3 months later
The marketplace was boisterous and lively. People going about their day could be seen at every corner. An old woman sold apples at her tent, children ran around in hordes, couples held hands and giggled at the antics of the children, and merchants from foreign lands bargained for better prices for their peculiar foreign commodities.
Amidst all of this chaos, a raven-haired woman looked around the marketplace with a wide smile. She stood near a stall that sold street food and couldn't help but breathe in the enticing scent. Upon closer inspection, she was fresh-faced, and her demeanor matched that of a child or young teen. Puberty had begun to set in, and her face showed the early signs of maturing into an unparalleled beauty.
Her eyes glowed a mysterious crimson and she emitted an otherworldly aura that would have elicited a curious glance from the passerby, but due to a concealment amulet, her presence blended into her surroundings.
This girl was the same naïve princess of three months prior and after weeks of traveling, she made it to the Empire. She found humans to be interesting beings that changed emotions like they were flipping a switch. They felt emotions intensely and were unreasonable at times, but she found those qualities quite cute. And just like that, she had spent over two months observing them silently.
The owner of the stall that she was loitering near leaned over and tapped her shoulder. 'The amulet doesn't seem to work on people within two feet.' While taking note of this, the girl let out a bright smile and said, "I'm sorry mister. I'll leave now."
At the young lady's words, the stall owner clicked his tongue in irritation and replied, "You're fine. I was just wondering if you wanted something to eat. You've been standing there for a while."
He reached out with a mouth-watering piece of meat and beaconed the girl to come closer. The girl gratefully accepted his goodwill and forgot her manners when stuffing the juicy meat down her mouth like a pig. Once she finished, grease slid down her mouth and her cheeks flushed red in embarrassment. A piece of meat was enough for her to completely disregard her etiquette classes. As she hung her head low in shame, she heard a quiet laughter from the street stall owner. Before she knew it, he was laughing out loud and she was laughing along with him. 'When was the last time I felt so free and happy?' she questioned herself. She could melt in this kind of happiness and at that moment in time, she wished for this to last forever.
"Do you happen to know whose territory I'm located in?" She asked while their laughter died down, "It's my first time in the Empire and I didn't really have a destination."
His mouth was slightly agape at her words, and he subtly frowned. "How far have you come from to not know of the Artino Dukedom? The young master's territory is the most popular after the capital." The stall owner could not fathom how she was unaware of this city. It was a popular gathering place in the Empire and its trademark was that they had opened trade with other continents and neighboring countries. This unique trait that set them apart from the other territories could be seen through the exotic people that overflowed the marketplace in their foreign attire.
Terra felt her face flush and she looked down in embarrassment, "I came from a secluded tribe." She said nervously. If she had known that the Empire's influence had stretched even beyond this continent, she would have done more research before coming. Her initial plan was to pose as a foreigner, but that plan had miserably failed before it was even executed. The stall owner looked down at the girl warily. It was common for beast men to live in secluded tribes all over the continent, so they most likely wouldn't be privy to information regarding the Empire, but this girl was obviously not a beast man. Her unique black hair and crimson eyes were features that were almost never seen in the Empire, although there were a few raven-haired men and women on occasion, he had never seen eyes like hers. He couldn't help but stare at the girl with a sinister grin while the unsuspecting girl's eyes were pointed towards the ground.
"Do you have a place to stay?" said the man while the grin plastered on his face disappeared in a second like it was never there in the first place. The naïve princess nodded her head in excitement at his words. She was tired of constantly teleporting back to the woods every night to camp out. She was never able to get a full night's sleep as she had to keep her guard up in case of a monster attack. With glee, she began to skip behind the man who led her to a secluded alleyway.
All of a sudden, the temperature dropped, and the girl felt goosebumps slide along her arms. She scanned her surroundings, and to her horror, the shopkeeper had led her to an alleyway away from the crowd. He began to mumble, and Terra was barely able to make out the words he spoke. "Cost…she should be worth more than one gold…pretty and exotic…" He let out a bone-chilling laughter, turned around, and menacingly stared into the girl's frightened eyes.
The girl trembled from head to toe. The shopkeeper believed that she was frightened when in fact, she was fuming in anger. And rather than her eyes being frightened at her predicament, they were frightened for the man. Once she was done with him, he would never see the outside of the alley again.
While trembling the girl whispered, "Hey mister! Where are we? I'm scared." To add onto the effect of her performance, she formed her lips into a pout and wrapped herself with her arms. Terra was not ignorant to the ways of the world and the selling of slaves, but she hadn't expected such a practice to make its way into the prosperous Empire. It should have been banned years ago, but it seemed like the black market illegally initiated this practice in the Underworld of the Empire.
The shopkeeper looked towards the ignorant girl with unhidden lust. His gaze felt like bugs were crawling on the girl's skin and she spat out in disgust. Before the shopkeeper could respond, she had already poked out his eyes and he screeched in pain, but no matter how loud his screams were, no one could hear him.
Once she was done, she rubbed her hands on her dress like she just touched something filthy and walked away, leaving the man's disfigured corpse to decay.
Unbeknownst to her, someone had heard the man's screams. Initially, he had observed her movements with curiosity, but now he was donning a wide grin. His usual cold eyes were lit with amusement and his breath-taking white hair shone amongst the darkness. After calling his fear stricken attendant to his side, he spoke in a domineering tone, "Find out everything you know about that girl. Her mana is interesting. I think I will finally be able to initiate my experiment."
His icy blue eyes shone with greed as he grinned at his attendant. Shivers ran down his attendant's spine. 'That smile didn't reach his eyes. I'm worried for that mysterious lady.' He thought in fear.