Her husband lost his life from wounds on the battlefield. The child she carried that year, after following her predecessor Queen Adelaide to the Asetria Empire, she had to give birth alone.
The child was born before it was fully formed in the mother's womb, so weak that it made her suspicious. She couldn't understand. Is this child really the person she gave birth to or such a pitiful, wrinkled and invisible being?
The child lay there, suddenly losing weight for a few days, and finally closed his eyes in her arms. After that loss, she realized one thing: regret. A lump, cold as ice, hot as lava, settled in her heart. Mercedes cried herself hoarse for days.
She has never breastfed. Tears flowed endlessly, wetting her sleeves, her breasts swelled, leaking meaningless milk, wetting the front of her shirt and still spilling out.
"My longtime friend, Mercedes. Please be my son's nanny, okay?"
At that time, the previous Queen Adelaide asked her to take care of the Prince. Mercedes was a maid who served Adelaide since she was Princess Isabria.
“You would… give me such a noble position…”
Adelaide sympathizes with Mercedes' pitiful situation. She also gave birth at the same time, and needed someone to raise her.
The day Mercedes first held Cesar in her arms, the memory is still as vivid as if it were yesterday. She remembers the scene, the scent, every indelible detail.
“This… is Prince Cesar.”
With clumsy hands that had never held a child, Mercedes was confused and didn't know which hand to reach out first, but as soon as she reached out, a small, chubby hand, like a maple leaf, grabbed her finger tightly. Her skin is as white as milk even though she just gave birth, her body is healthy, gentle and full of life.
Her rosy cheeks were plump and round, without any flaws, making her surprised. Even though Mercedes only had barren hands, the Prince still didn't care, opened his mouth and yawned before looking for the milk.
“Ah, our Prince…”
A baby sucked milk so vigorously that her nipples ached, her hands trembled, as if every drop of life force was drained from her body, but Mercedes was happy to endure it all.
In just that moment, Cesar's weight penetrated deep into her heart. To Mercedes, Cesar is like her own son.
That's why she felt sorry for Adelaide. That position of Queen, the leading power of the entire empire, then what is the use? It is impossible to raise a child by yourself, you have to give the child to someone else.
Cesar was born after Matthias, the son of Guido's lover. Adelaide, the previous Queen, was busy with the other child and had almost no time to care for Cesar.
Thanks to that, Mercedes can spend the whole day with Cesar. Furthermore, the Prince was always closer to her than his unstable, irritable mother.
When Cesar feels insecure or lonely, Mercedes always opens her heart and breastfeeds the baby. The baby's body leaned against hers, eyes closed, and peace returned.
Although she did not give birth to a Prince with herself, Mercedes gave birth to Cesar with her heart.
But one day, Cesar started to feel different. The first to notice the change was of course Mercedes.
The child is extremely intelligent. Four years old are already fluent in the common language and at least two foreign languages; At the age of five, the scholars next to the Prince called him a prodigy; Six years old, holding a sword for the first time, the swordsmanship professor praised him as the embodiment of god, naturally gifted.
He was so talented, Mercedes clearly remembered, it wasn't that he was different from the beginning.
It's an ancient curse.
A curse attached to the King of the Light Dragon, the hero who saved the country, the first king of the Asetria Empire – Arcanjelo de La Rosa, who received the evil dragon curse. Few people know, he inherited the curse from the evil dragon Tiegrosh hundreds of years ago.
When Arcanjelo beheaded Tiegrosh, peace returned to the world, but the scarlet dragon blood that flooded his body was the beginning of the curse. Every pain tormented him, from physical to mental, making him lose his reason, crawl on all fours, eat internal organs, grow black scales on his skin, gradually haunting human flesh and blood... Just like the dragon Tiegrosh.
Cosimo Flores, the royal magician, created a spell to help Arcanjelo maintain his reason. The spell made his evil desires directed only at himself, combined with his magical abilities, somewhat holding him to reason. No one knows the detailed method, it is only passed down as an ancient story.
The curse in the Arcanjelo bloodline has existed for many generations. Some royal family members had symptoms but all died at an early age. The curse, thought to have faded over time, now reappears in Prince Cesar. The reason, no one knows.
Adelaide, finally, goes crazy. After years of fighting with her lover Guido, her health was exhausted. She refused to admit her son's curse.
“My child can't be like that!”
Cesar is intelligent, beautiful, and gentle. But since the day the curse appeared, he acted exactly like ancient records, attacking others crazily, screaming in pain, black scales growing. Adelaide refused to look at him.
Society gossiped that Queen Adelaide had lost her virtue, causing the gods to punish the Prince. She gradually lost her mind, sometimes regaining consciousness, but briefly. Without eating or sleeping, her once beauty gradually faded.
Guido took the opportunity, citing his son's illness and his wife's weakness, to demand an annulment of the marriage and prepare to marry a new wife. Adelaide, one rainy night, threw herself from the West Tower of the palace.
Cornelia, the Emperor's mistress, becomes the new Empress. Power has completely changed. The Great Prince was gradually forgotten.
Cornelia chased away all the previous Queen's faction, but Mercedes still stubbornly protected the Prince.
“Your Highness, you will be protected by me.”
She survived in the palace, determined to do everything to keep her son.
“Yeah, anything.”
Mercedes smiled bitterly. She really can do anything. No matter who stood in the Prince's way, she repelled him. Don't be afraid, because the strongest person in this world is none other than a mother.
“Have you really taken a shower yet?”
"Already."
Cesar stepped out in front of the bathroom, water still dripping from his body. Following my instructions, he put on a new robe and wrapped a scarf around his head. The water hadn't dried yet, dripping onto the floor. I anticipated this and approached with a towel.
“Um, let's see.”
When you get closer, the smell of lavender rises. Same scent as me. Normally, he often puts his nose close to my body to smell, but now it's the opposite.
“So good.”
The scent of lavender mixed with a gentle sweet scent.
"Okay?"
“Yes, good.”
"Good…."
“I like to be clean.”
Cesar repeats the word “good” many times. He was only used to saying no, but for the first time he told me something positive. I was so happy that I smiled brightly.