Chapter 2

Violet was being locked in a cage pulled by horses. The beautiful princess has now become a slave. She was scared and alone. She felt like a rabbit among the beasts.

Fear gripped Violet even tighter, making her heart beat faster and faster as the gates of Melancthon palace opened and Lucian and his entourage walked in and stopped at the main entrance to the palace.

Lucian dismounted from his horse and smiled back at a woman who was waiting for him at the door with two maids behind her. Lucian then walked over and stood before the woman as his entourage dismounted from their horses.

The woman's name is Selina Steverus. She is 23 years old. She is 3 years younger than  Lucian. She has long, black hair and beautiful black eyes. She was beautiful the way a black rose, beautiful but deadly.

“Have you killed him?” Selina asked into Lucian's eyes.

“He killed himself before I killed him,” said Lucian.

Selina smiled with satisfaction and happiness in her eyes. The smile on her face suddenly disappeared and turned into hatred as she looked at Violet. Selina envy seeing Violet's beauty made her eager to burn her face.

Selina looked back into Lucian's eyes. “Who's she?” she asked curiously.

Lucian turned to Violet, who was looking at them in fright, then he looked back at Selina. “She is his daughter,” he said.

“Why did you bring her here?! You must kill her now!” Selina said, raising her voice.

Lucian smiled, seeing the anger on Selina’s face. “She is my slave now. I will kill her after I bored playing with her.” A wave of fear and chill ran down Violet's spine upon hearing what Lucian said. “Take her now!” said Lucian to one of his soldiers before Selina could say a word.

“Yes, my prince.” The soldier then took Violet out of the cage and brought her to the room where the maids were.

Selina watched Lucian walk into the palace while holding back her anger. Her evil thoughts kept telling her she had to kill Violet immediately because she worried Lucian would fall for her beauty. Selina will let no one take Lucian from her and she will do anything to make him hers.

********

“Oh, my she's so beautiful.”

“Yes, she is.”

“Who's she?”

“I don't know. I've never seen her before. She must be a princess.”

The maids said, staring in open-mouthed astonishment when they saw the soldier took Violet into the room.

The soldier smiled mockingly at Violet, then he turned to the maids. “She's not a princess. She's a maid just like all of you.”

The maids could barely believe what they had just heard as they looked at each other questioningly.

“Esther! Take her to take a bath now and change her dress,” said the soldier to a maid, who had short black hair and brown eyes.

“Y-yes, sir.” Esther then walked over and held Violet's arm. “Come with me.” Violet nodded at her and they walked out of the room.

Esther led Violet into the bathroom. This room was far from beautiful and grand, like the bathroom in Violet's palace, but at least it was clean.

Esther then took the same maid uniform as she was wearing now from inside the wooden wardrobe in the room and handed it to Violet. “Here, you must wear this.” Violet nodded to her and took the uniform from her hands.

Esther examined Violet from head to toe with both admiration and curiosity. Her beautiful face, flawless white skin, and silky straight blonde hair fascinated her, but she also wondered why her beautiful dress covered in mud and she could see the deep sadness in her beautiful blue eyes.

“What's your name?” Esther asked friendly.

“My name is Violet Valerina."

“Oh, my, your name is as beautiful as your face,” Esther said in a touch of admiration. “My name is Esther Deloria. I'm 20 and how old are you?”

“I'm 18 years old.”

Esther's eyes opened wide in surprise. “You are so young! You are the same age as my younger sister,” she said and smiled warmly at her. Violet tried to smile back at her with her sad eyes.  

Esther stared at her with pity. “I don't know what happened to you, but you don't have to worry. You will be safe and happy to be here. Prince Lucian treated us all well. He was so kind to us.” Esther's eyes sparkled, thinking about Lucian. Suddenly, her gaze turned serious with fear in her eyes. “But you have to be careful with Princess Selina. She is the evil behind her beautiful face.”

Violet fell silent as she wondered if Lucian was a good person like Esther said, and she was also curious about Selina. “Princess Selina, who is she?”

“Prince Lucian's father adopted her as his daughter when she was a baby. She fell in love with Prince Lucian. She was crazy about him. She will not hesitate to kill the maids who dare to seduce him. So don't make trouble with her or you will die,” Esther said in a whisper. Violet nodded at her with both fear and anxiety in her eyes.

“Now hurry up and take a bath. It's almost time for dinner,” Esther said and smiled warmly. “Hm,” Violet said with a nod, then she did as she said.

********

The maids glared at Violet with hatred in their eyes as she and Esther walked into the dining room. One maid walked over to them and suddenly, without a word, she slapped Violet hard on the cheek and pushed her body to the ground.

“Oh, God! Anna! Why did you slap her?!” Esther said in shock into Anna's eyes. Then she knelt next to Violet while wrapping her arm around her shoulder.

“I hate her! Her father killed our beloved king. She should have died with her father and rotted in hell!” Anna said, raising her voice.

“Yes, she’s right! I hate her too!”

“Our prince should kill her now!”

The other maids said in anger.

Esther could do nothing and could only stare at Violet with her sad eyes. Her heart couldn't bear to see her shed tears while holding her red, swollen cheek.

The maids turned their heads towards the door as two soldiers walked into the room. The soldiers knew what was happening, but they pretended not to see it and allowed the maids to bully Violet.

“Stand up now and come with us,” one soldier said unkindly to Violet as he and the other soldiers stood before her. Violet wiped her tears from her cheeks, then she stood up from the floor, struggling against her fear.

“Where are you taking her?” Esther asked worriedly.

“You better stay away from her or you'll get in trouble,” one soldier said, warning her. The soldiers then took Violet out of the room.