Chapter 03…
The Treasured One Becomes a Mirage.
After a fierce battle against poison and her miraculous return from the brink of death, what awaited Felicia was an even crueler reality.
“I’m afraid… Lady Felicia will find it difficult to bear children from now on.”
Felicia was diagnosed as infertile due to the aftereffects of the poison.
The news of her condition sent shockwaves through the royal castle. It was unthinkable that the Crown Prince’s fiancée could be unable to bear heirs.
The grandly celebrated engagement was annulled, and to everyone’s surprise, the new fiancée chosen for Crown Prince Alexis was none other than Felicia’s younger stepsister, Celine, a year her junior. Celine had long harbored feelings for Alexis, and her mother, Yvette, had fervently lobbied influential ministers to make it happen.
“To think I can become Prince Alexis’s fiancée—it’s like a dream!”
“Of course, dear. You’ve always adored His Highness Alexis.”
While Celine and Yvette rejoiced at the news, Alexis himself visited the Duprat estate—but he didn’t even glance at Celine. He went straight to Felicia.
“Felicia, I’m sorry… I couldn’t protect you.”
Holding the hand of the bedridden Felicia, Alexis’s face was twisted with regret.
“But Felicia, I still—”
“Your Highness, Crown Prince Alexis.”
Placing her other hand gently over his and pushing it away, Felicia cut him off.
“I can no longer fulfill the duties of the Crown Princess. Despite all your kindness to me, I have repaid it only with disappointment. I have no words to express my regret. —I sincerely wish for the happiness of Your Highness and Lady Celine.”
Her frail, vanishing smile pierced his heart. Alexis bit his lip in silence.
From that day on, Felicia rarely left her estate. She ceased appearing at royal teas, evening gatherings, and other noble events.
Not wishing to stand in the way of Celine, now the Crown Prince’s fiancée, Felicia quietly withdrew from society.
Unable to bear children, she had little hope of a good match. Her father, entrusted by the king with foreign diplomacy, was often away, while her stepmother Yvette devoted all attention to Celine.
All Felicia could do was read stories to her young half-brother Maxim and teach him to play the violin. Still, she poured all the love she could into him.
Before long, people began to call the vanished Felicia “The Mirage Princess.”
The beautiful princess who had faded away—like a shimmering mirage.
Two years passed since the annulment. After intensive daily lessons from an increased number of tutors, Celine had finally become barely fit to be seen as the Crown Prince’s fiancée.
It was then decided that Alexis and Celine’s engagement ceremony would be held three months later.
Soon after the announcement, Felicia was abruptly told that she would be married off to a nobleman in a neighboring kingdom.
Yvette explained that it was an arrangement made by her father, who was abroad on duty.
“This is a match your father strongly wished for, my dear. The gentleman is very wealthy, so you’ll want for nothing. Isn’t that wonderful?”
Yvette seemed delighted as she relayed the news.
The man in question was a count over sixty, who already had an heir—so her inability to bear children wouldn’t be an issue.
The Duprat family’s steward, who had served them since before Felicia’s birth, expressed concern:
“I’ve heard rumors that the count is quite the libertine… To think that my lady must marry such a man…”
But Felicia, feeling her own unworthiness, had no right to choose. If her father had decided it, she would obey.
“Thank you. But I’ll be all right. If it’s a match my father arranged, I’m sure he wouldn’t send me somewhere unkind.”
She gave the worried steward a fleeting, fragile smile.
