BACK AT THE QUEEN'S PALACE
"Mother, why are you in a good mood today?" Abella walked into the garden and settled herself on one of the chaise chairs. There was a questioning look on her face, but she waited for her mother to speak first.
"Of course, why wouldn't I be in a good mood? We are finally going to get rid of that vile girl." She chuckled as the image of Meliora's downfall flashed in her memory.
Abella mused over what her mother said, then exclaimed, her face, which was initially frowning, lit up with a smile. She immediately stood up and hugged her mother.
"Mother, you are the best!" Abella squealed, and the latter rolled her eyes and hugged her daughter back with a proud smile on her lips.
"Of course, your mother is the best. If I wasn't, you wouldn't be here to see the day." She replied. Abella pulled out of the hug, and the Queen, with her delicate hand, raised a teacup.
"Cheers to the death of that wench." She raised her teacup high, and Abella, who was standing there with a full-blooming smile on her face, raised her cup and clinked it with her mother's.
Both of them laughed as if the person they were celebrating was already dead.
"Mother, but I heard from other noble ladies that the stupid wench had the protection of the king's personal guard. It may be hard to kill her," Abella voiced her concern as she sat back down.
'That girl has not given me a single moment of peace since that day. I will make her pay even after her death,' she growled internally.
While her face twisted like a mad person, she made sure not to show such an appearance to the Queen.
"Oh, him? I bet he was just clinging to her because of your father's order. Those two kings are not close, but they still talk to find faults in each other." Lowena brushed off the subject as she lightly picked up a cookie from the basket.
"But mother—"
"Don't worry about such trivial things. Johan will be here this afternoon, right? Go and prepare yourself and look pretty. The poison I prepared for Meliora—even the gods won't be able to escape such a fate," Lowena claimed as she waved at Abella to leave.
Abella furrowed her brows and pressed her lips into a thin line as she watched her mother. There was this bad feeling she had in her heart, but Abella chose to believe her mother.
'Even if she doesn't die, I will kill her with my own two hands.'
******
It had finally reached Meliora's turn to receive the priest's blessing, but she was trembling and sweating from head to toe. She didn't know why she was scared, but the mere thought of receiving a blessing when she was not the actual Meliora terrified her.
'Would he find out that it's another soul?!' she nervously asked Crucifix, who chuckled mechanically in Meliora's mind.
[Relax, the priest is not going to find out. Just behave as if you did nothing wrong.]
Crucifix instructed, but Meliora grumbled internally, 'Easy for you to say.' She gulped nervously, clasped her hands together, and tightened them as she took a step forward once the priest stretched out his hand.
He was shining more than the sun itself. She had never seen a priest so handsome with long hair before. She immediately lowered her head once she realized that she was ogling at him too much.
The priest frowned as if he noticed something, but Meliora didn't see it because her head was down, and her heart was beating wildly in fear. She decided to count numbers as she waited for him to finish.
The priest decided to relax, even though it was bothering him internally, and began chanting in a language that Meliora didn't understand. He placed his index and middle fingers against her forehead.
A bright light shone, and after a few seconds, it disappeared, making Meliora relax. "You can go now," he instructed in a gruff tone, and Meliora flinched at the sound of his voice.
No one needed to tell her—she swerved to the side and began walking at a fast pace, praying that the priest didn't call for her. She didn't seem to notice the cold glare in his eyes as he watched her go.
Meliora finally reached the long couch and plopped down on it, gasping for air as Lucie massaged her knotted muscles.
She was trying to relax when two girls approached her, raising gasps from the other noble ladies around. Meliora was still relaxing against the couch, not noticing them, while Ashtarte and Lucie helped her clean her sweat and massaged her body.
Meliora felt like she was living the life. All that was left was the food to come.
"Why were you tensing up so much, Master?" Lucie asked, filled with curiosity.
"Wow, is that not Marian Duval from the Ducal House?"
"I heard she and Lenia, Count Alfonso's daughter, were very close."
"Why are they approaching the abandoned princess?"
"Can't you see she didn't come with a partner for the banquet?"
"This is going to be fun!"
Countless noble ladies rejoiced and gathered around once the girl named Marian, with Lenia, approached Meliora, who was yawning lazily with her legs crossed. Even with the veil covering her face, she still shined in the banquet.
And this made the ladies jealous. How could an ugly girl steal the spotlight?
"You are being too rude, Meliora," Marian started with a frown on her face, her arms crossed. She looked at Meliora without any regard for her status, which pissed off Ashtarte and Lucie.
Though Lucie looked blankly at Marian and Lenia, there was rage brewing in the cold eyes she used to stare at them.
Meliora lazily yawned again, gave the two women dressed in bright red and yellow dresses a glance, and then turned to Ash by her side. She remembered the both of them as bright as day.
'We finally meet, Marian.' She giggled internally as a cold smirk tugged at the corner of her lips.
Meliora knew this person very well from the owner of her body's memories. Marian was the daughter of the Queen's brother, so she was always bullying Meliora whenever she had the chance.
Meliora, who was weak against those assaults, just faced everything head-on in the west palace, and Meliora still wondered why the girl didn't turn into a villain after all that but remained like a saint till her death.
Meliora didn't finish the story before playing the game, but she knew one thing—Meliora still died in the end. After all, the game was trending everywhere on social media.
"Who is this girl, Ash?" Meliora asked Ashtarte in particular, still keeping a steady gaze on Marian, who was already fuming from head to toe for being ignored. She wasn't showing it, but the way her gaze hardened and the way she clutched her dress told another story.
Meliora knew that Marian was trying so hard to hide her anger; she found it cute.
She had been waiting patiently for the food, but then she couldn't get over the look that the priest gave her when she was leaving. It turned out that she had seen the look on his face.
"She is the Duke's daughter, Marian. Don't you remember?" Ashtarte informed Meliora with her brows raised, and Meliora nodded, pretending to recall everything.
She shook her head and sighed heavily, "Sorry, Sister Marian. I didn't know my actions today would embarrass you." Meliora whined as she stood up and gave the latter an apologetic smile.
She sounded pitiful and soon swayed the public to believe that she was being bullied. They began to spite Marian as they looked at her with disdain. Marian flushed red and fumed at Meliora.
"When did I say that! You are being bold!" She pointed her fingers at Meliora and scolded her. Meliora pretended to fall as if she were pushed, and the crowd gasped.
"Marian hated her so much that she pushed her?"
"This is bullying in broad daylight!"
Meliora, who heard all the gossip, smiled triumphantly. From the angle that they stood, people who stood behind would not be able to see how she was pushed. All they needed to know was that she was pushed.
"You—" Marian was about to say something, but then they announced that the food had been served. Meliora, who had been waiting for this moment, rose to her feet, surprising Marian and Lenia.
"I apologize for the inconvenience I have caused, but I have another matter that needs my attention." She looked at the two ladies and slightly bowed, side-stepping them with the food stand in mind.
If not for the veil, people would have seen her drooling face. She was just two meters away from the table when two maids suddenly stepped in front of her, blocking her view.
"Princess Meliora, greetings." They both bowed in respect, one of them holding a tray with a glass cup filled with a red shiny liquid while the other had a letter.
Meliora looked at the glass of wine coldly. "How may I help you?" she asked, still keeping her eyes on the shiny liquid.
"The King of Arcania instructed us with this letter to deliver this wine to you." They bowed again, thrusting the trays in Meliora's face.
"..."