More than two decades ago, the human realm was divided into seven kingdoms. One of these seven kingdoms was Arkhaven—a place of deep history and boundless riches.
But Arkhaven was different from the other six kingdoms in one way. It followed a matrilineal system, the heritage was passed from woman to woman of generations in the kingdom. There was no King, but rather, always a queen that reigned.
And that led some of the other kingdoms to slight Arkhaven. Eyeing their immeasurable wealth and treasures, three great kingdoms eyed Arkhaven like it was a delectable dish that must land on their plate. While the other three remained neutral.
Over the centuries, each of the kingdoms had declared war on the kingdom. But due to Arkhaven's endless resources and vast military, they always returned defeated.
Those kingdoms remained dissatisfied about it but there was nothing they could do so they bided their time and waited. More than two decades ago when the previous queen passed away and the new queen, Clementine Avrel ascended the throne in a young age, chaos ensued.
The scheming kingdoms took this opportunity into their hands and crafted a plan. Even though they looked down on this young female ruler, they remained cautious and joined hands before declaring war on Arkhaven again.
But this young queen defied all their expectations when she revealed that she had already allied with the neutral kingdoms. The great battle ensued.
During the battle, the young queen fell in love with one of the generals of the ally kingdoms.
The battle continued for five long years and Arkhaven emerged victorious under Queen Clementine's wits and strength. During these years, the love between Queen Clementine and General Gideon deepened even more and the two of them got married after the unification of the seven kingdoms.
For years, the pair seemed to be deeply in love and even gave birth to their daughter, Lareina. But gradually, the couple seemed to drift apart as conflicts arose between them.
The King Consort, previously the general, was dissatisfied with his idle role in the court. He tried to make major decisions under the influence of court officials and one day when Clementine confronted him about it, he was enraged and felt humiliated, hence publicly declaring he would never share a room again with her.
Clementine stood against the impeachments and never punished Gideon, waiting for the day things would go back to how they were. But that day never came. As years passed by, Clementine fell sick and Gideon indulged himself with maidservants in the palace, humiliating the Queen even more.
Clementine passed away on her daughter, Lareina's seventh birthday and in the following nights, the royalty underwent a huge change.
Gideon revealed the forces and court officials who had supported him through the years and rightfully ascended as the new King. Upon his ascension, the first thing he did was annihilate Clementine's entire family. Except for the children who were banished outside the borders, not a single man or woman survived. For the years of what he called a humiliation of living as the King 'Consort', Gideon rightfully took revenge.
And the once most beloved princess of Arkhaven became a person with questionable status without the presence of her mother and the attention of her father.
New consorts entered the palace and many princes and princesses were born, in addition to the maidservants who had already birthed several children for Gideon before.
The palace was lively and Lareina was neglected.
However, neglect would still have been easier.
Gideon did not simply neglect his daughter but every once in a while, he would visit her. And for every mistake she made, he would punish her in a new way.
People said that Gideon truly loved the late Queen Clementine. If she was a little softer, if she was a little less strong-headed and she placed him in the same position as him, then maybe things would still be fine between the pair.
Gideon saw Clementine in Lareina and his punishments, be it his whipping or dark rooms, the woods and wild animals or a room of rats, were meant to instill fear in her to make her obedient.
Despite not having her father's love and care, Lareina continued to suffer under the man's hands in his own twisted way. Sometimes, he looked at her in disdain and sometimes in daze.
According to the laws of Arkhaven, Lareina, as the eldest daughter of Clementine was meant to become the crown princess when she turned 18 but the ceremony was postponed by her father.
Gideon feared that she would become another Clementine despite all that he put her through. He waited and planned.
And the opportunity presented itself to him when the peace treaty between human realm and demon realm was brought up. As a noble and wise ruler, Gideon sacrificed his daughter for the peace between the two realms, eradicating his fear, and establishing his power at the same time.
''Your Highness!'' the man in the cage coughed, ''It is you… indeed..''
Lareina looked at the man who was barely recognizable anymore. During the treaty, this young general had been responsible for escorting her to the demon realm. Unbeknownst to her dread, the man had only expressed his admiration for her.
He had said that he admired the way she was willing to sacrifice her life and happiness for the sake of her land, not knowing that she had not had much of a choice at all.
At their arrival in the demon realm, he had personally escorted her to the Infernal Court and had been mocked by the demon officials there where the nature of their relationship was also mocked.
When he left, he still had naively told her that one day the human realm would welcome her back.
Lareina had never thought she would encounter him again after that.
"Why are you here like this?" she asked in a whisper.
The man broke into a coughing fit as he warily looked around.
''We will leave this place soon… Your Highness, you should also leave with us,'' As he spoke, he pushed himself forward towards the edge of the cage, ''I was wrong.. You should not stay here. These demons are ruthless… They are ruthless…'' His words trailed off and his eyes widened in panic.
"Oh?" A deep whisper sounded behind Lareina and her body stiffened at the unmistakable presence of someone standing behind her.