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5.79% Bride of the Demon Lord / Chapter 19: The Selection (1)

章 19: The Selection (1)

Amelia started her day even before dawn broke. She left her bed, cleaned her room and made sure everything was in place. She had this ominous feeling that she might not be able to come back to this place again. She hadn't felt like this since their family lost their wealth and was forced to leave the capital ten years ago.

She looked at her father's old books that she was able to keep after leaving the capital. Amelia had to beg Jacob to allow her to keep a box of their parents' belongings that weren't confiscated by the royal court. It was a day filled with tears and anguish, and Amelia felt that today might not be any different.

Today was the selection and the chance of being chosen amongst the eligible unwed women was quite high, given that many young women in their town chose to marry as soon as they reached the legal age to settle down. Not that she could blame them. Those women would rather choose a loveless marriage and face a possible early death due to childbirth than be sacrificed as tribute to the thirteen demon lords of Asnar.

She then went downstairs and found her older brother sitting with a blank expression on the worn leather couch in the small space of their living area, head cradled in both his hands. Amelia didn't need to ask why he was acting like this. Surely, everyone in town was feeling dreadful about what awaited them later that day.

"Amelia…" He lifted his head and saw her standing there, deep in her own thoughts.

"Jake." She replied once she realized that he was waiting for her to respond.

"You're up early." She forced a smile, hoping to lighten the mood between them. "What's up?"

"You know what's up, Amelia. I promised Father that I would keep you safe and take care of you." Jacob broke into tears and shook his head. "But there's no way I can save you from the selection. Melia, the royal family is still keeping an eye on us. I'm sure they wouldn't stop until our family had nothing left, but I have nothing but you, Amelia."

Amelia said nothing, but her tears were threatening to burst. She knew what Jacob had done and sacrificed for her sake. Jacob, who was now reaching his thirties, remained unmarried because he took it upon himself to take care of her. She hated that she was being a burden to him and couldn't do anything to help him.

"It's alright, Jake. No matter what happens today, we'll always have each other's back. I'm glad that you are my brother." Her voice trembled, knowing that if the royal family still held a grudge towards their family, then it would only make sense that they would include her name as a tribute.

The Buchanan family was wrongly accused of being part of the last rebellion against the royal family. Jacob and Amelia's father, the marquis, ended up beheaded in public as a punishment, and all of their properties were confiscated. The execution served as a reminder to the opposing noble families of what would happen to them if they tried to usurp the throne again.

Jacob's life was only spared because he had been sent to study in the neighboring human kingdom. His return was welcomed by the death of his parents and his younger sister Amelia, who was only 9 years old at the time, thrown out of their home to die from starvation.

Life had been hard for the Buchanan siblings since then and to ensure that they did not get the royal family's attention again, Jacob had decided to settle in Calaren Town and frequently traveled around the kingdom as a merchant.

"It's not okay, Melia. This isn't the kind of life father and mother wanted to have for you. I also know that you wish to become a knight and restore our family's reputation, but this place… this kingdom isn't suitable for a woman like you. You deserve so much better."

What else could they do? The royal family seemed determined to prevent any chance for their family to recover.

Perhaps being chosen today at the selection wouldn't be so bad after all. Amelia thought. The possibility of the unthinkable might happen today anyway. It wouldn't be any worse than their parents' sudden death years ago.

With her gone, Jacob wouldn't have to settle in this wretched town and could live the life he always wanted. Unlike her, Jacob didn't want to meddle with the royal court anymore.

"At least let me cook something for you to eat before we head to the town square." Jacob said and made a beeline to their small kitchen. Whenever he was home, he would always make it a point to eat with her as he was rarely at home due to his work. Though Amelia could count those moments with her ten fingers, it meant a lot to her too.

Amelia then proceeded to take a bath and dressed herself. She didn't wear her usual attire, which consisted of a shirt and a pair of trousers, but instead pulled out a gray dress she hadn't worn for more than a year. It was a gift from her brother for her eighteenth birthday, but she had never thought that the next time she'd worn it would be on the selection day instead.

When she was younger, Amelia used to love wearing dresses and would constantly dress up for her mother's entertainment. However, after their family's fall, she had chosen more practical clothing that wouldn't hinder her movements.

As she looked in the mirror with a crack on its corner, Amelia pinned her long hair up and realized that she somewhat resembled her dead mother. No wonder her brother would look at her at times with a hint of sadness in his face. Jacob must have missed their mother terribly.

When she returned to the dining room, she found that Jacob had already started his meal without waiting for her. He gestured for her to take a seat and join him.


章 20: The Selection (2)

Amelia ate her breakfast and finished it, although she didn't have much of an appetite. She stared at her half empty mug for a long time, wondering if she was brave enough to accept whatever result the selection would bring to their family today.

Once the clock hit ten in the morning, she and her brother headed to the town square. Everyone was required to show up, except for those who were bedridden and gravely sick. Guards were roaming around the town, making sure that no unwed women were hiding and planning to escape the selection.

There were some who attempted to do it in the past and they didn't end up well. Being chosen as a tribute, as one of the maidens to be sacrificed, was as much of a death sentence anyway. Those who were selected were forbidden from ever returning again.

However, it was also detrimental to the loved ones they were leaving behind. They could lose a daughter, a sister, a friend, forever and there was no hope of seeing them again.

One thing they had to accept soon was that their names would be forgotten, the townsfolk forbidden from uttering their names. Whoever left Calaren town and Dravial as tribute would be forgotten, as if they never existed in the first place.

Whether it was a way to cope or it was a way for their leaders to sleep peacefully at night, Amelia wasn't sure. She also doubted that there were any available means of communication that those tributes could use to reach their families.

"Keeping the peace with the darkling is an ugly business." She heard Jacob say one time and she couldn't agree more with him.

Was it really necessary to sacrifice a few human lives to keep the rest of them safe from other, more dangerous darklings?

The town square was already buzzing with people when Amelia and her brother arrived. From the other side of the square, she spotted Chrysanthe with her parents and little brother, looking just as worried as the other young maidens present. She was dressed in a white and blue long sleeved dress. Amelia thought that Chrysanthe would have looked so stunningly beautiful if her face was not marred by tears.

Up on the stage, Amelia spotted a familiar face. It might have been a decade since she last saw him, but the young Crown Prince, Prince Rupert, still had this arrogant expression on his face. He even had the audacity to look bored and uncaring, as if he would rather be anywhere but here, in Calaren town.

The square was just beside the town hall, and the town chief was standing a few feet away from the arrogant prince, looking nervous. Families kept their arms around their precious daughters, not willing to give them up no matter how hard their lives were.

The square became more crowded as more people arrived. Amelia spotted Junifer with her mother a few meters away from her, but she couldn't find her best friend anywhere. This only meant that Iris hadn't woken up and would miss the selection altogether.

Maybe it was a good thing that Iris was still in a deep sleep. It would save her and her family the heartbreak, if she were to be chosen during the selection today.

The town chief went to the chancellor, who was standing next to the crown prince, and received the decree that listed the maidens to be sent to Asnar. He then moved to the small podium set on the left side of the stage and faced the public.

He started telling a brief history of the Kingdom of Dravial and how they successfully freed themselves from the darklings' influence. How the treaty between the two parties kept every human safe from any harm, which Amelia knew to be a lie.

If they were really free from the darklings, then the royal court should have protected their citizens at any cost. How many young women had lost the chance to live their lives to the fullest because of this treaty?

What's more infuriating for Amelia was the fact that only those small villages and towns near the border were required to provide the maidens that were needed and no noble families from the capital would do the so-called 'honorable role' to give up their own daughters.

The names of the chosen maidens were called one by one, followed by several cries from the crowd. When the town chief called Chrysanthe Vale, her family refused to let her go, but the guards had harshly pulled her away.

Amelia was still distracted by the scene, but when her name was called up next, an inexplicable rush of coldness rushed through her. If it wasn't for her brother, who immediately gripped her arm, refusing to hand her over to the guards, Amelia would have been dragged away in a daze.

"Not Amelia! No!" She heard Jacob yelled, but his words were drowned by the cries of the other families of the chosen maidens.

Amelia went up to the stage and when Prince Rupert spotted her, he sat up straight and laughed.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't Lady Amelia Buchanan." He cocked his head, then paused as if he remembered something. "Ah, not anymore, but I'm glad that I'm the one seeing you off today."

Amelia hardened her jaws as she stood next to Chysanthe, who had thrown her arms around her the moment she arrived. She wanted nothing but to slice her sharp blade over his throat to shut Prince Rupert up. She tried to ignore the prince's stinging words and focused on what was awaiting for her and Chrysanthe.

'I hope they didn't choose Iris. Please don't let Iris be chosen.'

Even though the three of them were best friends, Amelia would never wish any harm to befall either of her friends.

Her prayers seemed to be answered by the old gods, because the last maiden that was on the list wasn't Iris Scarborough, but the other one.

Junifer Scarborough.


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