Chapter 4
***
Diana’s heart pounded at the sound of approaching footsteps. The man stopped right in front of her.
Then a callous-free fingertip brushed across her cheek. Diana lifted her head naturally, showing her face to the stranger.
A soft exclamation erupted.
"Beautiful."
His fingers trailed down her face languidly, brushing over her dull collar and cheap buttons.
"Tacky."
"......."
"You were Dortes's slave, weren't you? You worked for Hilde until you were fifteen."
Her breath caught in her throat. Two of Diana's biggest secrets had just been exposed without thought.
Dortes was the name of a ruined country that had fallen to the Karman Empire thirteen years earlier. It was also Diana's motherland.
The man’s fingertips caught Diana’s apron. Goosebumps rose at the feel of the fabric dragging down across her chest.
The buttons at the back that held the apron in place looked like they might fall off at any moment. Her earlobes burned with humiliation.
"There."
A distinct mark was engraved in the center of her barely exposed sternum. It was a black tiger, the symbol of the Karman Empire.
All Dortes slaves sold into the empire were required to wear the mark on their chests, a sign that they were the empire's property. Branded slaves were sold at auction houses throughout the empire, and Diana was sold for 500 francs to a pimp who had five brothels in Hilde.
This was the final reason why Diana could not work anywhere else but at the Depierre mansion.
"What did you do in Hilde? Did you sell your body?"
The tone was already certain. Viscount Depierre must have exposed her for what she was.
"I... followed orders of the men who worked there... scrubbing bodies, making the beds, organizing the things guests left behind, hanging out the laundry, and...."
Diana’s voice quivered like an aspen tree.
She had been sold to Hilde at a slave auction at the age of ten, and had worked in brothels until she was fifteen. She smeared her face with a thick ooze to hide from the customers, but she couldn't escape the eyes of her pimp, who knew her bare face.
The day he discovered she was menstruating, he instructed another putang, who was close to Diana.
"At fifteen, she’s old enough to receive customers. Train her properly to use her mouth, not her bottom.”
"But isn't it a waste to let just anyone take her? She's not just pretty, she's young, and virgins sell for more."
"Nonsense. That kind of beauty sells for a lot more even if she's not a virgin. Before that she needs to get as many customers as possible to rake in the money.”
From the moment she overheard the conversation, Diana planned her escape.
Just before receiving customers, she slipped down the sewers and ran away from Hilde. She was desperate, and God helped her in her moment of escape. She made it to the capital.
After working all sorts of odd jobs in restaurants, inns, stables, and laundress, she found her first job in a nobleman's house, Viscount Depierre.
But her peace of mind of becoming a proper employee was short-lived. When she was blinded by Nephrin’s trick, she thought her life would end that day.
If Helen hadn't been quick to speak up and tell her colleagues of Nephrin’s misdeeds, she would have been quietly disposed of by the Viscountess. Fortunately, instead of getting rid of her, the Viscountess ordered a background check on Diana and learned the entire story of her past.
In the end, they had preyed on each other's weaknesses. So a deal was struck: Diana would keep quiet about Nephrin’s abuses, and the Viscountess would continue to employ her. Over the past seven years, that tacit agreement had never been broken.
But this time was different.
The stranger's questioning continued.
"How long have you been blind?"
"Since seven years ago."
"Can you see anything?"
"...no."
Diana’s condition was a little different from the ordinary blind person: a poison that covered her cornea with a black film. She couldn't distinguish between light and dark, and the whole world was in darkness.
The questions didn't end there.
"Are you sure she's a virgin?"
He didn't say it out loud, but the pressure was palpable, as if she would not survive if she lied.
He wasn't even asking Diana in the first place. Viscount Depierre replied coldly.
"We can check if you wish, Your Highness."
Diana’s complexion turned blue.
‘Check it, by what means?’
It dawned on her what was being discussed. Viscount Depierre was going to sell her off somewhere.
Fortunately, the stranger didn't seem to be tempted.
"No, we shouldn’t touch someone else’s property. My brother is incredibly sensitive to smell.”
It wasn't the ordinary nobleman who was valuing Diana now.
From the accent to the refined manners of his footsteps, the scent of fine perfume mingling with his breath, and the smooth clink of silk, he was on a different level from Viscount Depierre. His demeanor was cautious and reserved, even more so than the Duke of Gaspard, the highest nobleman Diana had ever met.
Those who were noble by birth, those who ruled above them.
Imperials. The Royal family.
The youngest member of the imperial family of the Karman Empire. There was only one candidate to choose from. Prince Eisen. The son of the current Emperor's mistress and second in line to the throne.
"She may be blind, but she's more meticulous and fierce than any other maid in the manor. It would be hard to find a maid as beautiful and capable as her in any family, if you're willing to overlook a few flaws...."
"Flaws?"
Prince Eisen burst out laughing.
"No, this is not a flaw, at least not to me."
The hand that came up to Diana’s face again caressed her cheek. It was an insincere touch, like touching an item on a shelf.
"A beautiful and loyal maid, and even blind. And she's from Hilde."
Instead of scorn, the prince's tone was one of admiration as he spoke of Hilde. For a moment she thought it was strange, then he whispered happily.
"You are like a woman sent down from heaven for my brother."
There was only one man in the empire that Prince Eisen called brother.
Diana knew where she would go when she left this mansion. She felt as if she knew what the man before her would look like, somehow.
"I will buy this child."
***
The day Diana left, her roommate Helen hugged her tightly.
"Don't go, Diana. If you go, I'll have to live with being whipped by the Lady again...!"
"It's not my will to leave, Helen. I'm sorry."
"Go and tell the Madame you won't go. They’ll do anything you ask. Why do you leave us here?”
At first Helen sobbed, then she began to spite. Helen was morbidly afraid of Nephrin, which was no reason for Diana to take Nephrin's whip for her.
But Diana didn't want to leave the Depierre mansion either. She really didn’t.
Three nights ago, she'd signed the contract under duress. Since she couldn't read, the prince recited the terms for her, forcing her to listen and memorize them.
"Starting tomorrow, you will serve your new master at the palace. Your duties will be much the same as they have been in this mansion and in the brothels. You will clean your master's space and attend to his needs."
"......."
"I'm sure you have a rough idea who I’m talking about, but pretend you don't. He will always be addressed as 'Master'. You will be Diana Escalif, recommended by the Duke of Osprey. You were from the house of the fallen nobleman, Baron Escalif, you served as the young lady’s handmaiden for ten years before being transferred to the imperial court. Under no circumstances are you to speak to my brother about Viscount Depierre or any of your past employers. Or the fact that you are my spy, of course. Is that clear?"
"Yes, Your Highness, I will keep that in mind."
"Approach my brother while lowering his guard. From cleaning maid to bedchamber maid to bath attendant, you will be the only maid allowed to be by his side.”
She was not simply told to earn the Crown Prince's trust as a maid.
"Be a maid, but act like a whore, Diana."
She was to seduce him with her body.
***
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Write a comment
rafayel (Thursday, 02 January 2025 08:04)
thank you so much!!
i will wait for the next chapters