Don't Give Your Heart to Me

Chapter 1 - Arriving at Gildrouge

“Welcome to Gildrouge.”

That was the first thing I heard when I set foot in this hellish place.

“Please make yourself at home.”  The king insisted.

I was sent here to be a sacrificial bride. My home country, Heilorne, was attacked by Gildrouge. We had been in war for 2 years and they finally made a move. They ambushed us when my siblings and I were out on a business trip.

When we got back, to our horror, what remains of Heilorne was a bloody mess. My father, the king, was badly wounded and didn’t have much time to live. And my elder brother, The first prince, was to be the next king.

When my father died, we were devastated. But of course, we had to move on. I proposed a plan for revenge and they were more than happy to set it in motion.

The plan was, for me to be a sacrificial bride. I will serve as a ‘peace treaty’ and take care of Gildrouge’s king and the two princes. Of course, it’s no easy task because I need to kill both the king and the two princes.

But whatever, I’m just glad I grew up in the streets or this would have been impossible. I’m a lowborn, by the way. My mother was a prostitute. And because of the lessons in the palace, you could say I’m a skilled fighter. But anyway—

“Umm, my name is Ermine.” I said with a bow.

“I’m Salem!” The prince with the wide smile chirped

He walked over to me and wrapped an arm around my neck

 “Let’s get along, Ermine!”

“!!” Geh, what the heck?

He detached his arm around me and turned around

“I’ll be seeing more of you, in days to come.” He said as he waved me good bye

“…And you are..?” I asked the prince that hasn’t speaked until now.

“My name is Alistair,” he finally said “Nice to meet you, Lady Ermine.”

…Lady, huh? Back at home, only the servants called me that.

“Well then,” The king tapped the ground with his scepter. “You must be tired, Lady Ermine.”

“I’ll say it again, Make yourself at home.” And with that he walked off, with Alistair right behind him.

“Milady, this way, please.” One of my attendants said.

“Thank you.”

  

Clank

The sound of the door resounds in the big empty room.

My big, empty room.

It looked like a generic bedroom. Decent furniture, Nice color.

I made my way to the big mirror and looked at myself.

“Good. I still look presentable…”

I made myself look extra good today. Wore a corset and all that jazz.

I continued to examine myself and something caught my eye.

“W-where’s my pendant?!” Shit, not my pendant!

And then it hit me; Prince Salem. He wrapped his arm around my neck when he introduced himself!

He stole my necklace! I need to get it back…!

--

“No good. I’m lost!”

Ahhh curse you big mansions!

“Fufu, What do we have here? A little mouse snooping around, I presume?”

Huh? I turned around.

“Prince Salem!” that bastard!

“Give me back my necklace!”

“Oh, you mean this?” he held up an object I know too well.

“That’s –“

“This looks so low quality,” he snickered “For a princess, I mean.”

 How dare he! That was a memento from my mother!

“Oh? Did I hit a land mine?” he seemed amused, at least.

I was so focused on the necklace that I had no idea I was already pinned to the wall.

“Hey, tell me,” he looked at me dead in the eyes. “What’s your REAL objective?”

“I-I..”  Did he already figure me out?!

“Brother.”

I turned to face the voice.

“Alistair?” Salem took a step back and turned to face Prince Alistair.

“Father is calling you.” Alistair responded with the same old bored look on his face.

“Really?” Salem scratched his cheek.

“Ah, well, let’s talk later.” He turned to face me one last time and gave me a big smile.

And with that the two princes disappeared from my sight.

“…”

Back in my room I plopped on the bed and wondered, had I been found out? So soon?

“What should I do…?”