Eluf left the princess's room before sunset and when it was time, the princess finally decided to dress up and visit her so-called fiance. She planned on spending some time with him so she could find out the whereabouts of the map.
As she walked through the hallway, various servants would pass by and immediately lower their heads when they saw her. She reveled in the fact that she was already accepted here as the Crown Princess of Krudak Kingdom and that meant that she could possibly wield more power than her own older sister in the future.
While she was deep in her thoughts, she didn't notice a female servant approaching with a tray of food and collided with her. The servant's tray tumbled over on her dress along with its food contents, making her scream as she watched one of her favorite dresses ruin before her very eyes. "You wretched servant, how dare you?! Look at my dress!"
"Forgive me, Princess!" The female servant knelt down on the floor with her head lowered after she realized the serious blunder she had committed. The fellow servants around her who had also seen the scene couldn't help but feel sorry for her and so they also knelt down along with her in fear.
"How is that going to fix my dress?! Did you do this on purpose?" Princess Selene's eyes turned vicious after she said her last words and did not even give the servant a chance to refute her accusations as she landed a ruthless slap on her face, causing her to stumble backwards. "I am going to teach you a lesson on how to respect your mistress....Maids, drag her out and beat her!"
Her maids immediately moved on her command to subdue the female servant as they tried to drag her away but she resisted fiercely. She seemed very frightened and unwilling. "Princess, please have mercy on me! Princess..."
"What's going on here?" A low baritone voice suddenly echoed in the chaotic hallway, causing the place to fall silent as everyone turned to face the incoming person approaching them. This person who was escorted by several guards, was dressed in a sleeveless thick black fur jacket that barely covered his golden skin and muscled abdomen along with black trousers that seemed to cover his firm bulging legs. He looked down on everyone like he was a god as his right hand held his giant sword pointing to the ground unsheathed. "Didn't I not ask a question? Are you all waiting for me to repeat myself?"
Princess Selene snapped out of her trance when she heard his words and resumed her unhappy countenance as she pointed at the maid lying on the floor. "Gudmund, you are finally here! You have to punish this maid right now, she ruined the dress that I specially wore for you!"
Gudmund turned his attention to the maid in question and saw that it was Yrsa who had just left his room a few minutes ago. He had just finished his breakfast and was planning to the training grounds in order to calm his restless sword and his temperament that seemed to be on edge recently. Who would have expected such a thing to happen?
He looked at the maid lying pitifully on the floor and asked her with an extremely cold expression. "What are you still doing here? Have you done the mission I sent you to do? SCRAM!"
His loud voice thundered through the hallway, sending tremors through everyone present as the servants dropped to their knees in fright. Yrsa was scared silly by his words and instantly stood up when she realized that she was no longer restrained by the Yottera maids and left the scene as fast as she could. Selene saw this scene and recovered her senses immediately as she glared at Gudmund with a murderous intent. "Gudmund, what is the meaning of this?!"
"What does it look to you, Selene?" Gudmund remained unfazed by her angry expression and even shared a leveled look with her as he spoke to her. "She is my servant so no one has the right to punish her except me."
"But I am your future wife!" Selene countered heatedly. She could not accept the fact that she had just lost a lot of face in front of all these people present, her heart was filled with so much anger she could barely restrain herself from attacking him. "How could you disrespect me this blatantly?"
"You are supposed to be but that has not yet been confirmed until you pass the priestess's test." Gudmund watched her blanch further under his words and he reveled in it happily. In his past life, he was the one who suffered countless humiliations just because he wanted to win her heart but now it was time to pay her back. He continued to say. "Until then, you are merely a guest and you should respect the customs and traditions of my kingdom. If you have a problem with it, you can just go back home."
Selene was more than dumbstruck with his sudden change of attitude towards her. She couldn't understand what had made him change this drastically towards her and for a second, she wondered if he was suspicious about her motives for coming here but she quickly dismissed it because of his previous amicable behavior towards her.
Perhaps, it could be.....
Her eyes quickly teared up as she stared into his eyes with a wronged expression. Anyone looking at her would instantly feel guilty and want to comfort her immediately as she said to him in a sad voice. "I didn't know you thought of me like this...And here I was, calling you my husband in front of my family back home. Gudmund, you really disappointed me this time!"
Gudmund watches her turn away from him as if she couldn't bear to expose her weak side to him but he noticed that she had not yet taken a single step to leave. This made him chuckle darkly in his heart as he gripped the hilt of his sword as he stepped forward to say beside her. "Since I have said these words, I naturally won't retract them at all. I advise you to stop looking for trouble with my servants or you would not have any face left at all. Princess Selene, please conduct yourself."
Selene stood stiffly as she watched him walk away, her face altering between green and white as she saw all the servants from the corner of her eyes disperse. Her eyes were full of anger and hatred after seeing her plan fail so drastically. Her pride urged her to return home and report things to her mother bur she obviously knew better. She had to stay here and fulfill her mission at all costs. She turned away in the opposite direction and left with heavy footsteps.
Yrsa who had offended the princess had been summoned by her master so she walked across the hallway with heavy footsteps. She knew that it was right for him to punish her since he has been forced to upset his fiancée because of her. She just prayed that he wouldn't go overboard and try to kill her, she would quickly apologize to her future mistress and stay in prison. When she reached the curtains that covered the room, she immediately knelt down as the eunuch by her side announced her arrival. She dared not enter the room but instead stayed on her knees as she pleaded with her head bent low. "Your Highness, Yrsa is at fault for angering the Princess. Yrsa is willing to take any punishment to appease you."There was no response to her words for a while and that made her even more nervous. She knew from experience that masters who were calm in anger were the most dangerous to deal with as they would carefully plan how to assuage their anger. But she had no feelings of regret since thi
The chilly wind blew fiercely across the icy mountains and thick clouds shielded the sun's rays with a dense fog as three boys walked sluggishly across the place. They gritted their teeth and shivered whenever the wind touched them but still they persisted. The mountain peaks and desolate surroundings were the only things they could see in sight after walking for so long and soon the youngest of the three suddenly stumbled and fell on the thick snow. His brothers immediately stopped and turned back to carry him up with wide eyes. "Ivar! Ivar, are you okay?" The eldest one rushed to pick him up and put him at his back, grunting at the additional weight that his weak body was forced to carry but he did not relent at all. He had been using the two moons on the sky that shone bright behind the fog to navigate their path but he still hadn't been able to reach his destination and he felt a little pang of panic and regret. Just when he was contemplating whether to give up or not, an old bu
"I want revenge." After going through so many hardships, Gudmund could only say those simple words with such a heavy heart as he fought not to show any tears in front of the Goddess of War. He had a feeling that she would not appreciate it. "Our men fell on the battlefield and our homes were plundered and burned to the ground. Where were you all this while?"Hildr was a bit taken back by his question but she could not find any reason to get angry at his imprudence at the moment, especially when he showed no sign of fear or remorse. She turned her back to him and chose to stare at her sister's statue instead. "I wasn't aware of your people's plight early. When I finally found about it, I was forbidden to interfere with mortals' fate as my sister told me."Gudmund looked at her with confusion written all over his face when he heard her words. It was a bit hard for him to believe her words but he made no comment over it since he did not wish to lose his life here. "Then why did you answe
The morning sun rose slowly at the east along with some birds chirping in the air as they flew across the clouds. The light rays settled on the dust, illuminating everything in sight as a group of women left their tents with large pots heading to the river outside the guarded walls of the capital. They walked in a straight line facing a certain direction where they ventured into a jungle but they did not go deep but instead stay near the bank of the river and did their various activities with the sparkly blue water that flowed in front of them. A woman who was currently washing some clothes started a conversation with the other women around her and said. "Have you heard of the recent news happening in the palace?""You mean the Crown Prince?" Her friend looked around to make sure their conversation was not overheard by the older women who were bathing down the river. "I heard that he butchered another challenger down to the bone a few days ago. It was truly a gruesome sight.""I thou
The Crown Prince lifted up his dark eyes and looked at his father's angry expression, clearly unfazed by it. He saw his victim's twin brother from the corner of his eye gasp at the sight as he ran to his brother to attend to him. "I gave him an order and he did not obey me. Since he has no intention of challenging me, he was punished for his disrespect.""You punished him for a mere servant!" The father of Elif, Ingouf walked forward and looked at the Crown Prince with undisguised rage. He was one of the men who had entered the room with the King and he was very irate of his first son's condition. "Commander." Gudmund turned his focus to the man whom he had been keeping his eyes on for a while. He could barely hold back his anger at the sight of him but he knew that his father would really punish him greatly if he touched on of his five commanders. "Are you questioning my actions?""I should be asking you the same thing, Crown Prince." Ingouf did not back down from his stare but inst
Gudmund returned to his room and sent all the servants away as he sat on the chair and gazed through the window. His brothers followed him into the room and looked outside the door to make sure that no one had followed them. Askild scanned his brother's countenance before he allowed his youngest brother take another step forward. "Di* are you alright?""There is no need to fear, Askild. I am back to normal and I will not never hurt you even if I'm not." Gudmund did not react at all seeing the caution in his brother's eyes. His second brother had always been the cautious one between them and he did not mind it since it was about Ivar's safety.Ivar brushed his brother's hand away and quickly approached Gudmund as he sat on the bed. He seemed a little hesitant at first but he steeled his mind and asked him. "Di, is there a reason why you deserted our plan and cut Elif down like that? Who is the female servant you wanted to save so badly?"Gudmund turned his face away, sighing deeply abo
Three days later, a female servant passed the guards and maneuvered her way around the palace hallway until she arrived in front of the Crown Prince's chambers. She halted for a moment and looked down to the tray she was carrying with an uneasy expression but she quickly composed herself quickly with the guards in sight. She cleared her throat and spoke up with a soft voice. "My prince, your food is here. May I come in?"She received no response so she parted her lips to repeat her words when a voice came from behind the curtains covering the door. "Come in."She inhaled a deep breath at the sound of his deep baritone voice and took a step into the room as the guards parted the curtains for her. Her eyes glanced all over the sparsely decorated room that was instead filled with fur pelts all over the place adorned with weapons until it met the prince sitting on a chair with a cold straight face that made her tremble a little. She immediately placed the tray on the table beside him and
Somewhere in the capital, there was silence in a certain house that was broken periodically by the sounds of some objects breaking on the floor with a thud. The servants of the household present were all wishing they could disappear at the moment but their masters had not yet dismissed them yet so they stood there with dread and trepidation. A young boy was on the bed panting out of breath and sweating as a healer carefully bandaged his injuries. Large drops of tears leaked out of his eyes but he stubbornly refused to cry out loud in the presence of his father who was pacing back and forth in the room. He gritted his teeth and said. "Father, you don't need to worry about me. I am alright...""It's not you I am worried about, Elif!" The middle aged man who was huge and tall snapped at his injured first son but he didn't even flinch. He kept pacing about until the healer was done with her job and had left the room before he approached him on the bed. He said angrily. "What is going to h