Once upon a time, there was a powerful and prosperous Kingdom called Wyverndale. It was a very beautiful Kingdom where deities, devils, humans, and other supernatural beings lived together in harmony.
The Kingdom was surrounded by beautiful mountains and hills from one side which acted as a natural barrier to another equally powerful Kingdom, Mihir. And on the other three sides, Wyverndale had three small kingdoms that were its allies. And they were called Tarrin, Aberdeen, and Frostford.
King Dragomir of Wyverndale was a very tactful King. It was because of his political tactfulness that his Kingdom was able to have a strong foothold among its neighboring Kingdoms.
He would opt for political marriages instead of war whenever it was possible. He believed that war would inflict pain and death while political marriages would spread happiness and save lives. It would not only bring two people together but also would also bring two nations together.
Thanks to this ideal of his, King Dragomir had a very large family. He had three wives, each from his three neighboring Kingdoms. He also had 12 concubines; most of them were from powerful families while some were just beautiful commoners. And children? Even the King did not remember everyone's names. He just knew that he had 14 Princes and 10 Princesses.
However, out of all those children, one was particularly his favorite. And that was Princess Adeline. She just turned three years old but she had already started to resemble her mother, Auvera, in terms of appearance.
Princess Adeline had silver hair that was as soft and smooth as silk. Her sapphire blue eyes radiated in her pale skin. And her dimples sat well on her baby cheeks. She looked like a walking doll when she wore her fluffy pink skirt.
Princess Adeline's mother Auvera was one of the concubines of the King and was also his first love. The King fell in love with a beautiful commoner when he was just a teenager. However, their love story came to a halt when Dragomir became the King.
After Dragomir was chosen as the King among all his brothers and sisters, he got intertwined in his royal duties. To prevent any outbreaks of wars, he had taken many wives and concubines. But he could never forget his first love.
When he became powerful enough and when no one could raise their voices against him, he finally took Auvera as one of his concubines. But he only got to spend a few years with his lover. Auvera passed away mysteriously when Adeline was just one year old. As Adeline was the only reminder of his true love, Princess Adeline was very dear to the King.
The King had appointed two personal maids, Hawisa and Osanna, just to take care of baby Adeline. And whenever he got free time after performing his duty to the Kingdom, he would spend time with his beloved daughter. Adeline was also very fond of her father and would be happy when she got to play with her father.
At just one glance, the life inside the Palace seemed very happy and fulfilling. However, this was definitely not the case. Greed and jealousy are deeply embedded in human hearts and when there are enough of those inside a human, they can easily do things that only an evil devil could do.
Lillian was the first wife of King Dragomir. She was the Princess of Frostford before she was married off to King Dragomir by her parents. She was very well behaved and had every quality that a queen needed to have. She had given birth to two handsome princes Edwin and Alan.
But when the King kept on marrying and taking concubines, Lillian's heart changed. And when she saw the King growing fonder of Adeline, she feared that her sons would be deprived of their right to the throne.
"I will have to do something before the King gets completely bewitched by that filthy love child of his and hands over the whole kingdom to her", Lillian thought to herself. She was sitting in her own chamber and was brewing a plan in her head, a plan to make one of her sons the future King.
Lillian got up swiftly and headed towards the King's quarter. Two of her personal maids immediately followed behind her. When they reached the King's quarter, the maids waited outside the King's study chamber while the Queen entered inside.
Lillian bowed her head to the King and said, "Greetings Your Majesty! If you are not busy I would like to discuss something with you."
The King was sitting on his normal chair and was going through some papers that were on his desk. He glanced at the Queen and gestured with his hand, "Go ahead."
"Prince Edwin has already crossed 16 years of age. As your firstborn, isn't he ready to be declared as the Crown Prince?" Lillian spoke in a voice that sounded as smooth as butter.
"As a Queen of Wyverndale, you should have understood by now that we do not have the culture of declaring the Crown Prince." King Dragomir replied in a calm tone.
"I understand that. But there is no harm in doing so. I did not want to say this but he would be able to assume your role if something unthinkable was to happen to you. At least that way our Kingdom will be safe from the outsiders." Lillian kept her gaze low when she was saying this so as not to seem hostile.
However, the King was already offended. He raised his brows and asked in a stern voice while asserting his dominance, "Queen Lillian, are you planning to do something unthinkable to me?" The whole chamber was filled with the intense aura given off by the King.
Lillian immediately bowed her head and politely apologized, "I did not mean to offend you, my King."
"I have repeatedly told you that declaring a Crown Prince or Princess is not an option. To make it impartial, when all of my children will be of age, I will have to send them to our deity. Our deity will decide who will be the future King or Queen of Wyverndale." The King started to go through the papers on his desk and without even glancing at his wife, he said, "Now if you don't have anything else to say, you're dismissed."
Lillian grabbed the sides of her gown and clenched both of her fists in anger. After glaring at the King for a few seconds, she bowed and then stormed out to her own quarter.
On the way, her eyes fell on little Adeline who was playing in a small garden that was in front of her own quarter. The quarter previously belonged to her mother, which was now her's. Adeline's quarter was nearest to the King's quarter and Lillian had always despised that.
A sinister smirk appeared on Lillian's face when she saw Princess Adeline. She pointed her jaw at the maids who were with Adeline and ordered her own maids, "Say to those two flies that Queen Claricia has asked to see them. And offer them that you will look after Adeline for the time being."
Claricia was the third wife of the King. Claricia and Lillian did not see eye to eye with each other and Lillian thought of a perfect trap for Claricia.
One of Lillian's maids went to the garden and delivered the false message. Hawisa and Osanna, the personal maids of Adeline believed in the false message and went away. As Queen Lillian had asked her, that maid stayed back to look after Adeline.
Lillian slowly walked towards the garden where Adeline was playing with flowers and leaves. She looked down at the toddler and said with a smirk on her face, "Hello Little Princess!"