1. The Witch of Aisha

Ajean, princess of the Aisha Empire, had lived holding her breath like moss clinging to the ground.

Upon reaching adulthood, she guessed that the wretched ordeal soon to befall her would be “marriage.” She was clever enough to calculate the moves ahead, but this time her guess was spectacularly wrong.

Ajean’s red lips parted. Her voice cracked as if her breath would give out, filled with grief.

“Not marriage…… but an auction, you said?”

After staring at her uncle who gave no answer for a long while, Ajean raised her voice savagely. Her black eyes were as distant and deep as the fury she felt now.

“……An auction! Where is your rock bottom, Uncle? Do you truly have no shame?”

Riiip.

Along with the cruel sound of tearing flesh, Ajean’s head turned. The brilliant sunlight pouring through the window illuminated her tragedy—everything was a contradiction.

A terrible smell of alcohol wafted from the Emperor’s bloated body. He shouted thunderously in an overbearing posture.

“How truly ungrateful! This is an opportunity to fulfill your duty as a princess and fill the national treasury, yet where does this lowborn thing dare raise her voice?”

Pfft. With a scoffing sound, Ajean slowly raised her head. A large handprint was vivid on her pale cheek, and her lip, split by the sharp blow, showed blood.

“You called me lowborn? Me, the rightful heir to the throne?”

The Emperor’s pride fell pathetically. Ajean’s intent was obvious—spouting “rightful heir to the throne” with the Emperor himself right before her.

“The one who betrayed his brother who died young and usurped the throne from his young niece, Ajean.”

Society’s mockery rang in the Emperor’s ears, and his petty inferiority complex surged without fail. He finally grabbed Ajean by the collar. The bottles he’d been drinking from fell to the floor and shattered with a crash, but the Emperor paid no mind and shouted.

“Your father was a traitor to Aisha! It’s only because I showed mercy that you, his bloodline, have lived this long.”

“Don’t you dare insult him. You have no right to do so, Uncle. Not in the slightest.”

Ajean pushed his hand away and glared. Flames of fury blazed in her black eyes, and at her sharp momentum the Emperor unconsciously flinched and stepped back.

It was always like this. Whenever he met Ajean’s black eyes, chills ran down his spine.

Those damned eyes that seemed to see through even his twisted depths.

But the Emperor of the Empire couldn’t fear his young niece. He forced himself to appear calm and concluded the conversation.

“It’s already decided. It’s only natural for a daughter to receive punishment for her father’s sins, so mention it no more.”

“Father’s sins.”

The former Emperor, Razcal Turandeus, a reformist monarch, received the respect of the Empire’s people but made enemies of the nobility, and after his untimely death, his only blood relative, Ajean, fell to become the imperial family’s unwanted burden.

The world easily forgets heroes and is indifferent to the misfortune of the bereaved left behind.

Silence that arrived in an instant dominated the room. A crimson drop of blood beaded on Ajean’s lips fell—plop—onto the carpet.

※※※

“The ownership of Princess Ajean will be put up for auction.”

High society fell into a frenzy of madness enough to make it sick.

Whenever two or more people gathered, they absolutely brought up the “Princess Auction” as the topic. There were almost no ladies who empathized with Ajean’s misfortune. Aisha’s high society was such a heartless place.

—Did you hear that news? About the princess auction.

—Oh my, don’t even mention it. The rumors spread so wildly that even the maids talk about nothing but that whenever they gather.

—It’s the end times, the end times. An auction for a princess, not even a sl*ve? Does that even make sense?

Aisha once enjoyed cultural prosperity comparable to the Decan Empire. However, its glorious history remained only as records, and now it had entered a path of decline that made the name “Empire” meaningless.

But even so, putting a princess up for auction… It was certainly an unprecedented vulgar and blasphemous affair.

—That princess, someone who actually saw her said…… she’s extremely rare…… how should I put it, the kind of appearance you can’t forget once you see it.

—So, is she pretty? Or not?

—What does appearance matter. Once she’s sold at auction, she’ll have to devote her body every night.

—True. Every time he sees that woman, he’ll think of what he paid.

—Exactly. Night and day, first you have to lay her down…… That way the money won’t feel wasted. Right?

People lamented that the Aisha Empire had forgotten shame, but they also didn’t hesitate to gossip explicitly about the appearance of the princess who would appear at the auction.

Just one week before the auction, a sharp imperial decree arrived for Ajean.

“The winning bidder has been decided as Federik Toilfranche. Fulfill your duty as princess of Aisha and fill the national treasury.”

“Federik Toilfranche, so this was your scheme.”

Ajean chewed on the filthy texture of the name “Federik Toilfranche” in her mouth. The reason for “going to the trouble” of planning an auction when the winning bidder was already decided became clear in that moment.

The one who destroyed the “Toilfranche” family was Ajean’s father, Emperor Razcal Turandeus.

Federik, who barely survived and rebuilt the family, wanted revenge, and it was natural for that arrow to point toward his enemy’s daughter.

Ajean bit her lower lip.

The fury that made her want to twist her uncle’s neck right then met cold reason and cooled instantly, and what shattered finely like ice was only her soul.

Ajean fell into deep contemplation over whether to submit hastily before fate or swallow it whole. Though her insides rotted and decayed, she maintained a rather calm attitude. Only her black eyes gleamed savagely.

The ones actually struggling were Ajean’s nanny and maid. They repeatedly wailed and fainted several times. The mute nanny made anguished sounds and pounded the floor, and the maid Netty cried out in a suppressed voice.

“This can’t happen. That bastard Federik will trample even Your Highness’s soul. He’ll t*rture you!”

“……It’s okay, I’m okay.”

Even she didn’t know whether she meant being sold to Federik was okay, or being tortured was okay. Ajean just comforted the wailing servants, repeating “it’s okay” like a mantra.

That night, Allen, Ajean’s longtime friend and eldest son of the Montezo family, urgently came to see her.

“That goddamn……”

Allen lost his mind like someone deranged, muttering profanities without refinement. It couldn’t be helped even though he was a well-reputed noble with a noble character.

If Ajean were taken away, only devastating sorrow would remain, so Allen had to find any way to save her.

Allen, who had been constantly sweeping back his disheveled bangs, finally spoke.

“It’s okay, Montezo’s family wealth can save you. We just need to call out the highest bid, so don’t worry about anything.”

At the word “okay” that flowed from his mouth, Ajean smiled faintly. She suddenly realized how sad a tone the word “okay” carried—the same word she’d used all day to comfort the servants.

Allen ground his teeth constantly with one hand on his waist and one on his forehead. Watching that scene, Ajean admonished him in a firm voice.

“Foolish talk. Are you determined to ruin the family? The Montezo family has already made many sacrifices. I want no more, so do nothing.”

Duke Montezo’s family had shared a deep friendship with the former Emperor, so whenever Ajean suffered injustice, they protected her from the front. Because of that, the Montezo ducal family’s fortunes had completely declined, and she couldn’t impose on them anymore. In truth, her stubborn uncle had already made up his mind, so there was no way to reverse it.

Allen rubbed his face several times, then knelt before her.

A pledge of loyalty at this point. Allen’s purity deepened Ajean’s sadness further, but she pretended to be unable to refuse and offered her white hand.

Allen kissed it reverently as if kissing a holy relic, feeling the hot blood coursing through his body as he slowly closed his eyes.

When Allen raised his head after the long kiss, the dazzlingly beautiful Ajean came into view. Without hesitation, he pondered the fastest way to convert the family’s fiefdom into cash.

Meanwhile, Ajean’s faithful confidants, the nanny and maid, finally took action.

They gathered their saved wages and bribed the palace gatekeeper. If they could smuggle Ajean out of the castle, they could sell their souls to the devil. The problem was that desperate plans by the weak usually fail.

Thud!

The servants, beaten all over their bodies, were thrown before Ajean. Their unconscious limbs sprawled helplessly by gravity. Their appearance was miserable enough to guess the merciless beating inflicted.

“Ahhh……”

Ajean instantly lost her composure and collapsed—thump—to the floor.

Unable to even burst into tears, groaning in agony, before his niece, the Emperor, her uncle, had no guilt. He kicked the unconscious servants with his foot, then curled his lips in a fishy smile.

“A mute nanny and a crippled maid! I knew they were lacking, but I didn’t know they’d be this foolish.”

Ajean rushed at him like a madwoman and pushed the Emperor’s foot away. A pitiful scream burst from between her lips.

“Ahhhhh! Don’t touch them!”

“If you want to save these lowborn women, repeat what I say from now on.”

At the Emperor’s signal, an attendant pressed a sword to the nanny’s neck. The mechanical motion without a moment’s hesitation emitted an ominous aura.

“Now, repeat after me. ‘I. Will. Go. To. The. Auction. House. Obediently. Of. My. Own. Will.’ Hurry!”

Far from repeating it, looking at his niece glaring with an expression that said she’d chew him to death, the Emperor’s anger flared. His thick knuckles trembled with fury. When would that spirit finally break? Provoked to the limit, the Emperor barked at the attendant.

“Deal with the old woman first!”

The attendant pressed the sharp blade firmly against the nanny’s neck. As the blade touched the soft flesh, blood gushed out.

Ajean twisted her body and reflexively opened her mouth. With a family-like servant’s life at stake, petty pride was nothing but a luxury.

“Of my own will! Of my own will…… obediently to the auction house…… sob…… I will go……”

Ceaselessly flowing tears soaked her lush black hair. Her white, smooth cheeks were messy with tangled tear tracks. Ajean’s pitiful wailing scattered futilely into the frozen air, and the throbbing pulse stood out on her white nape.