After Hazel was described with all the sweetest words that could make anyone eager to buy her as a slave, the crowd grew noisy. The air was filled with murmurs, voices overlapping one another.
"The price is seventy diamond coins!" the auctioneer announced.
"I'll buy her for seventy diamond coins!" a man shouted.
"Eighty!" called out a woman.
"Ninety!" said another.
The bidding kept rising, voices competing for her until a cold, powerful voice came from the back
"One hundred and fifty diamond coins."
At once, the crowd fell silent. All heads turned, and gasps filled the room when they saw who it was.
His Imperial Majesty, the Emperor of the Crimson Dominion Empire.
Everyone bowed immediately.
"Your Imperial Majesty!"
But the Emperor wasn't looking at Hazel as others did. To him, she wasn't a slave. No,he saw something else in her. A shadow of the woman he had lost. Elisabetha. His dead fiancée. Hazel looked exactly like her.
Throwback
It all began with Janet, Hazel's step-sister—whose hatred for Hazel was as deep as her love for her mother.
The family physician stepped out of the room after examining Janet's sick mother. Janet's hands trembled as she rushed toward him.
"Please, doctor, how is my mother now?"
The physician hesitated, his expression grim.
"Her condition is still the same as before… and that's dangerous."
Janet's eyes welled up.
"Please, what can I do to cure her disease?"
He sighed.
"I have a special medicine that could help. But…" he looked away, "…it will cost ten gold coins."
"Gold coins?!" Janet gasped in disbelief.
She didn't even have one silver coin let alone ten gold coins.
"Please, that's too much. You know the situation we're in," she pleaded desperately.
"It's supposed to be fifteen," the physician replied. "I'm even lowering it for you to ten, out of respect for your late father. He was my friend."
Meanwhile, Hazel was in the garden, trimming flowers beneath the bright sunlight when her best friend, Lydia, came running breathlessly.
"Hazel! Hazel! I just saw Mr. Evander's carriage on the way here!"
Hazel froze, her eyes wide. "Really?"
"Yes!" Lydia panted.
Hazel smiled faintly, brushing it off. "You're probably lying to me again."
Lydia frowned. "Why would I run all the way here from the market just to lie to you?"
Before Hazel could answer, Lydia ran off again. Hazel's heart suddenly raced. What if she's telling the truth this time?
She hurried toward the gate but as soon as she opened it, she froze. Mr. Evander's men were there, sitting on their horses, guarding a black carriage with golden symbols.
"Oh no… I made a huge mistake not believing her!" Hazel whispered, hitting her palm against her forehead.
The carriage stopped, and out stepped Mr. Evander Crowhurst, assistant to His Imperial Majesty himself.
"Hazel," he greeted warmly, smiling as he approached.
"Mr. Evander!" she said joyfully, and they hugged tightly.
She led him into the garden, where they sat together on a wooden bench surrounded by roses.
"What brings you here?" Hazel asked softly. "I thought His Majesty sent you on another mission."
Evander nodded. "He did. This mission might take months maybe longer."
Hazel's smile faltered. The thought of not seeing him for so long made her chest ache. Evander noticed. His eyes softened as he reached for her hand and pulled out a ring engraved with the Crowhurst family crest.
"This ring," he said quietly, "is my promise to you. When I return from my mission, Hazel… I'll marry you."
Her eyes glistened with tears as he slipped the ring onto her finger.
Just then, one of his guards approached.
"My Lord, it's time to go. We'll be late."
Evander stood, kissed Hazel's hand gently, and whispered,
"I'll be back soon. Wait for me."
Hazel smiled through her tears. "I'll wait," she said softly, watching him leave until the carriage vanished down the dusty road.
Meanwhile, at the Hale Family house, Janet was still pleading with the physician to lower the cost.
"Your father was my friend," the man said sternly. "If I refuse to help, his soul would curse me from the afterlife. Fine I'll reduce it to five gold coins. But that's the least I can do."
Janet bowed gratefully. But as soon as he left, her expression turned blank. She still didn't have a single gold coin. How can I possibly get five? she thought. Mother will die if I don't find a way…
Lydia ran back to the garden, only to find Hazel smiling dreamily.
"I told you he was coming!" Lydia exclaimed. "And you met him looking like that!"
Hazel laughed softly. "Even if I changed my clothes, they'd still look ragged to a noble. But he doesn't care. He loves me as I am—and he promised to marry me when he returns."
Lydia gasped, covering her mouth. "He wants to marry you?! Oh, heavens!"
She clasped her hands together and prayed dramatically,
"Dear God, please bless me with a nobleman like Mr. Evander ,one who will love me even in my poverty. And if possible, make me as beautiful as Hazel in my next life, with her purple eyes!"
Hazel burst into laughter, shaking her head. "You're insane, Lydia. You've gone completely mad."
Indeed, Hazel was breathtaking,her glowing white skin, soft chestnut-brown hair, and flawless curves made her seem unreal. But it was her eyes, her rare purple iris, that made her truly extraordinary. She was the only human alive with such eyes.Eyes that seemed to hold secrets from another world.
Lydia grinned. "Honestly, with your beauty, I'm starting to think you're a mermaid and don't even know it."
Hazel laughed again, swatting at her playfully.
Back at home, Janet's desperation grew. She ran from house to house, pleading with relatives for help but none had money to spare. Finally, she decided to visit her Aunt Silvia, her mother's youngest sister.
"Aunt Silvia, please—I need gold coins for Mother's treatment!"
Silvia sighed, tapping her chin thoughtfully.
"There's only one way to get money that fast," she said. "I heard people earn plenty of gold by selling others to the slave buyers."
Janet blinked, confused. "Sell others? But I have no one to sell, unlike your friend Mrs. Veronica."
Silvia's lips curled into a cold smile.
"You do have someone."
"I do?" Janet frowned. "Who?"
Silvia leaned closer, her voice low and venomous.
"Think carefully, Janet. Someone under your own roof… young, beautiful, and worth a fortune."
Janet's heart skipped. "Who are you talking about?"
Silvia's smirk deepened.
"She is Hazel."