It wasn't long before Dennis entered her decorated room.
The sound of graceful steps.
“Ma’am.
Good morning.”
His appearance appeared in the mirror, completely and elegantly groomed.
Therese closed her eyes tightly and then opened them.
“Are you coming, Your Highness?”
"Yes."
Therese looked at Denise's face.
Did his mood change, and did he sleep well?
“You liked him?”
"What?"
Therese inquired at his sudden question.
“My face, isn’t that why you look forward to it?”
“...yes very much I like it.”
Denis seemed pleased that Thérèse had caught his joke, and a smile spread across his lips.
Fortunately, he was as usual.
From the outside, she also looked completely prepared.
But what may surprise those who see it: The atmosphere above her head and below were completely different.
The water-colored velvet dresses, extending to the neck, were simple and elegant without any decoration.
But what was above her head was infinitely gaudy.
Peacock feathers, fresh flowers, jewelry, and all sorts of other sparkling objects were piled somewhat disorderly on top of her hat.
However, her figure did not look strange.
Her elegant posture, her snow-white skin, and her brown lips in contrast still made her look like a single lady.
Even though she is a woman who has been married for five years.
While Therese was examining her makeup in the mirror, one of the bridesmaids came out carrying a jewelry box.
“HH Princess Earrings Finally.”
Because the dress covered the neck, there was no need for a necklace, but earrings seemed necessary.
Therese picked out a piece of jewelry with her fingertips.
Since she couldn't choose quickly, the runner-up suggested:
“How about wearing the blue diamond earrings that His Highness sent before?”
“Let's do it.”
Dennis, who was sitting on the sofa just staring at her back, lost in thought, raised his head when his name was mentioned in the conversation.
Then he looked alternately at the jewelry box and at her, seeming to understand what they were talking about.
Therese tilted her head, picked up the right earring and inserted it into her earlobe hole.
Dennis got up from the couch and approached her.
“Shall I help you?”
The moment she was trying to put on the left earring.
Since her left cheek wasn't swollen, he probably wouldn't notice him approaching her.
Therese put an earring in her palm and asked:
“Nothing is impossible... but... have you ever done that?”
“I'm generally good at putting anything into a hole.”
His words sounded full of confidence.
The dressing room servants seemed to understand what Dennis was saying too late, and they all ran away with terrified faces.
Suddenly, there were only Therese and Denise left in the dressing room.
“Don't you agree, ma'am?”
“Right?
I speak from experience.”
Denise pressed Therese for an answer.
“…Yes.
Very much so, will you put on the earrings with that imaginative skill of yours?”
“Of course I will do it wholeheartedly.”
Dennis carefully picked up the earring on Thérèse's palm.
Then gently insert it into her earlobe hole.
Affectionate touch.
“How is he?”
He asked her after withdrawing his hand.
“You did well.”
“Shall we go now?”
“Yes.
Please, Your Highness.”
Thérèse took the hand of Dennis, who would naturally be standing on her right, and made him stand on her left.
She hoped he wouldn't notice because of her hair and hat pulled tightly to the right side.
But.
He stopped suddenly, as if he sensed something strange, and grabbed her chin with one hand from the front.
"Yes."
Therese was obliged because her swollen right cheek was being pressed against her, so she let out a moan without realizing it.
“What is this, ma'am?”
Dennis's voice was lower than it had been before.
“There is no need to be alarmed, Your Highness.”
He laughed as if it was unbelievable.
“And with this look you're telling me there's no need to be upset?”
“Didn’t we say that not answering when in a vulnerable situation is not a good habit?
Ma’am, who did this to you?”
“It's hard for me to say that.”
Therese answered, avoiding his burning gaze.
“Oh, so it will be on the front page of the newspaper that I hit you?”
Dennis said sarcastically.
“Good strategy.
A violent prince beats his wife right before the official event, isn’t it?”
Only then did Thérèse move her inseparable lips and force herself to speak.
“There was a difference of opinion between Marquis Engelger and me… It has been contained now, don’t worry.”
Her fingertips were trembling.
The last secret she wished to hide until the end of the world had been discovered.
How much will Dennis make fun of her?
The daughter who is not appreciated even by her father.
At that moment, Dennis bit his lip and uttered an obscenity in a low voice.
A severe expletive that he would not normally have said.
In the blink of an eye, his glowing face flushed red and was filled with anger.
He gently patted her puffy cheek.
A gentle, fragile touch, as if it was about to crumble, in contrast to his breathing, which had become very ragged.
“What were you beaten with that made you become like this?”
To his self-talk, Thérèse replied in a low voice: “By the hand.”
"Other places?
Are you okay?"
Therese raised her head and looked into Denise's eyes.
His green eyes, vibrant as summer, were filled with concern for her.
“No other places were hit, so don't worry.”
Therese looked at Dennis to reassure him.
Then she added:
“I wasn't okay...but I became okay.”
“I will stand on your right, so do not leave my side at all.”
“Yes.
I will, Your Highness.”
Therese linked her arm with his and went out walking with him.
At the same time.
“I don't want to go.”
Elliot was rubbing his face against the woman's shoulder and pretending to be courting.
“Aren't you coming with me today too?”
Even though he knew it couldn't, Elliot wanted to ask her in vain.
“This would be impossible.”
Sheherazade looked at Elliot's face and smiled broadly at him, then dressed him in the coat he had taken off.
“Of course you never say untruthful words, that’s why I love you.”
Elliot seems to have forgotten the fact that she rejected her, so he praises Scheherazade and caresses her.
Scheherazade naturally pushed his hand away and ruffled his hair.
Elliot's well-coiffed hair had become unkempt without him realizing it.
“After the event ends today and I return, I will pray for Your Majesty.”
“I deserve it, don't I?
You.”
Elliot rejoiced at Scheherazade's words and then clung to her again.
“Of course, I will prepare the wine, so come back quickly.”
“Okay, as long as you wait.”
Elliot tied his tie tightly around his neck, then kissed Scheherazade's cheek and quickly disappeared.
After Elliot left, Sheherazade's face showed weariness and he was smiling.
Then I cleaned the bed on which he had left his marks, and showered.
Pink marks covered her entire neck and chest.
Scheherazade held her tongue tight.
Scheherazade remembered the day she first met Elliot.
She was lying in the hunting ground east of the royal palace.
She already knew that Elliot would come to the hunting ground today.
How much time has passed?
The hounds came barking near her and started running around her.
Her body trembled and she acted as if she was terrified with fear.
Beep.
A whistle sounded, and the servant saw it and raised the flag.
People gathered.
She tilted her head modestly, as if shy, and covered her entire body.
She wasn't even dressed properly.
“Master Butler!
There is someone here!”
When the servant shouted, the butler rushed over.
Behind him, Elliot approached her with slow steps.
“How could a human being be in such a place...”
The butler looked at her with a surprised face.
She saw a very handsome man dressed in luxurious clothes approaching from behind him.
That's the king.
The knights asked her:
"Who are you?
And why are you in a hunting ground that is forbidden to anyone other than members of the royal family?"
“I don’t… remember please save me.”
Scheherazade removed her hands that were covering her body and threw herself at the knights' feet.
“Please.”
“What's wrong?”
The king approached and asked the butler.
“She seems to be a woman who has lost her memory.
We will expel her.”
“What’s her story, you say?”
Scheherazade threw herself in front of Elliot.
“I don't remember.
Don't fire me.”
Elliot arched his back and studied her features.
Her dress was unusual, not often seen in Valois.
Moreover, the woman's body was okay.
“It seems that you are not a subject of Valois?
This is a dress I have never seen before.”
Elliot addressed her.
“I don't really know when I opened my eyes, I was here.”
Elliot stared at her clearly exposed legs.
They had olive-colored legs without any injury, but her ankle was swollen, as if it had been sprained.
Elliot pursed his lips and said to the butler:
“Take her to the palace and treat her wounds.”
"What?"
inquired the head butler.
Does he mean to take a woman whose identity they do not know to the royal palace?
“It could be fatal.”
“Such a delicate woman?
This is ridiculous.
How much do you underestimate me?”
Elliot turned away as if to say he did not accept the inquiry.
Then, the butler signaled to the knights and ordered them to put the woman on a stretcher.
The butler did not utter his inner words, but his expression was not good.
And so Scheherazade entered the royal palace.
It can be said that she was very lucky.
It was a simple plan in which she would pretend to fall into a royal hunting ground after losing her memory, but she thought success would not be easy.
Because she heard that the king was very suspicious.
But fortunately, the king took her to the palace.
If she had failed, she would have used another method, but she was able to enter the palace easily with a modest plan.
After Scheherazade finished bathing, she changed her clothes into a two-piece dress of white cloth, a costume not found in Valois.
Then she stood in front of a wooden statue and speculated
‘O Ruler of the Earth, O my mother, your daughter prays to you from a distant land.
Have mercy on the ignorant in this land.
Your imperfect daughter is trying to raise your name.
Give me strength and wisdom.'
The wooden statue was looking at Scheherazade with sympathy.
She brought her hands together more piously, finished her speculation, and then knelt down!
•|Oh God, I seek refuge in You from committing polytheism while I know, and I seek Your forgiveness for what I do not know!