Since I was born, I got whatever I wanted, whether it is an object or a living being. There's nothing I didn't obtain. Even if I can't have it, I would force it to become mine. No one objects; not because they don't want to, but because they can't. So when I finally met something I can't have, it caught my interest and trapped me in the overwhelming feeling of desire that I couldn't control.
**************
I looked down the nearly empty throne hall at the girl between two guards. The girl had chains on her ankles, wrist and one on her neck and was looking down at the ground.
"My son, this is your 18th birthday gift."
At that moment, the girl lifted her head to look at me. I felt a chill run down my spine when I met her eyes. Hatred. Pure hatred was shown in her eyes as she glared at me. When my imperial father saw this rebellious behavior, he beckoned at the guards. One of the guards nodded and yanked the chain that was connected to her neck. Immediately, the girl's body fell forward onto the floor.
"Insolent! How dare you look at the Prince like that?"
The guards yelled. The girl did not reply, but only lifted herself back. Instead of becoming obedient like what people would usually at these kinds of situation, she lifted her head once more to glare at me. I felt myself being shocked by this kind of behavior for the first time. Excitement coursed through me and I smiled. I finally found something worth having. However, the guards thought differently and so when they saw the glare, one of them raised their hand to slap the girl.
"Stop."
The guard looked at me before lowering his hand. I walked down the stairs and approached the girl, not breaking the eye contact with her. She continued to glare at me as I stood before her and when I knelt down to look at her eye-to-eye. I admired the girl for her bravery. I smirked at her tough behavior, all the more wanting to break it. The next second, the girl lunged forward and smashed her head against mine. I felt a sharp pain in my forehead and I fell backward. The whole room was silent in shock. When everyone came back to their senses, there was a rush of the guards drawing their swords and holding it up to the girl's neck. I lifted my hands to touch the part where the girl rammed me. It felt sore, but I smiled at the girl, delighted, despite the throbbing pain in my forehead. The girl herself smiled sweetly as if mocking me, daring me to come close again. She didn't seem scared of the sharp blades that were at her neck. I indicated to the guards to put down their swords. One of the guards opened his mouth to protest, but I glared at him, forcing him back down. He silently sheathed his sword and indicated for his partner to do the same. Satisfied, I turned back to the girl. I grabbed her chin and looked her in the eyes. There was something about her eyes that drew me to them.
"Wild. But I like it," I said, smiling wider. The girl whipped her head to remove my hand that was still holding her chin before turning back to glare at me. From this close-up, I could see her features more clearly. She was indeed beautiful, enough to start a war. Satisfied with her, I stood back up and turned around.
"Get her prepared and dressed. I want her in my room later," I said. Behind me, I could hear the guards shuffling and the sound of chains jingling. In just a few moments, the hall is silent again. I smiled to myself, as I thought about this new toy. Indeed, she will be quite fun. I haven't yet experienced a person who didn't fling themselves on me. It feels quite refreshing to see such different behaviors. I felt disgusted by the other women, I could never see their true motives, but her...she is different. She didn't care about my status. Her motives were wide open; it was obvious she wanted to kill me.
"Such a pity. She's quite beautiful, but her temper is awful. Don't worry, JingEr*. I'll get you a better mistress than this one. I'm just afraid it won't match with this beauty, but her temper will definitely be better," my father consoled me. I shook my head and faced my father.
"Father, I like it. What's the use of an obedient mistress? I think I'll have more fun with her than those boring, disgusting women that you usually try to get into my bed," I clarified. "That said, where did you get such a person?"
At this, my father chuckled in amusement. He looked at me with a certain glint in his eyes.
"I bet you can never guess where she is from and her identity."
I sighed at my father's humorless guessing game. I sat down in the chair next to the throne and made myself comfortable.
"If you say it that way, then I don't have the patience to guess. Just tell me."
"YuRan."
YuRan?! I turned in surprise to my father, who took his seat on the throne. YuRan was a medium-sized kingdom next to ours. A year ago, the kingdom fell apart due to the royal family violating our alliance. We attacked them and destroyed their palace and conquered their territory. The people from the kingdom now are labeled as traitors and many of them are sold as slaves. The royal family was completely exterminated. I pondered this and already could figure out why that girl is particularly filled with hatred. How could anyone stay sane in front of the very people who destroyed their kingdom? I chuckled at this. This was getting more and more interesting. I liked challenges and this one was particularly fun.
"She's not just any commoner from YuRan. She's the princess. We caught her a week ago with some of her comrades. Her people are currently in prison right now."
Princess. That word rang in my mind. The princess of YuRan, XuanYing, was famous for both her intelligence and beauty, but to think she would end up becoming a prisoner... So indeed some of the royal family did escape from our persecution. From the sounds of it, it seemed that that girl was leading soldiers and causing problems in our kingdom there past few months. I looked at my father in amazement. I now understood why my father wanted to gift her to me. By gifting me YuRan's princess as a mistress without any title is the biggest humiliation their people could receive. Not only that, but they would receive a huge morale blow and keep them obedient for years to come. It seemed like these few days will be extremely interesting. I laughed and got up to thank my father. My father looked at me with approval and smiled. But the moment I felt his gaze on me, a chill went down my spine again. I peered at my father, looking for an explanation for that sudden feeling. All I saw was his smile. Confused as to why I suddenly felt a malicious aura, I decided to just ignore it.
"Then I'll be taking my leave now," I said to my father and bowed. I turned to head for my bedroom, knowing that a certain girl will be there.