In Northland, children normally attended public school from age five until sixteen before they were permitted to enter the workforce. Commoners with lower incomes had the option of sending their children to a church school, fully subsidized by several noble families, especially House Albrecht and House Dreschner. Middle-class families could choose from a range of public schools, with their quality varying with the fee.
As for aristocratic families, by contrast, the children didn’t attend school during early childhood. Instead, these families hired excellent private tutors until they turned fifteen, then attended the Northland Academy for the following three years. The Northland Academy was a prestigious institution where nobles and any families who could afford it received extensive education in the specialization of their choice: diplomacy, medicine, law, magistracy, governance, scholarship, history, and so on. It was also the best place for nobles to build their networks and secure alliances.
As the holidays came to an end, Ophelia and the older Chevaliers would be returning to the Academy to resume their studies. At first, Stella thought that might mean some time away from Ophelia’s obsessive control, but instead she found herself facing a different ordeal.
Stella was technically of age to enroll in the academy, but of course, Chevaliers would never let her leave the estate. They knew the moment she had the chance; she would escape. Thus, she was forced to remain within their vicinity. How long would they keep her behind those gates? Who could say.
Then Ophelia made her an offer.
She told Stella that she would consider asking for the Marquis’s permission for her to attend the Northland Academy alongside her if Stella could prove herself. Demonstrating excellence in both academics and swordsmanship. Her reasoning was simple: it would be a disgrace to have an uneducated, weak fiancée by her side. If Stella wished to step beyond the gates of the Chevalier estate, then she would have to prove her worth and show compliance.
That offer sounded almost too good to be true, but Stella had no choice to begin with. Her time here had taught her to play the game, rather than retaliate like a fool.
“Fine, you have a deal,” Stella said, her eyes narrowed as they met Ophelia’s. “Let's see if someone like you can hold up your end of the bargain.”
“Don’t worry, I will.” Ophelia chuckled softly. “I don’t mind taking my obedient pet for a walk outside, if she can behave, of course.”
“…” Stella stayed quiet as her brows furrowed with disgust.
From then on, Stella attended the private classes alongside other young Chevaliers. The first half of the day was spent in the library, receiving lessons from Professor Oliver, one of the most renowned tutors of Northland. He was considered a genius in his year and became the youngest graduate ever to earn the title of professor from the Academy. His waiting list was endless, and it came down to who had enough fortune to pay for his time and to move up the priority list.
“Stella, you’ve made many mistakes in your last assessment,” Oliver said sternly as he slid the paper across the table toward her. It was covered with red notations and comments. “You’ll redo the entire thing until you can get it right.”
“…Understood.”
Day after day, she was given an absurd amount of reading and assessments to complete. On top of that, the professor clearly had it out for her, nitpicking every mistake she made, no matter how small they were. The way he treated Stella and other Chevaliers was night and day. While the others received constant praise and encouragement, Stella received nothing but criticism and extra work.
“She has been scolded by Professor Oliver again,” one of the younger cousins, a boy, whispered to another. “Is she really that dumb?”
“I bet,” the young boy replied. “I heard that she has a lot of catching up to do compared to the rest of us.”
“I also heard rumors that she’s a pampered daughter who avoids studying most of the time.” Another cousin chimed in. “She should be ashamed of herself for being less intelligent than the rest of us.”
At another table, the youngsters kept themselves busy gossiping about Stella. Countless bizarre rumors had been circulating among them about Stella’s lack of education. Of course, the Albrecht alpha heard every one of them, since none of them had made any effort to keep their talk discreet. But she couldn’t care less.
Rumors were simply rumors, since none of them had any idea what she was forced to study. The textbooks and assessments the professor gave her were exceedingly advanced for her level. She recalled seeing her older half-sister, Blake Albrecht, studying these exact texts during her final year at the Academy. The professor knew this was beyond her level yet made her do it anyway.
At this rate, Stella felt as though she was bullied rather than taught.
In the latter half of the day, she endured arduous sword training in the training grounds led by Captain Jayson, one of the senior knights from the Knight Order of Northland. This training was exclusive to alphas and male betas of the family. As the young Chevaliers trained together on the other side of the field, Stella was left completely isolated and forced into pure physical conditioning.
“For your warm-up, you’ll run fifty laps around the field, followed by three sets of one hundred push-ups and sit-ups, and then finish with one thousand sword swings,” Captain Jayson issued the orders calmly. “Understood?”
“…Yes, sir,” Stella nodded.
That was an order. He never bothered to ask whether she could manage it. At the very least, thanks to Valens’ rigorous training Stella had gone through since childhood, her physical strength and endurance were respectable enough to keep pace with Jayson’s outrageous warm-up.
Ten laps. Twenty laps. Then thirty. The running felt endless. From head to toe, Stella was drenched in her own sweat. As she stayed focused through the training, the Chevaliers constantly ridiculed and laughed at her. They were young and presumptuous. Just because Stella was stuck doing basic conditioning, they assumed she was too inept to join them in sword training.
The black-haired alpha ignored every word that came out of their mouths and focused on finishing. By the time she completed the thousandth swing, the others had long since finished their own training and left the training ground.
“Done with your warm-up yet?” Captain Jayson approached her unhurriedly. “Grab a training sword and follow me.”
She followed him to the center of the training ground in silence. The physical conditioning, as he had said, was just a warm-up. The real training was about to begin.
For another full hour, she sparred one-on-one with the captain, who showed her no mercy, despite the fact that Stella was still only fifteen. She had received vigorous training throughout her childhood and had inherited her mother’s gift for swordsmanship, but that didn’t mean it was enough to fight the captain on equal footing. His skills and raw power far outmatched hers, and he never hesitated to strike when he found an opening. Stella lost count of how many times she fell and rose. Again, and again. This went on for a full hour without a pause.
“Is that all you’ve got?” Jayson sighed, taunting her. “Giving up already?”
“Ugh—!” Stella deflected his blade and struck back in one fluid motion.
“Better.” The captain parried her strike before finding another opening. “Don’t stop.”
By the time the session was over, Stella lost count of how many bruises she had taken from him. If this had been a real fight, she would’ve been dead several times over.
Once the torturous training ended, she still had to attend dinner with Ophelia and the family before she could find a moment of peace to herself. Ophelia’s handmaiden, Emily, was at least kind enough to bring her medical kit box stocked with bandages and ointments for her injuries. It wasn’t just bruises. Her palms and soles were covered in blisters from the training. Once she had tended to her wounds, she collapsed into bed from exhaustion, and this routine repeated five times a week.
She had to admit, it was all thanks to Ophelia.
Being busy and in pain certainly did the trick of distracting her from the Chevaliers. Her tasks had already consumed all her attention. Ophelia would regularly check her progress, ensuring her plan was successfully molding Stella into the ideal alpha she wanted.
Weekdays were days for Stella to relax, somewhat. She had no classes to attend, only her own studying. The only issue was that Ophelia refused to simply leave her alone. She insisted that the alpha stay by her side at all times while she studied in her bedchamber. On the bright side, at least Stella didn’t have to deal with Theo or the others as often. She could hardly believe she would say this, but she preferred putting up with this lunatic omega instead.
“… Can you stop staring at me?” Stella said, exhaling quietly.
She could feel a pair of green eyes fixed on her, distracting her from her studies. When she lifted her gaze to meet them, Ophelia was already lying down on the sofa across from her. For how long had she been watching Stella? Who would say? The alpha wasn’t interested in finding out.
“Why? I can’t look at my fiancée?” Ophelia asked, feigning innocence.
“It’s distracting.” Stella shot back. “I have far too much to do every week, all thanks to you.”
She knew that Ophelia was behind the special treatments she had been receiving from Professor Oliver and Captain Jayson. The pink-haired omega’s lips curved into a smile, completely unbothered.
“Are you angry with me?” Ophelia asked plainly.
“Are you seriously asking that when you already know the answer?” Stella muttered as her brows furrowed. “I’m in pain, exhausted, and angry, exactly how you wanted me to be. Happy now?”
That satisfied smile on Ophelia’s face only made the veins at Stella’s temple throb with anger. A moment later, the omega rose and approached her unhurriedly. When she was close enough, she pushed Stella by the shoulder, forcing the alpha to lie back on the couch.
“Perhaps I should reward you then?” Ophelia asked, a soft smile touching her lips.
“The best reward right now would be for you to leave me alone.” Stella shot back, still glaring.
“Hehe, you wish.” A chuckle escaped from Ophelia’s lips. “But you already know the answer.”
Stella’s pheromones shifted, turning thick and acrid the moment Ophelia closed the distance between them. None of it bothered her, though. She knew exactly how to tease and seduce an alpha with the body of an omega.
“It has been a week since I last marked you,” Ophelia said. “You know what that means.”
“…You are a disgusting woman,” Stella muttered under her breath, almost growling.
“Now, now… watch your foul mouth,” Ophelia said, reaching out to touch her neck with a possessive smile. “You’ll be a good girl and unbutton your shirt for me, won’t you? Rather than I do it myself.”
Her lavender pheromones drifted through the air, soothing her fuming alpha. She watched Stella press her lips together in frustration before undoing the first few buttons of her shirt, just enough to reveal the crook of her neck. Stella could hate her or be as angry as she wanted; Ophelia didn’t care. She knew that Stella could never refuse her.
“There,” Stella muttered. “Do your worst and get it over with .”
A claiming mark from an omega typically lasted anywhere from a few days to a week, depending on how hard they bit. Ophelia wanted everyone in the manor to know that Stella’s body belonged to her, and her alone. Whenever the mark faded, she would renew it. The omega drew closer and pulled Stella into a tight embrace, burying her face in her neck before sinking her teeth into her flesh. Stella winced, and her body tensed against it.
“—!!”
Ophelia licked her lips with satisfaction, then planted a gentle kiss on the fresh mark she had made. Stella instinctively pushed her away, unable to bear another second in her arms.
It was finally over.
On the bright side, Stella noticed that she had begun to develop tolerance to Ophelia’s pheromones. She wasn’t as helpless as she had been the first time. Still, she could never get used to physical contact with Ophelia.
She despised it.
She despised that she found Ophelia’s pheromones pleasant, soothing even. Whenever that thought crossed her mind, she would suppress it once, shutting it down, and letting herself drown in hatred instead.
“Now, you’re marked,” Ophelia said, smiling with satisfaction.
“Great. Then get away from me.” Stella buttoned her shirt back. “I need to study.”
Perhaps it was Stella’s upbringing that had taught her tolerance and patience. Despite their twisted, toxic relationship, she had no intention of stooping to their level. What’s the point of throwing insults or cursing each other? It wouldn’t change her situation. As little as Ophelia deserved it, Stella still treated her with a certain level of respect owed to a noble lady.
“Sure.” Ophelia smiled. “Since you’re being so obedient, I won’t tease you too much. Just for today.”
At least whenever Ophelia gave her word, she kept it. The omega returned to her couch and lay down, watching her fiancée study diligently.
Stella would occasionally sense a pair of eyes watching closely, and she ignored them. The young alpha gave her studies and training her undivided attention. It was the best thing she could do right now. Regardless of her resentment toward Ophelia and whatever her ulterior motive was, Stella had no intention of wasting this opportunity in front of her.
Weeks turned into months when one’s mind was kept constantly busy. Before Stella noticed how much she had grown and improved, five months had already passed.
At last, the fruits of her hard work and perseverance began to pay off.
Whatever Professor Oliver threw at her, Stella aced every single assessment without a single mistake. The man was left speechless and unable to find anything to criticize.
“…You’ve got 100% again.” Professor Oliver’s face remained stern. “It seems you’ve actually been doing your reading.”
“Of course. I’ve finished every book you assigned, and it's started to feel a little too easy,” Stella responded, wearing a quiet, confident smirk. “Could we learn something more advanced?”
Stella challenged him for harder material, leaving the man speechless for a moment. Perhaps he didn’t expect Stella to fully grasp the contents of the books he had assigned. Her improvement was significant and undeniable.
During her sparring session with Captain Jayson, she was finally able to keep pace with him for an entire time. On top of her usual training, Stella had secretly been doing extra conditioning on the weekends to build her endurance and strength. As a result, her movements and strikes had improved dramatically, and she was able to catch him off guard multiple times. Stella utilized her smaller physique to her advantage, outmatching him in speed.
“—!?”
Stella’s wooden sword stopped just before his neck, and Captain Jayson had no choice but to concede defeat. The young alpha smiled with great satisfaction, savoring the taste of victory. Had it not been for her mother, Alicia Valens, who had drilled swordsmanship into her at a young age, Stella never would have had the foundation and skills to surpass him.
“Hm, not bad,” Jayson smirked. “You’ve seemed to have improved quite a bit.”
“I’m a fast learner,” Stella responded. “Perhaps you should take me more seriously, or else you’ll find yourself on a losing streak.”
“Hah. Don’t get too cocky yet after I let you win a few times.” Jayson couldn’t hold back his laughter before he picked up his sword.
Before long, the other young Chevaliers began to notice the shift in their instructors’ attitude towards Stella. It felt as though Stella was stealing the spotlight from them instead. Both Professor Oliver and Captain Jayson had been giving Stella far more attention, since she never complained nor shied away from any challenges.
It was inevitable that it would reach the boiling point where some arrogant youngsters were unable to mind their own business, would challenge Stella to assert their dominance.
“She tried to kill my son!” a middle-aged woman exclaimed in the Marquis’s study. “Lord Chevalier, please give her the punishment she rightfully deserves!”
One of the boys, Caleb, had blatantly accused Stella of attempting murder at the training grounds earlier. It wasn’t just him. There were three boys in total, including himself, covered head to toe in dirt and bruises. After the mothers heard about their sons being wounded, they marched straight to the Marquis’s study to report Stella’s violent behavior.
What those boys conveniently excluded from their story was that it had been a three-against-one fight. It was never meant to be fair, and Stella had won by a landslide. As a result, Stella was summoned to speak and clear her name before the Marquis and Marchioness.
“Stella, care to tell me what happened at the training grounds?” Ophelia said, her arms crossed as she glanced over at her. “Do not leave any details out.”
“We’re doing our usual afternoon training, and Caleb and the other two challenged me to a duel.” Stella recounted the story calmly. “I refused at first, but they kept insisting, until it turned into three against one.”
“You’re lying! You’re trying to kill my cousins and me!” Caleb raised his voice. “Everyone saw what happened, and they’ll vouch for me that I’m telling the truth.”
These boys could say whatever they liked, since their relatives would always side with them regardless of whether they were in the right or not. Truth be told, Stella might’ve hit them harder than she had meant to; it had all happened in a span of a moment. Since they couldn’t bear to let their pride take another hit after all their boasting, they had decided to accuse Stella instead. After hearing from both parties, the Marquis still decided to punish Stella with three weeks of solitary confinement.
“This is utterly ridiculous.” The Marquis snapped at her. “I better not hear this kind of absurdity again.”
It was both a warning and a threat. Stella accepted this punishment because it could’ve been worse. On the bright side, she wouldn’t have to see anyone, including Ophelia, for the next three weeks. However, that relief was short-lived. Of course, the Chevaliers had no intention of giving her a peaceful confinement period.
Just as Stella expected, the Chevaliers found ways to make her confinement miserable by sabotaging her meals.
Now that she had been moved to the first floor temporarily, the maids were tasked with bringing her three meals a day. However, she would find needles or shards of glass hidden in her food, or find that it was covered in mold. If it wasn’t one of those, it was laced with something, just enough poison to harm, not kill. It was clear that the ones behind it were the mothers of the three boys she had beaten.
The only thing Stella trusted herself to eat was the dry, stale bread that came with each meal.
Three days passed, and she managed one proper meal a day in the morning. Thankfully, she had a private bathroom and could live on tap water since she wouldn’t dare to touch the juices they served. Whenever a servant came to bring her food, Stella could tell how they didn’t care in the slightest and seemed fully aware of the sabotage themselves.
Several days into her confinement, she heard a knock at the window.
A human silhouette lingered at the corner of the window. A figure wrapped in a thick, oversized green cloak, concealing his figure and face. A moment later, a small piece of paper slid through the window into the room. She was wary, but she decided to pick it up.
“Please open the window. I brought you food—huh?”
Stella didn’t manage to finish reading the note before her eyes shot back up to the figure, who nodded and held a basket out before her. The young alpha’s guard went up instantly. Receiving kindness from someone in Chevalier felt so foreign to her now. There was no one in this manor that she could trust. Was this another scheme to lower her guard and feed her poison?
Noticing Stella’s wariness, the figure grabbed a notebook and scribbled on it quickly, then held it up for Stella to see. It seemed Ophelia had ordered him to bring proper food to her. At that moment, Stella was able to breathe a little easier. If there were someone in the manor who didn’t want her dead yet, it would be that deranged omega.
Reluctant as she was, she opened the window and inspected the basket. The aroma of freshly baked bread quickly hit her at once, and she began to salivate out of hunger. However, she was still hesitant. How could she know if it wasn’t poisoned or hiding shards of glass?
The servant caught Stella’s expression, flipped to an empty page, and scribbled again to show her.
[There is no drug in the food. It is safe to eat.]
“My reaction is quite obvious, huh?” Stella sighed. “At least it smells good…”
Stella sniffed and tore the bread into bite-sized pieces, checking each one for anything hidden. She pressed each piece between her fingers, sniffed it again, and ate it slowly. Thankfully, it was edible so far. Stella inspected the rest the same way, taking her time until she was full.
The servant watched in silence. Not once did he try to interrupt or rush her until Stella had finished her meal. The young alpha handed the basket back to the servant as her eyes remained fixed on him. Unfortunately, she couldn’t quite see his face. Only part of his lips was visible.
“Who are you? What is Ophelia’s motive?” Stella didn’t wait for an answer before shooting another question.
He flipped to another page and wrote to explain: Ophelia was fully aware of the sabotage happening to her meals, but since she had matters to attend to, she had ordered him to bring Stella food to keep her alive through the entire duration of her confinement.
He turned the page and wrote again.
[Lady Ophelia only ordered food for today. I don’t know when the next time will be.]
“How lovely,” Stella said, her tone dripping with sarcasm. “Of course, she would just make sure I’m still alive, regardless of what state I’m in.”
What did Stella expect from that lunatic omega anyway? One moment, Ophelia seemed to care. The next, she was ready to leave her stranded and starving. As she was lost in her thoughts, the servant had already scribbled another page and was holding it up for her again.
[I can bring you food for every meal. Three times a day.]
“H-Huh?”
He explained that this was the servants’ way of showing their appreciation for Stella. Working as a servant for the Chevaliers, it was normal to be treated like an object, void of emotions. But ever since Stella had come to the manor, she had been one of the few people who treated them with kindness and respect regardless of their status as commoners.
[Not just me, a handful of us appreciate your kindness. This is the least we can do to help.]
“…But what if you get caught?” Stella questioned, worried for them. “Won’t you be severely punished?”
The servant shook his head and scribbled on the next page. So far, he had refused to speak at all, making it impossible for Stella wouldn’t be able to uncover who he was, or even his gender. It was a smart move to remain anonymous.
[Please don’t worry. We’ll make sure we don’t get caught.]
Reading those words, she wondered if this was too good to be true. What if they were all deceiving her, earning her trust only to betray her later? Only time proved that the servant wasn’t lying. She waited for the next mealtime, and true to his word, the same servant showed up with a basket of food and drinks.
From then on, Stella had three proper meals a day and found things to kill boredom. At first, the mysterious servant in a thick cloak would leave right after Stella finished eating. But after a few days, he began staying behind to keep her company. Perhaps Stella had been alone for so long that she found solace in his presence.
Over time, Stella eventually warmed up to the servant, and they would often have lighthearted exchanges through that note in his hand. It was the first time since arriving at the Chevalier estate that Stella could talk freely with someone, and simply be herself. When Stella had asked for anything special in particular, he would bring it to her.
[I thought you said they were kittens! I fed them as you asked, and I wasn’t expecting two snow leopard cubs.]
“Well, I’m glad that they’re still doing well.” Stella smiled with relief.
The young Albrecht kept one secret from everyone: the two snow leopard cubs she had stumbled upon by accident within Chevalier grounds. Snow leopards were native to the region and the symbol of Northland, but were rarely seen near human settlements. They lived mostly at high altitudes, in the snow-capped mountains. Stella believed the cubs must’ve been separated from their mother and wandered in by accident.
“Please don’t let others know about this,” Stella said. “I’m afraid the Chevaliers would turn them into scarves if they knew…”
[I promise I won’t tell a single soul.]
“Thank you.”
Despite snow leopards being officially declared as Northland’s treasure, that never stopped people from poaching them illegally for their fur and rarity. Stella feared that if the Chevaliers ever found the cubs, they wouldn’t be kept alive. Stella told the servant how she had found the cubs a couple of months ago and had been sneaking them food after sword training ever since.
“The bigger cub is Nix, and the smaller cub is Lux.”
[Nix means snow, and Lux means light, am I right? That’s a beautiful name.]
“Hehe, thanks. Nix is a boy. I’m guessing that Lux is his little sister.”
The nameless servant noticed how much more Stella smiled whenever she talked about the two cubs, and it made him smile along with her. After all, the two cubs were the only source of happiness and peace she had in this hellscape.
“The fact that both Nix and Lux allowed you to see them means that you truly have a good soul.” Stella continued. “I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you at first. I want to test whether you’re trustworthy.”
[What do you mean?]
“According to the legends, snow leopards can see into people’s souls.” Stella smiled as she explained. “If you fail their test, if they decide you’re not trustworthy, they won’t let you near them.”
The legends stated that the snow leopards of Northland received a divine blessing to see through a person’s soul, making them perfect judges of character. No human could lie before the golden eyes of the snow leopard. As for Stella, it hadn’t taken long before the cubs approached her after a few encounters. She had passed the test with flying colors. When she learned that the cubs had shown themselves to the nameless servant, she could trust him comfortably.
“Truth be told, I was extremely wary of you in the beginning,” Stella said with relief in her voice. “I’m sorry that I seemed rude.”
He shook his head and scribbled on the fresh page. He told Stella not to apologize, and she was right to be wary of him in the first place because she shouldn’t trust anyone here, both the Chevaliers and the servants.
“As my sincere apology and my thanks for your help, I have something for you.”
Stella handed the servant a special protective charm she had made. Previously, she had asked him to bring her some thick blue strings, just enough to tie the same knot charm her mother had once taught her. She owed this servant for keeping her alive through this. The least she could do was make him something to ward off misfortune.
“My mother taught me how to make Valens family’s signature charm,” Stella said. “I hope it will keep you safe and sound.”
The servant froze for a moment, then gripped the charm and pressed it close to his heart. He scribbled to write in his note, conveying how grateful he was for this gift and promising to treasure it. Then Stella heard a faint sniffle from the figure beneath the cloak, catching her off guard. Something about her gift must’ve struck somewhere deep in his heart.
“Are you crying?”
He shook his head, denying it, though the sniffle grew louder. He refused to admit it, and that made Stella smile.
“This place must’ve treated you badly too, huh?” Stella chuckled softly. “Hang in there, okay?”
“…”
“Promise me that you’ll leave this terrible place when you can. Don’t let yourself be imprisoned like me.” Stella continued with a quiet exhale. “When you’re feeling down, just think of me. They treated me like a prisoner, like a dog, but I never once shed a tear for them.”
He stayed quiet before giving her a firm nod. This was enough. Stella did not need to know who he was. She didn’t want to.
“I’m glad you love the charm,” Stella said. “Keep it close to yourself, and it will ward off all misfortunes.”
He nodded once more, and that was the last day of her three-week confinement period. It was also the last time they would speak to each other. Once she left this room, they would go back to being strangers, passing each other in the manor’s corridors. This was, by far, the only happy memory she had in this place. It saddened her a little, knowing that she would never learn who he was, but that was for the best. The surest way to protect his identity was never to know it at all.
All that Stella could do was wish for his safety and freedom from this prison.