The King's Rejected Lady

The She-devil In Her

CLUTCHING HER furred scarf around her body, Tori opened the small window of the cottage she was staying inside the Arin Tribe's territory. The moment she opened her window, the raven immediately flew inside her room. Around its neck was a message holder.

Only the Information Guild uses this type of communication. Mostly, nobles use owls to convey long-distance messages. What could it be? Tori pondered.

The raven tilted its head as it seemingly looked at her which was weird enough for Tori, who was not yet used to this type of message. In her past life, she was used to the internet. And as Victoria Rozenreff at the capital, she was used to Lily or Rowan conveying her messages even the secret ones. For Tori, it felt so... so primitive.

Tori opened the message holder and saw a small rolled-up parchment. Upon reading it, she realized that it was indeed from Lady M who informed her that the king delayed the Vesta challenge just like Tori intended. In exchange, she only had one week to unify the northern region. Below the letter, Lady M told her about Marquess Zoliel's outburst in his estate when he found out about his missing ledgers.

Accentuated by the crackling flames from her room's fireplace, Tori's ruby eyes shone like the devil's as she burned any traces of the message leaving nothing but ashes. "What will you do now, Marchioness Susana? Kill or be killed?"

She stared into the flame as if the face of the Marchioness could be seen in it. Malice filled Tori's ruby red eyes as she grinned.

Walking back to her study table, she looked for her quill and started writing a reply only to stop midway when her inner peace was disturbed by some loud knocking sound. She set her quill aside and took the raven from her bedpost to her arm. "Coming!"

Tori opened her window to let the raven go. Not bothering to close it, she walked the small distance between her windows to her door in two long strides.

Clad in her nightgown covered by a furry scarf given by Akasha paired with her messy golden ringlets, Tori welcomed the young chieftain of the north. He was wearing his usual garb, animal skin, and his large bolo.

"A pleasant morning, Chief Keiran." Tori curtsied halfway since her right hand was securing the scarf around her body. "To what do I owe the early pleasure of your presence, Your Grace?"

The young chieftain snorted as she greeted him formally as true noble ladies did in the capital. After all, she was from high society.

"The elders want you to attend the war council this morning. Change your clothes to something thicker, Lady Victoria. Your skimpy nightgown won't be enough to cover you from the cold."

The stone-cold chieftain walked away from her sight after he uttered those words to her. His words rung inside Tori's being. Touching her bare neck, she knew that her neck would be at stake in every decision she would make.

CLAD IN HER RED OUTDOOR dress, embroidered by black-colored crows from the bottom to her waist, Tori's thick black gloves accentuated the black pearls that surrounded her bun-styled hair and neck. Tori covered her dress with a bear's pelt that kept her from the cold. She wore leather-heeled boots, but the cold from the thick snow on her path still made her toes numb.

Though it was still morning, the fog in the snowy mountains and the darkened sky from the constant snow gave a dark atmosphere around the tribe. In their path towards the main cottage of the tribe where the elders resided, torches guided their way. Before her, Chief Keiran walked together with his vassal warriors. Meanwhile, Tori was walking with Akasha who kept on babbling about the Arin Tribe's history which Tori already read from Trifecta Academy.

Tori was just smiling sweetly at Akasha the whole time as her mind flew to the meeting that she would be attending later. She knew that she had to impress the elders without stepping into their rules and customs.

Minutes passed and Tori could see the imposing enormous cottage surrounded by smaller ones. Larger torches surrounded it as more people could be seen. As they passed the people, they bowed to their young chieftain. It was clear in their eyes that they truly respected him which Tori noted. She would use anything at her disposal to keep her head from rolling. When the people finally saw her, an unfamiliar person, wariness swept their smiling faces as if her being in their place was an ominous thing.

Well, they are somewhat right. Me being here meant their peaceful days are long over.

Tori followed Chief Keiran and his vassals inside the cottage. The sight that welcomed her the moment she was inside the main hall of the enormous cottage astounded Tori. Large torches on the wall and a large beast's pelt decorated the center wall of the main hall. At the center of the room was a huge rectangular wooden table where a group of elderly surrounded. On the table was a map of the Eckrett Empire with pawns loitered everywhere on it.

The air shifted the moment that Chieftain Keiran set aside to introduce her to the council who was scrutinizing her from her skin to her very core. Tori steeled herself and gave them her infamous sugary smile.

"This is Lady Victoria Rozenreff, Prince Lin's help. She will be giving her guidance to win this war."

Words of dissatisfaction resonated inside the main hall as the elders showed their opinions on Crown Prince Yei Lin's choice of aide.

"A Rozenreff in our midst?"

"What if she's a king's spy?" Well, technically. But I am not on the king's side.

"Why do we need help from a little girl? Does she even know what a battle looks like?" I have fought many battles in my way. Thank you very much, old jerk

Chieftain Keiran and Akasha could not control the elders' outburst so they only took their seats and left her hanging as she became the punching bag of their criticisms. Tori could not help but raised her eyebrows from the offending feedback but chose to raise her right hand calmly.

"Pardon my intrusion, lords, and ladies. I am Victoria Rozenreff, future head of the Rozenreff Duchy, and a supporter of the aristocratic faction. I am also aiming for the Vesta Challenge. I will defeat your enemy and in exchange, you will owe me a request in the future. That is my goal and motive for coming here. Now that you know why I am here standing in front of you, I hope that it will be clear why I am risking too much by coming here."

Tori prepared this kind of approach in case she would receive this kind of reception.

Sometimes offense is the best defense. It is better now that I am not here to betray them since I have a goal of my own, a goal that would also benefit them.

"Take a seat here, Lady Victoria." Chief Keiran pointed an empty seat to his left which she gladly obliged. She wanted to see up close the current battle strategy of the Arin Tribe displayed on the table.

Just as she was about to point out a question, Tori was stopped when an elderly woman with squinting silver eyes interrupted her. "I heard rumors about how you become the head of the Rozenreff Duchy."

Tori spun her attention to the woman. "I only did what was right as I protected what was mine. Surely, you can sympathize with me as you are doing this siege to protect what's yours, my lady."

"You, people of the empire, claimed to be sophisticated among others. But you behaved worse than a beast as you devoured your own families for power. Even northern beasts could not eat their children."

Tori dropped her sweet smile and let everyone witness her true color as she smiled wickedly. "Hence, the reason why Crown Prince Yei Lin recommended me to you, my lady. I am a person capable of devouring my family just to protect what I claimed to be mine. You will need me and that I am sure of."

The elder only gave her a bitter glance before shutting up which satisfied Tori. A bald elderly spoke who was sitting at Tori's right. "How can we trust you?" This feels like a déjà vu, huh?

"You don't have to trust me. All I need is respect. As long as our goals connect, you need not worry about me. I may be a beast but I know when to bend my horns. After all, we are pointing our fangs to the same enemy." Tori was smiling like it was raining sunshine around her which was the complete opposite for the people around her. They finally grasped that the guest in front of them was indeed someone like the crown prince of Ming Country will recommend.