The Cold Northern Princess

chapter one

A Z U L A

CHAPTER ONE:

| becoming Azaleah|

•••

PRINCESS AZALEAH FROST was the first legitimate princess of Northern King Orion Frost and his late First Queen, Artemisia Frost. She had an older brother who was four years older than her, Prince Callix Frost.

Her birth to the world had been hard on her ailing mother, Queen Artemisia, who had perished after naming her 'Azaleah'. A death that was hard on her father, King Orion, who had blamed the newborn princess in his grief and anger. For the first five years of her life, the little princess was surrounded by servants who had been given the task to take care of her, and ordered them to never let the little princess out of her tower. Princess Azaleah was sheltered, innocent and naive and a quiet little girl who was always lonely. It wasnt really any wonder she was lonely and a sad little girl, as she was surrounded by Northern servants who hated her heritage and was loyal to a woman who had despised her existence. Cold and hateful, that was how they treated her, and the princess was this sad little flower in the North, shivering and crying from the coldness.

Her pitiful sad existence ended quite quickly. At the tender age of five, the little princess who knew none of a father who hated her and a brother who knew little of her but surrounded by cold and hateful servants, she perished. Her weak body succumbing to the poison the servants had long been feeding her.

She succumbed to her death with a frozen smile on her face.

By the time King Orion regretted everything he had done, he was already too late.

The daughter his wife had died to give birth, to give life was now dead— all because of his foolishness, and he spiralled down to madness, overwhelmed by grief. The Prince who had to take the burden and the duty of a king at a young age of nine, had to grow up cold and was consumed by ambition and hatred. He grew power hungry and sought the Empire, and he waged a war against the Empire and the other three kingdoms at the age of 20, and he was executed at the age of 24.

And so, the Frost line had died out— and that was the end of the story.

But this time, things would be different. Queen Artemisia Frost will still die giving birth to the same-but-not baby girl. The King would grieved and the baby girl will become the object of his hatred, and he will sent her away to her chambers, with orders that she was to never step out of. The Prince would only know of her sister, but never meeting her, or seeing her.

It was the same.

But the baby opened her gold eyes, a knowing look on her face, before sleeping.

The soul in the baby's body was not a newborn soul— and had already had its first life. It still contained its first identity, memories and experiences.

It would serve her well as she changed the outcome of her new family (and unknowingly, the whole world.)

•••

It had been three years since her reincarnation, and she was sad to say that she couldn't do anything. As a baby, she had no control over herself, and the caretakers who was assigned to her had looked at her with cold eyes.

They were the lackeys of Concubine Rowena Frost.

She had never seen the woman before— only that she was so envious of her second mother (Artemisia) that she schemed against her. It wasn't mentioned in the game, but it was suspicious that a woman would die of giving birth in a world of magic, unless they were born weak, ill and not able to use their magic. Artemesia, from what she knew from the servants and from the game, was a warrior-mage from the Western Kingdom whom won King Orion Frost heart when they were children. A woman with strength and skills should have never died, especially from her constitution. But no one said anything, because the Northern people had no love for the late Queen Artemisia who was a Westerner woman and the idiot iceblockhead-king was too busy grieving and pointing fingers to actually think.

Queen Artemisia had been murdered, by poison. Who? Lady Concubine Rowena Frost. Now the late hateful queen was dead, but her daughter lives? Surround her with servants who hate her and have been poisoning her since she was but a babe, with tiny doses to make sure her death looked naturally caused by illness.

Sigh. This is why medieval times are a pain and scary. A time where woman were nothing but broodmares to sell off and breed, but also where the darkest side of the women would lurk out quite often.

I mean, poisoning a pregnant woman to kill her and then have her surviving whelp killed off with the same poison? Over a guy?!

GET A LIFE WOMAN!

Little Azaleah sighed as she stared at her reflection. Long and unkept raven-black hair and piercing gold eyes. The colors of a Westerner. The Great War that happened three hundred years ago was hard, and for the Northerners, their lives were made into hell because the whole kingdom was kept as slaves and servants by the Western Kingdom.

Three hundred had passed and the grudge and hate had never seemed to fade away, even if they were allies now.

It certainly played a part in the servants reason for their hatred and cold treatment of her, even if she tried her best to woo them with her cute baby faces.

The servants reminded her of the Others, the White Walkers in the Game of Thrones. Coldbeings with frozen hearts, unfeeling and very cold. They were heartless. Who on earth would feed poison against a little baby  who has cute giggles?

Ah, Northerners...

"Princess Azaleah," a woman came in, her pale platinum hair was kept in a tight bun and her eyes were a piercing silvery grey "it is time for you to eat."

She looked at the cold woman, her face frozen, but her eyes were burning in resentment at her as she handed the little three year old a tray of food.

Poisoned food.

She sighs and looks at the woman "Miss Hilda?"

The cold woman who was standing by the door did not even twitch "What is it, Princess Azaleah"

She stares at Miss Hilda's face and asks softly "Did I do something bad to deserve... this?"

The woman broke her composure for a moment.

She looks down at her poisoned food with sadness, her little hands scratching the tray "Did I really killed mother just like Miss Feline said? Does Father really hate me? Does my Brother not care about me? Do..." She glanced back at the woman "...do you hate me so much to feed me something that would make me weak and sick?"

The woman's face froze in shock.

She only sighs again and gave the woman a sad smile "I'm young, not stupid, Miss Hilda. I always knew " her voice echoed the room, the woman's face was frozen in shock, and seeing that the cold woman will not answer, she looks back at her food in disappointment and sadness.

"Take you for the food," she said as she started eating.

The woman did not stop her.

And she can't help but feel more sad for the little princess who had to endure and suffer this until her death. What a sad and lonely life...