“Princess! Where are you?” Familiar shouts echoed through the valley of thousand peaks. The notorious ninth Princess Cheon Daiyu was infamous for causing mayhem like this on a daily basis. Although she was only twelve years old, she had a knack for hiding and disappearing right below the nose of her guardians and maids.

While the servants and guards of Black Jade Palace were busy searching for Daiyu, she was skipping around the dense forest, almost like it was her second home.

“Such imbeciles.” The twelve year old muttered under her breath with a frosty expression. The Heavenly Demonic Cult was a place that remained untouched by the orthodox and unorthodox factions alike. However, the traditions within the Cult itself were unbearably suffocating, especially for the illegitimate daughter of the Heavenly Demon himself.

“Let’s see. What shall I do today?” Daiyu wandered around the forest aimlessly before settling in her favorite spot. Her favorite hobbies included playing with animals, birds or climbing trees. However, she was feeling somehow fickle on that particular day and remained motionless for several hours.

“I think the Princess is there.” She heard one of the guards at a distance coming her way and discreetly hid behind the huge boulder that served as her resting place. The day passed by rather quickly and Daiyu didn’t feel like going back to her reality yet. The reality where she was the illegitimate daughter of the Cult Leader who had been pushed to the outskirts by the Lord’s many wives.

Daiyu felt a surge of anger burning in her heart and she dug her fingers into the moist soil of the forest ground. The approaching footsteps of the guards was enough to send her heart in a frenzy.

‘No.’

The fingers dug deeper into the ground as the footsteps got even closer.

‘I don’t want to go back.’

The pain in her fingertips just added fire to her anger and they dug into the ground with even more vigor.

‘Please. Someone. Help me.’

With the last plea of her innocent heart, Daiyu’s finger hit something hard and smooth underground which snapped her out of her thoughts.

“Huh?”

A small sound escaped her mouth and she grabbed the smooth round surface that had been buried in that spot. Even though the guards had almost found her location, Daiyu didn’t feel anxious anymore. She pulled out the strange object with all her might and a bright violet light flooded her eyes.

She barely managed to suppress her scream but the guards had already been alerted by the flash of bright light.

“There! Search behind that boulder!” Someone gave a hasty order and the guards surrounded Daiyu even before she could properly look at the object in her hands.

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“Princess! How can you do this to me?” A middle aged woman ran towards Daiyu and wrapped her arms around the young girl’s slender frame.

“I’m sorry, Lishu. I needed some space for myself today.” Daiyu gently patted her nanny’s warm back, as if to calm her down.

“Princess Daiyu, do you not understand how dangerous it is to go out by yourself without guards? What if something had happened to you? The Lord would have had my neck.”

“Who cares about a nobody daughter of a servant? I may be a princess but we both know it is only in name. When was the last time my father visited me?” Daiyu’s eyes turned frosty when she heard her nanny mention her father.

“Princess! The Lord cares about you a lot.” Lishu tried to console the young princess but Daiyu pulled back from her nanny’s arms in anger.

“I doubt he even remembers me anymore. Either way, let us just go back now. The sun is about to go down and the nights in the forest are exceptionally chilly.” Daiyu stood up and began walking towards the dreadful place that was filled with awful memories. She was so angered by her nanny’s words that she completely forgot about the round object clutched tightly in her fist.

It was only after reaching the Black Jade Palace that Daiyu remembered about it. While her maids were preparing her bath, Daiyu carefully opened her small fist to see a dark violet marble sitting in her palm.

The marble was beautiful - it was almost as if a cloud of violet energy was swirling within it. She carefully hid the marble beneath her pillow when she heard her nanny approach her room.

“Your bath is ready, princess. Please refrain from soiling your beautiful hands in such an uncouth way in future.” Lishu mournfully glanced at Daiyu’s soil stained hands and shook her head.

“Forget about it.” Daiyu exited the room with her nanny and by the time she came back to her chambers, it was already time for her to sleep. The lengthy walk in the forest had tired her out and she fell asleep the moment her head hit the pillow.

That was the reason why she didn’t notice the violet substance leaking out of the marble and enveloping her body.

‘You must swallow it.’

A strange voice echoed in Daiyu’s head who woke up from her sleep in a hazy trance.

‘You must swallow it.’

The voice penetrated her deepest level of consciousness and Daiyu moved as if she was being controlled by someone.

‘You must swallow it.’

The voice enticed her to eat the shiny marble she had found in the forest earlier. She sat up with a stiff and jerky motion before retrieving the marble from underneath her pillow.

‘Eat it now.’

Daiyu brought the marble to her lips and put it in her mouth. The violet substance that had dispersed around her completely vanished when she did that. The marble melted on her tongue and a strange sensation flooded her entire body. At first, the new sensation felt pleasant and natural. It was then that she heard the noise of something snapping and her nightmare began. Daiyu struggled to breathe as pain penetrated within her body. It was almost as if her entire body had been lit on fire.

“Aghhhhhhhhhh. Lishu!” Daiyu let out a blood curdling scream and her nanny burst through her door in an instant.

“Princess! Princess Daiyu! What happened?” Lishu tried to ask her about her condition but Daiyu’s mind was being flooded by the unimaginable pain.

“Help! It burns! My body is burning!” Daiyu’s continuous screams woke everyone in the Black Jade Palace and the Grand Demonic Doctor was summoned within half an hour.

The last thing Daiyu recalled was the elderly face of the doctor hovering over her and her nanny’s contorted face that had turned red. After that, a pitch black darkness shrouded her senses and she fell unconscious.