Princess Ievna could see the orange light streaming through the two windows in the spacious bedchamber. Such an orange glow was familiar in her eyes, and she knew that the sun was about to set.
Perhaps the sun was too tired to help living things with their activities today. Humans would need sunlight to work freely without the need to carry torches everywhere, nocturnal animals would rest when the sun sat on the throne during the day, while other animals would go hunting with the help of the sun.
Even plants could stay alive because of the help of sunlight. Photosynthesis couldn't be carried out without the sun, and in the presence of the sun, plants could survive to provide food for humans and herbivores.
Without us realizing it, the sun played a very important role in the food chain.
The sun was so great, and it even managed to transform the princess into her human form. Princess Ievna didn't even know what kind of curse Sharass used on her, but she did know that it was very powerful.
The sun was almost setting, and the princess could hear the door being opened from outside. The next thing she could see was a pair of long legs walking through the door before a hand closed the door once again.
It was Prince Reigen who had just entered the chamber, and the prince looked confused for a moment before bringing his golden eyes to scan his surroundings. The golden eye's journey only stopped when they met the silver eyes.
"Why do you stay on the floor when you can rest on a chair instead?" The prince asked the princess in a curious tone.
The princess did not move an inch from her position this morning. She was still sitting on the floor while leaning her head against the wall.
She was too weak, and she couldn't even move her legs to get up. In the end, she could only sit on the cold floor all day.
"No big deal," replied the princess in a weak tone. "The sun is about to set, and I can finally prove that I'm the real princess of Shovalon."
The red-haired girl insisted on proving her innocence while her condition was far from good, and that made the prince furrow his brows.
"Your condition is even worse than this morning. Are you dying?" Prince Reigen asked the weak princess again.
'Am I dying?' The princess had time to question herself in her heart instead of answering the prince's question.
She had lived as a red rose for fourteen years, but it was the first time she had felt this weak. She had indeed been cursed to become a red rose, but she had never felt this pain before.
She began to question her fate today. She wondered if today was indeed her last day in this world.
"I have a question for you, Your Highness," the princess spoke again as she had no intention of answering the prince's previous question. "What are you going to do to me after I manage to prove my innocence?"
Prince Reigen looked dumbfounded after hearing the princess's question. He did agree with the girl to give her a chance to prove her innocence today, but he didn't know what he would do if the girl succeeded in proving her innocence in the end.
Even if the girl managed to prove that she was indeed the red rose, that didn't prove that the girl didn't have any bad intention for him, right?
After pondering for a while, the prince finally decided, "Even if you later turn into a red rose, I will keep an eye on you before I can prove that you are not a bad person."
Princess Ievna smiled when she heard the answer. She had expected such an answer from the prince, so she was not surprised at all.
"You still want to know if I'm a good person or a bad person, right? If that's the case, then you'll have to keep me alive before you can find the answer, Your Highness."
Princess Ievna suddenly said something that sounded vague for the prince, and the prince decided to question the princess again, "What do you mean?"
The princess didn't immediately answer as she glanced at the window again. The sky was getting darker, and she knew that she didn't have much time left.
"After I return to my red rose form, please water me, Your Highness. That's the only way to keep me alive."
And right after she finished speaking, Princess Ievna's body was suddenly enveloped by a mysterious red light before gradually turning into a red rose. The flower floated in the air before flying back into the glass vase.
Prince Reigen was speechless as he witnessed all that. It turned out the girl was telling the truth. The girl was indeed the red rose he found in the tower last night.
He brought his feet to the nightstand carefully, as if afraid the red rose would launch a sneak attack on him.
However, even after he arrived near the nightstand, nothing happened to the red rose. Instead, he could feel that the red rose was helpless.
The red petal lost its pride completely, and it was blackening for some reason. The red rose no longer stood proudly, and Prince Reigen knew it was dying.
He then recalled the girl's last words before she turned into the red rose.
["After I return to my red rose form, please water me, Your Highness. That's the only way to keep me alive."]
Prince Reigen was appalled when the memory flashed through his mind, and he immediately took a full glass of water on the nightstand and carefully watered the dying rose.
The clear liquid touched the red petals, and miraculously, the flower got its 'life' once again.
Maybe it was like magic, but he could see the red flower absorbing the water, not letting the water fill the glass vase. The red rose shone once more, and the prince froze in place with an empty glass in his right hand.
"What kind of magic is it?"