The Emperor's Concubine

Prologue

A world of monarchs and magical creations, stands a small influential kingdom—the Avris Kingdom, ruled by King Weslium and Queen Leveanne.
Blessed with an abundance of wealth and fertile lands, the king and queen were soon gifted a grand gift from the gods—twins. After years of trying to conceive, King Weslium and Queen Leveanne welcomed their children into the luxurious world of nobility. Their first-born son, Micheal Avri, and a daughter, Celestia Avri.

With the arrival of their newborns, the rulers couldn't help but worry over their future and well-being.
From their anxiousness, the king and queen made an unprecedented decision—government officials could not interfere in affairs regarding their family.

What seemed like a considerate gesture to protect their children from the formalities of high society—was merely a ploy to enforce their secret beliefs.

The twins were inseparable as they grew. They played and learned to crawl and walk alongside each other. The twins felt nothing but happiness when they were with one another—until they reached the age of four.
The day of their fourth birthday, they were forced apart into their own studies. Prince Micheal began lessons to become the successor, while Princess Celestia was forced into isolation.

Her existence was known to the public but lied about.
The king and queen fabricated rumors that their daughter was born frail and had fallen deathly sick, making it impossible for her to participate or interact in society.

Since conceiving twins is a rare occurrence, the public believed the tragic news as it was proven that one twin would always have a weaker constitution—always likely to pass away at a young age.
However, the twins were truly blessed, for they were the only set of twins throughout the continent to be born in pristine health. To hide the truth of the princess, the doctors and nurses who helped with the delivery, were quickly executed on the king and queen's orders.

With the kingdom mourning and praying for the princess' recovery, her parents ensured that she'd be unable to contact or experience life outside the castle walls. Granted only a minimal number of servants and teachers, the princess was never allowed to interact with anyone other than those chosen by her parents. Under their command, Princess Celestia was taught etiquette and proper manners—and given special lessons.

Feeling something was amiss with the lessons being taught, the young princess grew a strong curiosity of life beyond the castle walls. Begging her kindhearted maid, the princess asked her to secretly bring literature from different kingdoms. The maid who knew the truth behind the princess' isolation, obliged to her desperate pleas—after hearing details of what the princess was being taught.
Upon reading books and journals from various authors, Princess Celestia was revealed to the truth—realizing how twisted her parents truly were.

Throughout her solitude, the young princess couldn't help but miss her brother dearly.

At the same time, Prince Micheal was being raised to become a king but broken into submission to learn twisted lessons—taught personally by the king and queen.
Involuntarily made to commit unspeakable acts from a young age, the prince was ordered to kill rabbits and other small animals, until forced to torture and execute peasant children they had kidnapped—children the same age or younger than him.

A year of lessons and isolation from each other passed by, until the siblings were finally able to meet again on their birthday.

However, one look at Prince Micheal's face, the princess understood—the boy in front of her was not her brother, but a doll. He had become a lifeless puppet with a permanent empty look within his eyes, and a heart that lacked any hint of warmth or kindness.
The king and queen broke his spirit—becoming the perfect son that blindly obeys and follows their beliefs.

Even as Princess Celestia tried to speak to him—anxious of what he experienced—he rarely spoke.
Almost as if she was a stranger to him, he kept a cold distance between them.
The king and queen only smiled as they admired the two, but the princess could only feel a fear so intense, she could barely comprehend it at such a young age.

The princess engulfed herself in her studies, secretly learning histories, astronomy, and indulging in an abundance of novels to comfort her isolation. She became an intelligent and studious child all before the age of seven. Rarely meeting her parents—except occasionally for birthdays—she found solace from her books. The princess preserved and strengthened her empathy from reading different tales—the novels teaching her to be grateful for her life. Though it was a lonely life, she was able to live comfortably—until her eighth birthday.