Until she was eleven years old, Raha Del Harsa was a Princess who grew up flawlessly.
She was the only imperial Princess in the legitimate line of the Empress. In addition, Raha's twin siblings were the Crown Prince.
Many of her half-sisters and brothers would be sold in expensive marriages or slaughtered when Karzen ascended the throne, but not Raha. Even though he was a tyrant, he cherished his only sister, much less a twin sister who looked like him…
How could he not cherish her?
However, the peaceful life of Raha was broken at the age of 11, when Karzen was crowned Crown Prince.
The Delo Empire was a supreme country blessed by the ancestors. The blessings bestowed upon the territory flowed to successive emperors, and all Delo emperors received an unchanging sign on the day they became Crown Princes.
The eyes and the hair were the same color.
The eyes of the heirs. Unchanging blue sky eyes.
Naturally, it was a sign that Karzen should have received. The Emperor and Empress, who were not on good terms, and his half siblings, who were vigilantly vying for the Crown Prince's position, were waiting for Karzen's crowning ceremony.
The atmosphere changed immediately.
Something was wrong.
The ordinary gray-eyed Princess Raha watched with wonder as the people around her stared in astonishment. There was no need to ask why. The Crown Prince's eyes were still an ordinary gray, but not the Princess. The eyes of the legitimate Princess had turned bright blue.
Slap!
Her cheek got slapped. Raha looked up at the Empress who had struck her on the cheek in shock. Her own mother's face, which had always been so elegant, was distorted like a demon's.
"What the hell! Why in the world do you have the eyes that Karzen should have?"
She could never forget the look that Karzen gave her at that time, and the expressions on the face of the Empress who flashed at her.
Anyway, from that day on, Raha lost everything to Karzen. Because Raha stole Karzen's eyes. If possible, the Empress would have plucked out Raha's eyes and given them to Karzen. If the Empress hadn't died of illness later, it would have happened somehow.
The Emperor who decided to abdicate for some reason, could not decide who would inherit the throne.
This was because all the power as Crown Prince was in the hands of Karzen, but all the symbolism as Emperor was in the hands of Raha.
The Emperor did not make a complete decision in the end and handed over the throne to Karzen. No decision was made by the wise men, and no meeting of the Grand Nobility was held. Thanks to this, Karzen was stigmatized as "half emperor" and was given another choice separately.
Disposition regarding the twins' lives.
"What shall I do? If I kill my twins, who bear the marks of Del Harsa, the old men will chew me up like a pack of dogs."
The way the crazy twins chose to avoid the eyes of Delo's powerful elderly people was to present numerous slaves to Raha.
Raha still couldn't forget the sight of Karzen coming to the imperial palace with twenty gagged men in tow. The old aristocrats who loved and worshiped the divine customs still considered Raha to be the "real one" and it was the best way to lower Raha's reputation among the conservative people.
In fact, no nobleman would give Raha a son nowadays.
It was only natural.
The twin Karzen was a conqueror, and many of the royalty and nobles he brought from the colonies had come in as Raha's slaves. When the number of slaves dedicated to Raha's palace exceeded the number of concubines of the most debauched Emperor in history.
Raha became ignorant to the anger, resentment, and tears of the slaves.
It was around that time that the man entered Raha's palace.
He didn't even have a name, so he was called Number 192, a beautiful bedroom slave.
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1. The Princess in the cage
***
One year ago, it was early winter.
No one could have predicted that the Holy Kingdom with a considerable influence over the entire continent would be shattered under an atrocious flag.
Blood splattered on the beautiful stained glass windows, and dead paladins dangled in front of the statue of God, their heads hanging and dangling.
Severed limbs were scattered on the marble floor, and the eleven high priests, who were said to be the most supreme in the Holy Kingdom, knelt and trembled.
"Ha, Your Majesty…."
"Your Majesty the Emperor…."
And standing before them like a painted conqueror, a young Emperor with blue hair.
Karzen Del Harsa tilted his chin with an amused expression.
"Well, what do I do when the noble high priests are trembling like this in front of me?"
He laughed cruelly.
"Yes? There must have been a laboratory in the Holy Kingdom that
will create the weapon that will end the royal family of Delo Empire. Without even realizing it, only the innocent kingdoms were destroyed."
Sarcasm mixed with cruel laughter.
Pain seeped heavily into the eyes of the priests. There was nothing wrong with Karzen's words. Indeed, many kingdoms had been trampled under the footsteps of the Delo Empire.
But…
If Karzen hadn't slaughtered so many kingdoms, there was no way such a laboratory would have been built in secret. That young and beautiful emperor killed a tremendous number of people just to strengthen his military power and to tighten his grip on the collars of the nobles in his country.
Red blood pooled like a puddle.
"Your Majesty."
Poof.
Clank.
Several experimental subjects were dragged and thrown in front of Karzen, who was sitting comfortably. The experimental subjects, with heavy chains attached to their legs and necks, were trembling.
Karzen said, raising the chin of one of the experimental subjects thrown on the floor with his foot.
"I cannot dare to take the heads of the sacred priests, so instead I will show you how to kill these experimental subjects very brutally. Let's see, shall we?"
The oppressive gray eyes gleamed coldly.
"We could hang them on horses from the temple and drag them to the Imperial Palace, and cut off their limbs. I'm sure it would be very ragged. After that, I'll throw it straight into the boiling pot and we'll treat the priests to a feast."
It wasn't a joke. Karzen was completely serious right now. The priests trembled in fear.The experimental subject who had just been grabbed by Karzen was especially young. He had just come of age.
In addition, compared to others, he was definitely raised with dignity. So anyone with a good eye could easily guess.
The fact that this test subject was one of the exiled royalty or nobility that Karzen had trampled on.
"It seems that you have come crawling to me, dreaming of revenge."
"Your Majesty!"
"Please have mercy on me…!"
Eventually, one of the priests crawled on his knees and clung to Karzen's feet. Such was the obvious submission of the priests, who was solitary and holy and would not kneel unless he was poor and sick. All of this will be recorded anew in history. It was then that the young tyrant smiled pitifully.
"It seems you have given these dogs more affection than I thought. That's because you're weak-minded people who give affection to the livestock."
On such a subject, he did not know he had experimented with humans. It was a contradictory doctrine.
Of course, it didn't matter.
Karzen tossed the boy with a plop. The experimental subject, who was in shambles even before he was brought in, fell straight to the floor.
"Then what should I do? You're telling me not to kill it? ... ah."
He had a good idea when he saw the bright red blood on his boots. The iron-blooded emperor did not hide his smile. In any case, only his face was a young man armed with the unique beauty of the Delo royal family. Even with a sword dripping with fresh blood, Karzen looked like an angel for a moment.
"Let do this way, Priests. My beautiful twins are here with me."
"...."
"Because I've already made a lot of promises to give her many gifts in this conquest. There are quite a few solid ones too, so we have to sort them out properly and throw them all into her aggression."
"...!"
The priests froze in place. Of course, they would be relieved that it was still better than the sentence of having their bodies shredded alive.
In any case, Karzen liked his idea very much. He handed the sword, dripping with blood, to the knight and sat down.
It was only a month ago that he was informed of the "Kill the Imperials of Delo" experiment.
However, the experiment was to be conducted in the Holy Kingdom, so no matter how much Karzen wanted to, he couldn't just wield his sword arbitrarily. Therefore, he set three kingdoms adjacent to the Holy Kingdom on fire one after another. It wasn't too difficult to turn them to ruins, as they were only a few weak and benevolent kingdoms that relied on God to survive.
Seeing the priests already shaking with guilt made himfeel much better. Karzen said in a more generous voice than usual.
"Although this has happened, I will invite all the priests to the Imperial Palace. You have to see the glorious appearance of your cherished livestock being presented to the Princess."
The arms of the priests began to tremble little by little.
"I'm sure you won't refuse, priests. Shouldn't there be reconciliation? God must not be angry."
"...."
Of course, Karzen himself did not believe in God at all. There was no awe in him. The beautiful and sacred architecture and carvings and testimonies of the Holy Kingdom remind him of the blue eyes of his twin….
Because it was really driving him crazy.
The eyes of an inheritance that God did not give him. It was the eyes of the blue sky, the eyes of that d*mn legend....
And then, suddenly, Karzen straightened his back.
"What about you, Raha?"
The faces of the Kingsguard, who stood unmoving behind Karzen, were momentarily perplexed. For they all did not know the whereabouts of Raha.
"Raha Del Harsa."
"... Your Majesty."
The knights hurriedly scattered by the silent signal of the nervous captain of the Kingsguard.
Karzen, who read the strange anxiety, rose roughly from his seat.
In an instant, he turned stern, like a beast that had been robbed of its prey and was about to lash out. The wound on his arm while dealing with his opponents earlier burst, and red blood trickled down to the floor.
Karzen's eyes slowly began to circulate.
"No way, you didn't run away from here, did you?"