"Tonight, you will sleep on the couch. If I find out you're harboring any other thoughts, I will kill you."
The voice above her was pleasant to hear, yet cold enough to make the air turn sharp. Elara, who had only just entered this body, lowered her brows slightly and answered meekly, "This servant obeys, Your Highness."
Her voice was soft, but there was a natural sweetness in it, warm and melting, the kind that could turn bones to water. The man's gaze shifted faintly.
When he lay down on the bed, Elara followed the body's instinct, lowered the bed curtains, then turned and walked to the small couch by the window. She lay down fully dressed.
The room fell quiet. Only then did Elara finally have the chance to take in the memories. In an instant, everything that belonged to this body came rushing over her, memories tangled with bitterness and resentment, crashing into her from head to toe.
The original host was also called Elara, a maid in Prince Alistair's manor. Three years ago, Prince Alistair had married. Yet after three years of marriage, Princess Consort Genevieve Ravencroft still had no child. In the palace, Prince Alistair's mother, Consort De, had grown dissatisfied and decided to choose other women to serve her son.
As for Genevieve Ravencroft, the princess consort whom Prince Alistair had fallen for at first sight and married regardless of consequence, she did not care for Prince Alistair at all. Even so, she enjoyed the man's careful, devoted affection and could not bear the thought of anyone else laying claim to what she considered hers. So she casually picked two maids from the manor and sent them to the front court as bedchamber attendants.
The original Elara was one of the two chosen.
She had never dreamed of climbing high through a man. She had only wanted to save enough silver to buy back her freedom. After being forced into the role of bedchamber attendant, she kept to herself, stayed quiet, and never once tried to get near Prince Alistair.
But even that was not enough. Genevieve still saw her as a thorn in the eye. One day, after Prince Alistair had gone out on official business, Genevieve had someone drug the original Elara, stripped her, and threw her together with a beggar from outside the manor, then accused her of bedding another man.
Her innocence was ruined. Then Genevieve forcibly married her off to that beggar as his wife.
No matter what, she would not agree.
In the end, with her teeth clenched and heart hardened, she threw herself into a wall and died on the spot.
The resentment she left behind was fierce. Elara had gathered that resentment and accepted her wish. Since she had died so miserably, then fine—Elara would do exactly what she had never wanted. She would climb high. More than that, she would make Prince Alistair fall for her and make Genevieve pay in full.
[Childlessness System loading—Host, your mission is to bear an heir for the favored son of fortune, Prince Alistair.]
The reason Prince Alistair had no children was simple: his seed was weak, and it was very difficult for him to produce an heir. It was only because Genevieve detested him after marriage and had refused his advances again and again that no one had yet discovered the true cause.
[New host benefits unlocked—Pregnancy Pill x2, Multiple Birth Pill x1, Beauty Pill x1, Body Strengthening Pill x1, Tightening Pill x1]
Elara was a complete beginner. She had originally been nothing more than an ordinary little grass spirit, mocked and looked down on by the demons around her. So she had made up her mind to cultivate immortality. But before she could succeed, heavenly lightning came crashing down and blasted her half to pieces. That was when the Childlessness System bound itself to her and took her across the three thousand worlds to complete fertility missions.
As long as she completed the tasks and earned merit, then with enough time, she would become an immortal.
A deal with no downside.
The next morning, Elara opened her eyes. She got down from the couch quietly, tidied herself up, and waited to attend on Prince Alistair.
Just then, the door opened.
A maid dressed in bright reds and greens, Opal Yeabsley, walked in with her waist swaying, carrying a basin of hot water in her hands.
Prince Alistair sat up. Opal quickly stepped forward and hooked up the bed curtains, her voice pinched deliberately soft. "Your Highness, this servant will help you rise."
That affected sweetness made Prince Alistair frown at once. Without meaning to, he thought of the voice he had found somewhat pleasing last night. He lifted his eyes and looked over.
The girl in the pale green dress was standing obediently not far away, head lowered, looking a little dull and wooden.
Prince Alistair hated stupid people most of all. But then he felt Opal's hands roaming over him, and his handsome face turned cold. "Get out."
The sharp rebuke made Opal tremble all over. Her face went white as she dropped to her knees. Then the man's impatient voice came again from above her head. "Get out. Didn't you hear me?"
Opal was so frightened she did not dare linger a moment longer. She scrambled up and ran as fast as if oil had been smeared under her shoes.
Then the man's voice rang out behind her.
"What are you standing there for? Are you waiting for me to invite you over?"
Opal reflexively looked back.
Then she saw the ugly little thing she had always looked down on, Elara, walk right up to the prince and begin helping him change.
So that was it.
Plain as dirt on the outside, but secretly a shameless hussy trying to seduce His Highness. No wonder the prince had named her to serve last night.
Elara could feel the malice rolling off Opal, but her pale, slender hands only moved more carefully over the prince's robes as she stood on tiptoe and dressed him.
She was cautious not to get too close. That small act made the man's brows ease for a moment. Then, all of a sudden, a faint fragrance drifted into his nose.
He looked more closely.
It was coming from this maid.
Seducing him?
Prince Alistair's gaze turned sharp. He seized Elara's wrist in one hand. "What scent have you put on yourself?"
The girl startled hard. Her fair face lifted on instinct, and when those damp, deer-like eyes looked up at him, there was an unconscious softness in them, almost a kind of allure.
Prince Alistair narrowed his eyes faintly. Instead of letting go, he bent closer to her, his voice impossible to read. "Are you trying to seduce me?"
The skin beneath his fingers was smooth as silk. Without thinking, he rubbed it once.
But the moment the words left his mouth, the girl whose wrist he held dropped in panic to her knees. She knocked her forehead to the ground, her voice full of fear and alarm.
"This servant wouldn't dare, this servant wouldn't dare! This servant is lowly and base. I would never dare cling to Your Highness!"
Such an extreme reaction made Prince Alistair's expression darken with a trace of displeasure.
He despised being seduced. The only woman he cared for was his princess consort.
And yet, seeing Elara act as though the very thought of tempting him was no different from stepping into hell stirred up something nasty in him.
"Very good. You will attend me again tonight."
He bit down on the words attend me, and sure enough, he saw the girl's body tremble.
Looking down at her from above, he noticed for the first time that her waist was so slim it could be held in one hand, and her neck was slender and pale like carved ivory. She had good skin, that much was certain.
"Am I some man-eating beast?"
The girl shook her head carefully.
"Then are you this afraid of me because you think I am moody and cruel?"
This time she trembled so badly she nearly flattened herself to the floor. She did not even dare answer.
For a moment, the room went still.
No one knew how long passed before the man above her finally spoke again, his voice clear and gentle on the surface, wicked underneath. "Then that means you're willing to serve me?"
Before the maid could reply, Prince Alistair had already turned and strode out.
"If you like kneeling that much, then kneel."
Most likely, Genevieve was awake by now. He was going to the main court to dine with her.
Main court—
Genevieve Ravencroft had just risen.
Ever since marrying into the prince's manor, she had no mother-in-law pressing down on her day and night. Her husband was handsome and tender, devoted to her alone. If it were anyone else, they would have thought themselves blessed beyond measure.
But Genevieve was unhappy.
Because she did not love Prince Alistair.
The only reason she had married him in the first place was that her family background was too ordinary. She had no power to refuse.
She was in the middle of dressing her hair when a servant came to report that His Highness had arrived.
A flash of impatience crossed Genevieve's eyes. "Those maids I selected—did the prince take any of them?"
Her personal maid, Faye Linden, covered her mouth and laughed softly as she shook her head. "His Highness only has Your Highness in his heart. Yesterday, just to put on a show for Consort De's people, he called one of the maids into his room. But the servants below said they heard no such sounds at all. In fact, they said His Highness would not even allow that little wretch onto the bed."
Genevieve gave a small laugh when she heard that, clearly somewhat satisfied by Prince Alistair's tact.
Her man—whether she liked him or not—was still hers.
She would never allow some cheap little slut to set her sights on him.
