn't be possible for Lady Florentine to get out unscathed."A loud thud resounded on his office table when he slammed his fist on it. He really wanted to eliminate those people who tried to harm Chiara, but he needs evidence and witnesses though he also believes that it wouldn't be the last one. Maybe at this time the Duke was already planning something against the Lady.'Why do they hate Chiara so much?' Carzus asked
"And who are you, young man? I believe that coming to a party uninvited was already rude. I can also put you behind the bars for stepping into another family's business.""By family, do you mean your family except Lady Chiara?" The man's voice seemed to become much deeper and colder as he uttered every word.Duke Florentine and Creyson became weary of the uninvited guest."What are you──""Because that's how I see it.""What?!""Nobody asked her what happened, but everybody asked the other lady what happened to her face. Then all of you jumped up to a conclusion that Lady Chiara slapped her because she accidentally spilled wine over Lady Chiara's dress."Hearing someone standing up for her was already overwhelming for Chiara, much more when he pointed out how they treated her with unfairness. She found the coat around her shoulders warmer
"Then I shall leave you here. Marquis Clermont will be coming with Creyson, so behave yourself and make your presence as little as possible."The Duke whispered."I understand." Chiara answered with bitterness. 'What a bunch of trash. When Creyson proposed to me, they were all against it. They even purposely treated the Marquis with indifference just to tell them how unimportant I was in this family. Now, they will greet the guests themselves and what, they want me to make my presence as little as possible? Hah. Ridiculous.'She sat at an empty seat near the white roses and poured herself some a cup of tea, not giving a damn to the people around her.'Serves you right. Don't you dare forget who is the real master of this house.' Clareen smirked and began exchanging compliments with the noble ladies surrounding her.How big of a difference. Clareen was like a flower surrounded by a bunch of butterflies
"Shiela ... I'm exhausted." Chiara complained without energy left in her body.Shiela woke her up before the sun rises, now it's already time to depart to the Duke's estate."What are you saying, My Lady? You look perfect!" Shiela said excitedly that her eyes turned into hearts."Kyaaa! My Lady is already beautiful, but her dress and everything made her beauty rise up to another level!""Of course, Lady Chiara is the prettiest!""I wonder what will His Majesty's reaction be when he sees My Lady like this?""Should you even ask that? Of course he'll fall over and over again! Aaahh My Lady is like an angel!"Several maids together with Fey are all fangirling behind Chiara who was already exhausted from all the beauty procedures she had to go through.This might be just a tea party, but this is also the first time that C
'What's with him all of a sudden?' Chiara asked in her mind while racking his brain for possible answers. Even her back was full of cold sweats.She looked at the man sitting opposite of her with legs crossed, leaning his back effortlessly while his cheek rested on his fist.'Aahh, why does this puppy look like a mad dog? Oh no, oh no! Wait, shouldn't I act angry because of our last conversation? When he said he will reconsider the marriage!' She calmed herself and nodded her head. But before she could utter a word, her thoughts turned into a mess again.'But what should I get angry about? Aren't I the one who suggested it? And even if he gets married, it has nothing to do with me. I-I ... suppose ...'"Please enjoy some tea." Shiela purposefully interrupted the heavy atmosphere. "I've prepared a chamomile tea for the Lady and mint tea for His Majesty. Both of these are for calming the body and mind
"I will have the dress delivered to your estate, may I know your address?" The young attendant's mother, Gretta, asked.Chiara was taken aback. "Can I just pick up the dress here tomorrow?" 'You see, I can't tell you that I live in the palace or you might overprice the dress. I don't have that much money, hehe, hehe.' She thought that way based on personal experience."O-okay then. I will immediately work on this dress and make sure that this will fit you. I will also add some details that I think will suit My Lady.""See you tomorrow then."Gretta and her daughter bowed as Chiara exited their shop. After the latter left with her carriage, they raised their heads and the tears they were holding back from earlier flowed non-stop."Mother ... I thought we wouldn't have a choice but to close the shop! Huwaaaaaaa!""I was thankful that I didn't pack everything ye
"My Lady, you were invited for a tea party." Shiela said with a gloomy face. 'Of all tea parties, why does it have to be that woman's party? Will My Lady come?'She glanced at her lady worriedly.Chiara glanced at the stamp of the letter and her mood also dropped. She didn't want to go, but she didn't want His Majesty to get involved in meaningless gossip if she turned down this invitation.She was sure that her dear sister who was the best at acting would spark a rumor about His Majesty being the reason why she can't attend the tea party. If that happens, then the people who looked disgusted with her sight will spread more false rumors because of Clareen's misleading.'I don't want that to happen. I'd rather put up with all the humiliation than drag innocent people on this. Especially not the one who helped me.'"Shiela, I managed to earn quite a sum of money. Let's go to the ca
"What?!""Who ... Who would do this to a young child?" Chiara mumbled. Her heart was so heavy. She suffered so much as a child, but the child in front of her was literally dying."Have you gone to the herbal shop yet?" Dale asked the child's father."Yes. But they don't have medicine left to treat wounds. He just gave me some medicine to reduce the pain, but ... but his wounds ...""Then why not just make one? Those old geezers."Dale tapped Wilner's shoulder. "They might not have the ingredients. The merchant that was supposed to visit the Capital didn't come for 2 weeks now, maybe that's why they ran out of ingredients."Chiara thought something and asked, "What are the ingredients they need? I can order the knights with me to get it for you."Everybody looked at her with gloomy eyes, "The ingredients for making medicines to treat wound
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