As he placed down the empty cup, Dietrian slowly exhaled.
He tried to stay calm, but it was not easy to steady his heart. It was harder because Josephina continued to stay by Leticia’s side.
“Leticia, try this cookie too.”
The Holy Maiden smiled gently and leaned towards Leticia, whispering something to her with a smile, as if showing off her affection.
His nerves were on edge. On the surface, they looked like a very affectionate mother and daughter, but it was obvious. She must have been whispering terrible things.
Now he understood all the actions the Holy Maiden had taken at the central temple. The reason why she suddenly tried to heal Leticia.
‘She was trying to make sure I didn’t recognize her.’
Because if he had recognized her, he would have noticed all the truth.
That Leticia is not the beloved daughter of the Holy Maiden. That all the rumors about her were false.
‘More precisely, she wanted me to hate her.’
Two days ago, while looking at the tightly closed castle gate, there was something he couldn’t understand.
Why Josephina was doing this, being so cruel to the man who was to marry her beloved daughter.
He thought she was mocking him because she was confident that he would never touch her daughter.
But it wasn’t. She wanted everyone to hate Leticia, to make her live the rest of her life in pain.
‘Now is not the time to get angry.’
Dietrian exhaled deeply, clenching his fist tightly. There was absolutely no benefit in getting angry now.
It was best to deceive the Holy Maiden until he could safely get her out of the empire.
‘First, find a way to separate those two.’
However, that didn’t mean he could tolerate everything.
As time passed, the hand of the Holy Maiden that was holding her arm was increasingly annoying. It was uncomfortable just to see them touching.
He decided to take her out of here, using the excuse of a palace tour, when…
“Your Majesty, I think we should end today’s tea party here.”
Josephina smiled cunningly, closing her purple eyes.
“Leticia says she has been overdoing it lately and is not feeling well. Let’s say our goodbyes here and meet again at the National Marriage in two days.”
Josephina had issued a farewell command.
“Did you say, her Highness is not feeling well?”
Surprised at that statement, Dietrian looked at Leticia.
He didn’t want to believe a word the Holy Maiden said, but he couldn’t ignore her saying that Leticia was sick.
He anxiously examined Leticia’s complexion.
If only she would say a word, he could feel at ease.
But since the mention of his brother earlier, she had been silently keeping her eyes down.
“Understood.”
In the end, he had no choice but to rise from his seat, saying so. There was no excuse to stay here any longer.
As the palace servant who would guide him approached his table, Josephina’s laughter deepened. The servant spoke to Dietrian.
“Your Majesty, please follow me.”
Hearing this, he was suddenly overtaken by the urge to meet her eyes once more. Because if he leaves now, he wouldn’t see her again until two days later.
Without a second thought, Dietrian took big strides towards Leticia.
As he approached, a surprised Leticia raised her head.
A flustered Josephina leaned on the table, trying to say something.
But Dietrian was quicker.
He placed his hand on one side of his chest and slightly bowed his head.
“Before I leave, I want to say my last goodbye to Her Highness.”
Then, he gently grasped her hand on the table. The warmth touching his palm was incredibly delicate and lovely. He gently pulled her hand towards him and whispered.
“I was very happy to see you today. I look forward to the day we meet again.”
His red lips gently pressed against the back of her hand. Trying to act indifferent, his heart seemed to explode while waiting for a response.
“Yes, me too……”
A slightly trembling voice. Successive gasps were heard.
Dietrian, who had hesitated, subtly lifted his gaze.
Then he held his breath.
Blood. It was blood.
There were pinkish droplets of blood near the thigh of her white dress. It was an area that had been hidden behind the table until now.
Before he could comprehend whose blood it was, Josephina screamed hysterically.
“The Prince is leaving! Send him off quickly!”
“See you, next time.”
Leticia forcefully twisted her hand caught by him. Her hand clutching the hem of her dress exerted so much force that her knuckles stood out.
Meanwhile, Josephina’s hand was still tightly gripping Leticia’s arm.
Dietrian, who had suspected, realized the truth like a bolt of lightning.
It was Josephina’s doing.
The Holy Maiden had hurt her again right in front of him.
“What on earth are you all doing! Don’t just stand there!”
As Josephina strained, the droplets of blood increased rapidly. His head turned white. He barely took a step back.
“Please go.”
He didn’t even hear the palace servant’s words. Dietrian clenched his trembling fists.
Leticia squeezed her eyes shut. The sight of her bearing the pain twisted Dietrian’s brows in disgust.
He finally realized that the more he provoked the Holy Maiden, the more Leticia would get hurt.
Dietrian swiftly turned around. He took long strides and pushed the door roughly.
He had to muster all his strength to calm his raging insides.
Calm down. He just had to endure for two days.
In two days, he could see her again.
‘Two days each?’
He felt like his insides were going to explode. If she could do such a thing in front of him, how much more… how much more horrifying things could she do when he wasn’t watching.
“Your Highness.”
The nervous diplomats who had been waiting in the hallway called him with mixed feelings.
During the tea party, they were worried that the Holy Maiden might harm their master.
The momentary relief they felt seeing him emerge unscathed was fleeting. After seeing Dietrian’s face, everyone became tense. His expression was frighteningly hard.
Yulken quickly approached.
“Your Highness, I will prepare to return to the Star Palace.”
Feeling that Dietrian’s momentum was unusual, he sensed a big dispute had happened and lowered his voice.
“In two days, everything will be over, Your Highness. Please endure just a little longer.”
Dietrian’s gaze darkened at those words.
No matter how many times he thought about it, a hundred times, a thousand times, the answer was the same.
Two days.
He had no intention of waiting for that long time.
* * *
“Bring a wet towel immediately!”
As soon as Dietrian left, Josephina screamed in fury.
Her hand, which had been holding Leticia, was covered in blood. The maids with wet towels approached and wiped Josephina’s hand.
Leticia, with her shaking hand, clutched her bleeding arm. Despite being the one who was injured, no one paid any attention to her.
Grinding her teeth, Josephina stared at the door through which Dietrian had left.
Over the past two days, she had experienced hellish days.
It was because the curse she had put on Leticia was beyond her control.
Fortunately, the curse did not break, but it was incredibly unstable. Every time a black aura seeped into the curse’s mark, it felt like the sky would collapse.
Rather than being this scared, she should just kill Leticia. She had even tried to activate the curse with that in mind.
The result was horrifying. A terrible backlash had struck her.
“Holy Maiden, I’m sorry, but healing with divine power is not possible. It seems to have permanently affected your life force.”
She was dumbfounded. She was the one who cast the curse, so why was her life force diminished?
But she couldn’t deny the fact.
Her shriveled skin remained unchanged. It felt numb, just like a corpse’s.
Could the dragon really have returned?
Josephina couldn’t sleep due to her anxiety. Eventually, she arranged for this gathering today by wiping the floor with Ahwin. It was to personally monitor Dietrian’s actions.
Fortunately, there was no significant change in Dietrian.
Considering his obedience to whatever she said, it seemed that the dragon’s side was still calm. He even went along with the insult to his deceased brother.
She should have been satisfied, but Josephina’s mood was at its absolute worst.
Dietrian was too courteous to Leticia. Every time she saw him, her stomach churned, wishing for his hatred towards Leticia.
‘Why is the King so polite to such a woman!’
Even in her uncontrollable rage, in truth, Josephina knew the answer.
‘That foolish human must be wary of me!’
Dietrian doesn’t know that Leticia was abused. He must firmly believe that she is Josephina’s beloved daughter.
Even if he hated Leticia, he had no choice but to be polite to her.
Josephina, in essence, had fallen for her own trick. However, she would rather die than admit that. Therefore, she poured all her anger out on Leticia.
‘It’s all her fault that I ended up like this.’
Josephina glared at Leticia as if she wanted to kill her.
“Call Noel right now!”
She couldn’t let today’s incident go. She felt like she needed to vent her rage that was boiling up to the tips of her hair.
A moment later, Noel came into the room.
“Ninth Wing Noel, I have come to see the Holy Maiden…”
Noel barely finished his sentence.
Upon entering the room, she saw that Leticia’s dress was stained with red blood. Josephina raged on.
“Noel, this woman has upset me!”
With a sense of dread, Noel followed the trail of blood and gasped. Blood was dripping from Leticia’s elbow.
‘The wings of the Goddess respond to the Holy Maiden’s emotions. Her pain is our pain, her joy is our joy.’
It was a phrase she had heard countless times after becoming a wing.
But never once had she actually felt the meaning of those words.
She couldn’t feel anything in front of Josephina.
But now it was different.
The moment she saw Leticia’s wounds, Noel felt as if the sky was falling down.
‘How, how could this happen.’
Her master was bleeding where her eyes could not reach.
Her breath hitched, and her fingertips trembled. Instinctively about to rush towards Leticia, Noel halted.
Because Josephina’s hand, pointing at Leticia, was stained with blood.
Noel’s eyes widened.
‘Josephina hurt Leticia.’
A lightning-like realization.
Her rationality snapped.
The instinct of the wings, engraved in her soul, began whispering like mad.
Kill her.
Eradicate her.
Make her pay the deserved price for daring to harm your master, hurry!
Leave a Reply