POV: Irene
I pushed open the heavy front door. The cool outdoor air struck my face, carrying the scents of garden flowers. Then I started walking down the central driveway toward the main exit.
That was when...
’Princess Olivia??’
Olivia was walking toward , coming from the opposite direction. She wore a long dark dress, straight cut, high collar. The princess walked with confident steps. Her hair was slightly tousled by the wind: a few strands had co loose, brushing her temples.
When she spotted , she stopped dead.
Her eyes narrowed. A crease appeared between her brows. She looked up and down.
I stopped as well, five ters from her.
The wind lifted a strand across my forehead. I didn’t push it back.
"What is Duchess Frostvine doing in a student’s private quarters?"
Her voice was sharp enough to make it clear the hostility was no longer even concealed.
I held her gaze without flinching, but the question surprised less for its bluntness than for what it revealed.
I didn’t answer right away. Because in that mont, I was thinking back to why I had started visiting Kaiser...
It wasn’t love. I took care not to think about it too long, for fear of having to na what I truly lacked. No, what I felt for him was more... complex to explain.
He had given warm monts. Over ti, that illusion had embedded itself so deeply inside that I had ended up convincing myself he loved .
But deep down, I knew it wasn’t true. No more than I loved him.
After all, he hadn’t even bothered to hide that he was courting other won; he was a frivolous and deceptive man.
Yet those monts had beco just as necessary. Kaiser was the only one who could fill the emotional void that my husband, with his blows and contempt, had carved into . Without him, only emptiness remained. So I didn’t give a damn what people thought of .
"Is that a problem, Your Highness?" I finally replied.
My voice was calm, almost detached. Olivia held my gaze without blinking.
"I don’t think that’s permitted... by your husband," she retorted.
Her gloved fingers held a folded letter she hadn’t opened. I noticed the way she gripped it, the paper slightly crumpled at the edges. She was perhaps waiting for an explanation. She wouldn’t get one.
"You should mind your own business, Highness." I paused. "If I rember correctly, you have matters with the Pendragon family, don’t you?"
Olivia smiled faintly...
"I see." She tilted her head slightly, but the gesture held nothing courteous. "Sorry for worrying about things that don’t concern ."
"It’s my turn to apologize, Highness. So, I bid the princess good night." I corrected myself imdiately, aware of the lapse: "Have a good night, Your Highness."
"The sa to you, Duchess Frostvine." She paused, then locked her eyes on mine. "Give my regards to the duke as well."
I simply inclined my head.
Olivia did the sa, advancing toward the steps.
As our bodies passed each other, our shoulders brushed.
*!!!!!!!*
Suddenly, sothing...
My heart pounded against my chest. A strange sensation climbed up my spine. My fingers tingled, as if numbed by cold.
"What the...!!"
I didn’t understand what had just happened either; I just wanted to get ho. We stayed like that for a few seconds. Then, without a word, we continued in opposite directions.
"What was that? Mana resonance? No, that doesn’t make sense; only elves experience that kind of thing with their guardian spirits..."
"Anyway... I’d rather not think about it..."
...
I returned to my apartnts after that tense exchange with the princess. Night had already fallen when I crossed the threshold of my bedroom.
"Luckily, he’ll still be away for the whole week..."
I didn’t light all the candles, only the one near the mirror. In the dimness, I undressed slowly. The fabric slid over my shoulders, then fell at my feet. I stood there motionless, looking at my reflection.
My naked body appeared in the flickering light. Bruises marked my skin, violet imprints on my hips, on my wrists. Duke Frostvine’s brutal hands had left the traces of his abuse. I gently ran my fingers over those dark marks. The pain was still tender. I let out a long sigh and closed my eyes for a mont.
I crossed the room completely naked, my feet sinking into the thick carpet. In the bathroom, the air was cool. I prepared my bath carefully, first pouring a few drops of lavender oil, then amber.
The scent imdiately filled the room. I turned on the hot water and watched the steam rise in swirls. When the tub was full, I dipped one foot in, then the other, before sitting down completely.
The water enveloped my body like a benevolent embrace. Imdiately, a deep satisfaction relaxed my features. I let myself slide lower until the water caressed my chin.
All the tension accumulated during this endless day gradually dissolved in the warmth. I watched my arms float on the surface; the bruises marking them seed less violent under the water.
I stayed like that for about fifty minutes, mind wandering. Sotis I thought back to that strange sensation. Other tis it was the duke’s face that imposed itself on . But the water soothed my muscles and cald my mind, gradually erasing those unpleasant images.
Finally, I decided to get out. I rose slowly, and the water cascaded down my pale skin. Droplets beaded on my shoulders, slid along my back. I didn’t bother drying off. I preferred to keep that feeling of warm dampness on my skin.
I walked barefoot to my bedroom, leaving wet footprints on the floor. I sat at my vanity. In the mirror, my face looked tired but peaceful.
I took my wooden brush and began combing my long hair. The damp strands slipped between the bristles with a soft sound. So resisted, forming knots that I patiently untangled. I gently pulled on a stubborn lock, then another, until my hair was smooth and shiny. The regular motion of the brush had sothing soothing about it.
Once my hair was dry and orderly, I stood to slip into a white silk nightgown. I climbed onto the large bed, knelt for a mont on the edge before lying down on the cool sheets.
I stayed there, eyes open toward the dark ceiling. My face quickly emptied of all expression. Solitude gradually invaded ... I was alone in this vast bed. Alone in this room, alone in this manor... Alone in this life...
"What a regrettable, shitty life..."
I placed my hand on the empty space beside . I stroked it chanically, imagining for a mont that it wasn’t empty.
I murmured softly:
"That’s why I love being near you, Kaiser."
My voice echoed weakly in the silence. No one answered, of course. I closed my eyes.
"I feel so alone... Kaiser..."
Sleep gradually overtook . My breathing beca regular and deep.
Without realizing it, a thin tear slid down my cheek, while my mana grew increasingly chaotic...
The air was so saturated with water-elent mana that a silhouette seed to be forming... In the darkness, plunging Irene into her deepest mories, the ones she sincerely wanted to forget...
End Of POV
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