Chapter 48: A Sweet Monster

She wasn’t a fool...

As for Yevfrosiniya, who, in the eyes of others, was nothing more than a delicate fourteen-year-old girl,

she looked coldly at the newspaper whose front page was dominated by her picture, with her full name printed in elegant typeface

Yevfrosiniya Nil Serafim Belov Snezhin Varyesk Korvekhar

It seemed they had used her Picture yet again to sell the paper, claiming to have news about her; yet this so-called news spoke of nothing but her fashion preferences and her favourite colour

which, naturally, like most girls, her taste in colours and dresses wasn’t really distinctive; it was simply feminine and suited a young girl like her, who had been brought up to be a beautiful girl without feeling any shame or contempt...

But whereas she used to love the colour pink, she now suddenly hated it to the point of revulsion.

She threw the newspaper into the fire in the fireplace and ordered her personal maid in a tone of disgust:

"Get rid of anything in that filthy colour from my room."

"Yes, my lady, I shall give the orders at once."

"Oh... And look for the dog who leaked my information this time."

"Shall I inform the Hall of Punishment, my lady, or will you take matters into your own hands again this time?"

"...."

"Please forgive my incompetence, my lady, but His Excellency the Grand Duke has sent orders for you to enrol at the Academy. You are to travel tomorrow morning, accompanied by the third young master."

"Has Brother Roman actually returned from the border? He’s only been gone for three days!"

"Yes, my lady, but I have no further information, as nothing has been disclosed to us."

"...I see... Well, never mind. I’ll ask him later... Then inform the Hall of Punishment of this; I want them to gouge out his eyes, cut off his tongue and ears, force him to eat them, and then banish him to the land of the barbarians... Oh, and don’t forget to inform the Hall of Shadows to send someone to sever every finger of whoever dared to write this article... But don’t kill him—just make his pitiful life even more miserable."

"Yes, my lady."

After curtsying to her lady, she left, leaving Yevfrosiniya alone in her gloomy room

She was about to give orders to burn down the building housing that filthy newspaper, just as she had done with others who had dared to speak of her—such as publishing statistics about her and describing her as a ’flower’ and other repulsive terms used by those parasitic creatures

But she was not quite that naive, for this newspaper belonged to the Dowager Empress’s family; if she acted rashly, it might cause problems for the family should an investigation take place and Korvekar’s involvement be uncovered...

Although she was well aware of her family’s power and knew they would protect her if she got into trouble, she was not so heartless as to exploit them in this way; she knew full well that her family was already facing serious problems because of the triviality of that repulsive family that calls itself an imperial family.

She rose calmly from the sofa and made her way to the en-suite bathroom in her suite, then leaned over the washbasin and began to vomit

Yevfrosiniya Nil Belov Korvekhar, a beautiful girl, delicate in appearance and sweet-voiced... even when she gives hideous orders or swears and curses in anger, or even if she is covered in filth or blood from head to toe,

for some reason she always seems beautiful in her own special way, as if the world itself refuses to accept the idea of her being ugly.

But what many did not really know—or perhaps simply could not understand or comprehend... or perhaps they simply thought it was part of her charm and ignored it... was that she was not really an innocent, naive girl.

So... she hated this attention and felt disgusted by it.

She was suffocated by this feeling because she always felt she was merely a prisoner in the beast’s cage.

At some point, after she began to truly realise just how terrifying her abilities were and understood why her siblings and father feared for her and kept all males completely away from her, she tried to act in a manner contrary to reason and propriety

she cut her hair, behaved like a boy, carried a sword and practised the sword arts reserved for male knights. But because of this, a fashion trend spread amongst young girls throughout the United Empire, where beautiful lace dresses were replaced by girls wearing repulsive men’s clothing.

You should know that even female knights in this Empire do not wear trousers like men. Instead, they wear dresses specifically designed for combat.

Even when they wield weapons, there are combat techniques tailored specifically to them, far removed from the brutality and savagery of men’s swordplay..

And aside from the crazy appearance, suddenly hunting and learning the rough, barbaric swordplay of the male knights became the most popular thing amongst young girls; and what was most revolting was that the boys liked it and looked at her as if she were a lovely girl who had invented the most amusing thing in the world.

So she was horrified and then gave it all up, allowing herself to wear what she liked and behave as she pleased... Although, on her elder sister’s advice, she did not stop practising swordplay—even though she did not like it—she at least stopped practising the sword techniques of male knights, which had already begun to have a slight effect on her muscles and were on the verge of distorting her feminine physique; instead, she began practising the sword techniques of female knights.

For a while, everything was quiet, and with her elder sister’s help, she made sure no news of her activities leaked out of Snezhin Castle. However, it seems that some despicable traitors amongst the servants or knights noticed her frequent wearing of pink and sold the story to the newspapers.

In truth, she didn’t really mind influencing girls her own age or showing off her beauty or what she loved; after all, what’s the point of a beautiful dress or a gorgeous pair of shoes if you can’t even show them off to the other girls?!

But what really disgusts her is the way the young lads are infatuated with her.

It isn’t much of a problem inside the castle, as none of the knights or servants living here would dare even look at her, let alone harbour impure thoughts; Furthermore, everyone who works in the northern section of the castle in particular—where all members of the main family reside—possesses a degree of resistance to charm and enchantment; all the knights here in the northern Section of the castle are belong to Requiem Knight Order — Whether as trainees, candidates, or full knights—and even the servants here are thoroughly trained.

But...

Part of the culture of the United Empire is to celebrate a person’s birthday once every ten years. It was then that she truly realised and understood the extent of the terror caused by her abilities, when she was eleven years old—three years earlier—when the sons of the nobility and some princes attended the belated celebration of her tenth birthday – the her father had forbidden her from celebrating her tenth birthday on the original date because of the problematic nature of the abilities she had acquired from the domain .

Their stares were so frightening that she even saw one of the repulsive imperial princes drooling as he gawped at her like a fool; she would have screamed in terror had it not been for the intervention of her second brother, Rolan, who made his shadow hound – the first beast he had tamed within the domain– leap onto the face of that loathsome prince and strike him

At that moment, the prince’s knight suddenly killed the pup, and her tenth birthday party turned into the worst day of her life... Ever since then, she has been filled with fear, hatred and revulsion towards these parasites who undeservedly drain the air

and she still feels guilty to this day for what happened to Rolan’s pup because of her.

- Just for the record, and as her only consolation, it is said that whilst returning to the imperial capital from the party, that prince was attacked by monsters and left permanently paralysed in all four limbs, blind in both eyes, with his tongue cut out and his ears amputated... As for his knight, they could not even find two pieces of his body to put back together....

She washed herself and came out of the bathroom, then sat on her bed, where her attention was drawn to the gemstone she’d taken from Alexander about a week earlier. Because of Roman’s sudden interruption of their conversation—which had led Alexander into a duel—she hadn’t been able to return it to him

Later, she felt the situation was inappropriate when she saw how upset he was by it, so she chose to withdraw quietly rather than make him feel embarrassed and even angrier. But after that, he locked himself in his room, and for the past week her maid had been sent several times to ask permission to see him, but his valet apologised and said that Alexander had ordered that he not be disturbed.

She took the gem from the table. She wanted to put it in her pocket to return it to him later when she saw him to say goodbye, and so as not to forget it, especially as she was leaving the Grand Duchy Coming soon . However, she noticed a small opening in the silver setting, so, after a moment’s thought, she took off her necklace, removed the pendant, placed the gemstone in its place, and put the necklace back on.

It was strange, but this gemstone made her mind feel clearer and calmer; and despite the cold aura it exuded, it didn’t really bother her when it touched her skin—rather, she felt a sense of pleasure and peace... It was rather like when she wore fur or cuddled Rory, Rolan’s cat.

She placed the pendant on the table, then picked up the files her older sister had sent her.

The fact that she was the youngest, with five older siblings to manage the affairs of the Grand Duchy, did not mean she was a lazy girl with nothing to do; so, although she did not socialise much with others, she always helped her eldest sister with the running of the household

However, she did not interfere in internal affairs such as the organisation of the castle, as it was important for her eldest sister to be aware of the finest details so that she could manage everything without error, and so that she would be fully informed of everything happening within the castle and not be placed in difficult situations should any disruption or problem arise.

Her assistance was therefore limited to matters occurring outside the castle, such as organising information received from the imperial capital, orders issued by their father, or events in the cities of Korvekar that required the intervention of the Lady of Korvekar—such as the management of women’s affairs, medical matters, and educational and religious affairs.

Her task was to organise and summarise the information, then send it to her sister.

The files she now held had arrived that morning from her father’s office, the Grand Duke’s.

She took the file containing information on the latest orders issued to her and her siblings.

But after reading the file, she sat there in a daze, bewildered.

There wasn’t much information, but what was there was enough to make her heart sink; for however she looked at it, it was clear that something dangerous was about to happen... and it seemed her father was trying to keep them away!!

Ivar had been sent to the Imperial Palace with a proposal of marriage to one of the Imperial princesses, and he would be staying in the imperial capital for an indefinite period – she already knew this... at least half of it, because Ivar had left for the Imperial capital four days ago, but she did not know that her family wanted to marry him off to that loathsome family

As for Roxana, she was to go to Count Chernov’s house to discuss the arrangements for her engagement, and she had been ordered to stay at Count Chernov’s house to oversee the preparations for her wedding...

Did her elder sister know about this sudden arrangement?... Despite her shock, she pushed it aside and looked down at the paper

As for her, she was to go to the academy to study; and, incidentally, she was the only child among the Korvekar’s children to receive such an order... As far as she knew, a proposal had been made to Alexander two years ago, but it had been merely a suggestion; here, however, her father had given her a direct order... She suppressed her panic and continued reading.

Roman would be going with her, but it seemed he would be acting as a tutor, with a clear implication that there was no room for objection or disobeying orders.

As for Rolan, it appeared he would be heading to the western border, though his mission had not been clarified.

And...

It seems her father has agreed to Alexander’s request to lead the north-western expedition into the Black Winter Lands...

Why?... She really couldn’t understand why!

So she felt deeply despondent and wanted to cry and complain; so she took the files and hugged them as she got out of bed and left her room, running towards her eldest sister’s office with such obvious distress on her face that the maids wisely took a step back out of her way whilst curtsying to her.