This was such a cute chapter! Wait till Dinah finds out who it is who got rejected! Next up, the day of the banquet!
The underground library is cold. It’s somewhere around evening, I can guess. I’ve been coming to the underground library after the Empress lets me go after accompanying her the whole day. I lean back against a bookshelf, my head hurting like something ran over it. Tomorrow is the banquet. Right
“My talents are wasted in this place!” I frown, but not really. I’m too happy to care about anything else right now. Something soft touches my face, and my eyes fly to Zen. He’s pulled a small handkerchief from his pocket, and is holding it to my nose. “Your nose is bleeding, My Lady.” He says, tu
“You’re exhausted, My Lady.” Zen says, and I realize he just flicked my forehead Well, I didn’t have much for lunch, and we did go to lots of places with the Empress today. So I suppose, I am a bit over the limit. The nose bleed did have a reason for it after all. The excitement of my discovery rea
“Lady Dinah, wake up!” “Hng, go away.” I drag the covers over my face Someone rips them away. That makes my eyes finally open, my head hazy with sleep. I look up to find a barrage of people standing over me. Alarm makes all traces of sleep vanish from my head. “There’s no time!” Mesilla says, ta
The other maids set the boxes on a table, and open one of them to reveal yards and yards of pristine white silk. The dress is minimalistic, with detailed golden embroidery at the sleeveless neckline and waist, where the dress cinches in a style above and below the bust, then flows down gently to the
Food table… you’re my own hope right now… Someone steps in my way. I stop abruptly, and have to stop myself from taking a step back. My eyes travel all the way up to the person who has the guts to step in my way that sharply, with all intentions of making me stumble back. As I look up, I’m struck
Could anyone tell I had no idea what was going on? Have I made a fool of myself? Man, I wanna go home already. But I can’t do that. So instead, I pick up the first glass that isn’t filled with wine, and pretend to be the cool, mysterious person who doesn’t need to engage with others. Fortunately,
In the end, I can’t help the sheepish bit of laughter that leaves my mouth. Oh what the heck. I’ve embarrassed myself already, there’s no point in trying to look cool now. “Thank you. Josephine is simply too kind.” “So I’m reminded every day.” Lord Haraldsen turns to look at his soulmate with the
I barely manage to find a waste bucket before everything I had for breakfast retches out. My throat burns. My vision is blurry. I dry heave every single thing in my stomach, warmth seeps out of the corners of my eyes. I can’t breathe. The smell of blood is everywhere. I sit there, holding the edges
The smell of rotting flesh is disgusting. Its muscle memory to pull the gloves over my hands, pick a scalpel off the medical tray. The body on the metal table in front of me has no head. ‘You have to take a sample of flesh, a sample of blood and take a look at the internal organs.’ Aunt Cynthia’s
How adorable. Apparently, I’m the only one who thinks so, since when I turn back around, everyone from the fourth prince and the first order to passing strangers and our coachman is looking on in disbelief. Is it so difficult to imagine Zen would get along with children? “Don’t leave your mouth ha
“My Lady, am I mistaken or is the fourth prince avoiding me?” I look up from knotting the satchel to my belt to face Zen. There’s a slight furrow in his brows, and he looks at Lukas, standing far, far from us and talking with the first order soldiers. The fourth prince has indeed, been avoiding Ze
I need to move. But even as I think that, I cant bring myself to move. He’s holding me too firmly, I think, entirely reasonable. I won’t be able to slip away like this. Even the most critical part of me can’t find that to be entirely an excuse. After last night, I doubt there’s anyone who would lik
I wake up to the sound of a door knock. My sleep hazed brain registers the sound, recognizes it, and promptly ignores it in favor of cuddling into the warmth of my bed once more. I don’t want to wake up just yet, since last night I fell asleep so late— Last night? My eyes open, blurry with sleep,
But he’s looking at me now, as if the answer might crush him, as if he’s bracing himself for it. I reach out to drape my arms over his shoulders gently, they hang down in front of his chest lightly. “Why? Because you did your job?” I ask quietly, hold his gaze “Or because you didn’t hesitate to do
“Lift your arm, please.” I say, and my voice comes out soft If we weren’t sitting so close to each other, I would’ve missed it. His shoulders tense up, the even breathing stilled into nothing. “You don’t have to do that, Dinah.” Zen finally says My brows furrow. Zen might be a warrior among warri
On the second floor hallway of the hotel, my eyes drift to the room where Zen is supposed to be. My room is just at its side. I wonder if I knock on his door right now, would he be annoyed? He did ask not to be disturbed. The image of his bloodied arm flashes in my mind. Just a moment. I just want