⚠️ Content Warning
(This chapter contains intense psychological and physical violence, as well as implications of abuse.
Readers who are sensitive to such content or prefer to avoid it are strongly advised to skip this chapter.
Skipping this chapter will not affect your understanding of the overall plot.
The chapter):
Thoughts began to pour over her head all at once.
"Did... did he find out?"
"Did the news of the gifts reach him?"
"Did he think I knew who sent them?"
"Will he kill me if he misunderstands?"
She placed her hand over her mouth quickly.
Her breathing was accelerating in an alarming way.
"Why is he summoning me now? It's so late... official visiting hours ended hours ago..."
She closed her eyes tightly and tried to control herself.
— Calm down... just calm down...
She whispered in a low voice.
— Do not jump to conclusions... calm down, Irene...
But the knocking repeated once more.
— Her Highness Princess Irene, can you hear me?
She opened her eyes quickly, as if waking from a bad dream.
Then she answered:
— Yes... I am coming.
It took her a few minutes to compose herself before leaving the room. On the way to the Royal Office, her tension grew more and more.
The palace corridors looked different at night. They were darker. And quieter.
Even the guards were fewer than usual, making the place seem almost abandoned.
The sound of her footsteps echoed in the long stone hallways, and the closer she got to the office, the heavier her heart felt.
Finally, she arrived.
She stopped in front of the door for a moment, then took a deep breath. Permission to enter reached her. She opened the door and entered.
She bowed according to the usual official customs and said:
— I greet the sun of the great Kingdom of Iscard.
Arxon was sitting behind his desk as usual, with a number of documents and files before him. He raised his eyes to her for a brief moment before ordering her as he always did:
— Sit.
She nodded and headed toward the sofa opposite the desk and sat down cautiously. While she was trying to calm herself, she began to watch his demeanor stealthily. He was calm. He was not angry.
And no sign appeared on his face to suggest that he had summoned her to punish her.
She felt a sense of relief.
"Perhaps nothing reached him... I was over-worrying..."
But her thoughts were cut off suddenly when he spoke.
— "A message arrived from Valerian hours ago during my absence."
Irene trembled immediately and turned to him quickly, even feeling embarrassed by her reaction, but she could not control herself.
As for Arxon, he did not seem to notice anything. He continued signing a document in front of him before continuing:
— And that is why I ordered you to be summoned now, specifically, to inform you.
He raised his pen slightly then said:
— Tomorrow, the news of your engagement to Prince and General Lucas Tudor de Valerian will be officially announced. Sign the clause in front of you.
Her eyes widened.
Then she let out a small sigh without realizing it.
— Ah...
She whispered in a faint voice.
— I understand.
She moved toward the table, took a quill, and signed the clause that stated her consent.
A large part of her tension vanished at that moment.
But she was still thinking about the gifts; since he did not bring up the subject, this meant that she would have to tell him to avoid as much misunderstanding as possible.
She hesitated for a moment, then gathered her courage and said:
— Your Majesty... but...
The pen stopped moving. Arxon finally raised his head. Then he raised an eyebrow.
— But?
She became more nervous. She spoke quickly before losing her composure.
— When I returned to my room, I found a large number of gifts, but they do not bear the names of their senders. I swear I do not know who sent them, so I deemed it wise to inform you...
She stopped, confused.
But Arxon returned to writing as if the matter was not worth worrying about.
— They were sent with Valerian's message; they are engagement gifts. This is normal.
She stared at him for a few seconds. Silence reigned for a second.
Then she felt as if a huge burden had been lifted from her chest all at once.
— It is not to your advantage to be ignorant of these matters.
Arxon said it coldly while closing one of the files.
— And that is why you must learn. After marriage, you will be a princess representing the Kingdom of Iscard abroad, and the wedding will be very soon. It is not enough to just excel in your studies; you must learn court etiquette and social customs among the nobles, so you know how to handle your new status.
She bowed her head respectfully.
— I will do my best, Your Majesty.
Silence reigned for a few short seconds.
Then Arxon said:
— Speaking of the subject of your studies...
She raised her head toward him.
— It seems your lessons are going well.
She nodded silently.
He continued:
— Even your teacher praised you exceptionally. It seems you have excellent abilities that will increase your chances of entering the Royal Council if you use them correctly.
Irene remained silent.
But she could not deny that she felt a sense of satisfaction hearing that.
However, that feeling did not last long.
Arxon continued his speech, saying: "Then, earn the respect of the nobles when cases are presented in the Council. Do not just sit and listen; participate in the discussions and prove your worth, to prove your right to the seat before anyone who objects to your presence there."
His voice grew sharper and he continued:
"Do not allow anyone to see you as weak or hesitant, whether inside the palace or outside. And remember this well... if you allow fear to drive your decisions, or choose to flee like your cowardly mother did, then your fate will be no different from hers."
Silence prevailed inside the office; the atmosphere in it changed 180 degrees in a second.
He said: "You may leave."
Irene remained standing in her place for moments, while his final words echoed inside her head over and over.
She said in anger to herself:
"Who are you calling a coward!..."
She clenched her fingers slowly until her knuckles turned white, but she quickly relaxed her grip and lowered her head. Then she stood up and headed toward the door without bowing to him.
Step...
Then another...
She was trying to convince herself to leave, and to swallow the insult as she had swallowed hundreds of insults before, but she could not. This time was different from everything that preceded it; she did not consider that person calling her mother a coward as just passing talk, but it ignited a severe anger in her heart.
She stopped before reaching the door. She closed her eyes for a second, then took a deep breath. Her fingertips trembled, and her heart beat violently until she could almost hear it. She knew that simply objecting to his words would cost her a heavy price.
Yet...
She felt she would never forgive herself if she left without saying anything to defend her mother before him, no matter the cost.
She turned slowly. And raised her head toward him.
Arxon continued writing on his papers, as if he did not notice she had stopped.
She hesitated for a moment.
Then her voice came out quiet... but it was clearer than any time before.
— Your Majesty... of all people, I cannot agree with what you said about my mother.
The pen stopped suddenly.
Silence reigned.
And Arxon did not raise his head immediately.
He kept looking at the paper in front of him for seconds, as if verifying that he had actually heard the words.
Then he raised his eyes to her very slowly. And that look alone was enough to make anyone else regret opening their mouth.
"Repeat what you said," he ordered in a cold tone.
Irene replied, her eyes shining with suppressed defiance: "My mother was not a coward."
As soon as her tongue uttered those words, bulging veins appeared on the King's forehead. His features trembled before he smiled, tinged with sarcasm and anger: "Really?"
Irene's heart was beating violently, almost audible throughout the room.
She felt fear invading her being, but she realized that there was no longer any room to turn back. She continued in a fragmented but firm tone: "My mother had many chances to give up, but she endured everything to protect her family. And when she was pregnant with me, she risked every ounce of courage and decided to escape to protect me and protect our family. And even in the last seconds of her life..."
Irene's body trembled violently, and her eyes filled with tears as she summoned the desolate scene in her imagination.
"She attacked with her frail body the bodies of the soldiers with the massive builds who killed her parents. Even while she knew her fate, she did not give up and resisted death until the last moment, just to protect me!"
She said, fighting her desire to cry: "Therefore, in my eyes, she is the bravest person to me."
A terrible silence fell over the place, lasting for seconds before the King cut it with a hysterical laugh that terrified Irene and froze the blood in her veins. Suddenly, he stopped laughing, looked at her with lethal coldness, then stood up and headed toward her with slow steps.
"Did she really do all that?" he asked to provoke her dignity, then added with a filthy insult: "But when she was beneath my body, she was not that courageous as you remember. She was just a dead corpse."
Irene's eyes widened from the amount of filth she heard.
But suddenly, Irene's body began to tremble with every step.
He approached her, then continued mockingly: "Because she knew perfectly well that before me, she had no choice but to submit and remain silent."
He finally stood by her.
"But you... now... it seems this marriage has given you a little false confidence, so you decided to come out of your hole and dare to reply to my words with impudence."
He reached her; his shadow suddenly covered her, and he closed his hand on her throat with force. Irene initiated by grabbing his hand, trying to push his grip away.
He whispered in her face: "Should I kill you now?" His grip increased in strength until her body lifted off the ground, and he began casting at her ears words: "Do you know how easy it is to end your life in this moment," savoring her weakness. Irene had reached her limit; her body began to relax.
Only then did he release her throat, and she fell to the ground with force.
While she was trying to catch her interrupted breaths with all her strength, he kicked her in the stomach cruelly. Irene clutched her stomach from the intensity of the pain that spread throughout her whole body and cut off her breath even more, then he repeated it again and again, until blood flowed from her mouth.
And as soon as her eyes fell on the blood that began to smear the floor, her body froze completely.
Blood had been Irene's greatest fear since that day her mother and grandparents were killed before her eyes, and she felt as if her soul had parted from her body from the sheer shock.
He grabbed her by her hair without mercy, flipped her violently, and placed his body over her, and said in a tone devoid of humanity or any sense of boundaries: "Your brave mother used to make beautiful sounds when she was in your place. I am curious to know if you will make those same sounds."
He began to lift her clothes and touch her in a way that contradicted the simplest rules of morality; even an animal does not behave as he did. Irene regained consciousness under the weight of the shock, and began to scream in her raspy voice, crying and begging him to stop what he was doing: "Please... please stop..."
He stopped for a second, then returned and closed his hand on her throat again, and leaned toward her ear, whispering with a terrifying threat: "Now that I have made you know your place well, I will not tolerate you again, if you make a mistake like this once more. I will show you a hell that will make you beg for death, until death becomes the true paradise in your eyes."
He left her again. This time she had already lost part of her consciousness, and his image began to fade gradually in her eyes.