The mistress 1

 Chapter 1

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01. Human butcher

The ground was red.

A knight clad in armor as dark as coal rode his horse, surveying his surroundings.

The stallion, as black as his master's armor, pawed at the mud as if he didn't like it.

The red earth drew cold blood with each crushing step of his hooves.

"Whoa, whoa."

The knight stopped, his gaze fixed somewhere.

Then he swung his shoulder-hung spear and flipped the muddy corpse over.

It was an old face with curly hair clinging to its forehead. His unseeing eyes were cloudy like a spoiled fish.

In his calloused hand he clutched a Naparoan flag, red with golden trim.

"A needle in a haystack."

A heavy voice muttered from inside the helmet.

"Your Highness!"

A soldier called out to him urgently.

A puddle of blood formed at their lord's feet. His heart thudded in his chest.

"Have you found the Duke of Aviles?"

The voice was uncharacteristically calm. The beast's eyes, glittering behind a dark helmet, pierced him.

The soldier breathed a sigh of relief. His master was unharmed.

Just covered in enemy blood, as always. It was a sight he witnessed every time, but it never ceased to amaze him.

"Yes, we have reports that they are on their way here with the body on a cart."

Josef’s efforts to capture the Duke of Aviles alive proved futile.

When the surrounded Duke of Aviles realized he couldn't escape, he drove his horse at full speed and threw himself over the spears.

The duke's impressive final act galvanized the Naparoan soldiers, but it was a futile effort.

From the high hills to the rolling plains, the bodies of enemy and friend alike littered the landscape.

It was so quiet that it was hard to believe that carnage had just taken place.

"Treat the body of the Duke of Aviles with respect and do not desecrate it. Then contact his family and tell them to come and claim the body.”

"Yes, sir."

"And don't forget to assure them of their safety."

"Yes, sir. Understood."

The soldier obeyed.

In this battle, the Ascanian army, led by Josef, annihilated the armored cavalry of the kingdom of Naparoa.

Naparoa's commander-in-chief and the king's brother, Duke Aviles, was also slain.

Thus ended the Ten Years' War between the kingdoms of Kalev and Naparoa.

Dunois, King of Naparoa, who was trying to make his nephew Angulem, the eldest son of Duke Aviles, as King of Kalev, was defeated.

This was possible because the Grand Duke of Ascania betrayed the Kingdom of Naparoa and allied with the Kingdom of Kalev.

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Grand Duke of Ascania, stared blankly at Reina, who was kneeling and bowing her head in the middle of the enemy lines.

Her tattered dress barely covered her petite frame.

The soldiers murmured around her, looking more like an impoverished maid than the daughter of the Duke of Aviles.

Whoever she was.

She was of noble lineage, born to the royalty of Naparoa, Duke Aviles and Katrina, princess of the kingdom of Kalev.

Until the war, the two kingdoms had entered into marriage pacts time and time again to avoid unnecessary conflict.

Little did they know that it would eventually become a flashpoint and lead to the Ten Years' War.

"I’m Reina Sabelli. I have come to retrieve the body of my father, the Duke of Aviles."

Just as he was beginning to wonder if the maid had been sent to protect the princess, a clear, articulate voice rang through the barracks.

Typical courtly speech and dignified demeanor didn't happen overnight.

She was Reina Sabelli alright.

"Why hasn't the heir to the Duke of Aviles come in person?"

Josef's closest confidant, Count Kian Piermont, asked impatiently.

In the first place, the war had been caused by King Naporoa’s attempt to make his nephew as king of the Kalev.

Naturally, Angulem Sabelli, the seed of the war, had to come.

Here and there, a few knights let out a cackling laugh.

"I wonder if he, like the brave Duke of Aviles, died in battle?"

"I fear so. Isn't Angulem’s bravery so famous?"

The soldiers burst into laughter at the witty remark.

But Josef remained silent, his mouth set in a straight line, and soon the laughter died down.

In the past ten years, Angulem, son of the Duke of Aviles, had not fought in battle except once.

But even for a coward, sending his sister into the fray instead was more pathetic than he could have imagined.

Reina, meanwhile, could hardly bear the shame of Angulem’s refusal to honor her father's last honor.

"You're taking the word of a human butcher to guarantee your safety! You are foolish!"

Her brother's words echoed in her ears again. Reina gritted her teeth.

She must retrieve her father's body and bury him. She would take any insult and disgrace for that.

"It's humid and hot, and I can't leave my father's body here for another day. Please have mercy."

Reina wanted to cut her tongue out at the pleading tone of her voice.

Her father was King Naparoa's brother and the commander of the war.

She must not dishonor her father's memory by allowing her ugly brother to be laughed at by the enemy.

"We tried to capture your father alive, but the duke chose death."

Josef's voice, low and husky, settled over Reina's head.

Raina's tears fell to the ground.

That was what her father would have done. Unlike her brother, he knew honor.

A few tears slid down her cheeks. And that was it.

With all her might, Reina suppressed her emotions and tried to maintain her dignity.

Josef gestured to Kian, the Count of Piedmont, and he nodded.

"Princess, come closer."

At Kian's command, Reina hesitated for a moment, then lifted her groggy head and tried to rise.

A soldier stepped forward at that moment, forcing her shoulders down.

"You'll have to crawl on your knees."

Reina looked at the soldier with a pale face, as if she had just heard a bad joke.

"What are you so surprised about, crawling on your hands and knees like this?"

Without hesitation, the soldier laid down flat on his stomach and stuck his butt up as high as he could.

The soldiers burst out laughing.

They swallowed dryly in anticipation of seeing the Naparoa Princess crawl across the ground.

"It is the rule of Ascania. No matter how great your bloodline, you are now a prisoner of war.”

“Set an example of submission to His Highness."

Kian said coldly.

It was their custom to keep high ranking captives in line, to prevent any possible attacks.

"The Grand Duke wants to see you, doesn't he?"

Kian urged, and Reina, stony with shame and humiliation, came to her senses.

Slowly, she bent down and pressed her hands and knees to the ground.

Reina Sabelli, of the noble blood of House Sabelli of the Kingdom of Naparoa and House August of the Kingdom of Kalev, crawled forward on the floor like a dog.

"She looks good.”

"She looks like a bitch."

"Are you sure she's a princess?"

The soldiers' insults pierced Reina's eardrums.

Her arms shook and her back was drenched in cold sweat. Her knees ached from the uneven floor. Her soul felt naked and torn into a thousand pieces.

Just as she wondered how much longer she could crawl, something touched the top of her head.

It was Josef's foot, caked in mud and blood.

His foot slowly pushed Raina's head away, refusing to allow the gap to close any further.

"Lift your head."

Josef commanded, releasing his foot. Reina didn't have the courage to look at him.

Grand Duke of Ascania, she'd heard, was a human butcher. Her father, the Supreme Commander of Naparoa, had died at his hands.

He must be a monster with a terrible face.

The tears she was barely holding back threatened to burst. Her body shook uncontrollably.

Josef didn't allow her time to hesitate, forcing her chin up.

Reina's blue eyes opened wide.

She was beautiful. Her smooth, scarless skin didn't look like she'd been through a rough battle.

The face, with its sharply contoured features and delicate, red lips, had the sublime beauty of an archangel painted on a church mural.

Most striking were the eyes.

They were long and fluid, inky blue with a greenish tinge, and indistinguishable from the pupils.

"The brave Duke of Aviles deserves to be honored, and his body has already been arranged and placed in a carriage."

Josef spoke nonchalantly as he studied Reina's bloodless lips and faded red hair, which had lost its luster.

Then his gaze settled on Reina's left eye, blue and bruised and unable to open. There were gnarled handprints on her neck. Blue fire burned in his black eyes.

"Someone touched the princess."

Josef gripped Reyna's chin in a crushing grip and looked her over.

It was clear that someone had disobeyed his orders to bring the princess back gently.

"I don't need a fool who can't understand me. Come out now."

Josef said in an eerily calm voice.

The most important thing in war was the chain of command.

A single, seemingly insignificant act of arbitrariness, a disregard for orders, could undermine a plan.

It was like how the strongest wall in the world would crumble if one brick was missing.

The room fell silent as if doused in ice water. After a deathly silence, Reina, her face flushed, spoke up.

"My wounds were not caused by your men."

She said, her voice barely above a whisper.

Reina prayed fervently that he would ask no more questions.

She was exhausted, not wanting to explain the humiliating assault she had suffered to her enemy.

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