Chapter 1

"General, the emperor is at the royal villa." One of the imperial knights reported to the general of the royal army respectfully.

"Mm." He responded. He looked at the brightly lit and overly luxurious villa on his right and scoffed in his head. Royal villa ... That disgusting being is at it again. He thought referring to the emperor's hobby of taking young ladies of every noble family and forcing them into his harem.

Another knight approached and bowed his head in fear, "My L-Lord, the gate is o-o-opened like what you ordered me to do." He stuttered while holding on to his tiny hope of saving his life by taking the enemy's side, but his heart immediately sank after hearing the general's cold words. 

"One word and you're trembling? If I keep you and someone told you to do the same while you're serving me ... will you also sell me off?"

"N-No, My Lord! No! I would never! P-please spare my life!" He kneeled and begged while kissing the general's feet. He didn't know what happened next, but the only thing he heard before losing his life was the sound of someone unsheathing his sword.

The other knight who came first wasn't shocked nor did he flinch at all, because something like this isn't new to the infamous Death Sword of Arcland Empire, for he detest weak and untrustworthy people.

"This way, General." He said leading the way to the royal villa while eliminating each who would interfere in their way easily, until they both reached the villa's door.

Inside the villa, Butler Kessel who was standing near the door waiting for the bride to come in was already pissed that the bride hasn't shown up yet. He immediately frowned upon seeing the doors pushed open by someone and was ready to scold the bride for being late, but shock covered his face instead.

"G-Ge.... The General has returned! Victory for Arcland!" He happily announced while the guests also leaped out of their seats to take a peek of what this infamous general looks like.

From head to toe, even his hands and feet, are all covered in thick black armor. He approached the emperor fearlessly, step by step, he could hear the noblemen and women gossiping with themselves. 

"Seeing him covered from head to toe, makes me shiver."

"Did he just enter a wedding ceremony with those armor covered in different bloods?"

"Looks like the rumors were true, he must really be cursed."

"He's wearing armor, but what I wanna see is his mask. They said his mask is covering the disgusting curse on his face."

"What is he doing here? It is like he's cursing His Majesty instead of blessing his marriage!"

"Of course, will he be able to give blessings? He's cursed, don't forget that."

I find it hilarious when they try to whisper to themselves, but we can still hear them. Well, it's not like they are trying to hide their disdain towards the general. The imperial knight who was with the general sighed while restraining himself not to cut off these nobletrashes' tongues.

The emperor frowned upon seeing them approach without minding the situation, but he still hid his displeasure and smiled, "Carzus, the mighty general of the central army! We are more than happy that you brought another victory to the whole empire! Come and choose a seat that you desire."

Despite the 'warm' welcome of the emperor, Carzus continuously walks towards the emperor until he reaches the throne, while the other knights who are protecting the emperor draw their swords at him.

The emperor became weary, but he told his knights to take back their swords. They can't afford to anger this person, for he knows exactly that they can't match him in strength. "What is it that you need to approach me this close, Carzus?"

The latter didn't answer, he merely looked down at him and stared at each other's eyes for a whole minute before he opened his mouth.

"You granted me the opportunity to choose a seat that I desire, Your Majesty. But the problem is that someone is cooking their butt off that seat."

Emperor Edleman gulped, "W-What an insolent, just tell me where that seat is and I will have them thrown to the abyss of hell." He said with shivering lips as he forced himself to smile.

"Here." He answered almost immediately.

"Here? W-what are you talking abou──" He didn't have the time to finish his words when he felt the tip of Carzus' sword on his neck while the knight with him took care of all the knights serving the emperor.

"You ungrateful brat!" Emperor Edleman yelled between his gritted teeth. If a glare could pierce a person, then Carzus has already pierced into pieces by his sharp glare.

Carzus looks down on the man in front of him, void of any emotions. For all the years of his life, he only felt anger and disgust whenever he saw this man, but finally, he fell right into his hands. He leaned towards the emperor's ears and whispered something that made the latter widened his eyes in disbelief ... Is this what they call a payback? The emperor thought as all of his senses went numb. Next, his head rolled from the top of the throne down to where the guests were.

Such a brutal sight to witness.

Carzus then sat comfortably on the throne as his men ransacked the whole villa clean, killing everyone in their sight except for the guests, because these nobles will play a big part in his reign. He propped his head on his fist while looking down on the scared faces and trembling knees in front of him, restraining himself from killing them because he hates weak beings.

After all the 'cleaning', Carzus' allies entered the villa one after another. All the nobles look at them in terror, understanding that this was all planned by the highest nobilities and the church.

But where did it all began?

It was 22 years ago ...

A sound of someone's hurried breath and footsteps broke the silence of the forest. A woman with exceptional beauty was running for her life in the middle of the night, afraid that the man who was chasing after her would get a hold of her.

She then reached the part of the forest where there's too many vines and stones, and unfortunately, she tripped at one of the vines and injured her foot, but she still tried to continue running.

When she realized that she couldn't run any longer because of the pain, she immediately looked for somewhere to hide while holding her breath at the same time.

A few minutes passed and the man chasing her finally reached the area, wearing a black cloak that covered his whole body.

Who is he?! Is what she asked in her mind.

She kept on holding her breath until the pain made her groan, the man immediately heard her and a creepy smile formed on his face. He approached the lady slowly, there, her worst nightmare began. He then left her unconscious in the middle of the forest, bitten by bugs and insects on the ground after taking away her dignity.

The next morning, a kind farmer saw her unconscious, he immediately brought her to his small and humble home in the middle of the forest near a pond and treated her wounds everyday.

It took her a week of treatment before she finally regained consciousness, she roamed her eyes around the shabby wooden house and found no one. She put her feet on the ground and found herself unable to walk properly, that's when everything sank into her mind.

I was ... I was ...

She can't continue the thought of what happened to her, but she can't stay there any longer. The image of her loving and gentle husband flashed in her mind, she had to go back no matter what.

She found her clothes that were fixed by the kind farmer who helped her, she immediately wore it over the thin dress covering her scarred body, and just when she was about to escape, the farmer suddenly called out to her.

"I'll give you a lift, Lady." He said while leaning on his cart.

She trembled, "Was it y-you?!"

"Do I look like the one who hurt you? Or do I look like a kind person that helped you treat your wounds? Well, anything is fine."

She turned speechless, faced with his calm and an i-don't-really-care expression, she boarded the cart and sat beside two sacks of apples.

"You can have some if you want, I'm just going to give it away anyway, might as well feed your stomach." The farmer said nonchalantly with a meaningful gaze, but the lady didn't understand the meaning behind his words and happily ate two apples on their way to the city.

She asked the farmer to take her off beside the orchid garden of Cales, and the farmer already knew that she was living there.

"T-t-thank you." She whispered with mixed emotions. If not for this farmer, she might've died in the forest and wouldn't be able to get back to her husband, so she's so grateful to him but didn't know how to show it.

The farmer looked at her with worry before nodding his head and departed.