“I thank Your Majesty for taking care of even my maid.”
Elysia bowed politely, thanking the Empress.
Sarah, kneeling beside her, also bowed deeply in turn.
The Empress smiled sweetly at the gestures of the Second Crown Princess and her maid.
“I told you before, we are a family.
There is no need for all this affectation.
And if you need anything, do not hesitate to ask.”
Elisia slowly raised her head, frowned slightly as if something was on her mind, then hesitated before speaking.
“In fact… recently, Her Highness the First Crown Princess advised me to study palace etiquette.
I am worried that my negligence may bring shame to the royal palace.”
“Didn't I tell you earlier?”
The Empress opened her fan and spoke in a warm tone.
“Your manners are perfect, Second Crown Princess.
You don’t need any teachers.”
“But Her Highness the First Crown Princess...”
“You mean Glenna?”
As Elysia stopped speaking, the Empress gently flapped her fan and tilted her head.
"Who knows why she said that?
Maybe it's because of Crichton's upcoming birthday party.
She's very meticulous, especially when it comes to Crichton.
She tends to be very strict."
'You understand?'
The Empress winked at Elysia cheerfully, and Elysia calmed down and smiled in return.
'Now I remember, the first prince's birthday party is approaching.'
Elisia silently calculated the date.
Nerys will appear at next year's Christmas concert.
So no need to worry this year.
Although Glenna mentioned Nerys's name during the royal dinner, the time had not yet come.
Neris Roshanak has not yet reached Calibs.
She will spend this winter in the Roshanak region, and will not come to Calebs until the spring of next year.
‘This means that this will be the first and last ceremony I will participate in as Franz’s wife.’
Next year, even if Elisia attended the party, she would be treated as if she didn't exist.
Franz will not dance a single dance with her as soon as he sees Nerys.
He will leave her to return to the villa alone, without an escort.
From that day on, her true misery will begin.
'decent.
It's not that time yet.'
Elisia smiled deeply, trying to calm her volatile heart.
She's lived through all this before.
She knew him well.
However, it hurt her.
Perhaps because she had experienced it before, her soul reacted to the memory.
She knew that misery well.
“Second Crown Princess?
What’s wrong?
Wait a minute, the iced tea will arrive right away.”
“Yes...”
came Elysia's reply cloudily.
She raised her head to look at the Empress, and pressed her lips silently.
While she was hesitating, holding the cup of hot tea, the Empress folded her fan and asked: “What were you thinking?
Were you thinking about your family?”
“No, I...”
Elysia instinctively began to deny, then blinked when something suddenly came to her mind.
Her eyes lit up.
“Your Majesty the Empress, may I send an invitation to the Prince’s first birthday party?”
“Of course.
Your guests are always welcome.
Who would you like to invite?”
Elysia's face lit up with joy upon hearing the Empress's generous approval.
She put the cup of tea aside and spoke shyly: “I would like to invite my brother.”
Elysia was writing an invitation to send to Ambrose, her face beaming with excitement.
The Empress had allowed her to invite Caleb.
She wasn't expecting a rejection, but actually getting permission filled her with joy.
In her previous life, she was not able to see Caleb even once after her marriage.
Franz found it annoying.
Because she could not complain to the Empress, she had no choice but to miss Ambrose and Caleb from afar.
Isolated from her family, she became more and more lonely.
That loneliness ate from her soul.
She didn't mind her meals being dry bread or almost empty soup.
She is the second crown princess.
Franz's only wife.
That pride is what helped her endure.
But pride alone is not enough to endure misery.
At the end of the day, Elisia is a human being.
She was not accustomed to bearing all her pain alone.
She needed someone she could rely on in moments of weakness, someone she could open up to.
Whenever she was in pain, she thought of her family, who were comforting the crying Liz.
Her strong older brother, Caleb, filled the void left by their father.
Elysia was crying into her pillow, missing Caleb.
The large, empty villa was buzzing with longing.
But over time, that longing magnified until the spacious villa was no longer enough for him.
Changing the wet pillowcase was pointless, it would be wet again tomorrow.
Elisia learned to cry silently alone, swallowing her loneliness and sadness.
This is what she learned in her two years in the palace.
Of course, she wasn't completely alone.
If she were, her love for Franz would have faded long ago.
Fortunately, she had Sarah.
Sarah was a loyal servant.
That's why she served Elisia loyally, even when others in the palace abandoned her.
Thanks to Sarah's efforts, Elisia was eating three decent meals a day.
But that's just it.
No matter how good Sarah is, she is just a servant.
Not a family.
Elisia could not cry in her arms or ask for advice.
She needed someone to fill the void in her heart.
To the one who loved her since childhood.
To someone like Caleb.
'It's a good thing Caleb was Crichton's classmate at the academy.'
Elisia smiled gently as she sealed the envelope.
If it were not for the connection between Caleb and Crichton, Glenna would have been strongly opposed to his invitation.
Glenna is arrogant enough to ignore the Empress' orders if she doesn't like them.
Because she is the host of the party, the Empress’s words have less weight on that occasion.
It was indeed fortunate for her that Caleb maintained his relationships with his colleagues from the academy.
“Please take care of this invitation, Sarah.”
Elisia handed her the invitation, and Sarah nodded, smiling.
“I will send her as quickly as a messenger.”
She said quickly and left the room.
Elisia remained standing in the crimson light of the sunset, smiling like the sun.
Buzz-!
Elisia woke up from her sleep by a sudden sound.
She sat up in bed and looked around.
But the only faint moonlight filled the room, and she could not see clearly.
'What was that?'
She extended her hand towards the rope to call Sarah and check on the matter.
But before she could pull the rope, another, louder crash rang out.
Elisia jumped out of bed and lit a candle.
Warm amber light flooded the place.
She looked around anxiously.
Nothing seems to have changed.
The sound seemed to be coming from outside the room.
'Could he be a hired killer?'
She remembered what happened in the Second Prince's Palace, and she felt a shiver running through her body.
She hurried to the table and picked up the dagger she had asked Sarah to bring recently.
She grabbed the dagger with trembling hands, pulled it from its sheath, and leaned against the door.
She prepared to attack whoever entered.
But contrary to her expectations, the door did not open.
Rather, the noise continued in the next room.
“No!
Stop!”
“His Highness the Second Prince!”
Franz's sharp cry and Lucius's voice calling for help rose.
Elizia approached the door separating the two rooms, confused.
She pressed her ear to the door and heard the chaos filling Franz's room.
The room was more turbulent than I expected.
People are moving around, and Lucius is trying to restrain Franz.
In the midst of the noise, Franz screamed like a wounded beast:
"Don't call her!
Never!"
"But Your Highness!
We must neutralize the mana!
We must summon Her Highness!"
At Lucius's disturbed plea, Elysia gasped.
Franz had a seizure again.
He must have been destroying everything in his room, unable to bear the pain of mana.
“Don’t…call…Liz…”
Elysia's face convulsed.
The candle holder trembled in her hand.
I looked at her trembling shadow in amazement.
'Why doesn't he want to summon me?'
She heard Lucius trying to put him back on the bed, while she held the trembling candle.
'Is it possible...?'
I remembered Crichton and Franz's conversation a few days ago.
Franz had said that Elysia meant nothing to him.
The reason for this was—
'Is it because my ability to neutralize mana disappointed his expectations?'
Because her ability to neutralize mana was not at the desired level.