WLYV 27

Chapter 27

Where would a frail body find the strength or fist to hit?

I opened the door and stepped out; the maid who had led Ilina and me to the reception room was gone, and another maid stood just outside the door.

“Hello. I’m Meru, a maid who came from the Polloid Empire with Princess Charlotte. Did you have a good conversation with Lady Ilina, Miss Lorencia?”

The maid who introduced herself fell silent when she saw Lorencia’s red, swollen cheek and the slightly torn dress. Her face showed complete helplessness. Meru first tidied Lorencia’s dress a little, then let down the left side of her hair to lightly cover the cheek.

“Meru. Will you please guide us back to Princess Charlotte’s reception room?”

“Of course. I will take you to Princess Charlotte’s reception room.”

Walking behind Meru, Lorencia touched the left side of her face. It stung and hurt.
<I used about forty scrolls containing healing spells.>

Teishar suddenly came to mind. Seeing the swollen cheek made her think he wouldn’t just stand idly by. Still, she had no intention of trusting his kindness outright.

Lorencia didn’t know exactly what kind of being “the child of the goddess Ella” was. But she suspected it might be related to seeing the future through the amethyst necklace or the power to move things with thought.
‘I won’t ask Marquis Teishar about the child of the goddess Ella first. No — I shouldn’t ask at all.’

She couldn’t trust him so simply. Even someone wearing the kindest smile could thrust a knife into someone’s skull—she had experienced that firsthand. So she wouldn’t rely on anyone or ask them for help. Yet there was something she wanted.

<I want to study, Your Majesty Luance.>
<Don’t try to learn anything. Listen to me.>

She wanted to study. In her previous life she had never been allowed to learn letters. They had not wanted her to become smart. This time, she planned to take the opportunity to learn reading and seek out books or records related to the child of the goddess Ella to learn things for herself.

<Lorencia. I love you. If you love me, don’t trust anyone but me.>
She had believed in that love utterly. But once that love had trampled her, she could trust no one. No—she was afraid to trust. She feared that if she trusted, everything might turn out to be a lie, just like with Luance.

Not trusting people from the start would spare her a painful experience she didn’t need to have. If someone asked what she believed in, she could simply say potato soup and Leo — because that would be true.

Whether people called her a witch or the child of the goddess Ella didn’t matter. No matter what anyone said, Lorencia was Lorencia. Lorencia Pol Heredian, who had decided to become a monstrous creature. So she would act like a monster and trample whoever needed trampling.

“Ah….”

Meru, who had been walking ahead, stopped. Lorencia’s steps naturally stopped as well.

“What is it, Meru?”

Lorencia looked in the direction Meru was staring and found Teishar with his black hair. And she saw Luance standing in front of him. The atmosphere felt tense.

“It’s Marquis Spencer and Prince Luance.”

“Yes. It looks like they are talking in the hallway, Miss Lorencia.”

“Wait a moment, Meru.” Lorencia moved forward.

“Marquis Spencer. And Prince Luance?”

“Miss Lorencia.”

“Lorencia!”

Luance was stunned to see Teishar, who had been glaring at him as if he might kill him, suddenly soften his face like a bright flower. It looked as if an invisible dog’s tail was happily wagging.

Teishar’s brief joy vanished. He felt displeased that Luance was looking at Lorencia. He grew anxious, worrying that the young sapling might be swept away.

“Princess Charlotte asked for you… Could it be Lady Ilina hit you like this?”

Although part of her face was hidden by hair, Teishar’s face twisted viciously at the sight of her left cheek, now bright red and swollen. A grinding sound of teeth reached Lorencia’s ears. Teishar trembled and gently lifted Lorencia’s chin to look her over. How could someone in the imperial palace lay hands on this young sapling? Teishar’s eyes reddened with fury. And then he regretted it. No matter how much she had wanted it, he shouldn’t have sent her.

“It’s fine. I hit back just as hard.” Lorencia said proudly to Teishar. But Teishar shook and began to check her wrists.

“You hit with these thin wrists? With which palm did you hit? I’m worried Miss Lorencia’s wrists might get hurt.”

“What I meant by ‘I hit’ was—” Lorencia began.

Teishar let out a heavy sigh.

“If you ever want to hit someone in the future, tell me. I’ll hit them for you as much as you want.”

Lorencia blinked. What she had meant was that she had “hit” them verbally—she had beaten them with words, not physically. But Teishar had taken it a different way.

“With such a fragile body, where would you find the strength or fists to hit? From now on, you must ask me to hit them for you.”

Lorencia couldn’t help but let out a soft laugh.

“Can’t I do it myself? I can hit well…”

“If you get hurt while hitting them, I’ll be upset and it won’t do.”

“What if I want to hit someone?”

“I will teach Miss Lorencia how to strike properly. Then you can hit. But not yet.”

“Fine. Marquis Spencer. Then is it okay to insult them?”

“You may insult them as much as you like. But if someone insults Miss Lorencia, remember it and tell me.”

“Why?”

“So I can make sure they never insult Miss Lorencia again.”

Lorencia nodded at Teishar’s earnest answer to her teasing question. If she asked any more, she feared he’d say something odd.

“I’ll go use a healing scroll on her. Also, I think visits from the Pol Heredian Count family should be refused.”

“Lorencia!” Teishar glared fiercely at Luance, who had interrupted his important talk with Lorencia.

“Prince Luance.”

“I came to take you. Let’s go back.” Luance stood motionless for a moment, fists clenched, looking at Lorencia and Teishar, then started walking slowly toward them.

“Go back where?”

“Have you forgotten where you belong?”

Escaping safely and planning to live comfortably in the imperial palace, then going back to the Pol Heredian manor would be madness. Once she went back to the manor, she would never escape again. Lorencia knew that better than anyone. Luance, knowing she had awakened the power to see the future, would try to take her back, but she had no intention of returning unless he was insane.

“I must stay in the imperial palace under the Empress and Princess Charlotte’s orders. I don’t want to disobey orders and become a burden to my house.”

“Lorencia. Why do you keep finding fault with what I say?” Teishar frowned at Luance’s words. While talking with Lorencia the annoyance Luance caused had melted away like sherbet, the moment Luance spoke again, it felt like eating dry potatoes without water or salt.

“Prince Luance—” Luance cut her off.

“Are you trying to keep tabs on people because I’m in front of Marquis Spencer? Listen, Lorencia. You watch people who will soon return to the Polloid Empire, but you ignore the man who will stay by your side here in the Ishtar Empire?”

“Prince Luance.”

“I care about you. That’s why I came to fetch you. Let’s go back to the manor quickly.”

Such conversations always hurt Lorencia.

“Why do you make me feel like I’m someone who watches others’ reactions?”

“What?”

“I’m not watching anyone’s reaction right now. Why are you speaking as if I am?”

“Now what did you just say, Lorencia?” Luance, wetting his dry lips, was flustered. Until now Lorencia had always followed his words unquestioningly. Now she was nitpicking and clinging to his every phrase.

“Luance, what’s wrong with you? This isn’t like you.”

“I want to ask you the same. Prince Luance. Why do you tell me to watch my step? Could it be—” Lorencia’s gaze instantly hardened, and Luance felt a creeping sense that something was wrong.

“Are you implying I should watch my step because you know I’m an illegitimate child?”

Without blinking, Lorencia looked up at Luance with purple eyes devoid of any emotion. Luance sighed in frustration.

“I didn’t mean it like that.” Luance had been convinced she loved him. Or he thought she did. But now he felt no love coming from Lorencia.

<A monster must love you, Luance. Only then can you have the whole world.> Daniel’s words surfaced in her mind. Lorencia had been locked away in the manor all along. With no self-esteem and no will to rely on anyone, she had to be someone who could only rely on herself and love herself.

“Lorencia! Didn’t I tell you to come when I call and go when I tell you to go?” Luance spoke sharply. Teishar’s red eyes, unable to bear it, grabbed Luance’s wrist and pulled him away from Lorencia.

“What are you doing! Marquis Spencer.” The closer Luance came to Lorencia, the more the young sapling’s branches were cut away. Though only a few hours, leaves carefully nurtured wilted and fell. Teishar’s heart dropped along with them. The more Luance spoke, the more the young sapling became a skeletal tree dying in a cold winter. It was a terrible sight.

“I clearly warned you.” Teishar knew that the person who should be angrier than he was was Lorencia. But Lorencia couldn’t threaten or hit Luance; she needed someone to do it for her.

“You don’t make snakes angry.” Teishar put his hand toward the scabbard at his waist. His red gaze, as if about to draw his sword, made Luance so startled his body froze.