The queen looked at the bracelet in the velvet box, whose color had faded, even though it was no longer the original color of the box. This bracelet was a gift from Benedict when they were lovers. Cassia loves Benedict very much, but she is greedy for something bigger than just being the wife of a hero and a pillar of the royal family known as the sword master.
When she was appointed as a woman who would enter the palace as a concubine, like the first agreement between King Gustaf the first with her family, the queen could not wait for confirmation from Benedict, who was going to war, and the queen dowager only thinks realistically. So she took the opportunity as a concubine before ascending the throne to become queen.
Her beautiful green eyes with blonde hair, typical of the Rodriguez noble family, and her white and slender hands looked gorgeous when she took the bracelet to take a closer look with longing feelings.
"Am I not that valuable in your eyes right now?" asked the queen into empty air. "I'm greedy, but can you give me what I want if I choose you anyway, Benedict?"
Emma, behind the queen, can only hold back her sadness. She knows how difficult it is to be a daughter in a merchant family where the majority are men. Excluded and demeaned, the opportunity to become a palace concubine is one of the steps so that no one belittles Cassia.
Even to do business and trade, a woman is not allowed. That is why leaving Benedict at that time was the right choice and the most challenging thing she took.
"Emma, was my choice wrong all this time?" now the queen asked her maid.
Emma looked down in response, "No, queen, you've made the right choice. Mr. Benedict, who could not understand your choice and position at that time," she answered, trying to please her master.
"That's right, and I think Benedict will understand my choice because he has always understood me very well. But in fact, that guy is just as devilish as Philips, who used me to fill the queen's seat but didn't give me any face to have a royal successor!!" said the queen in a hateful tone.
The queen hates king Philips for making her a queen with no power and no descendants. It happened because it turned out that the king of Philips gave her a barren potion. The cruel man wanted to keep his promise to queen Clementina not to have children with other women.
The queen was deceived by the king's good attitude to her. The man was so cunning and had no feelings for him as his wife. She was lulled by the fake love that King Philips gave before the queen realized something odd about her body. Tracing it found that the problem came from King Philips, who almost got her love.
The man himself admitted his cruel acts, all for his love and promise to his previous queen, queen Clementine, the birth mother of the current king Alaric.
And stupidly again, Clementine asked for a foolish promise. Clementine, the queen, known to be gentle, is selfish and crueler than her and will understand the consequences. Her son, who has now ascended the throne to succeed King Philips, is very obedient and submissive to her. She will make Clementine and King Philips watch their son fall into the abyss of destruction.
"Has father sent the final decision of the meeting to the Guinevere family?" asked the queen, squeezing the bracelet before putting it back in the box.
"Already, queen, I forgot to tell you. Sorry for the negligence of this servant," said Emma looking down.
"Never mind, just get the letter!" said the queen did not care.
Emma then gave the letter she got to the queen. Slowly the queen read what her father had written before folding it back.
"So the man still chose to die and let his beloved daughter be tortured for the rest of her life? It's miserable..." said the queen in contrast to her smiling face.
"It's true. The palace psychic said there was a prophecy in which the kingdom's destruction came from the blood of a descendant of a black magician. Must shed her blood with tears of pain as an antidote and atonement for life to protect the kingdom," Emma explained again to satisfy and restore the queen's good emotions.
"Hahaha— this time, I'm sure Benedict will regret not accepting my offer. That man will watch how his beloved daughter dies slowly and loses her identity. I will not be half-hearted in punishing Rania!" said the queen, mentioning the name of Benedict's daughter. "Even though I didn't get Benedict, his first son became mine. At least... there is half of him that belongs to me..." said the queen, losing her smile and happy glow for a few seconds.
....
The following day Rania had to see for herself how her grandfather, grandmother, and mother would be beheaded. But strangely, her aunt and uncle looked calm and didn't cry. But she tried to run there, but two solid armored warriors held back her body. They were like boulders that weren't even bothered by her actions.
Her mother was there, placed right under the big knife. The device she knew was because she had seen it in the square several times when the palace sentenced the defendant to death, and now it fell on her family's heads.
The guillotine towered sinisterly before her eyes, and everyone screamed in front of her family's eyes.
"Kill the traitor!!"
"Kill that black magic user. Kill immediately!!"
"Those who betrayed the kingdom must be killed!! Cry... Why do they have to live as gods? Kill these black magicians immediately!!"
The residents' voices were heard. Rania was scared but suddenly shouted back.
"MY FATHER AND MOTHER ARE NOT BLACK SWITCHES!! WE ARE NOT TRAINERS!—" Rania's words were cut off when she threw animal dung at her.
Benedict was silent and did nothing when he saw his daughter screaming and being thrown by dirt, but Hera didn't. She struggled to cry, but her mouth was gagged by a cloth, not allowed to call.
"Shut up, you dirty bloodline!! You, too, will suffer the consequences!" said the red-haired man who had just thrown dirt at her.
"Right, a filthy descendant should get his punishment too!!"
"Kill the black magicians and traitors!!"
"Kill!!"
Rania wept upon hearing that, crying so loudly at the notification that the queen dowager had come with her son, king Alaric the Gustaf II. One of the guards who held Rania immediately covered Rania's mouth with her hand. Rania did not rebel like before because she was afraid to see the queen dowager, who directly glared at her with her little friend, king Alaric.
King Alaric spoke a few words as he came before the people who had packed the hall, appointed ruler because he was the only descendant of the king. At the age of 18, he was made king.
But at 18, King Alaric accomplished many achievements that are respected by citizens, much like his father, the late King Philips.
"These traitors and black magicians have committed great crimes, plotted a coup against the kingdom, poisoned the second king Gustaf and almost killed the queen dowager who in the end had to lose the potential successor to the kingdom that was in the womb," said King Alaric frankly.
None of the residents spoke while king Alaric spoke. Everyone listened."Thus, with this, I punish the sinners to death. And leaving one offspring to be sacrificed for the rest of her life, we need her blood to be shed once a week to eliminate the influence of black magic in the kingdom. With this, I punish you to death!!""LONG LIVE THE KINGDOM OF BRITAIN GUSTAF!! LONG LIVE ALARIC KING!!"Everyone shouted after king Alaric finished speaking. He returned to his seat right next to the queen dowager. But the calm Benedict rebelled violently when he heard that his daughter would not die but become the victim of torture, which was more terrible than death."CASSIA!!" Benedict shouted the name of the queen dowager, who turned slowly towards him, giving a triumphant smile."NO!! PLEASE, MY FATHER AND MY MOTHER, ARE NOT BLACK SWITCHES!! ALARIC, PLEASE BELIEVE IN ME!"Unfortunately, she did not hear Rania's screams among the screams of the residents who cursed her parents, and her grandparent
Alaric stepped hastily towards the dungeon, and he remembered that today was the day the civil guards began to give torture sentences to suspected traitors and descendants of black magic users. As the last descendant, Rania gets a life sentence for removing black magic as the royal fortune teller says the way to remove black magic is by giving the user's traitor blood.But, in recent years, there are often monsters that enter the kingdom due to black magic that attracts the smell and intuitive senses of the demons.He might hate Rania for daring to poison the queen's mother before, as well as the empress dowager this time, well as himself in front of so many people, but in fact, Alaric still harbors that love until this day. He couldn't bear to see the woman injured, and he should have let Rania die because of the torture wound. He always brought a healer to treat Rania for her injuries.Watching the civilians and stopping them from behaving excessively, even Alaric killed the civilia
"Did you hear that king Alaric just conquered a small kingdom in three days? It's crazy!! The king of Alaric now holds the big record, and he is known to be so cruel and ruthless that if you commit a mistake like corruption and raping women, the punishment will be meted out without a judge!" Rania turned towards the prison door when she heard it."Yeah, the kingdom is more prosperous. Even though the city's construction is no longer neglected, I can see the city's beauty is getting more and more charming. Even the embroidery house isn't as shabby as it used to be!" Laughter sounded at the end of the sentence of the civil guards outside."We all know King Alaric loves the current queen dowager as his surrogate mother. What a very filial son."The sound of their footsteps echoed because this was a cold dungeon. Before then, Rania heard other footsteps that sounded heavy but so familiar.JINGLING!The sound of the key made Rania cringe and run to the end of the room, and she crouched dow
Rania opened her eyes to find the man who tried to kill her now looking at her with a worried face. There was no blood there, no red eyes that wanted to devour her immediately. But Rania could still feel the real fear, so it was just a dream."It was just a bad dream. Go back to sleep..." said King Alaric hugging Rania's warm body back into his arms. "It's okay, and I'm here. No one will dare touch you."But Rania did not calm down, and she felt more and more as if a rope was wrapped around her neck, ready to hang her in seconds. She was threatening her life before she could avenge her parents.Rania's fears, feelings, thoughts, and hearts are often tense and uncertain with time. There was a time when Rania would feel frightened by sudden things like king Alaric who often came to touch her or sleep hugging her until dawn.Every time there was the sound of footsteps, she was frightened. Every time she closed her eyes, her mind wandered about a death better than this life. But Rania rem
King Alaric then fell silent, unable to answer. But his body was getting closer to hugging Rania's back, and a calming scent emerged from the body of the woman he had loved so far. Since realizing that even he couldn't turn his back on his childhood fiancé, King Alaric has grown more desperate and has caused big waves in the kingdom."I will release you from this prison, but on the condition that you will be my mistress!" said King Alaric, suddenly making Rania's body freeze.Rania did not answer, and the woman stared blankly at the wall in front of her. Her eyes were already giving any reaction, and she lost herself when the person who had given her a bad experience came to take the most meaningful thing she had and was snatched away by this devil-hearted man."Will free you from this place, Rania." King Alaric said, kissing the back of Rania's neck."On what basis did you let me out of this prison? After so many years, this place became my home!" replied Rania, finally opening her v
"Fine, I'll do what I can," Pitter replied resignedly.Looking at the pale figure in front of him, this woman was already lifeless, but Alaric still preserved her body. It had been a week, and he continued to treat every old scar with all strength until now, that face looked even paler than before.After finishing the treatment, every scar on Rania's body disappeared and left her cold skin and stiff body."I discovered a terrible conspiracy from death, Rania..." blurted King Alaric to Pitter, who intended to say goodbye."What did you find? Did it happen to the ministers?""My mother, queen dowager Cassia. She ordered someone to release the fugitive from prison with the lure of unconditional freedom. I also found an oddity in every Rania's blood taken several years ago. Didn't burn the blood like the fortune teller said, but spread all over the walls of the royal castle that protected the city from monsters…." King Alaric explained."Then what are you going to do now?" asked Pitter."
"I'm going to go wandering, and it's been two years since my sister's death." Said 10-year-old Benjamin.His body was tall, and his face looked more grown. Even though he was only a ten-year-old boy, his thoughts were above those of an adult worrying about king Alaric as his adoptive brother."You are still only ten years old. It will not be allowed for you to wander around!" answered king Alaric to the younger brother of his childhood sweetheart."I have Mikael to accompany me; he is a trained warrior. I want to find mom, so she can explain everything that happened to me! And take responsibility for it!" said Benjamin with great confidence."It won't be that easy, Benjamin. You know that mother is the strongest and most stubborn woman. Even her cunning is not easy for me to know if not with the experience I've been through." Said king Alaric honestly.The palace scheme is worse than anything else. Even husband and wife can kill each other. King Alaric realized this all started with t
"Where's Oscar?!" asked Rania after a day after she realized.Hera looked at her daughter with a pale face, "You must be hungry. Mother will send Ines to bring lunch," her mother got up from the chair. Rania watched her mother leave, and her father did not go to fulfill the king's invitation because of the current problems. There was an illegitimate child in the Guinevere family, a real illegitimate child."Mom! I'm not hungry. May I know where Oscar is?" she asked again to her mother, who stopped her steps.There, Hera closed her eyes, remembering two days ago. When she was hysterical when she found out that her husband had an illegitimate child and her daughter was carried in Oscar's arms, soaked and unconscious, she beat the young man in anger. She accuses Oscar of hurting her daughter and avoiding his husband.And when Rania wakes up, she realizes God has given her a second life."Don't ask about him, please... mom doesn't want to hear anything about him!" Hera answered without wa