Wild roses of the gods

"Putting a crown on a woman is as perverse as putting a saddle on a cow that is difficult to tame." – Malcolm X - John Knox    ·    Estella walked into the brocade-covered hall.     She hung her head and neck, let the messenger put on a jewel-encrusted gold crown for her, held a scepter and orbs, and turned to look at the nobles and ministers behind her.     She had just turned sixteen years old, with black hair and white skin and long eyelashes, her face was as rosy and delicate as a rose, and her expression was childlike and innocent.     She was indeed a child.     No one was jealous that she sat on the throne at a young age, and everyone had pity on her in their hearts.     Women in power go against the laws of nature.     Sooner or later, the crown on her head will be taken off by a man.     ·    Estella should be a miserable little girl.     Her father, John II, died of illness last year, and the cause has not been identified.     Doctors flocked in, holding special magnifying glasses, and studied the king's body for a long time, but they did not come to a conclusion.     The Holy Light Empire revered all elements related to "light", and the king chose cremation when he was buried.     It is said that on the day of the cremation, the body suddenly sweated, its lips couldn't stop shaking, its hands and feet spasmed like a living person, and some people even heard a sharp scream, and the wailing of ghosts in hell was nothing more than that.     Such a terrifying and bizarre event, but did not set off any waves in the palace, it seems that everyone thinks that it is just a nonsense ghost legend.     A few days later, her brother, Prince Bramvelier, the first heir to the throne, also died.     On the day of his death, he was reciting the eulogy in front of his ministers, his face reverent, and suddenly rushed to the coffin like crazy, his eyes were red, and he gnawed his father's coffin like an animal, and then fell to the ground and died, with the same symptoms as the legendary king of Babylon when he went crazy.   Estella stood by the side, frightened, tearful, and almost entered the coffin with her brother, but John II except for the eldest son of Prince Branvelier, only the little prince who was less than three years old remained. With tears of grief, she took over her father's and brother's funeral.     Doom did not leave this poor little girl.     A week later, the little prince disappeared.     Estella heard this nightmare and was teasing the butterfly larvae with violet, her legs were so soft that she almost fainted to the ground.     She spent the whole night in the labyrinthine palace carrying the cumbersome hem, and finally, hearing from the maid, the little prince may have been taken away by the mad nursing mother. As for why nursing mothers go crazy, no one has given a definite answer.     Two days later, a stocky woman was seen at the dock holding a yellow swaddle and boarding a ship bound for the East.     When Estella learned the news, she immediately sent someone to chase them, but she couldn't catch up with the ferry that was looming in the fog anyway.     At this moment, people suddenly discovered that in the blood left by John II, only Estella was left.     By law, she either gave the kingdom to her husband or became king herself.     History tells in blood that the heir to the throne must be seized as soon as possible, or the country will be in turmoil.     Estella was determined not to become king.     She believed that women were born sinful, and that the teachings of the old religion were clearly written, if it were not for the temptation of the serpent and the swallowing of the forbidden fruit, which led to the fall of mankind; Humanity may not have been driven out of the Garden of Eden. If a woman wants to pay for her original sin, she must serve men and raise offspring for men, how can she think of men's power?     The ministers also felt that she was reasonable. Who knows, under the leadership of Estella, the empire that was originally severely damaged ignited to return to the peak.     First of all, the leprosy that swept through most of the kingdom was contained, and no one knew what Estella said to the medical officer, it seemed to be just a few words of comfort, but the medical officer insisted that the leprosy could be contained, and it was all Estella's credit.     Then, when she was reviewing the official document, the people around her saw a candle fall on her body, but the hem of her skirt did not burn, but slowly appeared the pattern of the light of order - there was a pure and incomparable light of order in the hand of the God of Light.     Finally, it was the first time she recited the Song Light Sutra for a seriously ill person, and she borrowed divine power to heal the patient.     Various miracles show that Estella is a king recognized by the gods.     However, there is a constant stream of denigration of the Queen.     Some people say that the queen just looks like a naïve little girl, but in fact is a murderous and vicious devil who ruthlessly poisoned her father and brother, how can she hand over the kingdom to such a poisonous woman?     It has been said that women are born weak, and the queen is the weakest woman they have ever seen, and that such a weak woman becoming the leader of the entire kingdom is more terrible than the country falling into the hands of the infidels.     As the number of denigrations of the Queen increases, the image of the Queen in people's mouths becomes more and more absurd.     Two months later, someone even swore by a gambling curse that family members who were on errands in the palace had seen the queen weave a crown with vipers, soak gloves in black poisonous juice, and depict lips with the poisonous blood of mandalas and salamanders; All the men close to her became a pile of bones in her back garden.     When Estella heard this, she was at a loss, and quickly summoned the professor of the seminary and cried at him.     I heard that when she saw the professor, she burst into tears, couldn't stop crying, and wet her long white lace gloves.     Anyone who has seen this scene will no longer believe the rumors of the outside world - the queen is so fragile and loved, how can she poison her father and brother with a cruel heart?     You know, her father and brother are both physically strong, especially her father, who was once the most courageous warrior in the empire and used the skulls of enemy generals to drink on war horses. As a weak maiden, how could she put down two fierce beasts at the same time?     The professor stroked his chest with one hand and promised the queen that he would eliminate those vicious rumors in the name of the God of Light.     After receiving the promise, Estella turned her head step by step, her big eyes filled with tears of fear and reluctance, and walked to her dormitory.     Women are really not suitable for power. If Estella had realized this earlier, found a husband, had another son, and ruled the Light Empire with her husband, perhaps she would not have been humiliated and vilified in this way.     The crown on her head is not glory at all, but the sword of Damocles that will fall at any moment.     What a poor woman - no, she wasn't even a woman, she was still a little girl.     The professor shook his head, sighed, and left the palace.     ·    Estella walked into the dormitory.     The tears in her eyes had long disappeared without a trace, and her expression was as cold as sharp hanging ice.     She opened her arms and asked the maid to take off her cloak, gloves, and heavy overskirt and skirt brace for her, and changed into a light nightdress.     After taking off her outer clothes, she also had a light chain mail on her body. It is a soft armor made of thousands of small lock rings made of forbidden magic stones, even if the hand is attached to it, you will not feel the texture of the forbidden magic stone, but only feel that it is a relatively hard underwear.     It was Estella's habit to wear this soft chain mail wherever she went, even if she fell asleep beside her mother.     This chain mail did save her life.     It was a bitterly cold winter day, and she and her brother, Prince Braunvillier, went to the theatre.     Despite her superb acting skills, she could not appreciate the acting skills of opera singers.     She can't understand the ambitions of those people - they obviously have a skill, but they don't strive for higher status, but play some funny roles on stage, with the goal of making the audience laugh as their goal in life.     She didn't understand.     Ever since she became conscious, she knew exactly what she wanted—she wanted the throne, the glory that kings in history had, and the immortality that would go down in history.     Before her brother understood the meaning of aspiration, she looked to the throne with determination, anticipating that she would one day sit on it.     When her brother was overwhelmed by the poisoning incident, she was already able to sniff out poisoned apples from a basket of fruit. Her stupid brother does not know that the maid next to her is an enemy country, and wants to sow the voodoo in the ring into the land and make the country useless. When she noticed this, she immediately took the maid to the torture room, put a funnel over the maid's mouth, and kept pouring a lot of cold water to suffocate her, and then save her, and so on.     Under such terrifying torture, the maid quickly confessed everything. She said that her name was Margot, a witch of the Roman Empire, who had been lurking in the Empire of Light for five years.     Estella took her for her own use, took her ring, and put it on her thumb.     She is naturally confident and ambitious, knowing that she is much more intelligent and means than ordinary princes; At the same time, he also knew that if she showed her edge, she would incur murder, so she had been pretending to be a delicate and powerless little girl and coldly watching the court struggle.     At the age of fifteen, she suddenly found that she was extremely beautiful and no longer looked like a cute little girl, so she asked Margot, is there any witchcraft to change her appearance?     The Empire of Light is a kingdom that worships the god of light, and except for clergy and royals who can occasionally borrow divine power, the use of magic is forbidden by others, including raising or trading creatures with magical elements, and once discovered, it is punishable by death.     Margo had seen many pedantic believers who would rather die than use magic, and it was the first time she had seen someone as deviant as Estella.     She didn't care about the supreme God who gave light and controlled all things in the world, and her morning prayers were always perfunctory.     Once, she even looked at the artistic image of the God of Light painted on the dome and said in a rebellious manner: "God is nothing more than an instrument for the king to rule the people." Margo broke out in a cold sweat at her audacity and almost fell to the ground. She smiled slightly and continued to read.     However, Estella's meticulousness is also beyond Margot's imagination, she added a soft sponge to the wall coat, coupled with the special structure of the dormitory, as long as it is not deliberately loud, it is difficult for people outside to hear the sound inside.     It was from then on that Margot understood a truth - if you want to live in the Kingdom of Light, it is the best choice to be attached to Estella.     Estella was also the smartest, most decisive, and most fearless woman she had ever met.     That day, she and her brother were halfway through the play and suddenly broke into a group of infidels.     The group of infidels, out of nowhere, heard that the princess was going to appear at the White Tower Theater, so they rushed in and robbed her.     They thought that Estella was a squeamish little girl, and if she had not been supported by a maid, she might not even be able to go far, so they threw her aside and single-mindedly discussed how to extort ransom.     Margo knew that her master was even more cruel than many men, like a colorful viper.     She was obsessed with studying poisons and read a lot, reading all the books related to poisons.     The nobles of other countries had the habit of drinking microtoxic agents to make themselves immune to common toxins; John II did not have this habit because of fears that long-term poisoning would cause infertility.     Estella didn't care about that. Her willpower is beyond ordinary people. The first time she took the poison, it was the hot summer, and after the onset of the poison, she was covered with blood-red sores and had to wear a wide hat and thick skirt to walk in the hot sun. She didn't cry out in pain, or even complain to the maid. If Margo hadn't seen her underwear soaked in pus and blood, she wouldn't have known she was enduring unimaginable pain.     She couldn't help but think, maybe this girl could become the first queen of the Light Empire?     The group of infidels, naturally, failed to trap Estella.     She poured highly poisonous horsemoney into their food with a ring and watched them fall one by one.     To her slight surprise, the pagan leaders were also trained in poison and resistant like her. He collapsed to the ground, trembled and felt for the dagger, and threw it at her with all his might.     The dagger pierced her chest.     - Her expression did not change in the slightest.     The leader's eyes widened in shock.     He watched as Estella walked up to him, half crouched down, tilted her head, and looked at him with an innocent gaze for a moment—in this case, the innocent gaze would only feel creepy.     Without saying a word, she opened his mouth with her white-gloved hand, opened the mechanism of the thumb ring, and dripped two drops of poison down his throat, moving quickly and neatly, like a professional alchemist who had done thousands of experiments.     The leader choked his throat, coughed a few times, and said almost in horror: "You... Aren't you a weak little girl? The outside world says you are a rose that breaks when it breaks..."   Estella smiled slightly, and her voice was as sweet as a silver bell: "Who said that the thorns of roses can't kill?" ”    After that, she pulled out the dagger stuck in the chain mail and placed it in the pagan leader's hand, then held his hand and stabbed it fiercely towards her thigh!     "Poof—"    Blood splattered.     Her fierce courage and delicate appearance formed a strong contrast, which completely shocked the leader of the pagans. Until he died of anger, he did not dare to mock the seemingly weak little girl in front of him again.     Prince Branvelier was an indecisive, greedy man who feared death. Although he was born tall, he was obsessed with beauty and art, and always smelled of various high-end perfumes. After seeing Estella being robbed, he obviously saw the whereabouts of the robbers, but he did not dare to chase after them, but was angry with the knights around him, scolding them for not protecting the princess.     But when the knight asked for orders to recover the princess, he vetoed it again, fearing that after the knight chased him, his safety would not be guaranteed.     After Estella was rescued by belated reinforcements—she told them that she had fainted from the fear of the pagan leader, and when she woke up to find them all dead, the knight chief looked at her pale face and hideous wounds, and had no doubt about her words—Margo told her about it.     Estella didn't care. She knew that her brother was a mediocre and incompetent person, and in her spare time, she would only catch colorful butterflies with her servants with a butterfly net. If he could lead the knight and bravely save her, it would make her jealous.     She has a very weak view of family affection, and only wants to seize power and wear the jewel-studded crown.     She wanted to be the monarch of the land, not a princess for marriage, or an unknown wife.     She has a fanatical ambition not only for a crown, but also for conquering other rich lands, to expand like a man – no, she will do better than a man.     Her ambition has always burned with a red flame and has never been extinguished.     To achieve these goals, she strives to play an innocent little girl who brutally clears all potential obstacles.     She finally put on the crown.     Who would have thought that she would actually lose her hard-won throne because of a non-existent god.