I came into my room, angry about all the harmful rumors about me. Sure, I paid some thugs, but only to scare Natura, not to do anything horrible to her! And because of the evidence that I hired them, no one believes my version! Even my parents, the king and queen, look at me as if I've disappointed them! Only my brother still talks to me a little…
I called a maid to prepare some tea for me. Once it arrived, I kicked everyone out of my room to be alone.
"Ooof…"
This tea calms me down a bit; I need to think about what to do. This can't continue; I need to find out who spread the false rumors. I know it's not Natura; if it were her, the rumors wouldn't say, "The princess paid thugs to do horrible things to her ex-friend Natura," but rather, "The princess paid thugs to do horrible things to me." But who could want to harm me? It's not that I can't think of someone, but there are just too many people who might…
As I ponder while drinking my tea, I start to see lights flickering throughout my room, and I am very surprised.
"Who's there?!"
As I yelled, a small voice laughed.
"Do you want to know who spread all these rumors about you?"
"You?! Is it you?!"
The voice just laughed but didn't respond. Just as I was about to scream, my room vanished, and I found myself in a dark corner with the thugs I had paid. But they weren't alone; a figure I knew very well was there, paying them.
"Do you understand? I want you to beat this girl, Natura, bloody!"
"Don't worry, prince."
As the thugs left to find Natura, the prince laughed. I saw the prince arrive just in time to save Natura as she began to be beaten; my brother fought valiantly and managed to rescue her.
"Are you okay, Natura?"
If I hadn't seen that it was my brother who paid the same thugs I had hired to violently attack the girl, I might have truly believed he had stumbled upon the scene and jumped in to save her.
"It must be my sister, Rosia, who paid again to go after you… Don't worry, I will avenge you, Natura! In fact, I've already started."
I was completely stunned! Is it really my brother who started all these rumors?! Who paid the thugs to do all these horrible things to Natura? So… all his kindness towards me, especially since our parents no longer want to see me… was it all a lie? I started to cry, but I really didn't want to believe that my close brother could do this to me!
"You're lying! My brother wouldn't—"
Around me, everything changes; another scene unfolds: always my brother paying, saving Natura, and placing all the blame for his actions on me…
"Do you think I would enjoy doing all this? Everything you see is the truth I have seen with my own eyes…"
"I showed you all this so you could see the truth."
"Do you want to take revenge on the two humans? Do you want to see them on their knees, begging for mercy?"
"Revenge?"
"Yes, think about it, little one. No one wants you anymore; everyone looks down on you."
"Don't you want to make your brother suffer in the worst way?"
"How? He has everything now! Resources, the total attention of our parents and the kingdom."
"No, not all the attention. Think carefully, little princess. Who does the prince want the most attention from?"
"Natura!"
"Exactly! So, don't you think the worst thing for him would be for Natura to fall in love with the person he uses to look good?"
My eyes narrow. Yes, my brother would be terribly angry and full of hatred towards me! It's the best revenge! But…
"How can I be sure that Natura falls in love with me?"
"Hahaha! This problem is only an issue when you are human, little one! But I am not human. Choose me, princess, and you will become my descendant, a being far superior to a mere human!"
"Can you give me some time to think?"
"You have two days. After that, my offer stands no longer."
Once said, the alley transforms back into my room. An illusion? It doesn't matter! I reflected for two days, waiting for this being to return. In the evening, lights seemed to float in the air; I didn't wait for her to ask me the question.
"I accept!"
"Good... Here's what you need to do..."
She explained what I had to do. First, I needed to find a place where we wouldn't be disturbed. For that, I anonymously paid someone to capture me. Once that was done, I would remain "lost" before returning once the plan was set.
I followed the plan and was captured, taking me to a cave that I had indicated, a wolverine, a lynx, a wolf and a bear appeared and killed the three humans. I was afraid that these beasts would attack me too but they stayed in their place watching me. An insect came out of the dark and began to eat the three humans. She even gave me a piece of human flesh, I hesitated, but when I saw the writing on the ground that the insect wrote, an order to eat, once I ate the piece of human flesh with disgust a voice was heard.
"I will now kill Rosia the human so that Rosia, my sub-queen, can be born!"
Although I was scared, I nodded. I saw the insect come towards me, climbing and wrapping a kind of web around my entire body. Once the cocoon was finished, sleep took over me. I felt a warm sensation spreading through my body, and with each wave of warmth, I felt my body changing. How much time had passed? I had no idea; I simply reveled in this sleep that felt restorative. I had never felt so good. Finally, I sensed my transformation was complete, my hands broke free from the cocoon. As I rose, I looked at the insect and knelt.
"Happy to see you, my queen!"