1 The Siren

"Scarlett Flora Lockhart, the 21st Empress of the Buchan Empire was deprived from her title. Prosecution, infidelity, betrayal and murder, death by guillotine. "

It was announced by the judge, standing in front of the guillotine set up, in the main square. A huge crowd gathered for public execution. Next to him stood a young girl, her hands and feet chained, and the end of the chain was in the hands of the executioner. Her former beautiful scarlet hair was cut at ear level, so as not to impede the execution. As she stood there in her black sackcloth, barefoot, with tousled torn hair, in a mental state on the verge of insanity, she laughed.

"Last words?"

The executioner asked.

The emperor and the queen sat in a nearby lodge, watching the event.

"Your Majesty, your imagination is really wild!"

She shouted with a crazy grin on her face. As a mixture of anger, revenge and despair radiated from her amber eyes, the woman really looked like an evil witch. The emperor waved with expressionless face, and the executioner laid the convict under the blade. The sound of a shot triggered the execution of the verdict, and the head fell into the basket. The audience that appeared applauded and cheered the passing of the evil Empress.

45 years earlier…

The Buchan Empire has never flourished like during II. Hector's reign. The young king came to power at the age of 18 and increased the territory of his empire by 20% in just 7 years. His conquest could not have spared the neighboring empire of Ruthen either. Between the two empires stretched a mountain range that hid 50% of the continent's jewel stock. For centuries peacefully, sharing the profits mined the two countries but II. Hector, the bloodthirsty, wanted the area for himself.

Ruthen's king, Elijah Stirling, was aware that they could not win against the young emperor. Not only was Hector cruel and clever, but he forged a huge army for himself from the subjugated territories. The only chance for the country was a good deal.

Elijah therefore invited the young emperor to a peace negotiation. In the tents set up on the hilltop, food, drink and beautiful women greeted the convoy.

"I look forward to your offer, King Ruthen."

The blond, blue-eyed man wasted no time in full armor.

„Let's not rush, Emperor of Buchan, you have come a long way. First eat and drink, enjoy the performance of the most beautiful ladies in our country, then let's sit down with good heart to discuss. "

The road on the wild cliffs really exhausted the soldiers, so they gave in to the invitation. Hector took a seat right next to Elijah and watched the dancers perform from there as he sipped wine. The young emperor was a famous bachelor, interested in nothing but war. In vain did they try to marry the most beautiful noble ladies of the country, he looked at none of them. But then She appeared.

Elijah's daughter, Serene. Her hair was like ruby, her eyes were like a sapphire. Her voice as she sang silenced the soldiers, he couldn't help but pay attention. It was not by accident that Serene's nickname was Siren… with her voice, she lured the men to death. She was the most beautiful single in the country without a doubt, plenty of men dueled many times until death for her graces, but Elijah did not give her to anyone… he knew that once his daughter would save the country and now, the time had come.

The sound of the Siren also mesmerized Hector. As she sat down next to the man in the pale yellow dress, she disarmed the bloodthirsty conqueror with a single smile.

Hector knew this woman was worth more than any gem, and he had no intention of going home without her. That's how the deal was born. A princess, for a princess. Hector's sister Marionne, as she turns 18, becomes the wife of the Crown Prince of Ruthen, and the future queen of Ruthen. And Hector marries Serene, who thus becomes the 19th Empress of Buchan. With this, Elijah secured peace for half a century, and the trial was successfully concluded.

However, Hector not only loved his new wife, he was obsessed with her. As soon as he got her into his arms, he gave up all wars, and whenever he could, he was with his wife. The nobles who had benefited well from the campaigns in recent years did not overlook this, but did not dare to oppose the will of the bloodthirsty emperor. However, not only Hector found the love of his life on the mountain top, one of the richest duke of Buchan, Fabian Lockhart, also fell in love with a red-haired beauty. In Buchan, people's hair color was blonde, black, or brown, red was as rare as a white raven. In contrast, most of Ruthen's residents hair gleamed in some shade of red. The brown-haired, amber-eyed duke wanted for himself the king's niece, Cintia, and as the emerald-eyed lady reciprocated his feelings, she followed her heart's choice to Buchan.

Serene became pregnant shortly after the wedding, and gave birth to a beautiful boy with golden blond hair and sapphire blue eyes. He was Hugo, the Crown Prince. Two years later, she again gave birth to a son for the emperor, a brown-haired, blue-eyed child, Stefan, who was given the title of archduke, because his brother was the number one contender for the throne.