Lord of Glory

Chapter 51: Princess Lucia

“Hahahahaha, big girl, do you want to join the choir as well?"

The civilians nearby quickly burst out laughing when they realized it was a young lady. The pinkish face of the young lady immediately flushed red. She timidly looked at Paladin, hoping that this young priest would be graceful and accept her.

At this time, Paladin's face was expressionless, but his heart was in turmoil. Right now, all he could see was the large pile of the magic elements of the world. However, it was the rectangular hole in the bag on this little girl's back that surprised him.

That was right, the environment was composed of the four magic elements. Even the human body was made up of a numerous variety of magic elements. Paladin had never seen something like this before. In the ocean of magic elements, there was a dark empty hole without any magic elements.

‘What is in this young girl's backpack? Surprisingly, it isn’t made out of the four elements? Does this mean it’s some kind of treasure?’ Paladin thought. The thought made Paladin suddenly laugh.

"We're only recruiting children for the choir. Young lady, you are a bit too old."

As soon as Paladin said that, the civilians burst out laughing again. The young lady's face was as red as an apple. She gently apologized to Paladin and was about to turn to leave the church when Paladin said, "Wait, you indeed are not able to join the choir but I do not have nuns now. Do you have the will and determination to become a servant of God?"

The young girl was slightly taken aback. The civilians around her quickly fell silent. But then, they heard Paladin continue, "Fifty silver coins a month, what do you think?"

The people around them were immediately in an uproar. They started to talk to each other. On the contrary, the young girl was slightly stunned before nodding excitedly.

"Yes, yes! Father, I do! My name is Luna."

"Good, Sister Luna."

Paladin simply ignored the startled civilians who stood in front of the door and Kaleqi who was looking at him strangely. His eyes looked straight at Luna, or rather, straight at her backpack. The corners of his mouth curled upwards, showing an untraceable disturbing smile.

---

"Luna, you must get out of this forest before evening comes. You also have to avoid being gnawed by hungry magical beasts in the middle of the night!"

In the center of the Duchy of Kasmi, Aixinzhe Kingdom, and Nubia Kingdom, the huge forest full of magical beasts defended the borders of the three kingdoms. Two women in fancy Chinese clothes were walking in the forest with difficulty. Luna, the injured woman, accidentally stepped on a hunter's trap. The ferocious and cold metal trap immediately trapped her white, tender, and smooth long legs tightly to the bones. The woman in front, who was wearing a luxurious white gown that had been ripped in some places because of the branches, immediately turned around and tried to use her arms that had never done physical work to break the hard metal trap.

The strange thing was that although Luna got trapped and an extremely painful expression showed on her beautiful face that was deathly pale, she clenched her teeth and didn’t utter a single cry. The other woman looked up at Luna, surprised, but then lowered her head to fiddle with the metal trap more vigorously. It was because they knew that if one of them yelled right now, they would not only attract the nearby magical beasts, but also the rebels who had followed them all the way here.

The woman in the white dress could not stand it any longer. Her body was trembling slightly. Drops of tears indisputably dripping on the metal trap and Luna's blood-stained leg.

"Princess." A relieved smile suddenly bloomed on Luna’s face. When the woman in white looked up to see Luna's expression, some unpleasant thoughts flitted through her mind.

"Princess, don't worry about me. Even if the trap can be opened, I have already lost a lot of blood. So, Princess, please go now."

"No!" The princess shouted out. She could not restrain her tears any longer. She bit her pink lips and said, "You and I grew up together. How can I leave you and escape by myself! You are not only my maid, but also my friend!"

Luna was shocked when she heard this. She, too, was in tears. In shock, she berated her. "Princess Lucia, your Highness, did you forget the king of Aixinzhe, your father's last words?!"

Princess Lucia shuddered, the movement of her hands stopped. Tried to stifle her cry, she then whispered, "I have not forgotten!"

Yes, she would never forget it in her life. Up until a month ago, she was a princess who was clothed in gold and held high in the sky. She was the daughter of the king of the kingdom of Aisinzhe, Ju De'an. That day, she was chatting and drinking tea with the noblewomen in the morning as usual. She also learned how to draw with Lex, the eldest son of Marquis Hierak.

Oh, Lex, the elegant nobleman with melancholy purple hair who exuded an aura that fascinated her. Lucia admitted that she had loved him since the first moment she saw him. She hoped that her father would marry her to Lex, who would inherit the title of Marquis and become the leader of the Knights Order. Of course, King Ju De'an felt the same way as he watched the two of them grow older, already sixteen or seventeen years old, and fell more and more in love with each other. Ju De'an then suggested to Marquis Hierak for their child to marry.

Marquis Hierak was very happy. The war general, who commanded a massive and powerful army, was guarding the border that was bordering the Duchy of Kasmi. After hearing the news, his usually stern face was filled with disbelief and excitement. It almost made Lucia laugh thinking about it. Everything was so perfect. For those few short days, Lucia seemed to live in honey. She considered herself fortunate in comparison to those who married far away to the nobles and royal grandchildren outside the town, never even knowing what they looked like before. She was undoubtedly lucky to marry the man of her choice. Unfortunately, things were far more horrible than she had imagined.

All of the kingdom's prestigious figures attended the wedding ceremony. The capital city would host a three-day party. Commoners and nobles drank free fine wine and danced traditional dances passed down through generations. The entire capital was filled with a joyful and beautiful atmosphere. In the largest church in the kingdom, St. Margaret's Cathedral, Lucia wore a fancy wedding dress. She watched Lex come towards her, his purple hair was flowing. She listened to the words recited by the archbishop of one of the episcopal churches belonging to the Aixinzhe diocese. Then, she also heard her dreamy lover elegantly say yes. Lucia's whole heart was about to jump out of her chest. Shyly, she, too, said yes. Lex embraced Lucia's small waist that was covered by the white wedding dress and kissed her deeply.

What followed was a party, an endless drunken festivity. Even the king and the ministers, who normally discussed the state of affairs and would even scold each other, raised their glasses happily. That was, until every one of them let out a groan of pain. Then, many nobles throughout the hall spouted black blood from their mouths and fell to the ground with a whimper. Lucia was terrified. She watched her biological father's round dead eyes staring at her.

What was even more frightening was, the door was kicked open next. Endless soldiers in full plate armor poured in, holding a longsword in each of their hands. They didn’t say anything when they all raised the weapon in their hands and began to stab the dead nobles’ body to make sure they were dead for real.

‘Treason!’ All Lucia wanted to do when the word popped in her mind was to seek the protection of her lover, Lex. However, Lex, this beastly bastard! With a victorious smile, he ordered the slaughter of the nobles who surrendered and did not dare to resist.

"Lex, what's going on?!" Lucia looked at her royal relatives and his father who had died unexpectedly with tears all over her face. She was caught in a vortex of unimaginable pain.

"What's the matter, my love?" Lex's face was no longer elegant. The burning flame in his eyes made Lucia feel unfathomably strange. She saw Lex casually moving towards King Ju De'an’s corpse. He took the crown from the dead king’s head and put it on his own head.

"My love, you are going to be a queen! Hahaha!”