BCPSM 03

Chapter 3 — Recollections

The innkeeper’s daughter returned as promised, carrying a basin filled with hot water.

I handed her three copper coins, and after thanking me politely, she quietly left the room.

I dipped a towel into the basin and began wiping down his body.

He didn’t seem embarrassed by being naked. Layers of grime and filth peeled away from his skin in clumps. I emptied the basin once, then asked for more hot water. After repeating the process several times, the unpleasant smell that clung to him finally disappeared.

His hair had been tangled and filthy as well, but after washing it and carefully combing through the knots, it slowly regained some of its former beauty.

Beautiful golden hair.

The moment I saw it, a distant memory—one long buried deep inside me—rose quietly to the surface.

“Evelina.”

In the royal palace gardens, the crown prince, still only a young boy then, called my name.

When he was little, His Highness had been so lovely he almost seemed angelic.

I used to look at him as though he were something dazzling, too radiant to touch.

Every day, I pushed myself relentlessly, believing I had to become worthy of the brilliant crown prince.

But back then, when we were still children, he had smiled at me kindly.

“Come here, Evelina. The roses are beautiful today.”

Yet standing there among the white roses, dressed in pale blue silk and white stockings, he himself looked far more beautiful than the flowers.

A prince with golden curls.

He had been the person I admired most.

The child I once was had worshipped him almost religiously. Seeing how hopelessly devoted I was—even revering the ground he walked on—my younger twin brother, Lindale, would tease me for it.

“Sister, you really are foolish.”

A white rose rested in Lindale’s hand.

He plucked away its thorns one by one.

A single petal fluttered softly to the ground.

A boy with the same vivid red hair as mine.

My precious twin brother.

“Well… perhaps I couldn’t help it, because I was foolish.”

Yes.

I was foolish.

Hopelessly, painfully foolish.

I loved the crown prince.

I wanted to spend my entire life beside that beautiful prince with golden curls.

When I was chosen as his fiancée, I was so overwhelmed with happiness that I thought my heart might simply stop beating altogether.

I was truly happy.

I believed we would walk forward together forever, hand in hand.

And when he pushed that hand away—

I was foolish enough to cling to him anyway.

Without a shred of pride left, I cried and begged.

“Why? Why?” I had shouted desperately.

And looking down at me were those cold blue eyes, as though he were staring at someone pathetic.

Evelina… you were never enough.

The person worthy of standing beside me was never you.

And with those words, the crown prince reached for another girl’s hand.

Her name was Maria.

A beautiful girl with a smile as soft and warm as spring sunlight.

Everyone praised her, saying she possessed the power of a holy maiden, that she alone was worthy of becoming the crown prince’s bride.

Their voices had sounded cold to me.

As though they were cutting me away piece by piece.

That is why I am annulling our engagement.

The moment those words were spoken, it felt as though my chest had been torn apart.

For a brief instant, the bitterness of that memory resurfaced so vividly that my hand stopped in the middle of combing through his hair.

Then I let out a deep sigh and began moving the comb again.

The past was the past.

Nothing could ever bring it back now.

Still… if my twin brother Lindale could see me as I am now, he would probably laugh.

“Sister, you really are foolish.”

Yes.

I really am a fool.