Born from an affair that shook the Empire, Princess Anastielle Elixandra Valisterre grew up surrounded by whispers, fear, and hatred. To the people of the Empire, she is the infamous Mad Princess-a woman whose breathtaking beauty is rivaled only by...
The Kingdom of Valeria had stood for nearly a thousand years. Its kings rose and fell. Dynasties crumbled. Wars painted rivers crimson before peace reclaimed them once more. Yet through every era, one name endured without ever bowing to the tides of history.
¡Ay! Esta imagen no sigue nuestras pautas de contenido. Para continuar la publicación, intente quitarla o subir otra.
House Valisterre.
One of the oldest ducal houses in the kingdom.
Its wealth rivaled royal treasuries, its armies guarded the northern frontiers, and its archives preserved languages forgotten by the world. Long before kingdoms drew borders across the continent, the ancestors of House Valisterre had already written the laws that shaped nations.
People often said:
"Kings wear crowns."
"The Valisterre build them."
~~~
Rain fell softly over the sprawling Valisterre Estate.
The manor overlooked silver cliffs where white waves crashed endlessly against the sea below. Beyond its walls stretched forests older than memory, wrapped in a veil of mist that never fully lifted.
By dawn, the bells that had echoed through House Valisterre no longer tolled in warning, but in mourning.
Every servant wore black.
Every banner hanging from the manor walls had been lowered.
The physicians departed before sunrise with solemn faces, carrying empty medicine chests they no longer had use for.
Dowager Duchess Elizabeth Valisterre—the Matriarch of House Valisterre had passed away peacefully in her sleep.
She was only sixty-five years old.
~~~
The newly turned eleven-year-old Anastielle stood before the marble coffin, her small hands clenched tightly around the hem of her black dress.
¡Ay! Esta imagen no sigue nuestras pautas de contenido. Para continuar la publicación, intente quitarla o subir otra.
She did not cry.
Not because she was strong...
But because she still could not believe the woman who had kissed her forehead only hours before was now gone forever.
