SOP 01

🌷༺❀༻🌷༺❀༻🌷Chapter 1🌷༺❀༻🌷༺❀༻🌷

[Emperor Raud of the Raud Empire Takes the “Attic Princess” as His Concubine!]

Because of the article on the front page, the Imperial Newspaper sold out very quickly.

The Raud Empire was completely shocked. It was only natural that the people of the empire were furious.

The strongest man on the continent, Emperor Raud of the Raud Empire, had made the princess of the defeated country he had destroyed into his concubine.

“Is that her?”

“Look at the burn marks on her face. They’re horrible.”

But Shiodor was just as confused and shocked as everyone else.

She had been kept in prison until now, so her long black hair was messy and unkempt. Shiodor slowly walked through the crowd while people secretly looked at her.

Because she was still a princess of the defeated country, heavy chains were wrapped around her feet.

She walked with difficulty because of the weight of the chains. Her blue eyes moved nervously between the strands of her hair.

The imperial palace of the Raud Empire was enormous and magnificent. It was far bigger than the Selene Kingdom, where she had lived.

That made Shiodor even more confused.

Why did he choose me as his concubine?

Emperor Raud already had several empresses and beautiful women in his harem.

He was already a powerful man whose name was known across the entire continent. He had no reason to take someone like her as his concubine.

Am I just a trophy?

But even as a trophy, Shiodor was a poor choice. She was an unattractive princess with a thin body and burn scars.

I am only the Attic Princess.

Shiodor nervously moved her fingers as she followed a maid with red hair tied high on her head.

Her mother had been a maid.

Not a noblewoman or an important servant. She had simply been a common woman who did small jobs in the royal palace.

One day, the king happened to notice her. By luck, she became pregnant with his child.

That child was Shiodor.

In the royal harem, where a person’s family background and the king’s love meant power, there was only one way for Shiodor and her mother to survive.

They had to hide as if they did not exist.

So, after her mother died when Shiodor was seven, Shiodor continued living for thirteen years in the attic at the top of a tall tower, in the most remote part of the royal palace.

Other than the maid who brought her food every day, nobody came to see her.

She was used to crying because she was lonely.

Even when her mother was alive, they had not been very close.

During those thirteen years, Shiodor nearly died many times.

A fire broke out in the tower and left burn marks on her body.

Once, heavy rain caused the tower to fill with water, trapping her inside.

She was also poisoned and had several accidents.

But every time, she was lucky enough to survive.

When the Raud Empire started a war against the Selene Kingdom, she was certain that she would finally die.

But once again, Shiodor survived.

Even when almost the entire royal family was killed, she was still alive.

She was simply thankful that she could still breathe.

I have no special abilities. Will I really be okay from now on?

No… actually…

Shiodor gently touched the necklace around her neck.

It was a necklace with a blue jewel.

It was the only thing her mother had left behind.

Her mother had told her that she must never take it off.

Because I have to keep it sealed.

The ancestors of the Selene Kingdom were said to have come from the moon. Because of this, the Selene royal family greatly respected silver hair.

Shiodor was the only living member of the modern Selene royal family who had naturally silver hair.

But great power always came with great responsibility.

Perhaps because her mother did not believe she could protect her, she always dyed Shiodor’s hair pitch-black.

She also sealed Shiodor’s natural magical power so that nobody would discover it before she became an adult.

Her mother’s decision made Shiodor even more timid.

She had become so fearful that she could not even imagine how great the power inside her might be.

“This is your room, Your Highness.”

After walking for a long time, the maid stopped in front of a huge room.

She opened both doors wide so Shiodor could enter comfortably.

“…Wow.”

A small sound of surprise escaped Shiodor’s lips.

The room was about five times bigger than the room she had lived in at the top of the tower.

And there was more.

There was a beautiful chandelier covered with jewels. The curtains were expensive. Even the teacups and dishes inside the cabinets looked extremely expensive.

I knew the Raud Empire was rich, but…

Her wide eyes looked around the room.

After looking around for a while, Shiodor bowed her head slightly to the maid.

“Thank you…”

“You should speak casually to maids, Your Highness. Otherwise, His Majesty will be angry with me.”

“Angry…?”

The maid meant that Emperor Raud would be angry with her.

But Shiodor had always been the one who was scolded, so she became frightened and shrank back like a scared rabbit.

“How dare someone like you speak casually to me!”

Was it the sixth prince? Or the seventh prince?

No, perhaps it was both of them.

Once, Shiodor had asked them to give her more food for the maid who served her. They had become extremely angry and scolded her.

But here, she would be scolded if she didn’t speak casually to the maids.

Shiodor did not want to be scolded by anyone after coming all the way to the Raud Empire.

She took a small breath and carefully spoke.

“Okay. Ah—no. Okay.”

“Thank you, Your Highness.”

The maid simply smiled warmly at the nervous Shiodor.

Then she noticed the chains around Shiodor’s ankles.

“His Majesty said that he would personally remove the chains from your feet. We do not have permission to remove them ourselves. I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s—no, it’s okay.”

“It must be uncomfortable, but please wait just a little longer. I will bring you some clothes and something to eat.”

“Yes. No… I mean… okay.”

Shiodor awkwardly sat down on the sofa.

“Excuse me…”

She gathered her courage and called out to the maid who was about to leave.

“Could you… tell me your name?”

“My name is Gentlet, Your Highness.”

“Okay… Gentlet. Thank you.”

Shiodor thanked her again and slightly bowed her head.

At the same time, she quickly moved her hair forward.

She wanted to hide the burn scars on her face.

Gentlet tilted her head slightly in confusion and then left the room.

Soon, she returned with several dresses, accessories, and some simple food.

After Shiodor finished her small meal, Gentlet even helped her despite Shiodor insisting that she wanted to bathe alone.

Before leaving, Gentlet handed her a small jar.

“Please put this on your face.”

“…What is it?”

“It is a gift from His Majesty. The Pope personally made this medicine.”

“The… Pope?”

The Pope was the leader of the most respected religion on the continent.

Even if he simply touched something, people would call it a holy object.

So a medicine personally made by the Pope had to be extremely valuable.

“Yes. It is very difficult to get. When I told him about your burns, he gave it to me as if he had already prepared it. I think your scars will disappear if you use it for only a few days.”

“Thank you… so much.”

Shiodor’s cheeks became red as she gently held the jar.

Emperor Raud of the Raud Empire.

🌷༺❀༻🌷༺❀༻🌷

She had never even seen his face.

And every rumor she had heard about him was bad.

They said he was a tyrant.

They said he was obsessed with war.

They said he loved women so much that he had created a huge harem.

But despite all those terrible rumors, he had given someone like her, a simple war trophy, a beautiful room.

He had even given her this precious medicine.

Shiodor had grown up without receiving much kindness from others.

Because of that, she could not help developing warm feelings toward him.

“Put it on quickly. It would be better to use it before you spend the night—”

“…The night?”

“Yes. You are his concubine, so won’t His Majesty spend the night with you?”

At Gentlet’s words, Shiodor’s face became as red as if it might explode.

She had always thought of herself as nothing more than a war trophy.

But she had never actually imagined that Emperor Raud would come to spend the night with her.

“But someone like me…”

“Someone like you? It is only because you are too thin and have burns on your face. Once your burns disappear and you gain some weight, your beauty will become obvious.”

Gentlet smiled warmly and personally applied the medicine to Shiodor’s face.

Amazingly, wherever the medicine touched, the ugly, rough scars slowly began to fade.

“Look. It works very well, doesn’t it?”

“…Thank you for saying such kind things to me, Gentlet.”

“You don’t have to thank me.”

The nobles of the Raud Empire were making fun of the princess of the defeated country who had become a concubine.

But for some reason, Gentlet felt sorry for this princess.

“Then I’ll leave now. His Majesty will be here soon.”

After finishing with the medicine, Gentlet put the jar away and stood up.

Shiodor quickly grabbed the edge of Gentlet’s clothes.

“C-Can I meet him alone?”

“I… cannot stay with you, Your Highness.”

“…Okay.”

“Are you scared?”

“…Yes. I’m sorry.”

“Please don’t apologize. It is natural to be afraid on your first night.”

Gentlet had heard that Shiodor had lost her mother when she was young.

But she had not expected the princess to be this innocent and unaware of the world.

Then again, just by looking at Shiodor’s extremely thin body and scarred face, it was obvious how she had been treated in her own kingdom.

Gentlet sat down again in the place where she had been sitting before.

She could not teach Shiodor everything she needed to know, but she could at least tell her a little about Emperor Raud.

“His Majesty may look cold, but he is very capable. He also cares quite a lot about his people.”

That was why the war with the Selene Kingdom had been surprising.

He had never completely killed an entire royal family before.

“If you are scared, tell him that you are scared. He will probably be considerate of you.”

“And… you might not have anything to fear. He might be too busy with his work and not come at all.”

“Oh… he might not come?”

“Yes. Anyway, don’t worry about it too much beforehand.”

“…Okay. I feel much better now. Thank you.”

“Yes, Your Highness. I will come back tomorrow morning.”

Only then did Gentlet finally leave the room.

Shiodor waited nervously as time passed.

Just as Gentlet had said, she desperately hoped that Emperor Raud would be too busy with work and forget about her.

But as soon as she had that thought—

“His Majesty the Emperor is entering!”

The door opened with the voice of an aide.

The moment the door opened, Shiodor saw something that looked as if it could swallow her whole.

Two intensely shining red eyes.

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“Gasp…!”

Those red eyes were so intense that she could hardly breathe.

At that moment, Shiodor felt a strange sense of fate.

And helplessly, she became tangled in those deep red eyes.