Chapter 01

I don't know how I ended up here. I had been training my whole life to inherit the deity of my family's shrine, yet now I was in this old-fashioned eastern style bridal sedan. They sacrificed me.

As per usual, my sister got her way. When she was tired, she got to take a break from training. When she felt ill, she got to skip lessons. When she cried, she got whatever she'd wanted to buy. A shrine family, one that inherited a deity, was like aristocracy, we received taxes from the people as offerings. So we were not lacking in money. Yet, I never got to spend as my sister did.

A meager ten minute and five inch difference at birth, and yet she was treated as delicately as a freshly bloomed flower, while I was never allowed to complain. I had endured it quietly thinking that this was the cost of inheriting the deity, and this was what we owed to Sophia for her sacrifice for our family. Yet, at the last minute, they declared that Sophia had just enough spirit power to inherit as well. Now, at only 12 years of age, I was one dressed up in a dress a bit too small, sitting straight in the sedan, getting sent as the city's offering.

Even deities had rankings. If her family was the equivalent of a city lord, the man she was being sent to was the equivalent of a duke. And yet, he did not manage any land. As such, he had no obligation to offer his aid. Instead, he was a CEO. He ran a personal enterprise that, if moved elsewhere, could single-handedly collapse the economy.

As such, every year, a family from one of the regions would have to send one of their girls between the ages of 11 and 23 to this man as a bridal offering, bribing him to stay and hoping that such a bride would tie him down to this region. If rumours were to be believed, none ever came back to see their maternal family alive.

In fact, the soothsayer deity family of the next town claimed to have had a vision of the shadowy figure of a man with horns on his head and wings on his back ruthlessly pushing their daughter into deep water, and felt the anguish of their daughter as she was eaten alive.

Obviously, after hearing such a story, Sophia no longer wanted to be the sacrifice. But, alas, it was our region's turn. Within our region, it was our city's turn. Within our city, it was our family's turn. It was supposed to be considered an honour to serve the man. It was a type of honour that was traded for with a life.

Using the water portal, the trip was not long. My family created and managed the water portals, so we could use them as we pleased. It was one of our sources of income. The water portals connected the city centres and shrines of each of the cities in the province. The CEO was so rich, he owned two homes, a downtown apartment and a modern mansion with a classical Eastern courtyard attached to the backyard. I had only ever heard rumours of its splendour, but if rumours were to be believed, his apartment was on the top floor of a high-rise building in the center of downtown, including the roof of the building as his personal property. The roof has a 2-floor outdoor swimming pool and a garden. It was the perfect spot for a western-style barbeque or cocktail party.

His mansion, on the other hand, was large enough to be called a castle. It was designed to look like a European castle on the inside, but the backyard was modern, with a large heated swimming pool and hot tub. Apparently, at the edge of his backyard, there was an old stone wall with a round opening to a second yard. This yard was surrounded on all sides by rooms, including a billiards room, a sitting room, a library, a study, a sunroom and a tea room. In the courtyard was a small lake with a pavilion in the middle and four bridges leading to the pavilion from each wall of the yard.

Although I found this hard to believe, I didn't doubt the possibility of it being true. The rumours came from those who had attended balls and cocktail parties hosted at that man's residences; however, security was so tight, no pictures or videos could be leaked.

I wasn't sure which residence I would be arriving at either. My curiosity should soon be satisfied, about one of the residences at least. If the soothsayer family was to be believed, I should be going to the mansion out of town.

That was the residence with the lake after all. As soon as my sedan stepped out through the portal, I heard the whispers. They pitied me. The sedan came every year, a red sedan, the Eastern colour of luck. There was another thing it symbolized in this province's capital: blood.

I calmed myself. My parents had given me specific instructions to slow my training as I approached the threshold. If I surpassed the threshold of my spirit power, my body would turn into that of an adult. So far, I am the only girl under the age of 18 to be sent, and also the only to not have reached the spirit power threshold to turn my body into that of a 23 year-old adult.

My parents hoped that my childlike appearance would soften the man's heart and allow him to spare me. My heart dropped as I thought about this. They knew they were sending me to my death. They were simply hoping that my youth would cause him to pity me. They chose Sophia's life over mine. I suddenly had a thought. If I'd cried and begged like she did, would they have spared me.

I shook my head. They would not. They never had as much tolerance for me as they did her. She was the cute one. She was their baby. She was their weak little princess that needed protecting. I was the obedient one. I was the strong one. I was the one that needed to stay quiet and listen to their orders so as to not make more work for them while they were already caring for Sophia.

I was always the outsider.

Suddenly, I felt a jolt as the sedan was lowered to the ground. I sat still, as I was instructed. According to tradition, I was supposed to wait for my new husband to carry me out. Husband I thought to myself with a sneer. In this modern age, I am being sent as a child bride. How insulting. I was not sure whether that last thought was of myself or of the man.

My back was starting to get tired, and my legs had already gone numb. I had been sitting in this small red box since dawn, and it was the early afternoon now that we finally arrived. Not long after I was set down, I heard the men leave. According to traditions, they would stay with the bride until the groom picked her up.

However, we now lived in modern times, and there was no point in seeing off a bride that would no longer be alive in a few days. Rather, if the man was as dangerous as they say, these men might even be in danger if they stayed.

I wasn't upset that they'd left. I simply wondered how long I would have to wait, sitting like this. I managed my facial expressions as I was taught, maintaining a graceful smile as I endured the tingling of my legs that had already gone numb and the ache of my back and neck from maintaining such a posture for so long. This traditional sitting position was a great burden on my child body. Soon, in order to not feel the pain, I felt my conscious slipping.

I squeezed my hands together to stay awake. I had to endure. That was my only thought. I do not know how long I sat there, in the sedan, at the gate, thinking to myself I have to endure.

At last, I was vaguely aware of a light pulling up from behind me. The sun had already set. The light slowly got brighter until it stopped and turned off. Then, the sound of footsteps. The gate in front of me opened smoothly, with a small rattle of metal against metal as it went. Finally, the curtain in front of me was lifted, and a shadowy figure reached in and picked me up. I adjusted my posture according to my parents instructions for being carried.

"Are you a midget?" the man asked bluntly, his voice deep and smooth.

"No," I replied calmly, making sure to maintain the grace of a lady as I was taught.

I felt the man's arms stiffen from under me when he heard my voice.

"Are you…" he paused, as if he thought it impossible, but then continued, "are you a child!?"