Year 211, the start of the Dracia Empire.
The sound of bells ringing echoed, piercing through the sky. The cries and howls of people running on streets and being chased by horses manned by men with gleeful smiles.
Soon, the painful screams of people after their blood had splattered on the ground ultimately ceased, their horrors remaining etched on their faces.
The one-sided war continued for a week. The victors returned with the heads of the previous royal family members in their hands.
A few mountains away from the Voltis City, the capital city of the previous Lunarian Kingdom, now called Dracia Empire, Adelyn stared at the piece of parchment. Such a crisp, clean, and simple-looking parchment paper now holds the fate of her life and her people.
Such a weightless and flat thing, yet it meant the world to her.
Adelyn couldn't stop the dreadful emotion that had sparked inside her as she raised her head to meet the eyes of the man standing before her. The man, a herald sent by the Blood King, the new ruler of the Dracia Empire, smiled nonchalantly at her.
"On what do we owe His Majesty's very own herald's sudden visit to this faraway place?" Adelyn managed to smile at the man before her.
The herald remained smiling as his eyes assessed her for a while before he spoke, "My apologies if my sudden visit has inconvenienced you, Princess Adelyn."
"I'm no longer a princess. So there's no need to use that title for me," reminded Adelyn to the herald. Her princess title has long been stripped off her the moment she was exiled by her father to the outskirts of the empire. And it was even more evident that she could no longer become one either because the empire had changed its banner and ruler a few days ago.
"It's a shame for what happened to you, my lady." The herald sounded respectful and polite, but Adelyn didn't believe one bit of his courteousness.
Everyone in the empire knew that Adelyn, the seventh princess, was exiled to the outskirts of the empire due to her treasonous actions that had angered her father, King Francis.
"Let's no longer speak of the past, Sir. Unfortunately, this place lacks many things, and I can only offer you a glass of water that I fetched from the river nearby, unlike the things that are being served to you at the palace." Adelyn wished that she could chase the man out of her humble abode. However, even though this place is now her home, the man before her is now in control. Or rather, it was his master who was in total control of everything.
The herald sighed, "It seems that the princess has no knowledge of the things that happened in the capital."
"This place is mountains and cities away from the capital. It would be a miracle if the princess could hear anything from the palace," said a woman's voice right next to Adelyn. It was Countess Elvita who had resisted the opposition to have her follow Adelyn to live on the outskirts of the empire.
The herald took no offence from the countess' words, and the smile on his lips turned even more upward. "Very well. My visit is just a formality. The reason behind my sudden arrival at your doorsteps is inside the letter, princess. If you may, please open it and read the contents written inside?"
Countess Elvita glared at the herald, but when Adelny fixed her a look, she stopped shooting daggers at him.
Adelyn took the parchment paper with a heavy heart. Her fingers trembled when it was felt in her hands, but hopefully, no one noticed it.
As Adelyn read the letter, the frown on her brows continued to deepen. The letter expressed the king's desire to show his leniency to her and the empire's people who still lived to this day. He shall let them live a bit longer under one condition…
"Princess?"
Countess Elvita called out to her as if sensing the strained expression that flitted across her face.
Adelyn cleared her throat in a clandestine manner to hide the incomprehensible emotions that had been whirling like a wave inside of her.
"I'm alright, Countess," Adelyn first assured her before she explained the reason why she had lost herself in a daze for a brief moment there, "The Blood King has proposed a marriage between one of his brothers and me. As soon as I am able to set out to return to the capital, a grandiose celebration will be held to announce my union with one of their princes."
It took a lot of her strength to voice out the details that were written in the letter. Hadn't Adelyn gripped the letter tightly, she would have fainted on the spot. But she didn't know whether fainting now would have been better than later. After all, what if the herald saw how fainthearted she was? Perhaps a reconsideration would have occurred. Maybe they wouldn't proceed with their intentions of sending out a proposal to wed her to the King's brother.
Despite her desire to just close her eyes and let the darkness take her sight, the price of her refusing to agree or failing to complete what the letter had demanded, was a price too high for her to refuse.
After all, in order to allow her people to live without fear of being persecuted and regain their peace and freedom, Adelyn must become the sacrificial lamb and offer herself on a silver platter to the Blood King's brother.
Adelyn couldn't comprehend what was the intention behind the Blood King's decision to have her wed his brother. If he wanted someone from the previous royal family to have a union with his brother, her other sisters would have been more befitting and willing to accept this bloody proposal.
Why would he go through so much trouble to have her, an exiled princess, fulfil this responsibility? Even though Adelyn has a lot of questions running across her mind in such a short time, the recipient of her questions was not there.
"Princess, are you going to accept his proposal?" asked Countess Elvita. Her voice was filled with worry for her, "You won't, right? If you go back there, who would protect you? The imperial palace is now overtaken by those fiends! They will only make you suffer if you go there!"
"Countess!" Adelyn's eyes landed on Countless Elvita. It was filled with terror and concern for her handmaiden as the herald still stood in front of them. What would happen if he was dissatisfied and used this chance to have both of them executed?
Adelyn didn't have much care for her life. Her life had long ceased to exist the moment her mother had died behind the walls of the imperial palace. Her exile was a chance for her to live without reason. However, Countess Elvita was different. She was somebody's mother and wife. Her life was tied to them, and the only reason Adelyn let her follow her to the outskirts of the empire was due to Countess Elvita's promise that after a year, she would return to her family.
But disaster fell before that happened.
Now, Adelyn had to deliver Countless Elvita back to her family, where she truly belonged.
Trying her best to steady her voice, Adelyn held the paper in her hand and said, "Tell your master that I accept his proposal and pray that he will follow through his words to swear upon his honor and dignity as a man. For, if he reneges from his promise, I swear upon my name, he shall pay greatly for it."
It was a baseless threat, but it was the only thing she could do to give herself control over this negotiation.
The herald received a positive and satisfying reply from Adelyn, and he sees no other reason to stay any longer in that small wooden house. Adelyn, however, refused to return to the imperial palace with him. She told him that she would like to stay a bit longer there and have some time to herself. The herald hesitated, fearing that if he returned empty-handed, his master would cruelly punish him.
Seeing through his concerns, Adelyn had Countess Elvita return to the capital with him. She was his handmaiden, and Adelyn wouldn't be able to bear it if something happened to her. She told him, "I only wish to have some time to be alone. And you must know that I have nowhere else to run to even if I have the intention to do it. The empire has been completely controlled under the rule of your king as well as your kind. There is no place for me to hide."
The herald seemed to be thinking of what he should do. A brief moment later, he finally agreed to her wishes. He thought that Adelyn had no way out, even if she escaped to another kingdom.
Countess Elvita obviously had so much to say to her, but Adelyn shook her head to halt her words. Her decision is final. There will be no way out of this.
Defeated and disappointed that Adelyn had offered herself, Countess Elvita couldn't ultimately blame the princess. She was exiled to this uninhibited place all by herself had not Countess Elvita sneaked out to follow her. What else could she have done when the herald of the same man who had painted the streets throughout the empire red?
Half an hour after Adelyn gave her reply to the king's message, Countess Elvita and the herald made their way out of her humble abode.
Before climbing up onto his horse, the herald turned around to face Adelyn and she heard him speak in a low voice that held nothing but a warning, "Before we leave, princess. I have to tell you that if you run away, a person's head will be separated from their shoulders. If you do something foolish and as a result, the union between you and the king's brother is annulled, the countess and the rest of the people who have been left behind will follow you..." He took a pause before taking a step back and added, "We will escort you back to the capital after two days."
Adelyn knew what he meant, but that was not her intention when she said she wanted to stay a bit longer to have some time for herself to be alone. She wouldn't risk anybody's life at the expense of her selfishness.
Rather, what she will be soon doing won't risk anyone's life, including hers. Instead, her selfishness derived from her one desire before she offered herself to the creatures of the night...