Chapter 3
“Kasha.”
The Fourth Prince, Kal Lago, muttered Siara’s false name.
Then he shifted his posture, as if looking down upon her.
The change in angle relative to sunlight made his figure inside the carriage become clear.
Siara’ unconsciously swallowed dryly.
Kal Lago was like a lion tossing its black mane.
His image was in stark contrast to the First Prince, Axos, whose status as ‘Prince’ was obvious at a glance…
If Axos seemed to symbolize the brilliant sun, this man was pure, lightless pitch-black darkness.
If Axos was elegantly slender and pale, Kal Lago was thick-set and large-framed with light brown skin.
Furthermore, his disheveled black hair tumbled over his face, so that only one of the man’s eyes and his mouth were barely visible within the long, wild mane.
Even his posture was the opposite; where Axos sat arrogantly upright, Kal Lago was hunched over like a beast growling and crouching to pounce.
In appearance alone, they were极端对立的兄弟.
Kal Lago wasn’t even wearing a proper top, like a laboring slave.
His bare chest was fully exposed, with only a single long black coat draped loosely over his shoulders as if it were a bother.
“The name is Kasha, you say.”
Kal Lago emphasized ‘Kasha’ again in a mocking tone.
A shiver, like a warning, ran down her spine.
It was clear he had instantly realized she’d given a false name.
Of course, this noble Prince wouldn’t know that ‘Kasha’ meant ‘demon’…
Her mother had said Kasha was a name that appeared only in the plains’ folklore.
Moreover, it was said that speaking the demon’s name would summon it, so it was rarely uttered aloud, only mentioned a few times to scare misbehaving children with threats of ‘Kasha will take you away.’
The problem was she’d been caught lying in response to a Prince’s solemn question.
Yet, Kal Lago showed no sign of anger.
He didn’t even seem to hold any particular interest or curiosity about Siara.
He was looking at her with utterly cold eyes.
If he wasn’t interested, then why?
Why did he stop the execution?
What could he possibly be thinking, asking for her name?
Unable to discern the reason, tension tightened her stomach, but Siara met his gaze with haughty defiance.
An execution order had already been given anyway.
In this situation, what punishment could be worse than summary execution for a woman looking directly at a man, a plains savage girl staring down an Imperial Prince?
Siara raised her chin even higher, as if confronting fate itself.
Then, Kal Lago’s mouth quirked up in amusement.
“If my brother won’t have her, then I’ll take that woman.”
What?
Her pupils dilated at the unexpected words.
The shock was shared by everyone around.
The commander and soldiers flinched, and the onlookers peeking at the situation gasped and began whispering to each other.
“He’s taking that crazy girl?”
Murmurs erupted from the carriages of the other Princes, whose procession had completely halted because of Kal Lago.
He was taking a woman whose face and hair had been seen by all these men, a woman so filthy and covered in dust.
It was an outrageous act.
Siara drew in a breath as composedly as she could.
She didn’t know what impulse led the Fourth Prince to this decision, but it was her only chance to live.
The official looked terribly troubled, struggling to manage the situation.
“My humble apologies, Your Highness Kal Lago. Your elder brother, His Highness Axos, has already ordered this girl’s execution.”
“So?”
“His Highness Axos will be most displeased if he learns of this. Therefore, I beg you…”
“If you absolutely cannot hand that girl over to me quietly, shall I just overturn everything and take her?”
The coolly delivered voice was frightening.
“Tch.”
The commander gritted his teeth and immediately had the soldiers assume defensive positions.
That instant reaction was like responding to a lion about to burst from its cage and run amok.
The official also turned pale in an instant, coaxing Kal Lago in the mildest tone possible.
“As you wish. I will explain matters suitably to His Highness Axos.”
“Good. That’s how it should be.”
Kal Lago openly sneered.
“My brother is accustomed to having things taken from him by force. This will be no different.”
They were words that would infuriate the First Prince into a rage if he heard them.
But the courtiers seemed merely relieved the situation was resolved without incident, as if they were all accustomed to Kal Lago’s brutish behavior.
“Everyone, step back from the girl,” the official hurriedly signaled.
He must have been a very high-ranking official, for the commander and soldiers immediately sheathed their scimitars and stepped back.
Kal Lago stretched his arm out from the large, open carriage.
“Get in.”
There was no room for choice in this situation.
Yet, for a brief moment, she hesitated, looking across the palm extended towards her.
She had heard that the Princes of the Shurkohin Empire competed with each other, killing off their brothers.
Only one could become Emperor; the rest were merely rivals.
It was said that even after ascending the throne, any surviving brothers would be eliminated as well.
Every potential rival’s sprout had to be plucked.
And now, she was about to take the hand of the one man among the seven Princes who uniquely had no right of succession.
A mad Prince, no less.
The complete opposite of her plan…
But Kal Lago’s hand was large and firm.
And familiar.
It resembled her father’s and brothers’ hands.
Kal Lago had the hands of a man who fought, like the men of the plains.
He wasn’t even wearing a single bracelet.
Kal Lago was a man without a woman; he had never given a bracelet to any woman.
Having made up her mind, Siara rose from among the encircling soldiers.
She still trembled slightly, but she straightened her posture.
The onlookers buzzed noisily, chattering ‘Kasha, Kasha’ here and there.
‘Kasha’ stood proudly, chin raised without a trace of shame, the only woman on the broad daylight streets of this vast Empire’s capital without a head covering or veil.
A servant placed a large footstool beside the carriage.
Carefully stepping on the gilded footstool, she grasped Kal Lago’s hand.
Whoooooosh.
The cold December wind gusted, whipping Kal Lago’s wild mane to the side.
In those few seconds, she briefly saw his face, hidden behind his hair.
Unexpectedly beautiful features… sensual lips below a prominent nose bridge, a firm jawline sharp as a crescent moon.
And most of all, the intense gleam in his eyes…
Just like her, whose eyes were said to glow intensely like a wolf’s in the dark, this man also possessed powerful eyes.
“Eek!”
While she was staring at him blankly, Kal Lago suddenly pulled her in forcefully.
Siara was lifted into the carriage as lightly as a feather.
He loosely wrapped one arm around her slender waist and leaned back against a large cushion.
Simultaneously, without any order being given, the procession began moving again.
He seemed indifferent, unconcerned about her, unwashed for 21 days, smelly, and utterly filthy.
His gaze, from within the madly long, disheveled hair, was fixed boredly somewhere ahead, not on her.
Yet, perhaps because of the strong arm that had snatched her up so forcefully…
She felt trapped, held motionless against him within the arm draped lazily around her waist.
Bwooooooooooo!
The horn blared noisily as the musicians began to play.
“Stand aside and bow your heads! Their Highnesses the Princes are passing through!”
Siara moved her gaze from Kal Lago towards the front.
The world was still the same, but seated high in the luxurious Imperial carriage, the view had completely changed.
When she first entered this city, the stone buildings blocking her view on all sides had felt terribly oppressive.
But now, riding in the Imperial carriage, those buildings that had seemed to press down on her became part of the scenery…
And the people who had gathered to watch when the scimitar was at her throat were now prostrated at her feet, crouching low.
Siara advanced majestically among the merchants, craftsmen, and rich men bowing helplessly with their heads to the ground.
So this is the world as seen by the Imperial family of the Shurkohin Empire.
This was the view from power.
The eye level of those with absolute authority, who could kill or save a person with a single word…
Seeing that ‘power’ with her own eyes sent a shiver, thrilling and pleasant, down her spine.
Soon, ahead, beyond the white walls tinged pink by the setting sun, the ornate roofs of the imperial palace came into view.
The procession of the Princes’ carriages was advancing straight towards that palace.
Sssip.
She drew in a trembling breath and tightly clutched the old, blood-stained thimble and handkerchief she had cherished and carried so preciously.
She could almost see her father’s dignified figure, her mother’s and sister’s smiles, her brother’s grin, her youngest brother’s cute antics, and hear her uncles’ hearty laughter.
Twenty-one days since that horrific day.
Having vowed revenge, crossed the frigid plains alone, she was now finally heading to the imperial palace
