Promise me.

The next morning…

Xueling's white dress was simple with little ornaments, yet she looked ravishing as ever. The servants always have trouble taking their eyes off her. She took a veiled hat and put it on, covering her face and waking the maids from their daze.

When the Duke entered, he looked at her silently. Xueling knew he was reluctant to let her out, but she was too eager to care.

He took her hand and kissed her and then kissed her palm, then let her touch his cheek for a few seconds.

"Remember what I told you, don't leave my sight and don't let go of my hand."

"Okay."

"Promise me." He said as he took off her hat and made her look into his eyes.

"Okay."

"Say it. Say you promise to never let go of my hand." He said it like it was the most important vow he would ever receive. He looked very serious.

She didn't dare say otherwise and caressed his cheek with a soft smile.

"I promise you that I will never let go of your hand." The harshness of the words was sowing a seed she knew would grow into a lifetime memory.

He smiled brightly. It was the first time she saw such a smile on his face. It felt like he was truly happy. He wrapped his arms around her and lift her up kissing her again. She was bright red with the sudden blow of feelings he was throwing at her. After a few seconds, she too was smiling happily. He lowered her and caressed her cheeks and kissed her lips softly then her cheeks again, before helping her carefully put her hat on.

Then he took her hand and they walked out.

***

This world was a place that relied on magic, a complicated type of natural energy that humans can feel and control. Most people are born with a core capable of storing this energy and manipulating it at different levels. However, only some Grand Masters can control the inner strength of their souls and condense and connect magic to special objects and artifacts.

Another powerful and mysterious energy existed. It was called spiritual energy that only a few talented people could sense. Not many could use it, just the best array masters and weapon makers had grasped the very foundations of that energy.

Xueling and her Master were researchers and inventors, her team created several methods to store magic and modify genes in plants to absorb natural magic. They investigated the ancient array magic and the medical science of spirit masters to adjust the methods to the new discoveries and technology. All that knowledge was kept in the space library to prevent someone with malicious intentions from taking advantage of that great power.

People born into this world had different affinities with certain types of magic. However, they needed a core that can muster enough magic to coexist with a society that relies heavily on magic to power most artifacts. Some cities were created only for people with an advanced level of magical manipulation, and therefore with higher status and privileges. Those who could not control magic were discarded and used, even sold as slaves.

When Xueling came to this world she landed on Ebia, a continent from ancient times. Where only three countries had developed strong kingdoms conquering a great expansion of territory and establishing a complete system of government. The rest of the continent was occupied by tribes, small kingdoms, and some islands that surrounded the continent.

Sesea was the country that dominated the land of the north and west of Ebia, and Xueling had been living in one the sixteen duchies, The Great Jin, where the Duke was the highest authority. The other fifteen duchies also had their respective Dukes with considerable autonomy regarding the Management and Economy System. However, the Justice was completely under the supervision of the Royal Guards and the Law Academy.

The Crown organized tournaments and competitions in each Duchy to recruit soldiers, guards, and other personnel for the Justice apparatus and distributed them throughout the continent. In this way, the King would maintain control of the country. However, the corruption of court officials was spreading, and the concession of slavery and illegal markets went unpunished.

By the time Xueling arrived in Ebia, she was seriously injured and a group of poor villagers, displaced from their homes by the destruction of the war, found her near a river in northern Jin territory. Her injuries were taken care of, but desperation over having nothing to eat led the group leader to sell her and a few others to the slave markets. She was grateful to them when they cured, fed, and clothed her when she was on the brink of death and she will never forget the time she spent with them, even the bad times. She knew she was powerless and bound to be abused in a land where mercy is not a word that is put into practice often.

After a series of events, she was sold three times and was separated from the rest of the villagers. Those who bought her could see her value immediately and, as a way to satisfy their greed, they needed to please the greatest powers in exchange for concessions, and the one who held the greatest power of them all was the Duke of Jin.

The General's house tried to use her beauty to make her seduce the Duke and win the position of the Duchess, and she was fed a powerful potion to control her after the wedding. They wanted her to create opportunities for them to gain more wealth, power, and connections to the Kingdom. They were even more shameless when their first miss, whose beauty and achievements did not grant her a spot in the competition, expressed her desire to marry the Duke. So Xueling must create a chance for them to meet and slowly fell in love. However, they couldn't fathom that she knew the remedy for the potion, although it came at a high price, her core was broken and left her without the ability to use magic and at the mercy of the schemes of the other candidates.

Her damaged core took a while to recover, but thanks to the dense magic energy of this world, the healing process was speeding up. She could use a little amount of energy by using her body as a catalytic converter without weakening her body and creating simple but effective enchantments, some of them were unknown in the continent, as they were created many centuries ahead.

Although she regained some freedom when she was expelled to a remote land within the Duke's estate, the sense of helplessness of being sold as a slave and deprived of her freedom for a piece of meat left a great scar on her soul. The atrocities of living without dignity and enduring the scorn of the entire world stained her mind, but she could do nothing, she could only wait to heal herself and regain her freedom. That became her highest resolution, however, the Duke's appearance turned to be an unwanted yet sweet distraction that was crumbling her resolve little by little each day she stayed with him. She felt like her heart was being chained to him every second.