The Past

Adriana left such an embarrassing letter back then simply because she was bored and nothing else. She was only about 18 when she got married and was still a reckless person who until before her marriage lived as a mercenary, just because people in this Kingdom couldn't accept a woman becoming a knight. So, she became a mercenary hiding her identity as a Noble.

When she got married to the Duke, they were still no better than strangers, and he spent atleast three months away from home. It was during this time, she heard of this BlackWolf master who's reputation was on the rise. So she thought of challenging him to see if he was really as capable as in the rumours.

So, she infiltrated BlackWolf's territory by herself, but he wasn't there so she challenged his subordinates only to beat them till she accidentally got one to spit out his master's weakness, which was that he can't have close contact with women, or to be exact he unconsciously pushes away any women who approach him. As a compensation for unknowingly destroying the BlackWolf's building she cleaned out all the traitors and healed the others before leaving.

And from another one she found that their master was away trying to find the Scarlet witch, the mercenary woman who is a Swordsman but at the same time a Mage too.

Nobody knew which of them was her main power or the auxiliary power, since everyone's seen her use both at the same level. She could be identified by her fiery red hair and a blank white mask with only holes left for the eye and a foldable lower half that can be lifted whenever needed.

And she was known as the Scarlet witch by those who respected her and as the Scary bitch by her enemies. She was a crazy woman who would beat up any man who lays their dirty hands on innocent women and children to the point of death and leave them with broken bones at any open area with a letter stating his crimes and the consequences of his actions.

Except the name Scarlet witch, no one knew her real name or where she came from. She appeared out of nowhere two years ago and disappeared two months back. And the BlackWolf's master accidentally came across this woman and lost something to her, to retrieve it he's been searching for her ever since.

When Adriana heard this at that time, she was quite intrigued, after all the person they are talking about was naturally the secret identity she had to give up because her uncle found her and sealed her powers to get her married to someone, thinking that might stop her from being reckless.

Adriana who was still thinking back to her wild and free days was brought to reality with Elaine's nudging. She looked at her friend who seemed to be worried about her. She felt grateful for having a friend like but at the same time sad that she dragged her down in her in the past, by implicating her and her adopted son, who on trying to help Adriana and her daughter, exposed his own identity as the cursed child of the exiled queen of Garcia, who was supposed to be dead.

The child was sent away from the palace to be killed far away from the Kingdom so that the curse on his body doesn't affect them. The illegible markings on the child's body were considered a curse by the ignorant ministers of the King. Had they been a bit knowledgeable, they would have known that it was a symbol of the inheritance of the Greatest King's legacy, the mark of a Dragon Slayer.

Funnily enough, the King brought to death his own son, who had the greatest potential amongst his other children. And as if the fact that he had assassins kill his own child wasn't enough, after seeing him still alive, he couldn't let him continue to live and so executed him on grounds of helping the Annalise break away from prison.

Him helping Annalise escape from the prison was at the time was when Adriana was still trapped in the trap formation in the secret mausoleum of her family. At that time had he not helped her, Annalise would have lost her innocence and life to the horrendous criminals.

What broke Annalise's heart was the fact that the one who ruined her reputation and life was the man, who she thought she would spend her whole life with. Considering her parents' situation, she never hoped to have a loving relationship. If love couldn't work, atleast a relationship based on trust should work right?

Even when there were rumours about her fiancé and Bianca, she trusted that the Prince wouldn't make a decision that is not beneficial to the Kingdom. She loved him to the point those rumours hurt her, but she couldn't show her emotions.

She heard from the gossiping maids that her mother loved her father, and that if she didn't hope for more and lived silently perhaps they wouldn't have divorced. She had been hearing this since she was a child.

When she was a child, perhaps she was a bit too clingy to the Prince, she simply wanted someone to love her. But when she grew up, she thought to herself if I kept quiet and was satisfied with the current relationship, would we become closer?

Adriana came to know all these in the last few days before her execution. After learning about her daughter's death by the hands of the man she dearly loved and her friend who gave up her freedom and life to save her, she went to the Imperial Palace and slaughtered her way to the Crown prince's room, but that's the last thing she remembered before opening her eyes to see herself in the public execution stand, about to be executed.

During this time she knew who all were truly her friends and foes. So she wouldn't make the same mistake of trusting the wrong people over again. Since she can't remember seeing the one who ambushed her, she'll need to evaluate everyone over again.

Adriana now looked at her sleeping child and made an oath with her life to protect her friends and family in this life with all that she has.

" Emma take Anna to her room, so that she can sleep comfortably and Clara accompany your mother and help her out. Jessy stay and help me with things."

Looking at the conflicting emotions on Emma's face, Adriana couldn't help but say, " Emma, I know what you're worried about, but don't worry this time I won't do anything that'll make me regret. I need to have a proper talk with Eli and Blac- ahh I mean the doctor, so it would be better to take her to her room."

Emma nodded with a gentle smile on her face before she left with Annalise and Clara on tow.