CHINESE ARYA STARK meets THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA.
*A Wattpad Featured story*
When everyone wears a mask, who do you trust?
In the unforgiving empire of Erden where the Imperials reign supreme, Sarna is a slave. After escaping the brothel where a m...
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"We're not alone. There is greater magic out there; worlds like and unlike our own. There, people could fly, they could breathe fire like our dragons. They're very real. We just need to find a way to get to them."
Otherworldy—Unknown Author
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
No one suspected that their Imperial General was murdered. I removed the blood-stained sheets and threw them into the fireplace. When the night was high and everyone had retired to bed, I disposed of Lord Hua's naked body under the rosegarden behind the Pavilion, but no before I had harvested his face and obtained his jade pendant and Imperial seal.
After changing into a robe I'd found in the wardrobe, I'd climbed down the window with the girl slung around my neck, went down the streets, and woke her up.
Run away, I had said. Never come back to the Jade City.
I gave her the two Golden Credits Hua had so rudely flung at me. The girl was smart; we all had to be in order to survive in the lower tiers of the Erdenese Empire. I didn't know if her family was alive, but anywhere in Erden was safer than the Jade City.
I wished I could do more to help her, but I wasn't Mr. Long. I didn't own a theater, nor did I have more money to give her. I was a prisoner on the run with nothing but a scalpel and human faces in my arsenal. I could only pray that the High Immortals watched after her as she made her way out of the Jade City.
It was hard to keep the smile under control as I carried out my daily duties, knowing that I had the perfect face to wear, one that even the crown prince would never suspect.
I had to be honest, his death was rather poetic. He died a silent death, one where no one would mourn for him. After all, the world assumed his heart was still beating, mulling his way around the Pavilion, drinking with the other Generals and discussing state of war affairs with the Imperials. But what didn't the world know was that a slave girl would wear his face, using his power to enter the most private areas of the Jade Palace on a mission only known to her.
I almost laughed out loud as I stood in a row along with the other girls outside the living quarters where Wang surveyed us, his lips pursed.
"The second prince has grown tired of his playthings," he said. "He wants a new one now."
We bowed our heads. There were ten of us in the line, and several of them had their hands twisted behind their backs, signing fervently to the High Immortals.
"You," he barked at me. "You serve the prince. Make sure he is well-satisfied. I'm not going to be happy if he throws another tantrum."
My thoughts whirled within me. Although I despise having to resort to be a personal slave, it meant one thing—I'd be following him around, tending to his every need. I would be at his side all day and night, granting me the chance to meet and observe the crown prince.
