Freedom (Birthday Gift)

Age 890 AD…

In a faraway land of Asia, many Empires have spread in the world. Niflheim Empire, Heinholm Empire, and many others. Some were at wars while some of them were at peace. In the constant struggle to reign the world, the rulers of these Empires used different strategies to gain strength.

Marry their children to each other and request for support in return, assassinate a competent ruler and destroy any chance for the Empire to pose of any threat to them, bribe the ministers, and also kidnap their heirs and trade them for the majority of the power in the Empire, and even the wars, a sufficiently strong Empire would just declare war on the Empire that it feels on the rise.

Almost every ruler used these strategies. It was necessary to remain alive in this ruthless world… The world was not a kind place, and it was even more unkind for the Royal Family.

The brothers and sisters split up and schemed against each other to gain control over the whole Empire. It was sad but horrifying reality of the Royal Family…

~Heinholm Empire~

The room was large with a neat and clean with some flowers beautifully decorated all over the room — two small cream colored pillows on the beds. The room was decorated with many luxurious luminous stones and intricately detailed carpets.

A few rays of light entered the luxurious room from the windows. A fair skinned girl with long, beautiful and shiny black hairs stared at the windows with a dazed expression. She was the princess of the Heinholm Empire, the only princess with two elder brothers.

Her name was Evie Morgan; she was reading a book different culture and specialties around their empire.

'Mother Queen said that the time for my marriage has come. Will the prince be like those stories that I read? Will he care for me? Will he protect me?' Many thoughts and delusions were going on in her head as she pondered about the possible marriage.

'Maybe I should go to the hall… Mother did say that my soon to be fiance is coming to visit us.' she got up from my soft bed; her expression turned slightly sour as it was too much of a trouble to get up from this soft and comfortable bed and meet her fiance.

She went in the bath, shivered slightly as the cold water touched her soft skin. The water was soft but yet, it was uncomfortable to bath in the cold water as right now was the winter time. To bath in this fresh and cold water from the rivers, it was genuinely grueling.

After the bath, she wore her clothes that were kept on her bed, she guessed that the one who set them must have been her head maid and wore them. Those were white clothes entirely befitting of her princess identity.

Her face that was as beautiful as a fairy that not even words can describe, creamy snowy skin, beautiful eyes that seemed to billow like blue ripples, condensed inside her dreamy, illusory pupils becoming an imaginary, poetic, fairy-like dream.

Her every movement made her exceptionally attractive as she stepped inside the Main Hall. The main hall was wholly decorated with brand new chairs; if someone observed it, they would notice that the chairs were made of pure gold with the upper handles containing soft jades.

The Queen's palace was naturally above all the others, and her throne was beautifully decorated with flowers. Her beauty seemed to be out of the world and gave off a mature feeling to it. Those Red clothes made her look like a phoenix glancing at the Realm.

She had a sharp expression in her eyes that seemed to fit her identity as the ruler of the Empire, and her appearance remained the same as she glanced at her daughter, her stern voice came out of her delicate yet beautiful face, "Why are you so late? Take your seat, the Prince of Niflheim Empire will arrive soon. You have to greet them properly!"

Evie grumbled some words under her breath, and she didn't like how her Mother wouldn't give her any attention, she didn't like the fact that her mother would look at her like she was an item that would be used in a trade.

It made her feel slightly disgusted with her mother, but from her experience in this place, she had already realized that this was perhaps necessary. Their Empire wasn't as strong as it seemed on the surface, her mother's position as Queen was quite questionable since the nobles didn't like the fact that the ruler of the Empire was a woman.

However, the only reason that the Nobles stayed their hand because she had birthed two princes, it was without a doubt that the Empire would go to one of the princes while the other would be imprisoned.

It was already decided upon her birth that she would be married to a prince of a mighty Empire to improve the relations between the Niflheim Empire. There were no friends in the palace, and her Big Brothers seemed to have slowly drifted apart from her.

She didn't even realize when the distance became so large, was it because she didn't initiate the talk with them? Was it because of her brothers hating each other? Did they even love her and think of her as a sister?

She slowly sat on her throne beautifully enriched with white flowers, and there was lotus on her armrest as they bloomed beautifully. Evie touched the flower petals, and they were soft and very comfortable.

She did pluck a flower petal and kept it in her hand, Both the Queen, as well as Evie, waited for the prince of Niflheim to come. It was past the noontime, and it seemed as if the prince was slightly late.

The Queen didn't have a sense of urgency as she patiently waited, but the same was not valid for Evie. Some thoughts emerged in her head 'Is the prince not coming? Will I be saved from this marriage? However, what will I do even if this marriage does not happen, my mother will engage me to someone else.'

She hatefully glanced at her mother as she thought that it was unfair to her. Unfair that she was just a bargaining chip for the Empire, she wanted her freedom. She felt as if she would be much happier if she was a typical village girl and not some princess.

After some time, a trumpet sounded in the hall, and The Queen hurriedly stood up with a slight hint of worry on her face as she knew that the prince, as well as the Emperor of the Niflheim Empire, had arrived.

Evie followed her mother and stood up as well, she turned her vision to the entrance of the high and broad gate of the Hall and saw some of the servants entering the Hall while blowing some horn.

It was to welcome the King as well as the Prince of one of the strongest Empires in Asia, Niflheim Empire. The servants lined up as they showered red roses on the Emperor and his son.

The Queen stepped forwards as she knew that she would have to greet the Emperor and the prince, Queen glanced towards Evie and signaled her through the corner of her eyes, Evie understood what she had to do.

These types of etiquettes were beaten into her from her childhood; she stepped forward with a smile on her face. As she glanced at the Emperor and the prince, she was surprised to see a handsome man.

A handsome face with a hint of arrogance present on his face, it was like he knew the power he held and knew how to use it. His sharp eyes were like a Natural Ruler that was born to rule the world while his delicate face made him look even more charismatic.

Queen greeted them by saying, "We are honored by your presence, Emperor Martin of Nifelheim the 47th, as well as greetings to the young prince, Alex Niflheim." Emperor Martin nodded as she greeted him.

Alex also nodded as heard the Queens greeting; he noticed the Queen turning her head to a beautifully looking fairy whose beauty seemed to be out of the world, "Emperor and Young Prince, this is my daughter, Evie Morgan, taking my last name."

Emperor Martin smiled as he turned towards Evie, he lightly nodded as if he seemed to approve of her and commented, "Queen Elisa, your daughter has inherited your beauty and has turned out to be even more beautiful."

Queen smiled as she heard Emperor Martin's comments as she bruised them away while commenting, "Emperor Martin is overly polite, I am not that beautiful; instead I believe that the Queen of Niflheim Empire is far more beautiful than me."

Emperor Martin chuckled as he heard her response, "You are overly humble about your beauty. Queen Elisa, you are quite famous in the world. I heard that you had many suitors wooing for you but rejected them all."

Queen Elisa simply smiled through his words as she changed the topic, "Let's get inside, it wouldn't do well if I let you stand here for a long time." She looked towards Evie as she signaled her.

Evie internally sighed as she stepped forwards and gave a bright smile to both the Emperor as well as the Prince, "Please step inside, the Heinholm Empire welcomes your presence." Her soft voice seemed to have left them astounded, and it was smooth with a hint of innocence.

Prince Alex nodded as he was a bit excited when hearing her voice, he liked her, he glanced at his father with the corner of his eyes and signaled him that he loved Evie. Martin gave an unnoticeable nod as he understood how he would have to talk with the Queen.

Both of them had decided to use different strategies to handle the Heinholm Empire in case the Prince didn't like the Princess and in fact if he did. They were looking for cooperation, but they also wanted their benefits in it.

It was a tricky yet normal situation among the Royal Families, one that Queen Elisa was well aware of. She was confident that if Evie listened to her orders and behaved as she instructed, then she would be able to gain massive advantages from the Empire.

Queen Elisa didn't like the fact that she would have to sacrifice the happiness of her daughter, but it was a small price to pay for the development of the Empire. All of them sat on their respective thrones as Evie led the Emperor and the Prince to their thrones.

The Emperor Martin's throne was kept on a slightly lower level than that of the queen while the Prince's throne was on the same level as that of Evie. It was because they wanted there to be a sense of equality among the individuals who were going to be engaged.

A strange sense of silence filled in the room, both of them stayed silent as Emperor Martin started, "Queen Elisa, it's a pleasure to be here. Let us discuss the pacts that this marriage will entail…"

Evie's eyes looked towards Alex as she was slightly lost in her little world. The voice of Emperor Martin faded as Evie was lost in her small world…

…

Queen Elisa was delighted as she heard the terms by Emperor Martin, it seemed as if she didn't even need to request anything more than that. It was more than enough; she was happy that she could gain for the Empire by this political marriage.

She glanced towards Evie through the corner of her eyes and was surprised to see that her daughter was glancing towards Prince Alex. A smile made her way onto her face as she thought that her rebellious daughter liked the Prince.

She had thought that she would need to use some method to convince her of this Political Marriage; still, it seems as if she was worried about nothing. If she had concentrated on her expression, then she would have noticed that Evie had a blank expression.

She seems to be dreaming about a place where she would be able to do anything that she desired, and the freedom to decide her fate. Even though she didn't hate Prince Alex's appearance, he was quite handsome and maybe one of the perfect men that she has ever seen.

However, she was scared of him… She didn't know why but whenever he would glance at her, it would be like he was looking at his object. It was a gaze that she hated with a passion; she had seen that type of gaze many times in her own mother's eyes.

Evie suddenly heard a voice calling out to her, "Evie, Evie!" She was thrown back into the real world as she heard that voice and slightly turned her head towards Queen Elisa. She lowered her head as her soft voice was heard, "I, Queen, I was thinking about something."

Queen Elisa nodded as she replied to her in a stern tone, "Be more attentive Evie, Emperor Martin wanted to ask you something…" Evie turned her head towards Emperor Martin as she bowed lightly, "What does the great Emperor wishes to ask of me?"

Emperor Martin had a kind smile similar to the type that an old man has as he looks at his descendants, "You are going to marry my son Alex, soon enough. So, tell me, when are you comfortable with the marriage taking place?"

Queen Elisa's eyes narrowed as she heard that question, she knew that this was a tricky question. It tested whether Evie wanted to marry Prince Alex or not… Even though Evie didn't realize the exact reason for the problem, she replied in her sweet voice, "I am comfortable with any time decided by Emperor Martin and the Queen…"

Queen Elisa internally sighed in relief as she knew that her daughter had just dodged a bullet with that question, this was perhaps the best answer for Emperor Martin's question. It signified that she didn't have any problem with the marriage and also didn't make her seem overexcited for the wedding.

Those were entirely within the ethics of formality in the Royal Family. It delighted her to see that her daughter seems to be proficient in these high ethics now, it seems the time she spent with her daughter in her younger days appears to be bearing fruit.

What she didn't know that wasn't the reason for Evie's reply. Evie's response was because she had lost all hope of being saved from the marriage, she knew that her fate was sealed so why go against it, she didn't even have any idea of what she should do right now.

Emperor Martin did like her reply as his smile increased by a significant amount, "A good answer, I like it." He turned towards Queen Elisa as he proposed, "I believe it would be good to set the marriage after three months. Princess Evie can spend some time with you before she is married away."

Queen Elisa nodded as she decided that it would be the best, she would also have to get the servants to make some dresses for her daughter for the upcoming marriage. The 3 Month's time was perfect to set up everything…

She questioned Emperor Martin, "Emperor Martin, where would you want this marriage to take place." Emperor Martin stayed silent for some time before he replied, "Isn't this Empire perfect? I think it would be great to have the marriage in this Empire."

Queen Elisa nodded as she knew that she would have to order some servants to start decorating the whole Empire. Emperor Martin stood up, and Prince Alex followed him as both of them stared towards each other and slightly nodded.

Emperor Martin stated, "I believe that is all, Queen Elisa. May you have a good day…" With that, Emperor Martin and Prince Alex turned around and started walking out of the Hall leaving Queen Elisa and Princess Evie in their thoughts.

Prince Alex did turn around, but he was disappointed that Princess Evie was in her thoughts and was looking down at the moment. It was like she didn't even give him any importance like she didn't have feelings for him at all.

He turned around to prevent himself from feeling too disappointed; he started following his father back to their Empire. Queen Elisa gazed at her daughter Evie with an excited hidden inside them; she ordered Evie, "Go back and rest for now. Some servants would come to your room and take your measurements…"

Evie didn't reply as she went towards her room with a hollow look in her eyes, she did slightly nod, and it caused Queen Elisa to start thinking of other matters and completely forget about her. She turned her gaze, and Evie slowly entered her room with a disappointed expression.

She thought that her mother would notice her sadness, her disappointment, her feelings! However, no, all she got was an order to return to her room. She laid down on her bed as she thought of the unfair life she had…

Her tears rushed out of her eyes and soaked her clear and white colored pillow... She didn't even realize when but sleep overtook her as she had that strange dream. The dream of an unbridled life, where she had complete freedom to do what she wanted…

Wheels of time turned forward and a month passed by within a blink of an eye. In this month, Evie didn't feel like going out of her room and occasionally stepped out of her room, her food was supplied to her room while Queen Elisa was busy with managing the whole marriage ceremony.

Queen Elisa had thought of spending some time with Evie in the last one and a half month and decided to manage the whole Marriage Hall and the decorations of the Empire till then. She also invited many of the Royal Families from the allied powers and was quite busy due to these tasks.

Evie woke up from her sleep as she went out of her room because she was quite bored and depressed to remain in her room for such a long time. Evie woke up with her hairs messy and uncombed. Her eyes swollen and turned red due to crying for the whole night. She had a monotonous expression on her face as she walked out of her room.

She was walking towards her garden to breathe some fresh air that she heard the voice of her head maid, "Princess Evie is too pitiful… She is a young and happy kid with such innocence that isn't seen from the girls of her age."

Evie was curious as to what they were talking about and put her ear on the other side of the gate as she eavesdropped on them, she heard another voice talking, "Yeah… She is going to be married to that Prince Alex from the Niflheim Empire…"

"Yes, I think that Princess Evie isn't happy with the Marriage when I went to give her the lunch, I noticed her eyes were swollen a bit, her eyes were slightly red with some tears on her face." Evie's head maid replied as she gave out her info about Evie.

The other maid just sighed as she stated, "If I were being married like that, I would have just run away. There is no way that I would be able to live where my life was just treated as an object."

The head maid closed her mouth while saying, "Shh… Even the walls have ears now. Don't say it too loud; it may be heard by someone else." The other maid nodded as she understood the gravity of the matter.

The head maid released her mouth as the other maid continued, "But still, she is a princess… She could take some jewelry and run away from the Empire. She should be able to live a life of luxury with the number of treasures that she could sell. As for the running away…"

"Stop, I already said we shouldn't say it out loud. Don't you understand that...", The head maid had a sharp look in her eyes as she glared at the other maid. She ordered her, "Go and do your task of watering the gardens."

Evie stepped away from the gate as she started walking towards the garden, soon enough, the maid got out of the room and was surprised to see Evie out of her room. The maid called out for the princess, "Princess Evie, are you going to the garden? Have you decided to take some fresh air?"

Evie didn't know how to respond, she was quite nervous as she had just eavesdropped on their conversation, and she had got an idea for herself now. She didn't know how to face the maid and lay to her; she was too innocent for this kind of thing.

She nervously muttered, "I just wanted to see the flowers and smell them, it has been a month since I went to the garden." The maid nodded as she proposed to the princess, "Indeed, it isn't nice for the princess to be staying in her room for so long. I am delighted that you have decided to come out and enjoy your life as you used to Princess Evie."

Evie smiled as she heard that and tried to cover up her nervousness, she did go to the garden and took a long breath as she tried to calm down her excitement in her body. She didn't know why she couldn't control this excitement, this excitement as she understood that she could get out of her marriage.

~~

After coming back from the garden, she sat on her bed while slightly shaking in her excitement; she went towards near the place where the drawers were and pulled out her ornaments. Her jewelry and the ornaments that she received were one of the best in the Empire, perhaps the best.

It was indeed true that if she ran away with so much jewelry, then she would be able to live a luxurious and a normal life. Even though she didn't want to leave her mother, but she had realized, realized that her mother didn't love her, she only had the welfare of Empire in her mind.

She had decided that she would run away from the empire, she didn't want to be part of this political marriage in which she was just used as an object. An ornament that was going to decorate another shop now…

She looked through her jewelry, and her eyes twinkled as she found the one that she liked the most, the Peacock Sapphire that was shining beautifully as soon as the rays of the Sunlight fell on it, it started shining with an Azure Blue Light spreading in the whole room...

She also had a Ruby of the same size as her Sapphire and even brought it out of her drawer, this was Alexandrite Sapphire, but she did not know the reason why it was called a Sapphire, it shone with a beautiful and bright red color.

Evie remembered that when she got this Alexandrite Sapphire, even her own Queen Mother was confused as to how this was a sapphire, but when they went to ask the craftsman, they found out that he had unfortunately died due to a heart attack.

This Alexandrite Sapphire was the last gem he ever made, and Evie had kept it with her since then… It wasn't as shiny as the Peacock Sapphire, but she liked it very much. She pulled a bag from the lower drawer and started putting the gems in that cloth bag.

After some time, her bag was almost half filled with just the jewelry in her room… She didn't know if this was enough, but she remembered the words of her maid who had said that her single accessory could still let her live a life full of luxury…

She decided that these gems were enough because any more than them and she would have the risk of being caught by someone. The bag wasn't that large; it was just enough to be kept in her hands without arousing any suspicion.

She held it and started to think of some way to escape from the palace. Evie was intelligent enough to know that she won't be able to go out of the Empire alone at this delicate time of her marriage.

Evie suddenly thought 'Why am I so nervous… If I wanted to go out of the Empire without the intent of running away, mother queen wouldn't have stopped me. So, why am I so nervous? I can say that I want to witness the surrounding near the Empire before my time to leave this place.'

As soon as that thought appeared, a fire lit up in her eyes; it was a fire of will. She had decided that she would run away… She picked up the bag that was half filled with jewels and kept it in her hands as she went out of her room.

She was moving towards the place where her carriage was typically stationed at… It was near the Main gate of the Empire from where the carriage would move out and follow the princess/ queen's orders.

As soon as the maids saw Evie, they all bowed down by touching their forehead on the ground as they collectively sounded, "Greetings to the Princess…" Evie let them all stand up as she gazed at them with a monotonous expression.

She had seen many of them and knew them from their faces, there were some unknown maids, but she ignored them and looked towards the maid whom she knew that most, Irene Baklov, "Irene, take out my carriage… I want to go to the capital city of our Empire."

Irene heard the stern voice of the princess and didn't lift her head as she questioned the princess, "Princess, does the queen knows that you are going to visit the capital city." Evie was nervous as soon as she heard her maid say that but her time in the Empire wasn't for naught.

The great aura that had seeped into her bones showed itself at this time, and her expression remained the same as she coldly answered, "You aren't worthy enough to question me… That was not a question… Get the carriage out now."

Irene and the other maids frowned as they heard the princess's tone, but they couldn't disobey her orders. What would happen if they went to the hall and asked the Queen to confirm the princess's words?

Wouldn't that make Queen angry at them? They looked towards Irene and lightly nodded as if saying, "Go ahead but keep an eye on her." Irene noticed their signal and nodded back as she turned towards the carriage for the Royal Princess.

Irene signaled Evie to move inside the carriage, "Princess Evie, please take your sit and tell me where would you like to go…" Evie stepped inside the carriage as her nervous heart finally started to calm down.

She felt a bit confident in herself, and she knew that she could do this, she could run away from this princess life now. She could be normal and be able to enjoy her freedom, marry a man she loved and not because of some political reason.

The carriage started to move, and Evie asked Irene to let her tour the whole city. The capital city was about 20 kilometers away from the Empire. A dense forest surrounded the path towards the city, the wood on the right side of the track contained a River that traveled between 5 Empires, Agora River.

~~

After touring around the whole capital city, Evie ordered Irene to turn back and return to the Empire… Irene was all too happy to obey that order as she still wasn't sure if the princess had come out of the Empire with the Queen's permission or not.

Mid-way through the way, Evie knocked on the door as she made a knock-knock noise and gathered Irene's attention. Irene looked towards the princess through the small window to glance at her and saw Princess shaking her legs.

Those patterns were all too familiar to her, and she knew that the Princess must have a sudden urge to pee. She was slightly thankful that it was a forest nearby and also heard Evie, "Irene, you must understand my situation… Stop the carriage now."

With that, the carriage suddenly stopped, the door of the carriage opened, and Evie got out as she took a deep breath and exhaled… She could smell it, the smell of her freedom. She glanced at Irene as she informed her, "Stay here… I will go and find some bushes and then come back."

"Yes, princess!" came the response of Irene, and what else could she say? That I also want to go together, she didn't want to irritate the princess. It would just take a bad word for Princess to destroy her…

She stayed silent and glanced at the Princess Evie's departing figure. Meanwhile, Evie was excited right now and controlling her best not to run away and give herself away… After she felt that she had walked enough, she started to run forwards with her full speed.

She didn't turn back, she didn't know where she was going, but she didn't want to return to the palace. She held that jewelry bag with her as she abruptly slipped and started to roll down the steep mountain.

It wasn't that large, and the sand was quite soft, so she didn't get injured, but as she was rolling down, her body entered the Agora River. The velocity of the waves was quite reasonable and was towards the perpendicular direction to the direction of her falling in the river.

Evie breathed some water through her nose as she felt some water enter her lungs, her eyes went heavy as she struggled for some moments and splashed some water here and there. She grabbed a nearby rock for a few seconds before she felt the rock breaking and drifting along with her.

She started to lose her consciousness as her body began to go down in the water, a single thought remained in her mind 'Seems like there is no freedom from fate…' As all hope seemed to be lost, she suddenly saw a Bright Azure Blue Light from her bag, and it was shining so brightly that it dimmed everything nearby her.

~~

This was the Alexandrite Sapphire, it's Red Ruby color ruby was washed away by the salty water of the River, and it's pure form as a Saffire was revealed. The Saffire seemed incredibly mysterious as it slowly let Evie's body rise in the water and float on it…

Evie's body floated through the direction of the Agora River and got out of the boundary of her Empire. She was now in an unknown Empire with little to no friendly connections with her Empire or the Niflheim Empire.

~~

The next morning, Evie opened her eyes as she coughed out the water that entered her stomach, after coughing out for some time… She took around and saw that she seemed to have been drifted to some unknown place.

She was on a sandy beachy place, she turned around and saw that her bag of jewelry was entirely some distance away from her, but she stood up, walking toward it and picked up the bag. She could feel the difference in weight and opened the bag, Evie was a bit startled to see the Alexandrite sapphire shrunken with only a minute amount of it left in the bag.

It was bright red in color, unlike the time when it was in the Salty Water. Evie wasn't that sad at the loss of the Alexandrite Sapphire as she didn't know the reason for the mysterious Blue Light in the water.

She was still happy as she still had the remaining jewelry that she could sell and earn quite a sum of amount and live happily as well as luxuriously. After all this, Evie had a single thought in her mind 'Freedom…'

This foreign concept that would have been unknown to her had it not been the blabbering of those maids. A smile adorned her face as a determination could be seen in her eyes, she was ready to face her challenges now. Ready to live and enjoy this freedom for eternity...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The End of Book~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~