“Francheska, your engagement to Prince Theodore has been called off. Elysia will be marrying His Royal Highness instead.”
I was supposed to be with my grandfather in the capital, performing my official duties. Instead, my father had called me to his private residence within the duchy, apparently to tell me that my engagement would no longer go as planned.
Shock ran through my head like I had been struck with a hammer. A wave of dizziness hit me, and I felt like I was about to collapse despite the fact that I was sitting on the sofa.
Somehow managing to still my wobbling spine, I studied my fiancé—or perhaps, my ex-fiancé—as he sat across from me. Next to him sat my younger half-sister, with whom I shared a father. Though she was trembling with uncertainty, her arms were firm as she hugged herself and leaned in closer to Prince Theodore. The prince embraced her tenderly in return.
A blue-eyed, golden-haired prince and a gorgeous girl with honey-colored locks. They were like a match made in heaven...but that would mean that heaven had been willing to turn a blind eye to the fact that he had been my fiancé and she was my half-sister.
“Forgive me, Francheska,” Theodore said. “I know you have a skill, but no one is able to decipher it, and it is most likely useless. Although Ely might not have one, she possesses charm and beauty. Surely you can see that she is more worthy of becoming the duchess?”
“I-I’m sorry, Francheska,” Elysia stuttered, “but I had to be true to myself! And Theodore and I have already cemented our love for one another. The proof lies in my belly...”
The prince spoke up again. “I also took the decision to follow my heart. With Ely, I have found true love. I could never marry you—the cost would be suppressing my feelings!”
Though they had both apologized, Theodore was lovingly scooping up a lock of Elysia’s hair. Her eyes were tearing up, but her peach-colored lips were set into a smirk as she slowly ran her hands over her belly. Whatever they might’ve been saying, they were lost in their own little world.
Lower your head if you like, but that smile on your lips says it all. You might want to try hiding it if your objective is for me to believe you.
That said, it was quite obvious that she had no intention of showing me so much as a thimbleful of sincerity.
There’s nothing to be done. Neither of them cares one bit about me, and neither does my father.
Theodore was the third prince. Upon becoming an adult, he was supposed to give up his royal status, marry me, and join our House of Vaielindt. Or that was what had been promised to me, at least. My future had been set in stone for all this time, but now, it had been upturned without a moment’s hesitation.
No wonder I had been seeing markedly less of Theodore in the capital lately. While I had been performing my duties, he had been traipsing off to the duchy to cultivate his “true love” with my sister.
I took one last glance at the pair as they repeated their empty apologies before I turned to look at my father in his armchair. His almond-shaped eyes were emotionless as he stared at me, and his fine, thin lips began to seal my fate.
“It wouldn’t do were the scandalous news to spread that the daughter of the Vaielindts has had her engagement called off,” he began. “It just so happens that the Flower Offering is taking place this year. We shall spread the word that you were chosen to be the flower, and His Highness had to take a new fiancée.”
“Very well. When shall I be departing?” I asked.
“Tomorrow. Do make sure you are adequately prepared.”
I took a moment to compose myself. “I understand. In that case, as long as there is nothing else to discuss, I shall make haste.”
The Flower Offering was a ceremony that took place every fifty years. A “flower” would be offered to a lone black dragon who lived on an isolated island in order to quell the beast’s boredom. In more pragmatic terms, the people offered a sacrifice to the dragon—a being who possessed powerful magic and the ability to curse others—in the hope that peace might prevail a little longer. It was said that a few hundred years ago, the people had skipped the offering, and that had resulted in many years of back-to-back domestic conflicts as well as famine due to drought- and frost-damaged crops. Ever since then, the ceremony hadn’t been skipped a single time.
I had never once imagined that I might be chosen as the flower. Having said that, the House of Vaielindt would not be able to abide any rumors that suggested the prince had been unfaithful to me in favor of my younger sister and that I had been cast out as a result. It would have been much kinder of them to have stopped Theodore when it had been discovered that he was seeing my sister...but it wasn’t like wishful thinking could do anything about it now.
It was all too clear that my current mother—my father’s second wife, who he had married after my natal mother passed away—had stolen his spine. And Elysia was likely more attractive than me too. She had been born to a couple who were together because of love, whereas my birth had been rooted in aristocratic obligation. Now that I thought about it, my father had never once shown me a fraction of the affection he displayed for my sister. Perhaps my grandfather was the only person who had ever shown concern for me. He had often admonished my father for how I had been treated, but in the end, it seemed his efforts had been in vain.
“You will become the dragon’s bride, even as worthless as you are. You ought to consider it an honor.”
My father’s words tore through me.
“I live to serve the House of Vaielindt.” I then lowered my head and gave a perfect curtsy—a gesture that had been thoroughly drummed into me as part of my education.
Tomorrow, I would die: sacrificed to a wicked dragon. The terror of it was enough to bring tears to my eyes, but when I saw how Elysia glanced at me with a smirk on her face, I was all the more determined not to fall apart in front of her. Suppressing my emotions, I turned to take my leave. My sister started to chatter about their wedding plans as I did, and each dainty word weighed on my back as I retreated like a ton of bricks.
I walked down the corridor alone. As gorgeous as my surroundings were, there seemed to be a slight chill in the air.
The room that had been allocated to me before I went to the capital was extremely simple and on the outer edge of the building. As soon as I passed through the doorway, I flung myself onto the bed without even bothering to take off my dress. That was all it took for the mattress to groan underneath me—it really wasn’t fit for a duchess at all.