Isolde

Elizabeth Isolde von Elysium was destined to become Empress even before she was born.

“The future Empress.”

The Duke of Elysium whispered into the tiny red ear of his newborn daughter.

Her name was taken after the crown prince.

“Tristan and Isolde, what a perfect pair.”

“It’s just a fairy tale name. You don’t have to give much thought to it.”

“But everyone who sees our child’s name in the history books will be impressed. Born an empress, together with the emperor, they even have a pair in their names!”

“… Well, it’s a family honor.” Duke Elysium coughed and stroked his beard.

The Duchess carefully took over her deep asleep daughter from the nanny and kissed the child on the cheek.

“My dear daughter, my precious little girl. You will live a life abundant in love.”

The Duke, who was watching the scene on the side, quickly corrected his expression when he realized that he was smiling unconsciously. Recalling the birth of a successor in the imperial family, he forcibly separated the child from her mother. To the confusing Duchess, the Duke handed the child over to the nanny and spoke in a cold, sober voice.

“You will not breastfeed her yourselves. This child was born in a ducal household, but she is already a member of the imperial family. She needs to get used to it from now on.”

“But honey… .”

“Are you protesting my words now?”

“It’s not like that… !”

The Duchess looked at her wailing daughter in the nanny’s arms with a somewhat perturbed expression.

“Everything is for Isolde. So you don’t need to make that face.”

The duke patted his wife on the back to appease her. At that, the Duchess nodded her head. He has never been wrong since she got married into the Duchy. So this time, he will also be right.

“… My daughter is going to marry into the imperial family. So she must grow up to be a lady worthy of it.”

“I will leave it to you, my wife. If she needs anything, whatever it may be, will be provided.”

The mistreatment under the guise of the duchess’ education began the moment Elizabeth took her first steps and was only able to utter simple words.

The duke overlooked it.

As her father, he thought that it was enough to just give his daughter a materially prosperous life without any shortage.

The servants were not allowed to see, hear, or speak of it. All the people who were kicked out of the duke’s residence for gossiping got killed.

And just like that, eight years have passed.

***

I’m glad I’m their only daughter.

That’s what Elizabeth thought on the day she wore high-heeled shoes for the first time.

There was gossip from the maids that the woman had done too much to a child who was barely walking, but all the noise ceased at once by the Duchess’s gaze.

“Mother… My feet hurt.”

“You have to pronounce it properly.”

“The feet… hurt… it hurts… It hurts so bad.”

“again!”

hic.

Elizabeth wept as she glanced at the long wooden stick in her mother’s hand. Looking around her, there was no one to help her. The maids were staring at the floor, heads bowed with hardened expressions.

“Stretch out your palm.”

“uh… Mother… !”

The most soft-hearted maid eventually turned her head to the side, unbearable at the traumatic scene.

What the Duchess was doing was clearly child abuse, not education. But no one in the mansion was brave enough to point it out. It was because someone had already become a dead corpse before being kicked out of the mansion for that kind of act.

Along with the whipping sound, there was a faint voice, its owner seemed to be forcing herself to endure the pain.

‘What the hell does the madam want from a child who can barely speak and has just started walking and running?’ Someone among the maids whispered in a small voice.

“Tell me again.”

“The feet… It hurts so much… .”

“So?”

Long, red lines were imprinted across the palm of the little girl’s hand, making even the simplest movement of wiggling her fingers very painful.

But she had to act like a lady.

“… I’m sorry… .”

It was one of the few sentences that Elizabeth could pronounce most often and most clearly since she first spoke.

“Are your palms sore?”

“Yes… .”

“A lady doesn’t hang her hands in the air because her palms are hot or sore. No, it’s something you’re not allowed to do right in the first place.”

Elizabeth stared at the white carpet on the floor without a word. Her mother was right. Belatedly, she gathered her hands neatly and placed them in front of her navel, and as she glimpsed at her mother’s expression, a satisfied smile was drawn on her mother’s coldly hardened face.

Seeing that smile, Elizabeth was relieved. She was worried that she might get scolded again for being late. Her heart, which was beating wildly, felt a little calm.

“Try walking again.”

But the very next moment there was disappointment evident on Elizabeth’s small, shady face. It was so difficult for her to walk with her shoes on, and with two books on her head, that she could only stand to some extent.

‘I’m glad I’m the only daughter. I’m glad that my sister or brother didn’t have to go through this.’

Elizabeth bit her lip and began to take one step at a time.

One of the maids quietly complained again,”I don’t know what the hell this is all about when she’s supposed to toddle around on the soft carpets barefoot.” Eight years had passed, but she was still not used to it.

The Duchess glared at her, conveying that if she got on her nerves once again, she would make her look like the people who left the mansion a few days ago..

Besides high-heeled shoes, one of the things that bothered Elizabeth the most was the corset. Her mother said that she had to make her waist slender while her bones hadn’t fully grown yet, and so the Duchess specially ordered a corset made of steel and whale tendon that even adults wouldn’t want to wear.

‘It’s not good to wear a corset at such a young age. Even if she wears it after she’s grown to a certain extent, she might be able to adapt to it, but that’s because she’s still young and her bones are fragile, it will be contorted.’

The day that woman ordered the corset, the worried tone of the corset-maker filled with confusion rang vividly in her ears.