Chapter 34 · That Day Five Years Ago I

That year, Isadel was fourteen, and Erhan was sixteen.

In truth, ever since childhood, he had harbored a vague thought that he should flee the imperial palace.

Amid the violence and contempt pouring down on him every day, it would have been stranger not to think of it.

But he had never once turned that escape in his mind into a concrete plan of action.

Because he knew better than anyone the cold reality that there would be nowhere to go even if he ran.

'Even if I run, another hell is just waiting for me.'

That was the conclusion sixteen-year-old Erhan had reached.

Isadel's torment grew worse by the day without tiring, but the world beyond the imperial palace was worse still, never better.

The lives of slaves outside, occasionally heard through those who came and went from the palace, were literally close to hell.

At the very least,…