To bring an end to the brutal war, I volunteered to become a peace bride, marrying Kael, the formidable chieftain of the Wolfen Clans, my childhood companion. Kael, a whirlwind of raw power, pinned me to the open plains. For three days and three nights, he took me until I faded into unconsciousness. I truly believed Kael loved me. But later, it was *he* who led a hundred thousand beast warriors, their iron hooves trampling through the heart of Aethelgard. He forced my head back, making me watch in horror: my King, torn apart by the wolves until his head was gone. My brother, the Crown Prince, cut down, his body trampled into unrecognizable pulp beneath their horses. Those savages even stripped my Queen Mother bare, shaming her until blood streamed from her legs… Kael smiled at me, yet his eyes held no trace of emotion: “Lyra, did you truly believe your beauty, magnificent enough to topple kingdoms, could ever capture my heart?” “Your royal family slaughtered countless of my kin. You offer only yourself in return, yet you dare to dream of erasing this ocean of blood and vengeance!” In the end, Kael united the lands, and he had his beloved Queen. He locked me away in the forgotten chambers, stripped of my title and my very name. Every time I tried to end my life, he’d exhume a corpse from the royal crypts and grind their bones to dust before me. “You will not die without my command!” I stopped struggling. Anyway, there were only three days left until the potent poison, which I had consumed years ago to save him, finally claimed my life. *** Lena’s birthday feast. Kael granted me a rare reprieve from my solitary prison. My eyes burned as I watched the woman on the high platform, adorned with an ornate, feathered circlet – a sacred relic of my Queen Mother. “Impudent wretch! Bow before His Majesty and the Queen!” Someone brutally kicked me. My knees slammed against the stone floor, my forehead touching the ground as I numbly performed a deep bow. Kael didn’t let me rise, his face expressionless: “Lyra, you’re late by a good fifteen minutes. Are you deliberately trying to disrespect Lena?” “This slave deserves death.” I knocked my head against the floor again. I didn’t bother explaining that my legs were weakened, and walking all the way from my secluded chambers would take at least a couple of hours. Kael’s face twisted into a sneer. “You’ve learned your lesson, haven’t you?” The last time I disobeyed, he’d locked me in a beast cage and bled me half-dry to quench the thirst of his monstrous hounds. When I was on the brink of death, he’d then order his men to scour the lands for the rarest herbs and potent elixirs, barely clinging to my life. “My dear sister, please rise. You were once a princess, precious as a gem. Even with your kingdom fallen, why do you still act like a lowly servant?” Lena herself helped me up, her words dripping with false kindness, twisting the knife deep into my most painful wound. She spotted the wolf fang bracelet coiled around my wrist, and a flicker of covetousness crossed her eyes. She said she adored it and wanted it as a birthday gift. I glanced at Kael. He showed no reaction. This was a gift from Kael himself, an ancient heirloom of his clan. Each fang was said to be a potent remedy, carrying a unique, enduring scent that never faded. 2. Long-term wear was believed to soothe pain and extend one’s lifespan. I’d always been frail since childhood, and when he gave it to me, he’d wished for my lifelong peace and health. “If Her Majesty desires it, how could this slave refuse?” I removed it from my wrist and placed it into Lena’s outstretched hand. As I withdrew my gaze, I faintly heard the sound of a spilled goblet from the high platform. Lena toyed with the wolf fang bracelet, a satisfied smile playing on her lips. “Oh, right, I recall you were once famed as ‘Aethelgard’s Enchantress,’ weren’t you? Why don’t you grace us with a performance?” I numbly endured the malicious, spectating gazes from across the banquet hall. There were commanders from the Wolfen Clans. And also the traitors who, from within, had opened Aethelgard’s city gates. But I had no right to refuse. A bowl of steaming broth, just served, splashed over me. It scalded my skin instantly, peeling it back. “What are you standing there for, dumbstruck? A fallen royal, still daring to act like a spoiled princess? You’re lucky to be breathing, don’t push your luck!” As if I felt no pain, I rose on my tiptoes. I transformed myself into a dancer, a plaything for their amusement. The Wolfen Clans had an open, wild culture, and those barbarians still weren’t satisfied. They cheered, urging me to strip. Kael’s gaze, cold and dark, lingered on me from afar. It was his silent permission. I bit my lip, then began to unfasten my belt. My clothes, clinging to my scalded skin, ripped as I tore them off, leaving raw, bleeding patches. Piece by piece, I undressed in this very Throne Room, a place filled with countless beautiful memories of my past. Tears finally fell. Only when the banquet ended was I permitted to stop. Kael walked towards me, reeking of wine. His icy fingertips brushed against the damp streaks on my face, wiping away a single tear. But his voice was utterly devoid of feeling: “Lyra, are you deliberately trying to play for pity in front of me?” “This slave… wouldn’t dare.” But as the words left my lips, my old ailment flared up again. I coughed up blood right in front of him, feeling as though my entire insides were being torn out. Kael recoiled in disgust, his sneer deepening. “I’ve seen this sickly, pathetic state of yours for ten years. Haven’t you had enough of pretending?” I once believed he despised the women of the Central Kingdoms, hated my delicate nature and my weakness. Yet, for Lena, he was endlessly devoted. Lena would just lightly frown, and the royal healers would already be waiting at her door, ready to drop everything. The parasites gnawed at me. My body trembled, cold sweat pouring from my forehead. Before I lost consciousness, I thought I saw a flicker of panic in Kael’s eyes. He gritted his teeth, his voice a low growl: “Lyra, I won’t let you die easily. You will live, and you will atone!” But I couldn’t atone anymore… In two more days, I would surely die. The next morning, I woke up to find my burns had been treated. 3. I vaguely realized this wasn’t my solitary prison, but the King’s royal chambers. I remembered when my King was still alive, he often held my brother and me in this very room, teaching us to read and write. My Queen Mother would bring me warm, fragrant honey cakes she’d baked herself. But I couldn’t even recall their taste anymore. “You’re awake.” Kael approached, his face expressionless. He gripped my jaw, pouring a bowl of incredibly bitter blood-tonic medicine down my throat. His strength was immense. I choked, my eyes stinging red. “Lyra, don’t look at me with such pitiful eyes.” Kael sneered. “Even if your hands are clean, unstained by my kin’s blood, as long as you were born into that royal family, you are not innocent.” The day our kingdom fell, he slaughtered every last royal bloodline of the former regime. Even the fully formed child in my womb, his own flesh and blood, he did not spare. Only I was left alive. I didn’t understand… was this love, or hatred? It must be hatred. That’s why he later made me soak night after night in freezing, potent herbal baths, designed to steal away my ability to bear children. He wanted me to be completely barren. He didn’t want me to bear his children. He despised me, my lineage tainted. I wiped the medicine from the corner of my mouth. Before I could speak, a joyous shout came from outside. “Your Majesty! The royal healers have confirmed Her Majesty Lena is with child!” Kael’s expression froze, then his voice filled with excitement: “Are you serious? Lena is pregnant?” My gaze was distant, watching the joy of a new father spread across his face. Perhaps the parasites began gnawing again, for my hand instinctively clutched my chest. It hurt so much. I had intended to die alone in my desolate prison when the poison finally took hold. But Kael, of all times, sent me to attend to Lena now. He knew exactly how to inflict the cruelest torment upon me. A swift death would have been merciful. Instead, he wanted me to witness, with my own eyes, other women bearing his children. While our own child, whom he’d personally ripped from my womb, lay buried on the back hill, a lone, unmarked grave, not even a simple headstone. Lena smiled at me, a soft, saccharine smile. “You, born of nobility, my dear sister, His Majesty asks you to serve me, but I couldn’t possibly make you do menial tasks. Just clean up the fallen petals in the front courtyard.” I picked up the broom, looking at the courtyard blanketed in peach blossoms. Other palace maids openly rolled their eyes at me, their voices filled with disdain. “A princess from the fallen regime, she’s lucky to be left to rot in her cold palace. Only our Queen is kind enough to call her ‘sister.’” “Noble born? Ha! She’s clearly lower than the cheapest concubine, utterly despised by His Majesty. If I were her, I wouldn’t have the audacity to cling to life so shamelessly.” Red rashes slowly began to appear on my skin. I gasped for breath, and suddenly felt a warm liquid trickling from my nose. I reached up, touching it, and froze. “Ah!” 4. Lena saw the blood covering my face and was instantly overcome with feigned shock. When Kael rushed in, he slapped me without a word, his force so great it sent me sprawling to the ground, scattering a flurry of peach petals. I began to cough.
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