***

“We are now at the Elysium Mansion. We’re just going to say hello today, so don’t worry about not preparing a gift. Right! Rather, why don’t you take this opportunity to ask her what she likes?”

“Me? Directly?”

The heads of the maids, including the nanny, nodded up and down in harmony as if they’re one.

Leonhardt, with the help of the nanny, got off as soon as possible, hiding his messy expression.

At the nanny’s explanation,the place he thought was a forest road right now is actually just an entrance to the mansion, Leonhardt humed and pulled out information about the Elysium family from his memory.

“Well then, the first empress of the empire was also the honor of Elysium, right? In a way, it’s like coming to a very distant relative’s house. Your HIghness the Crown Prince, please be kind to the Lady. First impressions are the most important.”

The residence of Elysium was a mansion made of pure white stone to the point that the word ‘temple’ would fit it.

Leonhard refused the hand of the nanny and climbed down the marble staircase on his own.

At the entrance to the main building, made entirely of white stone, the Duke and Duchess of Elysium and others were waiting for him.

“I greet the little sun of the empire.”

Leonhardt looked up upon the Duke of Elysium. Beside was the duchess dressed in a fancy dress gracefully bent her knees to greet him.

However, Leonhardt’s gaze was already fixed on the future empress, who was standing next to him with a blue-stirred expression that seemed to be out of breath.

“Is her ladyship feeling uncomfortable anywhere?”

Leonhardt said, looking straight into the eyes of Duke Elysium. The Duke, with silver hair passed down from the generations of Elysium, was visibly embarrassed by the unexpected question from the prince.

“It’s her first time seeing your Highness, so she must be very nervous. I’ll take you inside. Madam, would you mind rearranging Isolde’s attire?”

The duke forcibly lifted the corner of his mouth facing Leonhardt.

‘Was the Duke this kind of person?’

In his memory, the Duke of Elysium was more than this… he seemed to be a good person, at least in hiding the expressions peculiar to nobles.

It was easy to guess the reason why Isolde was named after her decent name Elizabeth.

The name Isolde was like a declaration that he would make his daughter an empress no matter what.

The Duke of Elysium himself opened the door and guided Leonhardt in. The Young miss and the duchess resigned first with a light greeting and stepped into the branch building.

***

Elizabeth Isolde von Elysium.

The only Young lady of Elysium, who is born the prince’s fiancee, and would later become the empress, was pushed to the floor by her mother as soon as she returned to her room.

“kya-”

“I have warned you so much!”

“Mother! Wrong! The corset… The corset is too stuffy, so…”

“How many times have I said that you should catch the Crown Prince’s eye?! I said the first impression is important!”

Elizabeth waited on her knees and clung onto the Duchess.

“Show your calf!”

“Mother! Please forgive me once, only this once!”

However, the duchess grabbed the hem of her dress, and removed her begging little daughter roughly, as she’s dealing with her daughter, she pulled out a dress from the dressing closet and a rod.

“hurry!”

Elizabeth was almost out of breath.

When she pulled out a new dress, it meant at least hitting her until she had blood on the hem of her dress.

Moreover, the rod she took out today was none other than that made of wood.

Elizabeth knelt down and begged for mercy.

Her breathing gradually became faster. Even if she hadn’t, she didn’t know if she would really faint from crying or being hit while the corset was interfering with her breathing until the calf bone broke.

“Mother, please forgive me. Oh, or please allow me to loosen the corset…”

“Well, then, if you don’t cry, wouldn’t it be okay! How dare you to make up excuses! Hurry up and show your calves Why don’t you understand that all these teachings are for your own good, Isolde. Huh?”

Desperate, Elizabeth grabbed the chest of drawers and got up, she lifted the hem of her dress, grasped her breathing. She would be able to breathe if she didn’t cry as her mother said.

She’s only eight years old. It’s harsh for a young lady this age who is supposed to laugh innocently while playing in the flower garden, to wear a tight-fitting corset, high-heeled shoes, and a heavy dress.

In order to correct the elegant steps beneath it, the marks of the wooden rod, which had added two hits at once, remained as deep scars on her as if it would never be able to recuperate.

A whack flew over the wound that had not healed yet.

The sound of whipping began to tear not only air but also the young skin.

“Ahh!”

“Why are you making such a fuss! Get up immediately! Isolde!”

“Mother!”

Eventually, Elizabeth collapsed on the spot after three whips.

There was no way that such a delicate body could withstand the heavy numerous hits all over the body as the duchess smacked down with all her strength.

The duchess’s footsteps are now right in front of Elizabeth’s face.

“It’s all for your sake. Why don’t you realize that this mother’s heart that beats you hurts more…”

“heung…heung…mother…wrong…please forgive…”

The duke’s wife, who was striking her daughter’s calf without hesitation with a sullen face, lifted the chin of her still young daughter with a more compassionate face.

The Duchess tenderly wiped the messed up face with tears and runny nose by a silk handkerchief with a gentle hand, then raised her body.

Her tender touch that she’d felt a while ago seemed to be an illusion as her face turned bitter again.

” Get up, look at what you’re wearing! I’ve said that you should always be neat! You still need education. When you become an empress, you’ll be grateful to us. Huh? Isolde. Get up, come on!” ”

“Mother… heug… it hurts so much. Please… please forgive me once. Yes? Till then, you can beat me twice as much, so please…!”

“Don’t mess with me!”

knock knock knock.

Elizabeth and the duchess’s gaze simultaneously turned to the door. The Duchess’s face turned pale.

The only time the Duchess’s face had ever turned pale was when the Duke of Elysium personally disciplined her.

The rod used by the duke was seemingly an ordinary ebony rod, but the inside was filled with lead so it was very heavy.

On the day her mother was ‘educated’, she raised her voice to the duke for the first time, asking him what he would do if Elizabeth’s bones broke and she would be caught when she became an empress.

Elizabeth prayed that it wasn’t her father out there.

“Madam, can I come in?”

“Sleep, please wait for a while. Isolde’s physical condition has rapidly deteriorated and she has just fallen asleep in her bed.”

With a glance and a chin gesture, the Duchess ordered Elizabeth to go to bed.

Elizabeth, who was not in a state of walking, crawled on her knees, lied on bed and closed her eyes tightly.

After the day her father’s cane broke. Her mother hadn’t encountered her father’s ‘education’, but it’s more like good news to her.

Please, may father be convinced and go back. Elizabeth prayed again.

“Then I at least have to look at her face for a moment.”

A strange voice was heard. The duchess’s face was even paler.