More than a month has passed since Alistair left. The early summer heat could be felt in the wind that seeped through the window. After having my breakfast, Alfons, the butler of Star Palace informed me that my scumbag father was looking for me.
I couldn't hold a tired sigh that left my mouth at the news.
Why the hell is he summoning me again? It's already the fifth time he summoned me since Alistair left for the war.
Our meeting always ended up with our little banter. Honestly I was wondering how I still had my head intact with the amount of cussing I did to him.
But gosh, I just couldn't help it. He's really good at pissing me off. At this rate, I'm worried that I'd end up having a high blood pre
Maria arrived at the southern border today. To start the journey, the envoy is meeting at the outskirts of the capital. Since the empire is so large that it's a place that would take forever to reach on foot, the entire personnel decided to use the gate to cross over.Because of the announcement that they would gather in the outskirts of the capital and depart, they were moving in a carriage in front of the temple. As they went along, more and more people could be seen gathered outside from the window.Looking at the knights standing upright in line, the color contrast was enough to easily distinguish between the White Eagle Knights and the Black Viper Knights. The white and gold colored uniforms of the White Eagle and the black and navy colored uniforms of the Black Viper Knights gave off different feelings.
The emperor held a charity ball to celebrate the opening of the new established academy and orphanage. There'd be a lot of nobles in attendance and as the founder of this establishment, I'd be the center of attention in this ball.Honestly it baffled me when the scumbag first told me about this. I mean, he was the one who told me to live quietly. But then, he suddenly changed his mind just like that.Gosh, he's so fickle. He's really worse than a woman on their period. Tsk...Anyway, thanks to the success of the orphanage and academy, now Bella's name has become a hot topic among the people of the empire. They talked about my benevolent, intelligence, and showered me with a lot of praise.
"Welcome, Your Royal Highness," Albert greeted me brightly. "His Majesty is waiting for you in his office.""Okay. Thanks, Sir Albert," I said cheerfully, matching the man's energy. Then, I turned to Osiris behind me. There were also several maids and knights. "Just wait here. I want to talk alone with His Majesty."All the servants bowed to me. It seemed like I earned a new respect from the palace worker after my successful debut in society."As you wish, Your Royal Highness."I just smiled at them before I entered the emperor's office.Emperor Frederick's office was as bland and as boring as his personality. Of course, it still looked luxurious. But
Darkness fell upon the land as the sun drifted off into the night. It was very late at night when I suddenly jolted awake from my sleep.I woke up as if it's an emergency. My heart beats fast and there is a buzzing in my brain. My hand flew to my throbbing chest, gripping it tightly as I gasped for air.I noticed a small stain of tears on the pillow, a trace from when I unconsciously cried in my sleep.It had been quite some time since I last had a nightmare. I guess I had too much stress these past few days.I sighed as I covered my face with my hands. I wanted to brush it off as a mere dream, just like usual. But for some reason, there's something different about it this time. Somehow, it felt more real than
"It's the first princess. Open the gate," one of the guard knights instructed.It was the same with the last gate. The iron gate to the royal cemetery that never budges under the name of the emperor was opened.I stepped into the cemetery with Osiris and Elle who were following close behind me. Osiris was holding three bouquets of lilac flowers in both hands. According to Elle, it was Empress Meredith's favorite flower.Come to think of it, after coming here, I've never visited Bella's mother's grave even once.But after witnessing the last vision from Bella's diary, I just had this sudden urge to come here. Well, I should've paid my respect sooner. I didn't know why it took me this long to come he
"I'm going!""No," Emperor Frederick replied firmly. "It wasn't even a big deal.""Don't try to dumbing down the news to me," I scoffed. "I have ears, Your Majesty. I have heard about the surprise attack."Yesterday, there was sudden news from the battle field about a surprise attack from the Soma Kingdom. They used a new weapon called mana bomb and since the empire soldiers never expected that the enemies would use bombs, the attack was successful. As a result, a lot of soldiers were injured. But the number of healers were so limited and the magic potion they brought won't be enough to treat all the casualties.After hearing the news, the emperor was planning to send a healer reinforcements. But due to the upcoming
"Can you say that again? I think I misheard something," I asked in surprise. "You wanted to give me your own personal guard just to escort me to the battlefield? Are you sure you're not sick, Your Majesty?""You're an imperial princess," Emperor Frederick said. "Since your life is at risk while assisting the war, you should at least bring that much escort."Osiris, who was sitting beside me, almost scowled upon hearing that. Recently he became more blunt and he expressed his feelings more freely. I guess I'm really rubbing off on him. The good thing was, he also started opening up and getting along with others too."It's not because you're not adequate as a knight, Osiris," Sir Albert said to Osiris kindly.Ah
The number of casualties was much larger than I expected. What worse was, the priests already exhausted their divine power to the point that there's nothing much they could do at this point. They also didn't have enough potions and there was a limit to what a doctor without healing abilities could do.It was painful listening to the moans of the soldiers who were dying without a chance to return home.I looked around as I headed toward the tent with the injured soldiers. The atmosphere was very heavy. I could see priests in disheveled white robes were in and out of the tent.I continued to look around as I followed Alistair until we arrived in front of the medical tent. I made eye contact with one of the soldiers. It was the soldier guarding the medical tent.&
"My lady, aren't you excited that we'll finally be going back to the capital?" May asked me cheerfully as she put the last luggage on the wagon.It was finally the day of our departure. Everyone seemed to be rejoiced by the fact that they could finally see their loved one back at home. But me, I would have a lot of things to sort out as soon as I was back. So I was restless.I’ve been thinking a lot about this and as a result I barely got any sleep last night."Hoahm… Yeah."I stretched my arms as I yawned while gazing at the beautiful jewel-blue stream in front of me. The water seeping and snaking smoothly past all obstacles. Twigs twirled on its murmuring surface, little messengers from the moun
Once we officially received not only the white flag from Soma’s army, but also the official declaration of surrender bearing the seal of their king, it was only then that we could truly enjoy the celebration.Everyone who’d participated in the war was saying that it felt like a dream, that everything had been one big, happy, continuous dream ever since the day of the miracle. Which naturally brought their attention back to me, and they’d run to express deep gratitude yet again. I’d try to hide behind Alistair or Osiris who usually only chuckled at me, or even Isadore sometimes, but he’d usually thwart my plans and step aside while exclaiming, "It’s all thanks to you, princess!", so I stopped doing that.And now for the last big celebration, aside from our own personnel, we even invited some o
"You put that curse on me?" I asked, now wary of the God. "Are you saying that you're the one who started this whole tragedy slash drama slash misunderstanding?""Not on you directly, but yes, I did," he had an obvious guilty expression plastered on his beautifully majestic face."Gosh, I swear if you're not a God, I'd have choked you to death already," I snarled viciously."It was never my intention to make your life miserable," he replied, ignoring my harsh words."Sure, like I'd believe that," I said mockingly while rolling my eyes at him. "But carry on, my lord."The God let out a deep sigh before he continued. "I used to be an obnoxious God
"Belladonna.""Nana.""Nana."I woke up, startled. I had heard my name being called again and again. I opened my eyes."Lord Arche?" I was about to get up but my head was ringing, I felt dizzy."Are you alright?" Lord Arche asked.I squinted to look at him, because my head hurt. But I propped myself up slowly. "I am fine now.""I'm sorry that you're in pain. I didn't know you would hurt that much when I gave you the blessing earlier," he said.I was about t
"I can't believe we'd get to see this place before we go back to the palace," I told Alistair excitedly as he helped me get down from the horse."You said you want to see this temple, so I thought, why not?" He gave me a cheeky smile which didn’t match his elegant face.Well, anyway, Alistair was completely healed from his injury so we could move on with the schedule.Tomorrow we'd have a celebration party with the soldiers and some of the local lords. Then the day after tomorrow we'd depart to the imperial palace. So we figured if we wanted to see this place, tonight was the best time.At night it was pretty dark and unnoticed, but as Priestess Elena told me, behind the lake, there were signs of a build
"You’re awake," his calm voice really didn’t match the situation right now, so it only triggered my temper to flare up even more."This crazy bastard…" With the rushing anger of wanting to flip this whole shit upside down I wrapped my fingers around his neck and started strangling him. "...is that what you are supposed to say in this situation? Hah… Maybe I should strangle you myself and see if you can finally come to your senses…""Miss Bella, please calm yourself…" Maria tried to pull me from strangling Isadore."What the hell are you saying? Calm my ass! This fucking lunatic really need to be taught a lesson," I snapped at Maria who looked shock at hearing my colorful vocabulary.
When I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was the familiar ceiling of the barracks. For some reason, my subconscious expected to see a sterile white ceiling of a hospital, but instead I came across something that was familiar to my eyes, so I felt a bit taken aback....Wait. I’m sure I saw the barracks burn down?I sat up in a flash. Since I just woke up, I hadn’t yet shaken off a dreamy haze, but I quickly looked around and tried to take in my surroundings.The ceiling itself is familiar because everyone uses the same canopies, but the inside structure of the barracks felt strange. It’s more narrow than the previous tent I used with Alastair.I co
"Bella! Did you not sleep well again today?" Osiris asked me with an obvious concern in his voice.I haven't been able to sleep well recently since I had a lot of things on my mind. Especially after Isadore found out about the secret. So, I couldn't help but be on edge even though he hadn't done anything yet.I also couldn't bring myself to tell Alistair. At least for now, since he seemed to be preoccupied with the war. He barely slept in the barrack and he looked so tired. So I didn't want to burden him even more.What was worse was, the horrifying image of the bloodied soldier whom I saw at Isadore's barrack kept haunting me. Then three days ago, I saw someone literally dying and died right before me with my own two eyes for the first time in my life. He was neither
With his body buried deep on the chair, Isadore put his arm on the table. He played with the chess pieces which were standing there as he looked at it with a bored stare.Tuk, tuk, tuk.But he had only one thought in his mind. The crown prince and his Bella weren't blood related and they seemed to develop a romantic relationship.Honestly even without knowing that fact, Isadore already could guess that there's something fishy about them, especially the crown prince. His eyes, whenever he looked at Bella, it wasn't an expression aimed at his sister, but an eyes that were aimed on his favorite opposite sex.He didn't understand why, but somehow the thought of the two of them being together gave hi