Lyria Graize's POV
The slap across my cheek hit me hard enough to throw me to the floor. Pushing myself up, I hold my stinging cheek as tears filled my eyes from the pain.
"This isn't up for debate! You will marry into that Kingdom, whether you want to or not!" My Father, King of the Yalki Kingdom, smallest of the seven Kingdoms is forcing me to get married to the Third Prince of Heln Kingdom.
Of the seven Kingdoms on the Malot Continent, not only are we small but we're also ruined. "Forcing a marriage will do us no good!" I shot back in both fear and anger. I couldn't take it anymore. "It's not my fault that you couldn't control yourself and tried to rape Heln Kingdom's Queen because you'd fancied her face!" I screamed while glaring at him.
He's a selfish and lustful man who overthrew my mother once he got a taste of power. Since my mother sending my mother away, he'd been collecting women from anywhere he could to warm his bed, even though the Kingdom is under war conditions. However, those women have secretly managed to not get pregnant with his child. That ultimately left me as the only heir to the throne.
"What? You-!" He shouted as he kicked me in the chest. My body slid across the floor of his study. I heard when a bone broke but my body didn't register the pain immediately.
I stop and roll onto my stomach, coughing out blood. It stained my pale-yellow dress. "You're useless!" Father shouted. "If you were half as useful as your mother, I would've been able to send you directly to that Prince's bed!"
I'd heard those words in different variations, multiple times over for as long as I could remember. I coughed up another mouthful of blood as he grabbed my hair and pulled me up. The action made me wince in pain.
"It was waste that you never inherited your mother's face." He grabbed my jaw, squeezing hard as if he wanted to break my jaw. He smirked. "At least you have her body."
He released my jaw and touched my lower back. He lowered the hand holding my hair but still held onto it as he pulled me against his body. He buried his nose in my neck. "It's a close enough comparison. Maybe I should keep you to myself."
I bite down on his ear hard; he cried out in pain and shoved me to the floor. "Guards!" He shouted while clutching his bleeding ear. I spat out the piece of his ear in my mouth and smiled as the doors opened.
Seeing my action, Father kicked me again. My body slid towards the open doors, stopping at the feet of one of his guards. "Drag this bitch out and have her cleaned up. Toss her into the side courtyard! When she learns how to please a man is when she'll be released! Make sure she's healed first. She still has value." He glared at me.
"As you wish, Your Majesty." My arm was roughly grabbed, and I was dragged out the doors. Once they were closed, the guard released my arm and stooped down. "Princess, you have to get up." He said respectfully.
I nod and slowly pushed myself up. The guard gently helped me to my feet and helped my walk over to the side courtyard. Tears sprang to my eyes as I entered. "I'll tell the servants to draw you a bath and have the doctor pay you a visit, Princess." The guard said from behind me as I slowly walked up the steps to enter the bedroom. "Thank you."
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"His majesty brought us here to teach you." Three women from the most famous brothel in the Kingdom sat in front of me as I stood in the middle of the room.
Father only gave me two days of rest before he sent these women here. "His Majesty is very hopeful you will learn all our skills. Even going as far as to give permission to discipline you if you're disobedient."
Their official purpose for entering the Palace was to teach me how to dance but the real reason was obvious. They have sold both their bodies and their talents. They have a steady stream of rich customers despite being picky. These rumors I heard from the guards and servants seem to be accurate, but I wouldn't know for sure, since I've never step foot outside this Palace.
"Strip." The oldest of the three said with a look in her eyes like she was above me. Despite being a whore, she's more confident than I am but I didn't move. "I am Sen, on my left is Din and on my right is Rei." The woman introduced herself and the two on either side of her.
I'd heard that women who enter brothels are renamed, something short and easy to remember which means that the names themselves are meaningless. They were beautiful, that much is true, but they were looking at me with haughty and sinister expressions.
Standing in the middle of the room, I stare at them silently. "I won't repeat myself another time. Strip." Sen said as she leaned back in her chair. The doors were open; my father's guards were in the yard. This humiliation was something I was going to indulge, even if it meant getting beaten.
"Grab her." Sen said. Din and Rei stood up immediately. I turned to run but my hair was grabbed before I made it to the door. How are they so fast and strong? I was yanked backwards, nearly falling down. "Don't be stupid Princess." Din whispered in my ear before pushing me to my knees.
"Pull her clothes off since she can't seem to follow basic instructions." Sen ordered. I shook my head and pushed up from the ground, but my foot was kicked. Rei grabbed my dress and pulled but I grabbed her wrist. "Stop. Please. This is the only piece of clothing I have left. Please!"
"Only piece? The sole heir to the Yalki Kingdom only has one piece of clothing? I'm a whore not an idiot, Princess." Rei pulled my hand away and the thin fabric ripped off my shoulder and back.
Rei and Din gasped in shock, releasing me. I pulled the fabric over my body, tears springing to my eyes. "Shut the door." I hear Sen say as she stood up.
Din and Rei closed the door and moved to the side without saying a word. I pushed myself up. "I always have to do things myself." She grabbed onto the ripped fabric. "Make things easier for everyone Princess."
I push her away and rushed towards the doors. "Open those doors and I'll report this to the King." My fingers grazed the wood of the door upon hearing her words. Reporting to him would be worse than this situation now. Father is a mid-level martial artist; his body itself is a weapon. When he got serious, it would result in more than just one or two bones broken for me.
I'd been sick from birth but managed to become a low-level martial artist. I thought that would help me, but I realized it was wishful thinking. Once father realized that I could bear the pain of his fists, the punches and kicks became heavier.
He never went past the point of me dying but the reason for that is clear. It was so he could use me. The reason this war started was because of his lustfulness. He'd took fancy to the Queen of Heln, a very beautiful woman who was passing through the Kingdom from Palk.
One look in her direction and he wanted her. She denied him the moment he brought it up. He didn't care and tried to take her by force. Thankfully, she was protected by three mid-level martial artists otherwise...
Rather than suffer in my father's hands, it's better to stay here and throw away what little dignity I've managed to save over the years. In any case that dignity can't protect me and neither will the blood bonds of father and daughter.