Chapter 4One morning, Poliana woke up to her stepmother complaining that she went to bed unwashed. She was sleeping in one of the guestrooms and her stepmother grumbled that Poliana was ruining it.
Poliana went downstairs for breakfast when suddenly, she smelled something sweet. It wasn"t food, but it was perfume. When she looked up, she saw her stepsister Liana at the top of the stairs looking like a doll. She saw an expression of disgust and hatred on her face.
As Liana slowly walked down the stairs, her long silky hair danced around her. Poliana gaped at her gorgeous little sister. She had to admit that Liana has grown into a beautiful woman in six years. She was what an ideal lady was supposed to look like and Poliana could imagine men fighting each other for Liana"s attention.
Liana said to Poliana sharply, "What is wrong with you? Why do you look so disgusting?"
Liana pinched her nose and Poliana sniffed herself.
Sweat, blood, dust, dirt, urine, an unwashed body, and clothes.
The stench of death.
Poliana shrugged, thinking she didn"t smell any different than usual. Liana, still irritated, continued, "Are you crazy? Why did you come here now, of all times? Is it because it"s my birthday soon? Are you trying to ruin it?"
Poliana had no idea it was her sister"s birthday soon. She came here because she had spent 6 years of her 10-year term, and she was beginning to feel hopeful that she might survive this. The situation at the battlefront, however, wasn"t going very well, so she thought she should use up her vacation time and think about some strategies.
But obviously, Liana thought that everything was all about herself.
Poliana shrugged again. "Oh well, I guess it can"t be helped since I didn"t explain anything to anybody why I came here."
Poliana walked to the kitchen and started to b.u.t.ter her bread liberally. The servants offered to cook her something, but she refused. She was perfectly happy with bread and b.u.t.ter. Liana followed her to the kitchen and stared at her angrily. When Poliana ignored her and continued to eat, Liana screamed, "Leave this house right now!"
"Liana, if I survive another four years, it will be you who needs to leave this house."
Liana"s face became pale. If Poliana survived the 10 years of military service, she was indeed going to inherit the family t.i.tle. Poliana didn"t plan on kicking her sister out, but it was still fun to say it out loud. Poliana was also sick of people calling her a naive idiot.
Everyone who knew Poliana"s situation told her to slap her sister if she disrespected her. It was for Liana"s benefit that Poliana was in this situation after all.
Liana wanted Poliana to die.
Poliana had all the right to hit her sister. She was her older sister, but if Poliana really did hit Liana, she knew exactly what the people would call her.
A vindictive b*tch.
Poliana watched in amus.e.m.e.nt as Liana trembled. Did Liana think she was really going to hit her? If she did, Poliana knew that Liana would faint.
Just then, their father came hurriedly and yelled, "How dare you!" He slapped Poliana, and because he wasn"t wearing a gantlet, she didn"t even flinch. Having father on her side, Liana snorted confidently. Liana truly hated Poliana. She looked at her older sister up and down in disgust.
The war hasn"t been gentle on Poliana. She was covered in scars and her face wasn"t spared from it. Her hair was cut short and ugly, and because she didn"t get to wash regularly, her skin was dirty and rough. She had to yell often during battles, which turned her voice deep and gravelly.
"Liana is the heir to this family! How dare you disrespect her?" Their father continued in anger.
But this was an empty threat. The truth was if Poliana survived her 10-year military service, she was going to automatically inherit the family t.i.tle as well as their wealth. This was the only perk of going to war on behalf of one"s family.
And to prevent the n.o.bles from abusing this law, if the surviving soldier dies within 10 years of inheriting the t.i.tle, another member of the family had to serve another 10-year term in order to get it back. There were an unfortunate incident where a solider survived the term and inherited his rightful t.i.tle but ended up dying from a battle wound soon after. The man"s brother, therefore, was forced to serve 10 years himself in order to become the next heir.
Poliana"s father was sure that she would not survive the harsh life, but when she remained alive after 6 years, he felt anxious.
When she felt full, Poliana went upstairs and walked into another empty room to lay down. No matter how hard she thought, there was no future for this country. The soldiers were treated like a sacrifice while the citizens near the battlefront lived in constant fear and poverty. Those who lived in the city center had no idea what was happening, and they didn"t care about the war or the food of the country. n.o.bles were the worst of them all.
The taxes continued to rise, hurting everyone in the nation.
Some may have thought that it would be easier now for her to survive the next 4 years since she already survived the first 6 years, but Poliana didn"t think so. In fact, she was sure that her next 4 years were going to be so much worse.
She could feel it.
Something didn"t feel right and that was why she asked for a vacation.
The rumors on the battlefields and those in the cities were very different. Poliana knew that she might be able to learn more about the overall situation if she stayed in the city for a while. In fact, she needed to be in the capital.
She dropped by at her home, which was located on the outer border of the capital, only because it was on her way. She stayed for two days to fill her stomach, and without taking a bath even once, Poliana left her home.
As she rode away, Poliana could see Liana looking down at her from her room. Liana"s face was filled with obvious hate, but Poliana didn"t care.
"I have to admit, she really is very pretty."
Liana"s pride and joy were her long silky hair.
When Poliana reached the capital, she immediately began to collect any rumors she could hear.
The rumor about the possibility of this winter"s war to be the last one.
The rumor about the kingdom of Kukda planning to use more forces for the next battles.
There were many rumors concerning the ongoing war, but none of them satisfied Poliana"s instinct.
Many also talked about the kingdom called Acreia, which was located at the north of Aehas. Its emperor died a few years ago and his heir became the next emperor.
"I hear Acreia"s new emperor is very handsome."
"He became the emperor three years ago, so I don"t think he is considered "new" anymore."
Poliana has heard many things about this new ruler. Apparently, he was a gorgeous young man. Was this just an exaggerated rumor or the truth? Poliana was skeptical about it, so she didn"t believe it but she agreed that it was nice to have good looking royal members.
It was also very advantageous for the heir to be attractive so it was very common for the royals to spread such rumors, whether it be true or false.
But something about this new emperor nagged her.
Acreia"s emperor was still very young. So much so that people still called him a "young man." A young ruler would want to solidify his power, and that was why new monarchs often tried to make as many public accomplishments as they could. They would exaggerate the smallest achievements in an attempt to look strong, especially to neighboring nations.
But this new emperor of Acreia… so far, has done nothing. There were no stories of his triumphs. They weren"t friendly with each other, but they still communicated and still, trades took place between them.
The only thing Poliana knew was that when the new emperor came into power, a significant number of Acreian soldiers were placed at its border. It wasn"t an odd occurrence as this happened often. A new ruler often made changes and improvements to the country"s military.
Poliana shook her head since something felt wrong. She went back to the room she rented and took out her map that showed the military presence of all the northern borders.
She studied it carefully, and after contemplating for a day, she finally realized the truth.
Acreia was getting ready for a war.