Chapter 4
In that instant, Lucian’s heart pounded. To think that beautiful creature was his. She had existed solely for him all this time.
“However, Your Majesty must not take an interest in the White Tower.”
“Why not? Did you not just say she is my Saintess?”
“The claim that their prophecies saved the nation is an exaggeration. They are merely a clan with unusual features, nothing more.”
Lucian’s expression turned skeptical. If that were true, then why had the White Tower been maintained all this time?
“I will speak plainly. At some point, the Saintess’s original purpose was lost, and she came to be regarded as the Emperor’s mistress.”
Lucian’s eyes went wide.
“The Lumines clan is said to lose their prophetic abilities if they lose their virginity. In other words, every Emperor before you violated his Saintess, and once her powers were gone, he kept her as nothing more than a mistress.”
Revulsion crossed Isadora’s face. Her own husband, Franz, had done the very same thing. Naturally, she had no fondness for such a creature.
“Your Majesty will soon wed the princess of the Bellotien royal house. The Saintess’s existence will only drive a wedge between husband and wife. So do not take an interest in the first place.”
“That is something I will decide for myself after I have met her.”
Lucian drew the line.
The words of a mother he had been separated from for ten formative years held no sway over him. He left the Empress Dowager’s presence without so much as a bow of courtesy.
“In the end, history will repeat itself all over again.”
“His Majesty has already ascended as Emperor. It was only a matter of time.”
Sophia, her handmaid, spoke with care.
“I suppose an Emperor cannot be kept in the dark.”
“His Majesty has shown great interest in the White Tower for a long time now. There was nothing Your Majesty could have done to prevent this.”
“Yes… it was only a matter of time.”
Isadora murmured, her voice drained of strength. She had objected when they said they would bring a Saintess for Lucian, but the late Emperor had insisted on upholding tradition and overruled her, taking a girl from the Lumines clan to be raised in the White Tower.
“The men of Orbien have always lusted after the women of the Lumines clan. My son is no exception.”
Isadora found that reality to be bitter. Her only consolation was that no Saintess had ever borne an Emperor’s child.
“The Lumines clan’s numbers have dwindled. It is well past time to put an end to this outdated custom.”
“I cannot fathom why we need a Saintess at all. In truth, she is no different from a w***e.”
“Indeed. They are w****s who belong to the Emperor alone.”
Every Emperor in history had locked the Saintess away in the White Tower, violated her, and indulged in her. This time, history was simply repeating itself.
* * *
Asteria at twenty was dazzlingly, breathtakingly beautiful.
“Clarisse, brush my hair.”
“Pardon? Out of nowhere?”
“I had a dream last night. A dream of the most important person in my life coming to see me.”
“…Understood.”
Clarisse drew a brush through Asteria’s rippling platinum-blonde hair. Asteria wore a plain white dress without a single pattern—the traditional attire of the Lumines clan.
“The Elder always told me that the destiny of a great star resides within me.”
Asteria had learned much from the Lumines Elder while growing up in the White Tower. But when she turned eighteen, the Elder had been made to leave.
“I believe today is that day of destiny.”
Asteria rose from her seat. The unadorned white dress only made her pure, refined beauty shine brighter. Her violet eyes sparkled with a more mystical light than ever before.
And then, the door opened.
“I have been waiting for you.”
She spoke with perfect calm.
Lucian blinked slowly. The girl he remembered had already become a woman in full.
“You were waiting for me?”
“Yes. I dreamed last night that the person of my destiny would come to me today.”
A faint smile graced Asteria’s lips.
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