Diana’s heart pounded at the approaching footsteps. The person stopped right in front of her.
Soon, a fingertip, devoid of any calluses, caressed Diana’s cheek. Instinctively, Diana lifted her head, revealing her face to the stranger.
A low gasp escaped.
“Beautiful.”
Fingers traced the line of her face without hesitation, gliding down to her plain collar and coarse buttons, which they began to rub deliberately.
“And vulgar. You were a slave in Dorthes, weren’t you? Worked in Hilde until you were fifteen.”
Her breath caught in her throat. The two biggest secrets Diana had hidden were exposed without restraint.
Dorthes was the name of a fallen kingdom, defeated by the Karman Empire 13 years ago. It was also Diana’s homeland.
The blunt fingertip hooked onto the front of Diana’s dress. She shuddered as the fabric tightly covering her chest was pulled downward.
The button fastening the back of her dress seemed on the verge of popping off. Her earlobes burned with humiliation.
“There it is.”
A distinct mark was etched at the center of her chest, now precariously exposed. It was the emblem of the Karman Empire—a black panther.
All slaves from Dorthes who were sold to the Empire were branded with this mark on their chests, signifying their status as the Empire’s property. Branded slaves were sold at auctions across the Empire, and Diana had caught the eye of a brothel owner in Hilde, who purchased her for 500 francs.
This was the ultimate reason Diana couldn’t work anywhere other than the Defierre estate.
“What did you do in Hilde? Sell your body?”
The tone left no room for doubt. It was evident that Viscount Defierre had divulged everything about her.
“I… I attended to those who worked there. I cleaned their bodies, made their beds, sorted items left behind by guests, collected laundry…”
Diana’s voice trembled like a quaking aspen.
After being sold at a slave auction to Hilde at the age of ten, she worked in a brothel until she was fifteen. Though she applied ointments that disfigured her face to avoid attracting attention from clients, she couldn’t escape the brothel owner’s scrutiny.
The day her menstruation was discovered, the owner gave orders to Mutang, who was close to Diana.
“At fifteen, she’s old enough to take clients. Don’t use her lower body—just train her to use her mouth properly.”
“But isn’t she too valuable to waste on just anyone? She’s unusually pretty and still young. If she’s a virgin, she’ll fetch an even higher price.”
“You don’t understand. Beauty like hers is valuable even if she’s not a virgin. We need to make as much money as possible before she’s sold.”
From the moment Diana overheard this conversation, she began planning her escape.
Right before she was to take her first client, she fled through the sewers and escaped Hilde. She was prepared to take her own life if caught. Her desperation was that profound, and divine fortune seemed to smile upon her during her escape. That was how she made it to the capital.
She wandered through kitchens, inns, stables, and laundries, doing all kinds of menial jobs, before securing her first position at a noble household—the Defierre estate.
But her peace as a legitimate employee was short-lived. When Nephrine’s schemes blinded her, Diana thought her life was over.
Had Helen not quickly spread word among the staff about Nephrine’s misdeeds, the Viscountess would have quietly disposed of Diana. Fortunately, the Viscountess opted to investigate Diana’s background instead of killing her, uncovering her entire history.
Ultimately, they held each other’s secrets. This allowed Diana to remain silent about Nephrine’s tyranny while the Defierre couple continued to employ her. For the past seven years, that tacit agreement had never been broken.
But this time was different.
The questioning from the stranger continued.
“When did you go blind?”
“Seven years ago.”
“Can you see nothing at all?”
“No.”
Diana’s condition was unlike typical blindness. A black film covered her corneas, plunging her world into complete darkness, leaving her unable to discern even light and shadow.
The interrogation did not stop there.
“Are you a virgin?”
Though the words were not explicitly spoken, the pressure that she wouldn’t survive a lie was palpable.
The question wasn’t even directed at Diana. Viscount Defierre answered immediately.
“If you wish, Your Highness, we can verify it.”
Diana’s complexion turned pale.
Verify? How?
She began to sense what was happening. Viscount Defierre intended to sell her off somewhere.
Thankfully, the stranger seemed disinterested.
“No, it must remain untouched. My elder brother is remarkably perceptive to unpleasant odors.”
This person, appraising Diana’s worth, was no ordinary noble.
Everything about him—his refined speech, the sound of his footsteps, the elegant fragrance mixed with his breath, the soft rustling of silk—distinguished him from Viscount Defierre. Even compared to Duke Gaspar, the highest noble Diana had encountered, this man exuded unmatched dignity. The Viscount’s deferential and devoted demeanor toward him was telling.
A noble above nobles.
A royal. He was royalty.
The youngest prince of the Karman Empire. Without needing further deduction, there was only one candidate. Prince Aizen, the son of the current emperor’s concubine and second in line to the throne.
“Though blind, she’s more meticulous and capable than any maid in this household. It would be difficult to find someone as beautiful and skilled elsewhere. If you can overlook a minor defect…”
“Defect?”
Prince Aizen chuckled.
“No, this is not a defect. At least, not to me.”
His hand rose to Diana’s face again, lightly tapping her cheek, as if inspecting merchandise in a display.
“A beautiful, loyal maid who happens to be blind, and from Hilde at that.”
The prince’s tone, when mentioning Hilde, carried admiration instead of contempt. Just as Diana found it strange, the prince whispered gleefully.
“You seem like a woman sent from the heavens just for my brother.”
There was only one person in the Empire whom Prince Aizen addressed as “brother.”
Diana instinctively knew where she would be taken and could even guess the expression on the man before her.
“I will purchase her.”
***
The day Diana was to leave, her roommate Helen clung to her, wrapping her arms around Diana’s waist.
“Don’t go, Diana! If you leave, I might have to live under the mistress’s whip again!”
“It’s not my choice to leave, Helen. I’m sorry.”
“The madam grants you anything you ask for! Go and tell her you won’t leave. Are you really going to abandon us here?!”
At first, Helen sobbed uncontrollably, but soon she began to lash out in desperation. Helen was pathologically afraid of Nephrine. Yet that didn’t justify Diana taking the lashes meant for Helen.
But Diana also did not want to leave the Defierre estate. She was sincere.
Three nights ago, Diana, unable to resist the coercion, signed a contract. Since she couldn’t read the contract, the prince read the clauses aloud to her. She had no choice but to listen and memorize them.
“From tomorrow, you will serve a new master at the imperial palace. Your duties will be nearly identical to the ones you’ve been performing at this estate and in the brothel. Clean your master’s quarters and attend to their needs.”
“…..”
“You can probably guess who you’ll be serving. But act as if you don’t know. Always address them as ‘Master.’ You will assume the identity of ‘Diana Escaliff,’ recommended by Duke Osfil. You are to present yourself as a member of the fallen Escaliff barony, who served as a lady-in-waiting to a noblewoman for ten years before being transferred to the palace.”
“Under no circumstances are you to divulge anything about the Defierre estate or the places you previously served to my brother. Naturally, you must never reveal that you are my informant. Is that clear?”
“Yes, Your Highness. I will remember.”
“Gain his trust while lowering his guard. Transition from being a cleaning maid to a bedchamber maid, then to a bathing attendant, eventually becoming the only maid permitted by his side.”
This was not merely an order to win the crown prince’s favor as a maid.
“Be a maid, but act like a prostitute, Diana.”
It meant she was to seduce the crown prince with her body.
***
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