She closed her eyes. Immediately she saw the painting of the young woman again. How old could
she have been? Probably not much older than herself, even if she looked much more mature.
Lyana turned on her side and looked directly into the mirror next to the wardrobe. She used to think
of herself as quite pretty. Perhaps no beauty, but she had caught one or two admiring glances at the
balls. But now the color of her own hair seemed to remember her of simple straw and her green eyes looked dull.
How loving King Ulrics gaze became when he looked at the woman's painting. He had never looked at her like that. She thought he would finally be more open to her. But she wasn't special.
She was just a prisoner. A tool for King Ulrics vengeance.
The young beauty must have come from a completely different kingdom. Lyana had never seen such beautiful silver hair. That made it even more likely that she was the fiancée of the king.
This was also the reason why it was so confusing for him when she wore these pink flowers. It once
belonged to his fiancée and had probably only accidentally ended up with her.
It must have been terrible for him to see his late lovers jewelry on another woman. Because she had
to assume that she was no longer alive. Not only had he locked her picture away, but also covered it up. But he still loved her, she was sure of that.
Again there was a stinging sensation made in her stomach area. Just like before. She had never felt
something like that before. And yet, she had a feeling as if she had to know what it was. She thought about it further and then realized it again. Hadia, her maid in the sun kingdom, had once told her about something similar. At that time she was completely mad because the man she liked often laughed and talked to one of her friends. She had explained to her that it was jealousy.
Still. Wouldn't that mean she had to have romantic feelings for the king? But that's when it got absurd. Sure, he was a handsome man, but he had also captured and physically abused her. So it would be absolutely insane to fall in love with someone like that. In addition, she already had a fiancé. Afram! It struck her with horror that she hadn't even thought of him for a long time. How awful of her. He too had to be terribly worried about her.
Sighing, she tossed and turned in bed. She has acted very differently since she was here. Sometimes she didn't recognize herself anymore.
Time passed slowly, but eventually it was time for dinner and her stomach began to growl. But
exactly as ordered by the king, no one came to take her to the dining room. Alisen also stayed away.
She almost wished she had at least taken a few books from the library with her, since she probably
wouldn't see anyone that day. In order to at least do something, she swapped her dress for a comfortable nightdress and undid her hairstyle. As she did so, she began to hum softly. She hummed the folk song from her homeland, which the king had actually forbidden her. Since he couldn't hear her here, she didn't care anymore.
Suddenly there was a knock on the door and Lyana stopped abruptly. Her first thought was that it had to be King Ulric. If so, she could only hope he hadn't caught her humming. "Come in," she said to her visitor. The door opened, but it was only Baridi who entered. "Sorry for the late visit, Your Royal Highness. Hopefully I didn't bother you."
"Of course not. But what are you doing here? I thought that the king wanted to punish me with
loneliness."
Baridi forced a smile, tormented. So she was right in her guess. "I have to admit that the king does not know anything about my visit to you. However, I wanted to bring this over to you for a moment." He took a piece of bread out of his jacket and blushed slightly. "Forgive me for not being anymore. But that was the only thing that I could smuggle to you so quickly and unnoticed."
Overjoyed, Lyana took the bread from his hand and bit something off. "Thank you Baridi. That is more than enough to soothe my growling stomach for the time being."
The valet stayed in the room until Lyana had finished the fresh bread. More than once she noticed how worried he looked. "I take it you already heard what I did?" She asked after she finished her bread.
"Your Royal Highness ...", Baridi began with a frown, "if I can be that free ... I was really upset when I heard about it. When you first showed up, I thought it might be a new beginning for our King. For the first time in a long time, he surrounded himself with someone who was not under his control. It was comforting to see that he was even slowly beginning to change."
The way he spoke hurt her, she must have done great damage with what she did today. She felt like a child who was taught by her parents and was deeply ashamed. "I'm really sorry," she apologized to him, although she had never done anything to Baridi.