Chapter 1

I was the most noble, pure-blooded princess of the Sea Elves. I willingly gave myself to Edmund King, ruler of the humans, as his bride, all for the sake of peace between our realms and the whispered promise of immortality.

At first, Edmund was captivated by my beauty. For a fleeting moment after our wedding, we were genuinely happy.

But he was never satisfied with my reserved nature. I wasn't the wildly passionate lover he craved. One drunken night, he took my cousin into his bed and crowned her his consort.

From that night on, she was the only woman he touched. And it was her toxic whispers in his ear that eventually got me banished to the brutal wastelands of Forsaken Peak.

Three years later, his consort fell gravely ill. To survive, she desperately needed the sacred essence of a sea elf.

Edmund finally summoned me back to Acalia. But what he didn't know was that I had already taken a permanent human form, so there wasn't a single drop of sacred essence left in my veins.

I fully expected him to explode in a violent rage. Yet, when I finally opened my eyes, the all-powerful king was on his knees at my feet.

*****

Forsaken Peak was a dumping ground for the worst of the worst—condemned slaves and ruthless criminals from every race.

But I had been trapped in that living hell for three long years.

Three years ago, my cousin, Macey Benton, slandered me before Edmund, so he exiled me to this desolate peak. He abandoned me, leaving me to endure unimaginable torment without a second thought.

Now, Macey was dying, and only the essence of my blood could sustain her. So he suddenly remembered I existed.

When the royal decree for my return arrived, I was chained at the neck, being dragged by a lowly beast slave, forced to crawl through the dirt like a dog.

Life on Forsaken Peak was a nightmare of endless labor with zero hope of escape. Over time, the isolation and brutality warped the minds of the beast slaves. They became depraved.

So I became their favorite toy for their rage.

Nightfall was my personal hell.

"Man, she smells unbelievable," one would sneer, inhaling deeply. "Even the finest dining in Acalia couldn't top this."

"Isn't she supposed to be the high-and-mighty princess of the Sea Elves?" another would mock. "Looks no better than a filthy sow wallowing in a pigsty to me."

Those vile words were just the soundtrack to my daily life.

They went out of their way to degrade me. Seeing a former princess dragged through the mud gave their twisted minds a sick thrill.

All I could do was claw at the earth as the filth seeped into my battered skin. My hands would shake with rage, but I was utterly powerless.

I wasn't always this broken when I first arrived.

When I first arrived three years ago, I fought like hell. My blazing crimson eyes alone were usually enough to make those lust-driven beasts back off.

In my clan, we grew up believing in the legend of one true soulmate.

We spend our entire lives searching for that one destined partner, the only way to forge an everlasting soul.

I was the princess, blessed with the purest spiritual magic. Even without my sacred essence, I wasn't someone these wretched thugs could just touch.

I figured the worst that could happen was death.

And honestly, I was willing to die to protect my dignity.

Edmund had once told me, "Purity is a woman's true crown. It's better to die than to lose your virtue."

In the human world, nothing mattered more.

So, for him, and for the fragile hope that we might reunite one day, I swore to endure it all.

But I drastically underestimated how much Edmund hated me.

He sent an envoy to the mountain with a personal decree, officially branding me a "pleasure slave." The message was clear: I was now public property for the beast slaves.

If I fought back, the fragile peace treaty between our races and the path to immortality I had sacrificed everything for would be destroyed.

I knelt in the dirt, my entire body shaking, and whispered my gratitude for his "mercy."

The moment the envoy left, the beast slaves circled me, and their faces twisted into predatory grins.

"Damn, her skin is soft," one murmured.

"No wonder His Majesty knows how to live it up. Now we get to live like royalty, boys."

"So much for playing the virtuous saint. Deep down, she's just trash like the rest of us."

With twisted grins, they would swarm me, forcing my eyelids up so I had to witness my own shame.

I, Serena Maris, once the most gifted princess of my lineage, had become the lowest of the low, a slave to slaves.