Ruby is set to become a lady this year, leaving girlhood behind. With her coming-of-age ceremony approaching, she prayed desperately to return to her homeland of Kant.

But the heavens showed her no mercy. No—they were cruel.

“M-Master Martin. What do you mean? I’m to become Empress of the Zahar Empire?”

“Yes. Both kingdoms have finalized the arrangement. Tonight, Princess Ruby, you will become Empress of Zahar.”

“That’s impossible…!”

She had prayed so desperately.

Please, let me leave this castle in Zahar where I can’t even breathe properly. Let me return to my homeland of Kant and spend my life there, let me live in peace outside this terrifying castle—she prayed to the heavens and to the King of Kant, her own father.

Her earnest wish shattered cruelly in the year she would come of age. Brought here as a hostage of Zahar, she held only the title of princess while living far from luxuriously.

Among the harsh people of Zahar, she could learn nothing but despair. Yet she believed she would return to Kant someday. She believed in Father’s promise—that he would surely come back for her and her youngest sibling, Tommy.

“Sob…”

Realizing that belief was futile, she felt everything crumbling.

“Now that you’re becoming Empress, you’ll receive imperial education and your quarters will change. Keep that in mind.”

“Sob, sob!”

Leaving the despairing Ruby behind, Chancellor Martin departed her shabby quarters with leisure. He frowned at the servants following him and gave his orders.

“She’s filthy. Have her bathe first.”

“Yes.”

“Watch her closely.”

“Of course.”

Ruby screamed at the rude behavior of the maids who clung to both sides, gripping her arms so tightly she couldn’t move.

“Let go! Let me go!”

“Sister!”

“Tommy!”

Just then, Ruby’s younger brother Tommy came running.

He was her brother and Prince of Kant, Tommy Lawrence. If Ruby had been dragged to this foreign land at twelve, Tommy had been brought along with her at ten, forced to endure this harsh life together.

Tommy ran toward Ruby, but Zahar’s attendants wouldn’t simply watch. They blocked his path and dragged Ruby away regardless.

“Tommy!”

“Sister Ruby!”

“N-no. Let go! I have no intention of becoming their Empress!”

To be precise, their eighth Empress.

Them.

Ruby turned deathly pale. She’d had one opportunity to see the Emperors. And she’d witnessed their horrifyingly terrifying true nature. 

They showed without hesitation their violation of an Empress inside a carriage, laughing as they did. The beautiful Empress’s face twisted in agony, screaming, yet they laughed while tormenting her.

“Sob…”

Forcibly dragged to the bathtub, Ruby suffered as she recalled that memory.

Like that Empress then, they would destroy her the same way. They would. The twin Emperors of Zahar!

Zahar was a nation famous for its unprecedented imperial succession.

The Emperors ruling Zahar weren’t one but two, identical twins born on the same day. Though there was no shortage of controversy before the two princes ascended to the throne, once they became Zahar’s Emperors, the great empire actually prospered and grew even stronger.

The first, Emperor William, was quick-witted and brilliant—a strategist—while the second, Emperor Lucas, was skilled in martial arts. He had never lost to enemy invasions or wars, earning the trust of subjects and citizens with qualities different from his brother.

The two governed the Zahar Empire by complementing each other’s weaknesses, and eventually everyone had no choice but to acknowledge their rule. 

But they had their flaws. Their decadent and sometimes cruel s*xual preferences were shocking enough to make everyone’s tongues wag, causing their subjects much concern.

Already the Empress’s seat had been vacated seven times.

Now that the eighth Empress’s seat was empty, even the marriage proposals from neighboring countries that used to come in had ceased.

The ministers grew worried and while considering alternatives, they thought of the Kantian princess held captive as a hostage.

Ruby was suitable as the eighth bride. Kant was currently in a civil war. In exchange for sending reinforcements, they would marry off Princess Ruby—the King of Kant had to put out the urgent fire, so he accepted.

The reason they were desperate to fill the Empress’s seat was simple. Zahar’s Emperors enjoyed plucking the most noble flowers.

Rather than concubines or maids of lowly status, they enjoyed breaking and destroying women of noble and elegant bloodlines equal to their own. 

Thus, Zahar’s subjects were in crisis whenever the Empress’s seat became vacant. They feared what the Emperors might do if they couldn’t fill that position quickly.

Once, Emperor Lucas exploded and slaughtered all the prisoners of war, and another time William created poison as a game and conducted live experiments.

They would sometimes show remarkably imperial qualities, then turn terrifyingly cruel like demons.

That’s why Zahar’s subjects had to tremble in anxiety whenever the Empress’s seat emptied, making it an issue that had to be resolved more urgently than any other matter.

And so Ruby became the eighth sacrifice.

“Sob!”

No one pitied Ruby as she shed endless tears. Ruby found it truly horrifying. The thought of being dragged to those beasts and losing her purity was devastating.

‘Father… Are you abandoning me like this? I’m one thing, but are you abandoning even young Tommy?’

The coming-of-age ceremony for Zahar women involved dressing in pure white and brewing wine. The process of trampling red grapes to make wine also symbolized announcing one’s alluring ripeness as a woman. 

Unlike Zahar’s ceremony, Kant’s involved putting up the long hair grown since childhood, inserting hair ornaments prepared by parents, and sharing a first kiss with a loved one to announce becoming an adult.

Though a princess of Kant, Ruby had decided to follow Zahar’s coming-of-age ceremony and wore a pure white dress. However, since it was a ceremony for the princess alone, instead of brewing wine, they would hold a party drinking wine as her coming-of-age ceremony. 

The two Emperors had already announced they would hold a grand coming-of-age ceremony just for her in the castle, but Ruby felt no joy whatsoever.

That’s when it happened.

“Just listen quietly.”

After finishing her bath and while they prepared her clothes and hair ornaments, the maid brushing her hair whispered.

“We’ll secretly hide servant’s clothes under your dress, Princess. Wear them and escape. And Prince Tommy asked me to give you this.”

Ruby glanced around before accepting the letter the maid secretly handed her. She carefully unfolded it—a single letter in Tommy’s handwriting, unmistakable.

[Sister, I’ll remain here, so please run as far away as you can.

Today there’s a carriage leaving the castle. Secretly board it and get outside. That’s your only chance to leave Zahar.

Sister, don’t worry about me. They won’t kill me. So don’t worry about me, just go far away and please escape those Emperors’ clutches. Please, please be healthy and happy.

Tommy.]

“Sob…”

Ruby shed tears again. Tommy, whom she’d always had to look after, had now done something bold to protect her.

Ruby crumpled the letter in her fist and made her decision. She would risk her life to escape, return to Kant, and seek help. Kant was the only way to save Tommy, to save herself.

She slowly looked around. Everyone in the castle seemed busy preparing for her coming-of-age ceremony.

She had to escape. She must escape!

* * *

“Master Martin!”

Martin, whose mind was occupied with holding a grand coming-of-age ceremony for a vassal state’s girl, asked with a hardened face at the urgent summons from a servant.

“What’s all this fuss about?”

“W-well…!”

The servant fidgeted anxiously while secretly bringing his mouth to Martin’s ear to whisper.

“What?”

“F-first, you should close the castle gates…!”

“What are you waiting for? Hurry and close all the castle gates and find that girl!”

“Yes!”

‘D＊mn it, that young girl doesn’t know her place and dares try to escape outside Zahar’s castle?’ 

Swallowing those words, Martin pressed his throbbing temple with his fingers.

It would be disastrous if this reached the Emperors’ ears. He had to proceed without them noticing as much as possible, but he couldn’t guarantee it.

“What should I do…”

“Why? Did something happen?”

Gasp!

William appeared, leaning against the wall, having arrived without any sign of his presence. 

When Martin looked at him, he swept back his lustrous silver hair and plucked a rose from the decorations throughout the palace.

“Y-Your Majesty.”

“Something interesting seems to have happened. Can you tell me what it is, Chancellor Martin?”

“Well…”

“Shall I guess?”

Martin couldn’t hide his dismayed expression at being completely caught.

“Our dear Empress has cutely run away. Without knowing her place.”

“Your Majesty, we’re hurrying to find the Empress, so don’t worry…”

“Of course you should find her. We’ve been looking forward to today tremendously.”

William plucked the flower while commanding him with coldly gleaming green eyes.

“Find her. And the coming-of-age ceremony needs to be moved to a special location.”

“Wh-where to…”

“Let’s see… The underground dungeon seems good. What do you think, Chancellor Martin?”

“Ah…”

Martin felt dizzy. At the same time, he was certain this would be the worst day of Ruby’s life.

“It’ll be an unforgettable coming-of-age ceremony. Right?”

William’s cruel smile was truly the very image of a demon.

Ruby wandered through the castle. She needed to get outside, but Zahar’s castle was too much like a maze. Moreover, she needed an exit pass to leave the castle, which she didn’t have. 

While worrying about how to get out, she finally found the path toward the castle gate and hid in the wall’s shadow to observe her surroundings.

How should she get out, how…

She was biting her nails in contemplation when it happened. A carriage loading cargo was coming from the distance, about to leave.

Yes, she could secretly board that and get out. Ruby waited with a face full of hope for the carriage to approach closer.

If not that, there might be no more opportunities. So Ruby desperately watched the carriage, praying it would come closer soon.

Please, please…!

Ruby’s heart pounded madly. Thump, thump, thump. Her heartbeat echoed loudly in her ears and she felt strength draining from her body, but Ruby struggled to compose herself and ran with muffled footsteps to secretly board the carriage.

“It’s Ruby Lawrence! Catch her!”

“Kyaa!”