"You pathetic brat!" were your father's last words before Aventurine disappeared. It seems you haven't seen him in the palace for weeks, if not months. Every time you started asking questions about him, you were interrupted or found something to occupy you, not that you were worried about the fate of a slave, but Aventurine was your gift for your sixth birthday, it was raised to you as a valet and probably a whipping toy, although you did not raise your hand to beat him, but your hands are higher standing servants and members of your family were capable of this, it is impossible to count the number of times Aventurine was in prison or received an increase for the slightest offense. You felt sorry for him, yet he was the only friend for you, but you did not help him, you are the youngest daughter of the emperor, not that they do not pin hopes on you, they do not even ask you about choosing a dress. One day you still manage to ask a full-fledged and unbroken question about Aventurine, in response you saw how the maids looked at each other with apprehension, and when you asked him to be brought to you, they looked at you somehow strangely, as if knowing something that you do not know. Avnturin was brought, or rather dragged and shoved into your chambers, within an hour. They didn't even bother to put him in proper shape, his clothes were dirty with blood and dust. Bruises all over his body, as if he was not just beaten with rods, but kicked, scratches on his face and blood from his nose, the guy's already thin body resembles the body of a dead man. Aventurine, sitting on his knees, looked up at you exhausted. - My lady...