Princess Ievna should have expected that Prince Reigen was not someone who would care about her feelings. She mourned her misfortune, and she was sure her face looked very pitiful right now. However, the insensitive prince was too blind to see it.
Perhaps they were sitting in the room together, talking as if they were about to form an ally together. But, both of them knew that they had to stay wary of each other.
Princess Ievna saw Prince Reigen like a predator. The prince was like a wolf on the inside, but he often acted like a sheep to achieve his goals. She didn't even know the man's true intentions, and that was why she couldn't let her guard down when she was this close to the mysterious man.
Meanwhile, Prince Reigen saw Princess Ievna like an unknown being. It was true that the princess managed to prove her words that she was indeed cursed to be a red rose, but her origins remained gray in the prince's eyes. Even if the girl insisted that she was the princess of Shovalon, Prince Reigen refused to believe only words without evidence.
Princess Ievna would not see Prince Reigen as her ally, but she decided to cooperate with the prince for the sake of her life. That was why she decided to give up for now.
"You can ask anything you want to know about me, Your Highness," said the princess earnestly, and the prince could finally taste his victory.
"That's good," replied the prince. "You insist that you are Shovalon's princess, right? If you were the real princess, then you would be able to retell the story that happened to Shovalon fourteen years ago, right?"
Prince Reigen was indeed an unsympathetic prince. Retelling the story that happened to Shovalon would surely open up Princess Ievna's old wounds, but he still asked her the question.
Maybe it was because the prince still didn't believe her that he had the heart to ask her that question, or maybe the prince just didn't care about her feelings. Princess Ievna assumed that the second possibility would make more sense.
"I was only ten years old back then..."
[Ten-year-old Princess Ievna was playing with her rabbits in the palace garden. She raised two rabbits the year before, and they were male and female rabbits. Two months ago, the female rabbits gave birth to two cute rabbits, and she named them Lucy and Luca.
The two baby rabbits were so healthy, and they loved playing with the silver-haired princess in the palace garden. Princess Ievna was running around with the two baby rabbits trailing behind her, and a series of laughter sounded like a soundtrack on a sunny day.
Not only the little princess who was enjoying the bright day, but the king and queen of Shovalon were also enjoying the day. They were standing at the side and smiling as they looked at how their little princess playing with the little rabbits.
Queen Valeria suddenly glanced at her side, and she saw the princess' lady-in-waiting was busy making a crown made of some red roses. The queen smiled softly before walking toward the woman and tapping her shoulder.
"Is the flower crown almost done, Willia?" The queen questioned the woman named Willia.
The woman looked up and answered the question, "Yes, Your Majesty. The flower crown for Princess Ievna is done now." As she handed the flower crown to the beautiful queen.
Queen Valeria accepted the flower crown, and her eyes sparkled at the sight. "What a beautiful flower crown! You are so talented, Willia," the queen praised the lady-in-waiting, causing the lady to blush bashfully.
The queen then called her daughter's name, and the said daughter immediately ran towards her mother. Her forehead was covered by a layer of sweat, and Queen Valeria didn't hesitate to wipe the sweat from her daughter's forehead.
"Willia made you this beautiful flower crown, but your face and hair are drenched of sweat, Princess Ievna. Do you think your sweat will damage the crown? Maybe you shouldn't wear the crown today, right?" The queen teased her daughter, making the daughter pout at her.
"No, Mother! I want to wear this beautiful crown! My sweat won't ruin it! I promise!" Princess Ievna stubbornly forced her mother as she jumped enthusiastically just like the little rabbits.
Queen Valeria chuckled in amusement before pressing the princess' shoulder so the princess would stay still. After the princess stopped jumping like a rabbit, the queen finally put the red rose crown on top of the princess' head.
Princess Ievna immediately squealed in joy as she brought her hands to touch the red rose crown. "Thank you, Willia! You know that I love red roses, and you made the most beautiful crown of red roses!"
Princess Ievna was known for her humble personality, and she always saw the lady-in-waiting as her sister. They were so close with each other, and it was no wonder that Willia knew the princess' favorite flower.
It was such a perfect day when the royal family could feel the happiness. Even King Geraint decided to join the joy and played together with his only daughter.
However, everything would always come to an end, and the happiness of the royal family of Shovalon wasn't an exception. The blue sky suddenly turned darker, and the royal family stopped laughing and looking up at the sky instead.
King Geraint immediately scooped Princess Ievna's body protectively, and he also asked his wife to stay by his side. Then, the calamity for Shovalon finally came when one by one witch of Wemor started attacking the living creature in Shovalon.
Using their magic wands, they shot the humans and the animals in the palace garden until they burned to ashes.
Princess Ievna cried hysterically when her beloved rabbits were burned to ashes in front of her eyes, but the misery didn't stop there.
Even her dear lady-in-waiting Willia was also burned to death by the witches.
That was beyond painful, but unfortunately, that was only the beginning of Shovalon's catastrophe.]