Chapter 1

“Aaahh!”

Diana’s whole body trembled.

“That, that thing, keep doing it… please…”

Diana couldn’t even form complete sentences anymore. She felt like she’d become a complete fool.

She moved her hand between her legs, but Mason caught her wrist and held it still. Diana twisted her waist.

“Please, please keep going, more, more…!”

Diana begged desperately. Mason licked between Diana’s legs again.

He persistently focused only on the bead poking out between her petals, and Diana’s throat let out a wild cry, which she quickly muffled with her hand, embarrassed. Showing such a shameful place, opening herself wide and begging so desperately—everything about it embarrassed her, yet it thrilled her at the same time.

Why had it come to this? Was it just boredom at first… or was it curiosity… Why was it…

She couldn’t think straight.

Fine, why bother thinking? Diana decided to just focus on the pleasure at hand.

***

“Claire, I think I’m going to die.”

“I know, My Lady. The reason is boredom, right?”

Her maid had heard this from her master at least twenty times today and replied with the same answer for the twentieth time.

Diana tossed her wavy blonde hair about and smacked an innocent pillow with her thin, pale arms.

“My Lady, you’ll make dust fly.”

“I’m so bored, I’m starting to get angry!”

“You’ve been saying that since you arrived here two hours ago.”

Claire answered with a gentle smile. Diana’s frustration only grew at Claire’s calm reaction.

‘My Lady, I’m bored too. Should we try something fun? What could we do?’ 

Diana didn’t even imagine Claire would cooperate like that. She just wished Claire would pretend to understand her a little.

“Ah, Claire, you’re making me even more annoyed!”

“That’s unfortunate.”

Though her face didn’t show much, Diana could easily tell that Claire was enjoying teasing her.

“You’re so annoying…”

“You know how much I like you, right?”

“Is it because you like teasing me?”

Claire just smiled quietly.

Despite her words, Diana liked Claire. Even though she was a maid, she never tried to flatter her, always threw in sly jokes, and deliberately picked words to get on her nerves. Diana followed this strange maid like an older sister.

“So clever, too.”

“Claire, I mean it. I’m really bored. A week feels like a thousand years. At this rate, I’d rather be kidnapped by a dragon. Then a knight would come to rescue me, right? Would a dragon play with me? I heard dragons can transform into humans. If she’s a girl my age and has a hoard full of jewels, I’d make her a dress covered in gems.”

“You don’t have that skill.”

Now Claire was openly giggling. Diana didn’t argue or get angry at her words. She just let it go.

Besides, Diana really had no talent for sewing. It wasn’t that she was clumsy, but she was better at hammering together tables and chairs or carving birds out of wood than at needlework.

“Don’t pick a fight, just listen! Anyway, the dragon was so bored she needed a friend. But I looked cute and cheerful and fun to play with, so she took me away, and since I needed a maid, I asked her to bring you too. The three of us held hands and spun around until we spun way too fast.”

“Why spin?”

“And then we spun so, so fast…”

Diana didn’t answer, just kept talking. Claire quickly jumped in to interrupt her story again.

“Don’t say you turned into butter. That’s plagiarism.”

“We spun and spun until we went crazy. The end!”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“It’s the story of me going crazy from boredom.”

Still, chatting back and forth like this made her feel a little less bored.

There were endless things to learn to become the Crown Prince’s bride, so most days were packed with lessons, but those only made her already dull days even more tedious. Today, she finally had no schedule for the first time in ages.

“Why am I even here? Don’t answer, I know. I’m pretty, smart, and talented.”

“Of course.”

This time, the maid didn’t tease her. Actually, it was because her master was the daughter of the Shudenberg family. Claire thought it, but didn’t say it aloud. She wasn’t the type to state the obvious.

Diana was at the Imperial detached palace because she was to become the Crown Princess. Rosenkranz von Sertier—that was the name of the man who would be her husband.

Crown Prince Rosenkranz was the only heir to the Sertier Empire. He was said to be tall, handsome, well-educated, and skilled in martial arts.

But Diana had only seen him once, surrounded by people at a ball, from afar. He was so far away she couldn’t even see his face. She just thought, ‘So that’s the famous handsome Crown Prince.’

Diana couldn’t judge someone she hadn’t even spoken to, just based on rumors. After all, who would say anything bad about the Crown Prince?

By Imperial tradition, Diana had to live in the detached palace for a month. It was meant to help her get used to Imperial life and to learn a few things. So, stiff with nerves, she’d arrived here a week ago.

But the days were more boring than expected, and Diana had forgotten all about unwanted marriage and such. Now, she just rolled around on her bed, hoping something interesting would happen.

“Why not read a book?”

“No. All these books are about the Imperial family this, etiquette that. And they’re all so old-fashioned—only stuffy nonsense. Reading them just puts me in a bad mood.”

Diana went to her bookshelf, grabbed a random book, and flipped it open.

“See? No matter where I open it: ‘When smiling, cover your mouth; if you cry, lift your head. But the most proper attitude for a lady is to never show emotion at all.’”

“Must be a book from about 200 years ago.”

That book was probably here because of the Empire’s early policies.

When the Empire was first founded, the first Emperor, Larserk, insisted that one must rule the household to rule the nation, and encouraged every home to establish patriarchal order.

Back then, he had his reasons for such claims, but nowadays, few cared about what those reasons were.

In fact, the policies and advice to establish ‘order’ failed before they even began. The Empire was made up of so many different peoples, and most families couldn’t survive unless both the husband and wife worked.

So that ‘order’ only briefly touched the Imperial family and the nobility. Now even the nobles don’t follow it, but the Imperial family still seems to uphold some of these things.

Diana pulled the book from the shelf and threw it on the floor.

“Even so, it’s Imperial property. You shouldn’t treat it carelessly.”

Claire pretended to be stern this time. Diana didn’t listen. She kept pulling books off and tossing them, feeling a surge of anger.

Boredom wasn’t the problem. The thought of being trapped for life in a place like this, with someone she didn’t even know, surrounded by these stuffy books, in a place that seemed to dry her up, with no one on her side—it made her feel like she was losing her mind.

Diana threw a whole pile of books on the floor. Her lips pressed tight and her eyes burning with anger at the books, Claire didn’t try to stop her anymore. She understood perfectly. The only thing allowed was the one maid she’d brought from home—no wonder Diana felt so stifled.

“I want to be alone.”

Diana said, breathing heavily.

“My Lady.”

“Claire, that’s enough for today. Go rest. I’ll say it again—I really need to be alone right now.”

Claire looked at Diana with concern, then left the room. It was the best thing she could do for Diana at the moment.

Diana watched Claire leave, and as soon as the door closed, she burst into tears. She didn’t want to cry in front of Claire. When Diana cried in front of her, Claire’s usual calm would break, her smiling face would turn to confusion, and she’d end up trying to hold back her own tears.

Diana liked that face. That was exactly why she didn’t want to see it now. At times like this, she didn’t want to confirm her feelings and seek comfort.

That’s when it happened. There was a rumbling sound. She looked toward the noise, and saw a long corridor stretching out. It had been where the bookshelf was a moment ago.

“What is this?”

Diana started to call Claire, but stopped. Claire would have come with her, but Diana felt she needed to be alone.

She wiped her tears and ran down the long corridor.