Every night, the young king had a different woman, yet not a single one of them lived to see the dawn. To avoid provoking
his wrath, every noble family was required to send him their daughter.
This continued until one day, the illegitimate daughter of one of the neighboring rulers entered his chambers. The
following morning, the entire palace was seized by horror when everyone learned what had happened that night.
The young King Adrian carried a terrible secret that the entire kingdom spoke about only in whispers. Every night, a new
young woman was brought to his chambers, and every morning the servants carried out her body covered with a white
sheet. No one knew what happened behind those closed doors because everyone who entered the royal bedchamber
after sunset was never able to tell the truth.
The people lived in constant fear. To avoid the ruler’s anger, every noble family was required to send one of their
daughters to him. Some tried to flee, others hid their daughters in monasteries, but the king’s soldiers found them all. If a
family refused to obey the order, their property was confiscated and the men were thrown into prison.
The strangest part was that no wounds were ever found on the bodies. The young women simply seemed to fall asleep
and never wake up again. The royal physicians were baffled, while Adrian would only coldly say:
“That was simply their fate.”
Several years later, it became the neighboring kingdom’s turn. The elderly ruler remained silent for a long time before
unexpectedly ordering that a young woman, whose existence almost no one at court knew about, be brought before him.
She was his illegitimate daughter, Elisa.
She had grown up far from the palace, received an excellent education, and had extensive knowledge of herbs, poisons,
and medicines because she had spent many years assisting an old healer in a small village.
Her father looked at her with guilt in his eyes.
“I cannot refuse. If I do, thousands of people will die.”
Elisa nodded calmly.
“Don’t worry. I’ll do everything I can to come back.”
That evening, she was escorted into the luxurious royal chambers. The king sat on a massive bed, staring at her with an
unpleasant smile.
“My guests usually cry,” he said with a smirk.
“And do your guests usually know what’s waiting for them?” Elisa asked calmly.
The king laughed.
“Brave. I like that.”
The servants closed the heavy doors behind them, leaving the two alone. The next morning, when the servants opened
the doors again, they were met with a horrifying sight. You can find the second part of our story in the first
comment.
Elisa carefully examined the room. Almost immediately, she noticed a strange sweet scent coming from the large
braziers beside the bed. She quietly stepped closer and saw that unfamiliar herbs were smoldering inside them.
“Aren’t you too warm?” she asked.
“I’ve gotten used to it long ago,” Adrian replied.
Elisa understood everything at once. The old healer had once told her about a rare plant whose smoke was almost
impossible to notice. If someone breathed it for a long time in a closed room, their heart would gradually stop while they
slept. Anyone accustomed to small doses might not notice the danger, but for everyone else, the smoke was deadly.
While the king looked away, she quietly opened a small window. Then she took a small pouch of dried mint and
wormwood from her sleeve. These herbs counteracted the effects of the poisonous smoke.
A few minutes later, Adrian suddenly turned pale.
“What… what’s happening?..”
He tried to stand, but his legs gave way beneath him.
“You’ve been breathing your own poison for far too long,” Elisa said quietly. “It’s just that until now, someone else always
died first.”
The king stared at the braziers in disbelief.
“That’s impossible…”
“It isn’t. The person who taught you this forgot to mention that the poison slowly kills the owner of the room as well.”
Elisa did not sleep for the rest of the night. She made sure the fire burned out completely and that the windows remained
open.
When the doors were opened the following morning, the entire palace froze in horror.
The king lay on the bed alive, but barely breathing. Beside him sat Elisa, calmly reading an old book.
The captain of the guard couldn’t believe his eyes.
“How… how did you survive?”
Without saying a word, Elisa pointed toward the extinguished braziers.
The royal physicians immediately examined the ashes and discovered highly poisonous plants among them. After a
lengthy investigation, it was revealed that many years earlier, the court alchemist had convinced the young Adrian that
the smoke would protect him from assassination attempts and help him sleep more deeply. In reality, he had been
bringing the deadly mixture into the palace for years, causing every young woman to die while slowly poisoning the king
himself.
The alchemist was captured later that same evening. He confessed that he had wanted to destroy the royal dynasty in a
way that no one would ever suspect.
Adrian remained silent for a long time. Then, for the first time in many years, he appeared before his people without any
guards.
“I am guilty of realizing the truth far too late,” he said quietly. “And I will carry that burden for the rest of my life.”
From that day forward, the horrifying tradition was abolished forever, and the families who had lost their daughters
received all of the alchemist’s property as well as lands belonging to the Crown.