Screams echoed against the stone walls. The sound made you cringe when you walked by, but everyone knew better than to stop it. The screams belonged to a traitor named Marie, the mother of the first princess. The traitor was being whipped until the princess woke up for the sentence to be determined. 

"Please! I am innocent," Marie begged. Little did Marie know that no one can help you in fear of their lives once you are labeled a traitor by his majesty. Suddenly the door was slammed open, Marie could cry tears of joy at her savior, but that quickly changed. Standing in the doorway was Xenia with a scowl on her face at the sight of the pathetic woman. 

"What's wrong? Is the pain too much?" Xenia asked. Marie nodded with tears running down her face; at least someone had the decency to ask. 

Xenia slowly raised her hand, and the whipping abruptly stopped to Marie's relief. 

"Your servants need discipline. They ignored a noble and treated me like a commoner," Marie commanded. Xenia raised a brow at the woman's statement and paced towards the center of the room. Marie smiled as her untimely torture would be over and reestablish her authority as a baron's wife in high society.

Before Marie could even blink, her face was on the ground underneath Xenia's foot. The Imperial mother glared at the prisoner under her foot, watching as the hope, joy, and greed left Marie's eyes. 

"Discipline? You want to talk about discipline, but yet you have no authority. You are no longer a baron's wife or even a commoner. So it is best that you shut your fat mouth until Naomi wakes up, or things will not end well for you," Xenia explained. Before Marie could make a sound, Xenia was gone, and the whipping continued.

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Naomi groaned at the stiffness throughout her body as she stretched. It has been only a day since Naomi woke up for the second time. Her brothers were the first to hug the girl and talked her ear off on what had happened with them while Naomi was asleep.

Irene has yet to visit her, and the boys explained that the Empress was needed and would see Naomi soon. It was at the end of the second day when Irene saw Naomi with the Emperor in tow. 

Naomi cried as Irene held her close while the Emperor rubbed the girl's back. Naomi missed her family and hated the pain she put them through. 

It felt like hours until Naomi's wailing turned into sniffles. As her eyes cleared, Naomi noticed the grim expression on both of the adult's faces. 

"Naomi, we found out about your mother. She told us everything," the Emperor explained. Naomi gulped at the mention of her mother. 

"She can't hurt you anymore, Naomi. That woman is waiting for her trial," Irene explained further. 

"What happens to me now? Am I going to the orphanage?" Naomi asked. She could feel the tears starting to burn her eyes as the feeling of abandonment surrounded her heart.

"Orphanage? Why the hell would you be going to the orphanage? You're family," Jan bluntly asked. Irene gasped and smacked him on the side of his head.

"You are too young for that language. I will wash your mouth out with soap, you hear me?" Irene scolded. 

"So I'm staying?" Naomi asked quietly. 

"Yes, you are. You are a part of the imperial family," everyone turned to see that Xenia was the one who spoke. Naomi couldn't help but smile at the thought of being part of a family.

“Now that everyone is caught up. We need to discuss Naomi’s debut, ” the Emperor announced. The room sparkled with energy as they discussed the event. 

“What is a debut?” Naomi whispered. 

“It is when a noble is introduced into society. The boys have already had one but not you, ” Xenia explained. Naomi's eyes widened at the thought of a party. She's never been to one before, and no one has thrown her one. 

“Let’s go plan!” Irene said. 

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I'm back!!! And I'm going to releasing a new novel soon!