“Is everyone dressed properly?”

“Yes!”

Everyone responded in unison to the headmistress’s question. Unlike me with my strange nervousness, all the younger children had excited faces.

“Who’s coming today?”

“The Duke and Duchess of Belial are visiting. They’re coming to choose a child to take back to the duchy for adoption.”

“Wow! Does that mean we’ll become a prince or princess?”

“Indeed. So everyone must behave politely. You never know who might receive such good fortune.”

As soon as the headmistress disappeared, everyone began whispering among themselves.

The dreamlike Belial Duchy.

A mysterious lake that never freezes, beautiful forests and mountains. Plus fertile farmland and mines.

Belial was a fairytale country that everyone on this continent dreamed of visiting at least once. It was a place filled with hope and happiness.

There was actually another reason behind its mysterious image.

“But surely the duchy has its own orphanages. Why adopt from the empire?”

“Who knows? Would a wealthy country like that even have poor children like us?”

“Hmm… I don’t know. Everything about the duchy is just rumors anyway.”

“True, they say people from that country never come outside, right?”

Occasionally, royalty or nobility from the duchy would venture out for diplomatic purposes.

But while people from the empire could enter the duchy for trade or relocation, people from the duchy rarely came out.

That fueled the fantasy surrounding Belial.

“Anyway, prince and princess! I want to be chosen.”

Everyone boasted about their wishes.

But I couldn’t join in. I didn’t understand why I felt so nervous.

If I’m not adopted this time, I’ll have to give up.

I was already ten years old. When nobles adopt, they value either resemblance to themselves or young age.

With my plain red hair and unusual yellow eyes… at already ten years old, my chances of adoption were slim.

“Lea, what’s wrong?”

A child spoke to me from beside me.

“You know, Carden… I just… want to be adopted this time…”

Carden, who was two years older than me, was in the same situation. He had black hair and gray eyes. Plus he was a boy.

His chances of adoption were even slimmer than mine.

“Would you be okay being separated from me if you get adopted?”

Carden looked at me with disappointed eyes. We were best friends, the oldest children remaining at the orphanage.

We were abandoned just a day apart from each other. Each with only a note stating our name and age.

We became close and remained here while other friends left with good parents.

“That’s mean. Whenever you had nightmares, I held you until you fell back asleep. Now you don’t need me anymore?”

Carden’s eyes were full of mischief.

“I don’t want to be separated from you either.”

Hearing my answer, Carden smiled and placed his hand on my head.

“A pretty child like you will surely be adopted by someone. Don’t be too impatient.”

“But…”

“Who was it that said she’d become a princess and protect me?”

His gentle voice and touch made me shrink slightly.

It was always like this. He was like a tree standing steadfastly by my side.

When I fell, he helped me up. When I cried, he wiped my tears. Whether laughing or crying, he was always by my side, my friend.

“Why can’t people recognize a real princess? We have such a beautiful princess and a splendid knight guarding this orphanage.”

Carden’s joke eased my tension. My raised shoulders relaxed and a smile returned to my stiff face.

This was why I liked Carden. He was like family to me, always by my side providing warmth when I struggled.

“I think it would be fine if neither of us gets adopted and we just live together forever…”

“Forever?”

Carden strangely couldn’t look at me. He stared at the orphanage entrance as he continued.

“If one of us happens to get adopted… would you still come find me?”

“Huh?”

“We’re friends. Best friends. Even if our status changes after adoption… we were still closest to each other…”

Carden mumbled uncharacteristically. Seeing him like that cleared my head.

I understood what “forever” meant.

“I… I don’t mind not being adopted.”

It might have been childish and immature. But it was something I could say because I was young.

“I just want to live with Carden forever.”

“Really? It’s a promise then.”

“Yes. I promise.”

Carden held out his pinky finger. I hooked mine with his and made the vow.

His face turned red. Mine probably did too. While everyone around us was excited about who might be chosen by the Duke and Duchess, we were excited about each other.

It was the first time we shared our feelings beyond being childhood friends and siblings. It was a precious promise.

* * *

“Oh… that dream again…”

Waking from sleep, I lay still, staring at the ceiling. Tears streamed down the sides of my face.

Was it because I couldn’t keep my promise? Or because I missed those days?

Once started, my tears welled up with sorrow to my chin. But I couldn’t go back. To that day…

“Leitria. Are you awake?”

A dreadful voice called me from outside.

The voice of the Duchess of Belial, my adoptive mother.

Her seemingly kind voice was all pretense.

“Yes…”

“Then get up quickly. We need to perform the ritual.”

I gritted my teeth at the mention of the ritual. It has been my daily routine since being adopted. It was also something that robbed me of my will to live.

I got out of bed and changed into pure white clothes.

Flowing silk embroidered with ice crystals. This meant I was a living sacrifice who must dedicate body and soul to the duchy.

When I went outside, sure enough, mother had already finished preparations and was waiting.

“Here, drink this.”

Today too, she handed me a small bottle containing a silver liquid. It was a dangerous substance that consumed my predetermined lifespan. This liquid would once again consume me with pain.

Each time I drank it, I had to writhe in pain as heat spread throughout my body. But I couldn’t refuse.

They threatened to burn down the orphanage, to kill the children there if I didn’t drink it.

Especially my friend Carden. They threatened since I was young to capture him and tear him apart before my eyes.

So I had no choice but to drink it.

For ten whole years.

“Ugh…”

Having grown accustomed to it, I no longer fainted from the pain like when I was younger. Still, the feeling of my skin and internal organs twisting remained.

As I endured despite breaking into a cold sweat, mother looked pleased.

“There’s only about a year left now.”

One year, that was all the life I had left. It also meant the end of this unbearable pain.

Being consumed as a living sacrifice, or dying from illness like this. Either way, it meant rest for me. A chance to put down this wretched life that I couldn’t even end by choice.

“Now, offer your pure and clean blood.”

For ten years, my extracted blood was sprinkled into the lake. They had to report daily to the lake monster how well I was growing.

Belial Duchy maintained peace by offering women around twenty years old to the monster. The abundant minerals, fertile land, all resulted from sacrifices like me.

But no one outside the duchy knew this.

I was just a fortunate orphan adopted as a princess of the beautiful and mysterious Belial Duchy.

After mother left, I returned to bed and lay down again.

She used to take me to social gatherings before. She even let me accompany father when he went to the empire for diplomatic matters. I was a tool to widely promote the benevolence of Belial Duchy.

But since I had only about a year of life left, I lived almost imprisoned in the castle.

“Leitria.”

Just then, someone burst through the door without knocking.

It was Deltraen, the son of the Duke and Duchess.

“Brother…”

He looked at me with somewhat greedy eyes. He always had those eyes since I started my first menstruation.

But he never touched me. Being the future Duke of the duchy, he knew what consequences would befall him if he tampered with a sacrifice.

“Are you feeling well?”

“Yes… I’m fine.”

“You have an important role for the duchy, so always carry yourself properly.”

He stroked my head with the manner of a caring older brother. But his touch was different from Carden’s.

My skin crawled, but I couldn’t show it.

“I’m worried because relations between the empire and duchy aren’t good these days. I fear my precious little sister might be sacrificed sooner.”

I would soon understand the meaning of his words.

* * *

A lake that never freezes even in the coldest winter. Today too, only a cold and lonely wind blew over the lake in the snowy mountains, though the water itself wasn’t warm.

A wooden cross was erected at the entrance of the lake. The person precariously hanging there was none other than me.

My body, swaying slightly in the wind, had now lost the strength to resist and hung there in resignation. I no longer even trembled when the cold water, rippling in the wind, occasionally touched my feet.

“Just end it quickly…”

A voice full of resignation escaped my lips.

It had been ten days already. Hanging like this, waiting only for death.

I became a sacrifice earlier than planned. But the lake monster didn’t take me.

Fearing I might freeze to death before becoming a sacrifice, they filled leather pouches with hot water in my coat every hour. They even forced food into my mouth.

Despite going to such lengths to keep me alive as a sacrifice, the lake monster had no intention of taking me.

That was more painful. At this point, dying quickly would be better.

“Carden… I miss you.”

Why did the name of my childhood friend come to mind? Tears that ran down my cheeks fell as ice fragments.

That’s when it happened. Suddenly, a whirlwind swept across the lake.

Is this finally the end?

At the same time, I heard hoofbeats behind me. Strangely, when the horse stopped, the whirlwind that was pulling lake water into the sky disappeared without a trace.

“Is this the place?”

“Sob…”

“I’m asking if that woman is the one.”

“The moment you touch that filthy sacrifice, misfortune will befall you too… gack!”

The voice of the caretaker who had been keeping me alive was cut off. Something seemed to be happening behind me.

But I couldn’t see what was happening. What followed was the sound of splashing, and someone walking into the lake.

“Leitria, Princess of Belial, is that you?”

The man with the chilling voice didn’t wait for my answer.