“Now that you know, I can no longer hide it. It will be difficult, but try to rest for now.”
Though he spoke as if trying to appear cold, Aisia felt an even greater fear in his words.
“So, you’re mocking and using me again… All this talk of treatment…”
That was what she thought inwardly.
Having openly heard the medical team’s hopeless words, she now understood why she had been openly imprisoned in the quarters of the Urth Empire.
In the Liberian Empire, the word “infertility” was tantamount to a d*ath sentence for a woman.
As Aisia raged at Kareha’s insistence on treating her and keeping her alive despite her condition, she felt the loss of her pride as a princess and everything she stood for in the Liberian Empire.
Moreover, in this strange tent, she felt utterly humiliated as Urth soldiers examined her body freely without her consent.
After some time of Aisia resisting treatment and causing a commotion, Kareha finally came to see her.
“Everyone out! All of you get lost!”
She shouted at the top of her lungs.
The doctors hesitated and stepped back, and the nurses quickly retreated as well.
Adolf Kareha alone remained. Aisia glared at him with eyes full of hatred.
“Isn’t this enough, Adolf Kareha?! What more do you intend to do?!”
He stared at her silently for a moment.
She was not the princess he had seen on the battlefield but a broken human being.
With a heavy heart, Kareha tried to reason with her.
“Please continue with the treatment. It’s the best we can do.”
“Treatment? What do you expect from you people? Either torture me already or just k*ll me quickly!”
Aisia screamed in her rage.
But Adolf Kareha didn’t take even a step back.
“I have no intention of killing or torturing you.”
His words only strengthened her distrust.
“Lies.”
She spat out harshly.
“Why are you keeping me alive? Executing the princess of the enemy kingdom would give you much more advantage in this war. Explain why you’re holding onto me like this!”
Kareha didn’t answer, his expression one of distress.
“Apparently, I’ve messed everything up. I don’t know what the future of this world holds.”
He couldn’t dispel the uneasiness within him.
“I can’t tell you now.”
He said quietly.
“But I have no intention of letting you d*e or torturing you.”
Aisia bit her lip.
She was certain.
The only reason the empire was keeping her alive was for political leverage or to humiliate Liberian by defiling its princess.
“I should have died on the battlefield rather than endure this humiliation.”
With a tear in her eyes, she thought as her dignity as a princess was shattered.
Time passed, and the highest-ranking healing mages from the imperial palace had arrived.
They examined Aisia in detail and reiterated the same conclusion.
“Such damage cannot be healed by normal restoration magic. This is irreversible.”
“Perhaps there is some other way, perhaps ancient relics, or healing magic from legends.”
Adolf Kareha tried to hold onto hope, but the doctors shook their heads.
“Those stories of legends are just old tales. There’s no guarantee they exist in this age.”
‘When the Demon King exists, how could they not?’
Nevertheless, when he refused to give up, the doctors reluctantly agreed to investigate ancient records further.
But their expressions clearly showed they had already given up hope.
This news reached the Urth Empire.
The soldiers couldn’t hide their joy, and some courtiers cheered, saying, “Liberia is finished!”
But Adolf Kareha couldn’t share their joy.
He was extremely uneasy, sweating with worry.
“If no Hero is born in this world and the Demon King revives one day…”
He didn’t want to imagine further.
‘I need to find a solution somehow.’
However, the situation felt overwhelming.
Eventually, he decided to bring Aisia to the capital as a full prisoner and hostage.
“I’ll take personal responsibility for her protection.”
The imperial soldiers cheered, thinking it was finally happening, while the Liberian soldiers fell into anger and sorrow, believing she was going to be executed.
Without her consent, Aisia was forcibly moved. Even attempting to escape was a pipe dream as her body was too weak.
All she felt was humiliation—being inspected by strange doctors and trapped in conditions filled with shame and fear.
“Before killing me, he’s giving me this shame.”
Aisia clenched her teeth, thinking.
However, Adolf Kareha strictly forbade his soldiers from harming the princess physically or emotionally, warning against any form of verbal or physical harm.
Some soldiers were dissatisfied but dared not oppose his authority.
Still, trouble erupted.
The long march to the capital began.
“Hey!”
“Kyaaaah…!”
While Kareha’s attention was momentarily diverted from Aisia, a knight who was ‘guarding’ the captured princess became irritated by her presence, mistaking her for just another prize of war, and grabbed her by the hair.
“I… You fool! How dare you touch—”
“Shut up! What’s with this attitude?”
Before Aisia could warn the knight not to touch her noble body, the knight slapped her, knocking her over.
“Aah… Aaaah…”
Not being able to d*e was a greater humiliation than anticipated.
“You’re a prize, so act like one. Smile for the people when we arrive in the capital!”
“Urth Empire sc*m…”
Infuriated by the knight’s mockery, Aisia tried to retaliate with her mana but, weakened by her condition, ended up being beaten instead.
“Hah! Did you really think you could cut through our troops with those weak punches?!”
After a few blows, Aisia, whose body was already in bad shape, collapsed and twitched like a dying insect.
‘You dare to cut through our troops? I didn’t bring this shame upon myself… Urth Empire… cursed, Adolf Kareha who brought me to this humiliation! Cursed, may you suffer eternal pain like me!’
Even in her fallen state, Aisia glared fiercely at the knight, cursing both Urth Empire and Kareha with her menacing eyes. The knight took a step back, startled but, recalling his earlier action, angrily kicked her in the face out of frustration.
But at that moment—
“Eh?”
Realizing that his boot had hit not just any prisoner but Princess Aisia of Liberia, the knight froze in terror.
“…!?”
Upon recognizing who he had kicked, the knight was gripped with fear and broke out into a cold sweat.
“What… is your name?”
As he stared intently into Aisia’s eyes, Kareha felt his bl**d boil at her current state, despite all his efforts to heal her.
Though silent, the knight sensed Kareha’s ominous mood.
“Jake Alphine, my lord!”
“Jake Alphine, why have you done this? Even if she’s a captured princess of the enemy kingdom, she’s of royal bl**d.”
Kareha thought it acceptable, perhaps even justified to completely dismember the knight for his actions, but Aisia, seeing him question the knight, believed he wasn’t angry enough to punish him on her behalf.
‘He knows nothing of honor, truly a barbarian.’
“I… if she promises her body in return, I could save her… In anger, I…”
“WHAT?! You… If you dare humiliate me further with such baseless lies…”
Jake Alphine, knowing Kareha better, understood the very real possibility of his own d*ath, which made his lie a dangerous move—had Kareha not known Aisia’s story, the knight’s actions might have been excusable.
[Knight Kail’s mother Aisia valued her honor above all…]
Kareha, familiar with Aisia’s story from the novel, knew his knight had lied. Drawing his sword, Kareha faced him.
Jake assumed Kareha intended to execute Aisia and relaxed.
But when Kareha turned and locked eyes with him, Jake soon realized something was wrong. The next thing he knew, he was being tossed around like a ball, yet his body remained intact.
“Lord… Kareha..!”
Even until his d*ath, Jake didn’t understand why Kareha was truly angry.
Having never faced Kareha’s sword in battle, Aisia felt an even greater sense of fear seeing him so ruthlessly dispatch his own subordinate.
“Adolf… Kareha… Are you truly a demon?”
And as she lay on the ground, Aisia felt it getting wet.
Kareha saw this but ignored it and carried Aisia back to his tent.
Afterward, Aisia fell into a deep sleep. During these periods, she suffered from fever due to her pain and resistance to treatment. Each time, the empire’s doctors would administer emergency care.
As a princess, she had lost much of her confidence and identity as a woman. Her words decreased over time. Speaking only brought ridicule from her captors, so she grew silent, trying to avoid reality itself.
The Urth military began treating her like a “doll.” She mostly slept, and during examinations, she no longer protested as before, quietly enduring the process. Behind her back, they mockingly called her the “doll princess.”
