Chapter 11. Dazzling Light

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A ladybug landed on Marienne’s nose bridge as she slept among the flowers. As it wobbled and crawled, Marienne wrinkled her nose bridge and woke up. The startled ladybug fluttered away from her blinking brown eyes.

Somewhere in the sprawling ravine of Nucria. Opening her eyes, Marienne watched the birds crossing the blue sky.

The grass pricking her cheeks, the closed Nucria flower buds, and the Duke who held her as he slept.

The amazing events of last night flashed by quickly.

Marienne clenched and unclenched her ten fingers that had become perfectly normal.

Was it a dream?

How did such an amazing thing happen to me?

She turned her head to stare at the white withered flower buds.

Where were they trying to take them?

Why wasn’t she afraid when her body turned into flower petals and disappeared?

Who am…… I?

As she raised her hand to touch the flower, thick male fingers intertwined with hers.

Nigel’s hand, healed by yesterday’s kiss, showed bloodstains but no wounds.

Nigel interlaced his fingers with Marienne’s and pulled her hand down to him.

“Don’t go.”

Marienne held her breath at the voice from behind her.

Nigel embraced her from behind and buried his face in her red hair.

“Our contract isn’t over yet.”

His arms imprisoned Marienne as she nodded.

“What happened to me last night? Am I a witch? What if I’m a monster? I’m suddenly scared of myself.”

Marienne turned around to face Nigel.

“It must have been terrifying and difficult whenever you had seizures. I wish I had been there with you. Please forgive me for arriving so late.”

Nigel stroked her hair.

“Don’t worry. You’re different from me. That darkness doesn’t suit you.”

Not a single part of you exists untouched by divine blessing.

You are purely dazzling light, Marienne.

Nigel held her tightly.

* * *

“Your Highness, are you awake?”

The maids wiped the princess’s face and limbs with soft cloth dipped in warm water.

Three maids moved busily around the princess as she sat up straight.

They powdered the cheeks, neck, and lifted bosom of the woman called the Empire’s Star.

They also applied perfume oil to her pulse points and carefully adorned her with jewels chosen by the princess.

Wearing a peach-colored satin dress, the princess looked completely out of place in this inn room on the outskirts of Rockshield.

“Bring that girl.”

As the maid left, the princess checked her groomed appearance in the mirror.

If not for the accident with the carriage wheel getting stuck, she wouldn’t have stopped at this inn.

When she arrived at the inn under guard escort, the princess saw the flag hung on the roof.

The fluttering banner with Bernac’s lion crest.

It was the innkeeper’s sign indicating they wouldn’t accept more guests due to a noble’s visit, but the princess quickly walked in and threw open the door.

That was last night.

The joy of meeting the Duke was brief; in front of his and his bella’s room, the princess had to endure cruelty.

“Your Highness, I’ve brought her.”

Bell entered the room nervously rolling her eyes and immediately prostrated herself before the princess. Her body trembled violently.

“You’re a maid of House Bernac. How long have you worked?”

“About 8 years.”

“That’s long enough to have developed a brain to understand how things work.”

Bell swallowed hard with her parched throat.

Unlike common people, the princess inherited noble blood.

Wasn’t her father the Son of the Sun God who transcended humanity?

Bell tried not to faint before this noble person whose shadow she dared not touch.

Thud, a pouch was thrown in front of Bell.

Yellow gold coins spilled from the opened mouth.

Bell raised her head to look up at the princess.

“Yes. Look carefully. This is the master you’ll serve from now on.”

“I don’t understand what you mean……”

“You’re more foolish than you look. Or are you pretending not to understand to mock me?”

“That’s not it! Please forgive me!”

Ignoring the whimpering voice, the princess opened her fan. Meanwhile, she spread her other hand to examine how the sepia ring looked.

The princess instructed the guards at the door.

“If this child’s answers to my questions are unsatisfactory, I’ll call you, and each time break one finger. When there are none left intact……”

Creating dimples as she held the fan to her chin, the princess said cheerfully.

“Cut off her wrist.”

The princess smiled sweetly at Bell as if crushing an insect for fun.

“But if you become a faithful dog, I’ll treat you well.”

Rising from her chair, the princess pressed her shoe on the pouch in front of Bell. Then she pushed it to the corner.

“What are you doing? You should fetch it.”

“Yes! Yes, Your Highness!”

As Bell tried to get up awkwardly, the princess said.

“Didn’t I tell you to be a dog? You should crawl on all fours and fetch it with your mouth. What was this child’s name again?”

When the maid told her the name, the princess snorted.

“My! Even your name is just like a dog’s.”

Bell crawled toward the pouch, shedding tears.

Much later, the princess finished all her questions and rose from her seat.

Bell lay collapsed like dead, clutching her grotesquely bent fingers.

As the guards dragged Bell out, the maids hurriedly opened the windows.

They tried to regain their composure while secretly breathing in fresh air away from the princess’s notice.

How could the cruel blood of House Cruneau go anywhere else?

He was an emperor who, upon ascending the throne, not only massacred his siblings but also beheaded his mother’s relatives one after another.

It was blood that could turn as wicked as a snake when faced with their own safety and desires.

The maid resolved to quickly find a groom and escape this dreadful imperial palace.

“So the Duke was deceived. And by a commoner woman at that. Such an innocent man. Both His Majesty and him, why are they so obsessed with healing power? I was worried when I heard the Duke had a bella, but it was her ability he wanted. With His Majesty keeping the priests so strictly, it must be frustrating. A personal healer for a knight, wouldn’t that be useful in many ways?”

“Indeed, Your Highness. Your words are correct.”

The princess rose from her seat and left the room.

She stood in front of the Duke’s room and ordered her maid to open the door.

Hector, who was just coming up the stairs, tried to rush forward angrily but the vice commander stopped him.

“That’s Her Highness the Princess. Act carefully.”

“But!”

“It’s not too late to watch and then act.”

“So what if they’re from the imperial family, they can’t insult House Bernac like this. If the Commander had seen this, he would never have stayed quiet!”

“Shut your mouth, Hector.”

“Where on earth did the Commander go!”

Vice Commander Benwick lamented the absence of Aaron Ballock, who was skilled in such situations.

The Lion Knights positioned themselves around the princess’s guards.

To enter their lord’s bedchamber so brazenly… Even with ironclad authority, this was going too far.

Benwick’s mood was turning as dark as the other knights’.

The princess’s gaze swept around the room and stopped at the woman’s nightclothes hung on the screen.

As she was about to turn away with twisted lips, she noticed cloth pieces in a basket.

She lifted up a lace-trimmed handkerchief with her folded fan.

“How cute.”

The handkerchief fluttered to the floor.

While stepping on it with her shoe, the princess went to the side table and grabbed Nigel’s leather gloves.

Ten years, she hadn’t seen him for ten revolutions of the sun.

The princess pressed her lips to the gloves in her hand.

A person she missed desperately, a perfect man God created for the Empire and herself.

“The Commander is here!”

The knights who had been watching the princess’s actions through the open door rushed down the stairs, seizing their chance.

As the burly men ran down together, the wooden stairs creaked and dust flew everywhere.

“Commander!”

“My lord!”

As Nigel entered the inn, the knights including the vice commander rushed to him.

Nigel separated Marienne from the men and moved her behind his back.

After sharply examining the knights’ faces, Nigel asked the vice commander.

“What’s going on?”

“Well, about that……”

One careless slip of the tongue that disturbs his lord’s mood could strain their already precarious relationship with the imperial family.

Benwick carefully considered his words, exercising utmost caution.

Unable to contain himself any longer, Hector burst out.

“Her Highness the Imperial Princess just broke into the Commander’s room without permission! After hurting Miss Rose’s dedicated maid!”

Benwick’s bewildered gaze fixed on Hector’s blabbering mouth.

“Did something happen to Bella? What do you mean by Imperial Princess?”

At the mention of Bell, Marienne, who had been standing behind Nigel, stepped forward decisively.

Mere knights couldn’t intervene in an incident caused by the Imperial Princess’s orders.

However, they couldn’t feel righteous about having ignored a young maid’s screams either.

The knights fidgeted and avoided Marienne’s gaze.