1 Chapter 1 - Forgotten Princess (1)

Being born a princess, one would expect to receive several things. Wealth, power, love and devotion, are simply natural when you are born into the royal family.

But for a princess such as Aine, born illegitimate and from a commoner mother, she was never able to experience such luxuries as her other siblings had.

Ashamed by her existence, her father ordered for her to be sent far away from the palace, locked inside a tall tower with but a single maid to keep her company.

Rumors say that if one ever wanders near the tower where the princess resides, they would hear a soft but lovely voice weeping under the moonlight.

Truly, what a pitiful princess...

***

Thunder roared throughout the palace as the lightning flashes its current, scarring the dark ominous sky. It's a sign, fate has spoken and no one is exempted from its grasp. This included the King who now kneels before his usurper.

The once-great Helenika Kingdom has fallen, all to the hand of the 'Bloody Tyrant' no less. It was clear to all that resided within the nation that the thunderstorm has come, and they were all doomed.

"Please, I'm begging you!" the king beseeched, lowering his head further to the ground as it trembles. "You can have whatever you want, just let me live!"

"And what else could you offer me exactly?" With the dark and mischievous smile he often wore, Liam gazed at the insignificant fool he had recently trampled on, "When I already own everything that's yours?"

With fear eating up at his nerves, the fallen king raised his head with much difficulty, gazing directly at a certain girl.

Beautiful and elegant, Bella was certainly sought after by many suitors. She was a princess who knew the required arts very well and was well-versed in many of the realm's languages. Surely, this tyrant would favor her.

"What about my daughter's hand in marriage?" the fallen king suggested, causing his daughter to look at him, eyes speaking of fear and betrayal. Bella's mouthparts, failing to comprehend the words uttered by her own father.

'How could he...' Bella thought. Tears threatening to spill as she balls her hands into fists. After years of doting, years of unconditional love. She never thought there would come a day that he would try to sell her out.

Everyone knew how dangerous the man sitting on the throne was, tales and rumors had weaved themselves into the kingdom, his conquest of ash and blood spread like wildfire. No matter how stunning, wealthy, or powerful he was, no sane woman would ever dare be with him. Especially Bella, who only wished to live a quiet and secluded life.

Feeling as though a tear would finally slip from her silver eyes, Bella chose to direct her gaze down towards the ground, hoping and wishing with all her might that the man before her would refuse.

And as if the Goddess Helen herself had answered her prayers, the atmosphere surrounding the room had grown colder, her father started to sweat bullets while his entire body grew rigid.

Liam cast his cold glare at the princess, eyes sparkling with a hidden glow before directing it back to the fallen king. "I have no interest in such a woman."

"Ugh..." While it hurt to hear such words, her shoulders sagged as she released a long quiet breath. Bella was certainly grateful for that. But she wondered what he meant by 'such a woman'. Was there perhaps something wrong with her?

Realizing where her thoughts had strayed, Bella quickly shook her head, frustrated that she would even think of such a foolish thing, at a time like this even.

Raising her head just a tiny bit, Bella looked towards her father, noting his obvious panic at the situation.

To the fallen king, this situation was nothing short of a nightmare. His land, wealth, people, and everything he had ever owned were being taken away from him, and now his life was next.

His daughter was his only hope, but even then she wasn't enough. So who else could he rely on, was there someone else he could use to distract the man in front of him?

As a man himself, he knew their weaknesses. They could be emperors, high mages, and great heroes but a woman of great beauty and talent was akin to that of a rare treasure. Any straight man would want that gift for himself, just as the king once had.

The former sovereign held his head in his hands. Desperate and hopeless his mind raced for any other solutions that would halt his coming demise. All his years as a monarch faced with many ways of the trade, he only now falls short on bare hands. Even Bella who was near his side the whole time trembled at the future of their lineage. But, just when all hope was lost, a memory suddenly came to the king, one that he'd long forgotten over the years.

A woman, more beautiful and kind than anyone else in the realm, lay on a luxurious bed with a newborn baby in her arms. The baby, just like her mother, seemed to radiate the same strange yet powerful aura that made kingdoms fight for them.

'That's right!' the ex sovereign yelled, eyes widening in delight. He'd almost forgotten, if his exiled daughter was even half as pretty as her mother, he was sure she'd be of great use to him.

"How pointless," Liam murmured as he stood from his seat, taking the unsheathed blade alongside him. The blade scrapes at the marbled ground as Liam walks down the dais, and just like everything else he wore, the blade was covered with nothing but dried blood. A gruesome contrast to his pitch-black armor. The sight alone terrifies the fallen king even causing Bella to reach out for him but the king only stands obediently still as he is petrified with fear.

His breath hitches, heart rate quickening as he watches the monster approach him. "Father!" Bella calls, voice desperate with need. The king's body, under so much stress, failed to hear his daughter's pleas as it was nearing his collapse. Nonetheless, he pushes himself to stand, daring to look the conqueror straight in the eye.

"W-Wait, please! I still have something else to offer!" He squeaks, finding it hard to speak as the blade draws on his throat. Almost instantly, the stench of blood floods into his nostrils and the king tries his hardest to keep in place the rising bile at his tongue. In his haste, the blade moves against his skin and it quickly cuts a shallow wound, trickling with its blood. The king hisses as the conqueror smirks, pressing harder to draw more of the liquid.

Honestly, Liam was getting bored of his charade. Finding joy now in nothing else but to cut this weak man's head, but the other part of him was still curious by his offer. Maybe it was something valuable, or maybe it was a trap, it didn't matter. Liam was confident in his powers, nothing could take him down so easily. But if it were a valuable treasure, then it would certainly benefit his empire.

"Fine," Liam said, retracting his blade from his neck. The monarch sags, promptly reaching out to touch the spot before wincing. The emperor swishes his weapon, flicking the fresh blood before neatly sheathing it back. His gaze remains firm as he took a step back, watching the old fool quiver in fear. If Liam didn't know any better, he would say the fallen ruler seemed to have lost a bit more hair just by being in his presence.

'Pathetic.' He thought but opted to follow the fallen king to this 'rare treasure' he was promised.

***

In a tall tower far from the kingdom, secluded by the undergrowth, a young brunette woman stood by the window, eyes cast down upon the uninvited guests, "Princess, your father has arrived."

Aine closed her book with a snap, eyes wide as a smile revealed itself on her lovely lips. "As expected of father, he's a leech till the very end. It isn't even a surprise that he's trying to sell off his daughter, I bet he did the same thing to sister." She spoke in a honeyed voice.

"It's just as you predicted, princess," Faye says, bowing down her head as Aine walks beside her by the window. The princess watched as the coming group marched in the distance. Faye showing her deep-rooted respect continued the correspondence. "Helenika is no more, and now the king is desperate for his life."

"Wasn't it obvious?" The princess chuckles, crossing her arms as she stares, finding amusement in the situation as her golden orbs turned over to her loyal maid. "All this Kingdom had left was its past glory. Who wouldn't want to conquer such a weak yet large country? It's honestly a surprise an invasion came so late. Are people so scared of a shadow?"

"I believe it's because they feared the Goddess Helen," Faye suggested, lifting her head to turn her eyes over to the faraway smoke of the motherland. "Wasn't she who brought destruction to the neighboring nation's thousands of years ago? As well as the last deity to disappear from this realm just so to further her conquer? Feel free to correct me, Princess, it's been a while since your last history lesson." Faye smiles, eyebrow quirking mischievously at the princess as she snorts, waving at her friend. 

"Ridiculous, that woman still abandoned us in the end. Leaving her people to deal with the mess." Aine shook her head, baffled once again by mankind's constant stupidity. What could an abandoned kingdom that heavily relied on their God, do but flounder amongst a sea of monsters?

"Never mind, let them in." Aine decides, moving away from the window to stretch her arms, yawning. She walks to her seat and places back the book she was reading to where it belonged whilst thinking over the unfamiliar man with the oncoming party, particularly at his certain ebony hair. "I need to get out of here, I feel as though I've gone insane inside this tower."

"As you wish, princess."