Flora never came to my room after that and it had been a week, Akio was staying in Kohoshi since she had hurt her back and ankles.

Daichi had assigned two different maids for me and I didn't talk to them because I was afraid they might do the same thing as well. They might betray me too...

I was really sad that Flora had done that with me. I had been so close to her that it hurt.

Now, I felt too lonely. Daichi would rarely come and Flora wasn't there. The two maids came, I didn't talk to them and the whole day, I would only look outside of the window.

But one day, Flora came. It was around midnight when I heard someone knocking at my door with a low noise. I wasn't a heavy sleeper so the person knew I would respond.

That meant, it was Flora.

I opened the door and saw it was indeed Flora.

I looked at her with offended eyes as she looked down and entered, making no noise.

As she entered, I closed the door. She immediately bowed down before me and cried, "Please, Princess Rose, forgive me for telling lies about you. I-I didn't want to do that..."

I asked, "Then why did you do that? What will you gain by making me the villain here, Flora?"

She shook her head, "It wasn't me. It was princess Akio who threatened me."

I asked her with a concerned voice, "What did she threatened you with?"

"She threatened to kill my husband and my daughter." She started to cry. "She told me that after the act, I had to leave with my husband but after the act, they sent men to kill us."

She fumed as she cried. Tears after tears started to spill as she said, "My husband died protecting me and he said that no matter what I shouldn't lie about you since your father had always protected us. Gave us food and shelter."

I gave her water and said, "It is okay. I knew something must have happened which was why you did that."

"B-but..." Tears started to accumulate on her eyes as she said, "They took my daughter... What do I do, Princess Rose? Please help me! I have no one!"

She bowed down before me againl and cried, "I lost my husband, will I have to lose my child as well?"

I felt so bad for her that my heart broke. I had no idea Princess Akio was like that. Why was she aiming at me?

If she wanted Daichi, she should know that Daichi already loved her. There was no point fighting over a man when he was already in love with her. I loved Daichi too but I wouldn't harm others because of my love, especially my people. My father even hated to pressure the maids or anyone to make them do any kind of bad deeds.

"Don't cry, Flora. I will definitely do something about it, okay?" I said and smiled at her.

She nodded and I decided that she should stay inside my chamber since it was safe that way. If anyone came to harm her, I would call the knights.

We fell asleep that night however, as the next day arrived, trouble arrived faster.

The doors of my room was barged open. I saw Daichi had come along with Akio and her mother, Aikawa. There was three maids behind them but no knights or anything.

I was a bit startled by it as I looked at Daichi with puzzled eyes. "What happened?"

"You...!" Daichi growled, "You killed my father!"

The former Prince! He was a great person and he liked me a lot. We even played shogi time to time. My heart sank as I asked, "What happened to him?"

Veins popped on his forehead as he growled angrily, "What happened...?!"

He came near me and caught my arm so harshly that I felt I might have gotten some bruises. "You poisoned him! He was the one who took you here and you repaid him by poisoning him?"

His voice held hurt and betrayal as if I had betrayed him. My heart thumped in my ears as I felt helpless at the moment. The former Prince was very close to me and I had seen him like my father. Tears rumbled on the corners of my eyes as I looked at Daichi and said, "Daichi... I didn't. How will I poison him when I don't even go outside!?"

Then one of his soldiers came and he had had a rope in his hand and the other side of the rope had a man tied up in it. I looked at the man questioningly as I didn't recall him at all. But then I realised, he was the man my father had hired to watch over me and send him news.

But wasn't he already released? What was he doing here?

Akio cried as she came beside Daichi and said, "I-I didn't know, sister Rose would abuse her powers like this once she gains them..."

And she buried her face on Daichi's shoulders. It hurt me. I felt hurt, anger and sadness all together.

The soldier said, "This man has confessed, your Highness. Princess Rose's father has sent him to watch over whatever was going on here and inform him everything of it and also to act on Princess Rose's demands."

The man said, "Your highness! It wasn't my fault! Princess Rose wanted me to get the poison and I had to."

I looked at him with wide gap on my lips. Why was he lying? I knew Daichi was too furious to listen. He lost his father and he still had no idea about the money my father had taken. If he knew about it, the situation would become more dire...

The only people who knew about the money besides me were my father and his father. I hoped that they hadn't said anyone else.

My heart thumped loudly as I saw Prince Daichi's face. It became cold and grim that I almost couldn't recognise him.

Then I recalled Flora... Flora said she would help me.

I looked at her and I saw she stood there with her head slumping down as if she was ashamed of something. Her eyes were moistened as she looked at me and I knew what she had done.

Her eyes said she was guilty and she was ashamed but I knew she had no choice. She looked at me helplessly as I took a deep breath. I was angry at Flora but I knew I would have done that too if my baby was abducted. I knew it was out of my hands. My eyes fell on the weak looking Princess before me. Akio. She and her mother gave me sinister grins before converting their faces to sad looking faces.

They certainly came prepared...

Daichi said, "Search her room!"

Flora and the maids who came behind them had started to search the room and it didn't take them long to get the empty small bottle. It was the bottle where the poison was.

Daichi's eyes turned cold as he said his soldier, "See if it is the same bottle..."

"It is!" The tied up man said, "I bought it from the market. I know it very well. Please, I haven't done anything wrong! I was tasked to act on her demands!"

The man shouted and I looked at him. They all betrayed me one after another... The loneliness, the betrayals, everything broke my heart into small pieces. There was no one who would defend me or at least stand beside me.

Akio and her mother were still crying and her mother said, "Daichi, let us get her punished! She has done a treason!"

Daichi stayed quite as his eyes stayed on me. My heart was racing but deep down I knew he wouldn't believe me even I said anything. I knew it was end of everything.

"Daichi!" Akio's mother called and Daichi hissed at her, saying, "Keep quiet."

Everyone went silent and shocked. He added, "I can't tell my people about this so all of you better keep your mouths shut. If any word of this gets outside, I won't hesitate to kill you all..."

Akio looked at him with surprised eyes. "but what about her punishment? I mean, won't you just demote her from her position?"

He looked at me and said, "She got her coronation just a week ago. If I demote her now, questions would rise."

He looked deadly to me and added, "As for her punishment, I am enough for that..."

He looked at me with killing intent as I stepped back, tears rumbling from the corners of my eyes.

He ordered everyone, "Leave everyone! I don't want to see anyone around her."

Everyone immediately left the room and the door was closed.

My chest rose up and down rapidly as my eyes stayed on him.

"You...I trusted you but you...you betrayed me..." He spat at me as he took a step toward me, "My father loved you but why did you need to kill him?"

"Even if I tell you, you will not believe me..." I said.

And he caught my arms and yanked me toward him. He hissed on my face, "What do you want to say? That your father had taken money from my father? That your father had failed to provide that as well? And that was why you killed him so there wouldn't be any proof that my father had given your father money?"

I was too shock to say anything as my mind went blank. He knew?

He must have caught my surprised face as he laughed but it was an evil laugh, the one that would make you shiver. He asked, "What do you think, I wouldn't know of your father's scams?"

I got offended by how he called my father a scammer. "My father is not a scammer!"

He laughed. "Oh... You have no idea, don't you?"

My brows ceased together on my forehead. I asked as my voice shook, "W-what do you mean?"

"Do you know why he made you marry a whole different kingdom and far away from his own homeland?"

"B-because he wanted to protect me from the our king..." I said.

"The king whom he had taken tons of wealth and he wasn't the only one. The other domains' federal lords had given him money too. And what happened to all those money he had taken?" He asked as he crossed the distance between us.

My mind wasn't even registering what he was saying anymore. It wasn't true. My father never did anything like this.

"He had...he had the trading business..." I said.

"He certainly has but that is a scam." Daichi said, "and which is why he was finding someone who didn't know of his past to give him money. But my father said to give his daughter so he had no choice but to give you to us."

"B-but he said he...he would give us his domain if we get a son..." I said. No, Daichi was lying. Everyone was lying. Akio wanted to make me a villain and Daichi now wanted to make my father a villain. Why are they doing this?

What had I ever done to them? Tears flew from my eyes.

Daichi chuckled, his voice hard, "You know, Rose... I thought you were different."

I looked at him with questioning gazes as he said, "I always had a doubt on your father and you. So, I kept an eye on you for four months. You didn't do anything but you finally made your move now. Out of jealousy or your foolishness or maybe to save your dad. But you made a mistake..."

His eyes glinted devilishly as he came near and I stepped back, "Your mistake is you had married me and I promise you that I will make your life a living hell..."

***

Betrayal was the only thing that had powers to make people dangerous or broken. In my case, I got too broken that I didn't want to be mended. And for Daichi, he got too furious that he hated me more than anything and anyone.

My maid, Flora betrayed me and that man also but those weren't the one that scarred me. The betrayal my father gave me got me broken.

Daichi turned out to be right about my father. He had scammed everyone in our country and it turned out that the king and others came to snatch all the land he had by peers but he flew away from there.

He got the money from Daichi's father and flew away...

The man he had hired was temporary but I knew he was later hired by Akio to confess about a crime he had never done.

So, basically, I had nothing. No lands, no family, no husband and no status. Everything about me was a big fat lie and I believed it. Every bit of it, I believed it.

If I went back to Greatheart, they would either sell me or kill me. And I was a criminal here as well because I poisoned their former Prince and killed him. It was because of Daichi that no one knew about all these. Apparently, I was living at his mercy.

Daichi had begun to see me in a different light but now, Akio made him hate me. He couldn't tell his people about his father's death by my hands because for a little time, he had started to like me. But it didn't last long.

Also, if he said about me to his people it would be a disaster so, he didn't let me go out of my room.

For eight months...

No maids were provided, they would only come to give me my meals once a day. I was confined to a room where the keys of the doors and windows were with him.

I didn't talk to anyone. But even when I would tell him anything, he wouldn't believe.

My father was a scammer of course, his daughter would also be a scammer...

The only good thing happened in these, my father had to give the documents of his domain to Daichi's father. And for that, our king and other federal lords couldn't take the territory.

However, Daichi tactically got into alliance with them due to that and the trading business among them became a massive success. The territory which my father used to manage was now under Daichi and the king or the other lords had no complaints. They were happy that their goods sold faster than before.

I was in my room as I heard the doors being opened. I knew it was Daichi. Only he had the keys.

"Well, well, Princess Rose," I heard a female voice and looked back. It was Akio.

She smiled at me and said, "I truly feel sorry for you..."

I said, "No. You don't."

She chuckled. "Of course, I don't. But I have a good news. Brother Arashi had come back so, I might not need your dear husband anymore."

I burrowed my brows. Who was Arashi?

She said, her voice sounded happy, "Finally, the person I loved the most. And also he holds the power to become the emperor so... I don't need brother Daichi anymore."

She shrugged and said, "Do whatever you want with him."

Before she left I said, "I don't know who Arashi is... But you broke my world and I hope he breaks your world too..."

She smiled wickedly and said, "Don't worry, I even had broken his world before but this time I will make him mine. No matter what!"

And she left.

I looked back at the window and prayed as tears came down. "Please, don't let her break their world too..."

Because I lost everything and I didn't want her crooked ways into anyone's life. I knew I had no power but this time, I decided I wouldn't let her do whatever she wanted.

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30th November, 22
2690
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A/n: This is the longest because I wanted to finish it and I merged two chapters together. Gomen.

Anyways, Vol 4.5 has finished... I hadn't added any description regarding Daichi's abuse since I don't want anyone to get trauma. I will start Vol 5 from tomorrow... See y'all.