"Have mercy on me, Your Majesty..." Naomi cried as the guards tied her hands behind her back, with one of them holding her legs.
"This is a great honor for you, Naomi," the king said with a grin before tossing his discarded clothes to the side. "The King of Corohelia will have you."
In the middle of the night, in the quiet forest, and in front of Trevor, who could do nothing but utter his ex-wife's name, Naomi's nightmare began. Alexander claimed her repeatedly until he grew tired of her.
Once he was finished, Alexander left his perch with a satisfied smile, which was the complete opposite of Naomi's expression. She couldn't stop crying throughout the living nightmare she was enduring.
"P-Please release Trevor, Your Majesty..." Naomi pleaded, her voice trembling. "You said you wouldn't harm him—"
Naomi didn't finish her sentence due to what happened next. Alexander swiftly took a sword from a guard and cut Trevor's throat. Blood flowed from his neck, some of it even splattering onto Naomi's face.
"N-Naomi..." Trevor managed to say while staring at her.
With each word he uttered, blood gushed from his mouth. Naomi could only respond with tears before Trevor finally passed away.
"Trevor! Trevor!" she cried.
Her eyes widened in disbelief at the turn of events. Just a while ago, they were happily talking about Ella, but now, Trevor was lying lifeless and bloody in front of her.
"Why would I keep my rival alive?" the king said with a grin as he wiped his sword with his expensive clothing. "I'm not a fool, Naomi."
"You monster!"
Even though Naomi was lying down and defenseless, she couldn't help but shout those words. She had thought the king was kind and always cared for his people, but it turned out to be all a facade. 
This was the true nature of the king she had once admired. His conscience was like a demon's.
"You have no right to be a king with an attitude like that!"
Those words seemed to hurt Alexander deeply. His patience had run out.
The man kneeled in front of Naomi and pulled her up. He drew the sharp edge of his sword to her neck. "The blood of the future kings of Corohelia flows through me, and there's nothing you can do about it. Even your child."
"I won't agree!" Naomi yelled. "Just kill me!"
Alexander raised an eyebrow and then pressed the sword against her throat. She felt afraid, but after recalling the king's abuse towards her, her eyes darkened. Naomi no longer cared if the king would use his sword to end her.
However, that didn't happen. Instead of the sword, the king's lips met Naomi's. He gently kissed her lips and lightly sucked on the skin of her neck.
"You won't die until I say so," the king said in a seemingly deranged manner. "You're mine, Naomi. You're mine."
DECEMBER 22, 2016
Naomi was closely guarded by the king's guards in that abandoned house. She endured three days of fear and anticipation whenever the king arrived to do whatever he pleased with her.
She wanted to seek help, so when she had the chance to send a letter, she did so immediately. She knew her daughter was still young, but she had no other option. She wrote a letter and sent it to Fortelle's place.
Unexpectedly, it wasn't Ella who received the letter; it was Anastasia.
"Mom," Anastasia softly called to Elizabeth when she read the letter. "Is this true?"
"Tsk. Where did it come from?" Elizabeth irritably asked before snatching the letter from Anastasia's hand. "Naomi? How audacious of her to send a letter here—"
She didn't finish her sentence as she read what was written. The letter detailed what happened to Trevor, Naomi's rape, and her imprisonment.
"Dad is reportedly dead..." Anastasia whispered. Tears began to fall slowly from her eyes.
"Toss it away!" Elizabeth ordered. "If it's indeed the king who did that to them, we can't interfere! We can't risk ruining our lives like theirs!"
"What about Cinderella?" Anastasia asked.
She might not like Cinderella, but she knew how much pain she would feel if she found out about these events.
Losing a father was painful for her, how much more for Cinderella?
"She mustn't find out about this, and she doesn't need to know," Elizabeth seriously said. "Naomi will die there, I'm sure of it. Cinderella will stay here as our helper. She'll be here for the rest of her life because no one is coming back for her."
Anastasia didn't respond right away. She was still a child at that time, so she found it difficult to understand everything, but she simply nodded.
She had no idea that she had become an accomplice to Elizabeth's cruelty at that moment.
DECEMBER 24, 2016
Five days had passed, and Naomi hadn't received any news about the letter she had sent. She had hoped that knights would come to rescue her, but none had arrived.
She was sure Ella hadn't received her letter because if she had, Ella would do everything to help her.
She sat quietly on the floor, leaning against the wall. She had lost her will to live. Breathing had become difficult for her. Naomi wanted to let go, but she always remembered Ella. Ella had lost her father, and she would be even more pitiful if she lost her mother too.
"I'll fight," she whispered to herself, just as the door suddenly creaked open, a sign that someone had entered the room.
"M-My King—"
She didn't finish what she was about to say when she realized it was someone else. That person quickly approached her and gagged her with a white cloth. 
And compared to the king, what this person did to her was far worse.
DECEMBER 25, 2016
The room was well-lit, but Naomi only saw darkness. She was utterly exhausted. She couldn't go on living, so in her right hand, she held a knife aimed at her pulse.
No one would save her except herself... and in this way, she could save herself from the darkness.
Soft sobs filled the room as the knife slowly pierced her skin, down to her veins. She bit her lower lip as she felt intense pain, but despite that, she was happy that this would be the last time she’d feel pain like this.
“I’ll just guide you in the afterlife, my child…”
CINDERELLA SCREAMED and jumped out of bed, clutching her head as she remembered the horrible dream she had earlier. With every passing second, the thought of what had happened to her parents at the hands of the king tore her head apart.
Her tears wouldn't stop, and it felt as if a thousand knives were stabbing at her heart. She wanted to go mad. She wanted to slam her head against the wall, but she couldn't move.
"I'll guide you, child." She heard Naomi's voice again. "Use my power. Avenge our deaths.”
In a few moments, black and red smoke surrounded her entire body. It swirled from her legs, thighs, arms, and quickly entered her mouth and nostrils.
"Ah!" she cried out loudly, and then she felt both of her hands clutching her throat.
She couldn't breathe properly because the smoke seemed to consume all the air in her body. Her skin also turned pale, and she fell back on the bed, losing consciousness.
Silence prevailed in the room during those hours. When Cinderella opened her eyes, she seemed like a different person. Her eyes were now red, and her hair had a reddish tint.
But that wasn't the only thing she noticed. Her senses were heightened—her hearing and her sense of smell. She could hear her step siblings and stepmother gossiping as they entered their house.
"You're amazing, my child!" Elizabeth said with delight, pinching Anastasia's cheeks, while Dasha was opening the door. "We'll finally be rich!"
Anastasia just smiled in response. She was indeed lucky because she managed to snatch some shoes from a dazed and confused guard that night.
When Dasha entered the house, her face contorted. "Why is it so messy here?!"
Elizabeth and Anastasia also came in and had the same reaction when they saw that it seemed like a strong storm had passed through their living room.
"Cinderella is still locked up, right?" Dasha asked with a puzzled expression. "Then why is our house like this?"
Anastasia quickly went to the basement to check if Cinderella was still there. "You witch! What now—"
She was about to scold Cinderella, but she didn't finish her sentence when she saw that the situation inside the basement was worse than in their living room.
"Oh, it's you," Cinderella said with a smile as she licked the blood on the knife she held. "I've been waiting for you."