Stolen bride- Rebirth of abandoned duchess

Lovers or enemies?

With the end of the celebration banquet multitudes of splendid gifts piled up for Princess Layla but the only one she really chose among all of them was a simple book that was heavier than its normal counterparts sent by Marianna.

Since Layla would be living for a week at the imperial palace before she had to go to Ardos, Damien and others could not talk to her to express their like or dislike over her decision.

It was only Marianna that was given special permission by the imperial princess to meet her tomorrow in the palace.

The book was a little rusty by sides and had old pages that turned yellow over the course of time yet it seemed to be a historical chronicle of many nations that once existed and many that have already ceased to exist. Layla smiled skipping over to the history of Zeyphyr since Ardos was a new nation and this old text might not have it.

The female skipped the pages happily before her eyes came across a figure that made her smile falter and after reading about it she could not sleep for an entire night.
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"I have heard you are going to Ardos sister."

"Yes, I think so." Layla muttered, not too sure how to answer that now, from one hell maybe she has created another one for her.

"Do you know the foundational history of Zeyphyr?" Marianna had not particularly asked her but simply stated it as if to explain further, she sipped on her tea before placing it down.

"Zeyphyr was the land of barbarians, not because it had different culture than our own but because to survive they adopted methods which were cruel to their own people, for a longer period of time they had a custom to select hundreds of women to spent one night each with the King, the lady that gave birth first was selected as the consort while the rest were given to the generals and soldiers as their lawful wives.

Since their lands were covered with snow only few females were able to survive the harsh climatic conditions and as soon as one died she was replaced by the another."

"Do they still follow that practice?" Layla clenched her fists as the information sent chills down her spine.

"This practice has been discontinued since centuries, furthermore under Emperor Icarus now this is strongly prohibited by law."

"Then why have you given me that book? Is it not a warning about the monarch?" Marianna saw Layla's face and smiled sadly.

"Layla my sweet sister...what is the difference between Jeremiah and Icarus? Jeremiah had to carry on the legacy of his dead ancestors and for that he chose a cowardly way- to have martial relations with the Everdale ducal house much more powerful than him but what does Icarus wants by choosing a bride from a foreign nation?

What does he gains from it, if he only wishes for a princess then there might be many countries that would offer their princesses then why us...why you Layla?"

Layla tried to recall her past life, previously Icarus had not chosen someone from Avesta but then there was a rumor that every nation was sending its first princess to Ardos for competing to become the empress.

"Its not that Emperor Icarus wants for a wife but he is looking for someone who can be free from all political ties, a person who cannot be used by anyone other than him...and he found me at the end."

Marianna nodded before opening the book she had gifted to Layla on the table.

"Princess Celina from northwest of the Serm kingdom, Duchess Gia from Diom kingdom, a marquis daughter from Ardos and many more females have disappeared over the past few years without any trace of their origins, their names are so blurry that even their families have forgotten them.

But guess what, the chief commander of Ardos's army has a wife with pale blue eyes similar to Princess Celina, the naval chief's wife has exquisite features resembling someone from Diom. That ancient practice that we talked about has not ended Layla.

It is just that its nature has been altered, the emperor of Ardos, Icarus Zeyphyr had seventeen fiancées along with princess Celina and others like her in the past yet he married none and not even spent a night with either of them.

They have described him as someone truly polite yet so severely cold that there was never any relation between them to begin with.

The one who built an empire from tatters, saw his kins slaughtered on battlefield and almost saw his mother serving as a whore to his uncle will not be a fool to fall in love Layla."

The female with pink irises did not said anything, did not reacted much and had no tears dripping down her eyes. She simply looked at Marianna with dead eyes that were so calm so as to not even tell if there was anything alive or not.

"The necklace of rubies that was given to me is a magical item but I want to know what does it do?" She had read about the heirloom- the 'pearl of death' that they called it and had understood to a largest extent yet still asked in hopes that she would be proved wrong.

"It changes colour according to your feelings to the person who gave it to you...Icarus Zeyphyr is a demon dressed as an angel and will read your emotions even before you feel them. The moment you fall in love with him Layla will also be the moment he will discard you forever.

The only mistake his multiple fiancees did was falling in love with him despite his frosty heart and the moment that necklace changed color they were left to choose their destiny which could be anything but him.

No matter what happens, do not repeat the same mistake.....do not fall in love with Icarus Zeyphyr."

"My lord do you perhaps......do you perhaps have feelings for Princess Layla?"

"Feelings?" The male smiled as he saw the kingdom of Avesta glimmering of its nightlights before his golden irises.

"I have never felt any feelings for her....it is just that she is an interesting little prey."