Darkness...

It was all the young Ingrid could see underneath her blindfold. Another cloth was wrapped around her mouth, stopping her from making a sound, so she could only weep in silence. Had she not willfully asked her father to take her to the festival, this wouldn’t have happened.

It was the last day of the hunting festival. People gathered at the central plaza, where a giant feast made from the games hunted during the first day of the festival was prepared. It is said to be the most joyous time of the entire week of festivity, where the entire empire gathers together in unity.

Wanting to experience that, the young Ingrid begged her father to take her to the festival, despite the grand dukes great disapproval. Though it is the most joyful time, it is also the most dangerous, especially for Ingrid, whom many people covet. But Ingrid was relentless, and after a lot of begging and crying, the grand duke ended up reluctantly agreeing. After all, who could bear to see the tears of such a beautiful child?

However, who would have thought that it was the moment that Ingrid’s captor had been waiting for all along?

During the peak of the festivity, one of the giant pots, a size taller than a man, filled with boiling soup suddenly broke, causing it to spill onto the surrounding audience. People started to panic, and before they knew it, a stampede had already occurred.

The grand duke quickly grabbed his daughter and brought her to safety. However, when he looked down, it wasn’t his daughter’s hand he was holding, but of Lily, her face filled with tears, her wrist red from trying to struggle away from the grand dukes grasp. It turns out someone had taken Ingrid amid the chaos. Lily tried to tell the grand duke, but the panic-stricken people's noise drowned out Lily's voice.

“Is this her?” A new and unfamiliar voice asked.

“Yes, your highness.”

Ingrid felt a hand touching the back of her head, causing her to shiver uncontrollably. Then she felt the cloth covering her eyes loosen. The first thing she saw in her still hazy gaze was a purple satin dress. Its wearer was still busy loosening the cloth tied around her mouth. However, despite the gentleness of the hands that are trying to free her, she couldn’t find any sort of comfort from their bearer.

Ingrid’s shoulder tensed when the man grabbed her jaw, forcing her to look up. She was met by a pair of gray, stormy eyes filled with insanity, and she began to tremble.

“What a lovely face—no, lovely isn’t enough to express the amount of beauty you hold.” The man broke into an insane smile, making him look even more horrible.

Ingrid did not realize she was crying until she felt the man rubbing his thumb on her cheeks, making her shiver out of fear and pure disgust.

“Sssh, it’s okay. Don’t cry. I’m not going to hurt you.” The man said in a horrid voice.

“Please let me go. My father is surely worried about me,” Ingrid begged in between sobs.

“Oh, don’t worry, my love. I’m sure your father will understand. After all, he can’t keep you by his side forever.”

Ingrid shook her head profusely. She couldn’t comprehend the meaning behind the words said by the monster in front of her. How come she can’t stay by her father’s side? She doesn’t want to be here! She wants to be with her father!

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

"Come, let me show you something.”

The ugly man held her hand, so she could only helplessly follow. He led her onto a balcony that overlooked the entire kingdom of which he was the ruler.

The sight of the beautiful structures created and powered by magic was a feast to behold, but not for Ingrid. All she could see was the distance between there and home, her hope slowly dying as she thought of ways to escape her current cage.

"Beautiful, isn’t it?” The man said, his mad eyes filled with great pride. Ingrid’s body turned cold when he looked towards her. “Once you marry me, you will rule beside me and become the queen of this kingdom, isn’t that great?”

Ingrid shook her head and tried to pull her hand away, but the madman's grip on her tightened. “My father will never agree to that!”

"Oh, I’m sure he will. A power’s siren song casts a spell on all! Your father is no exception!”

“That’s a lie! My father is not like that! Let me go!”

“Is that so?” He asked mockingly. “When your father knows who I am, you best know he will offer you himself to me!”

“Then why kidnap me!?”

The man fell into silence, dumbstruck. His grip on Ingrid loosened. She quickly took the chance to create distance between them.

“My father chose me and my mother over a whole empire. He will never choose you over me, so don't you mar my father's good name!”

The man's sudden burst of laughter startled Ingrid.

“Spells are indeed useless against a goddess's blood.”

Ingrid took a step back when the man began to walk towards her, his eyes filled with even more madness and greed. She felt the icy metal railing pressed against her back. Cornered, her eyes darted wildly around, searching for a way out.

“Well, it doesn’t matter what your father thinks of anyway. You’re in my kingdom now. What can he actually do once we have already tied the knot?”

Ingrid looked at the man with horror. “No! ”

“Behave now, my little queen.”

“No! Nooo!!!”

“My lady? My lady! Wake-up!”

Ingrid snapped awake, her eyes scanning the room wildly. Only when she recognized her familiar surroundings did she start to calm down. She clenched her trembling fists and took a series of deep breaths, trying to calm herself.

The sun's rays were already peeking through the still-closed curtains, signaling the start of a new day.

“It’s been so long since you had a nightmare, my lady,” Lily said, filled with worry, as she handed Ingrid a glass of water.

Ingrid drained the glass in a single gulp, as if she had just emerged from a desert trek. Lily poured her another, but this time Ingrid only drank half.

“My lady, was something bothering you these past few days?” Lily could no longer help but ask.

“Don’t worry, Lily, it’s nothing.” Ingrid tried to stand, only to fall on Lily’s arm, who was quick to catch her mistress.

Ingrid looked at her trembling legs and sighed “Please get me a change of clothes,” she said as Lily helped her sit on the bed. Her night clothes were drenched with sweat, and it’s making her uncomfortable.

“My Lady, I have been by your side ever since I could remember. I know you, and I know that you have not been yourself these past few days.” Lily handed Ingrid the set of clothes she had chosen and helped her mistress wear them. “If there is anything that’s bothering you..."

Ingrid let out a deep sigh. She knew she couldn’t hide anything from Lily. The two of them had practically grown together. Lily was the only person she could call her friend and the only person who treated her like a normal person.

“I wasn’t myself because there is a giant play that I’m trying to make, and it requires a lot of thinking. Don’t worry, once it’s finished, I will show it to you first.” Ingrid patted Lily on the shoulder and walked towards the window.

Ingrid opened the thin curtains, allowing the sun to fully enter the room. Her face showed no signs that she had just woken up from a terrible nightmare.

She glowed with a youthful radiance as the rays touched her rose-colored cheeks.

There is a superstition in their dukedom that whoever gets to grace her face in the morning will have a day of luck and goodness ahead of them. That is why every morning the maids in her residence would line up outside her door to greet her before they went on with their daily tasks. Meanwhile, the servants of the grand ducal palace could only wait enviously for her to grace them with her presence.

“Lily, tell the knights to prepare my carriage.”

“My lady?” Lily’s brows furrowed. Her mistress rarely goes out, and when she does, she always briefs them ahead of time. Therefore, she was confused by Ingrid’s sudden announcement.

Ingrid looked at the baffled Lily and gave her a smile that did not reach her eyes. “It’s time to set the play I created in motion.”