Escape from the evil lady (GL)
Chapter 162 - 23. Repay the debt

Chapter 162: Chapter 23. Repay the debt

Based on how serious the current situation was, there was only one solution. If no action is taken immediately, the Crown Princess will definitely die right here without waiting for any medical attention. It was obvious.

But, nevertheless, upon hearing this statement from the Duchess, everyone present stared at her in shock.

After all, given the usually indifferent nature of the mistress of the ice castle, this was the last person one would expect to receive a helping hand at such a moment.

The baron’s youngest son was particularly surprised.

«Your Grace, you don’t mean...?» he stammered.

«Exactly,» she nodded, «The spell my father used back then is the only way out now.

Hearing about this, the guy shuddered.

At that moment, when he thought of the story the Duchess had told him, he couldn’t help but tense up. Back then, Duke de Lune used all his magic power only to prevent his wife from passing away during childbirth. Nevertheless, despite the fact that her life was saved then, the northern duke paid for it by completely depriving her of her magical abilities.

No matter how you look at it, it was an extremely high fee. Especially for someone who ruled the entire northern duchy.

«Your Grace, can you really save her?!» Camille exclaimed excitedly first.

«At least I’ll do my best,» the woman replied.

— Really...?!

— There is less and less time left. Therefore, if we want to save Her Crown Highness, we should hurry up.

At this time, listening to their conversation, Jeremy Seibel involuntarily clenched his fists.

«Your Grace, are you really willing to do this?» the guy exclaimed.

— Do we have any other options now? — Selina asked him calmly.

— But how...! How so... — Jeremy stammered, — You can do it...

Even though the guy didn’t mention it out loud, Selina understood him anyway and sighed.

— This is my decision. And I won’t regret it.

— But... — Jeremy was still stammering, — Your Grace, you...

— what? Are you saying that we should just abandon the crown princess of this empire at her death? — The Duchess chuckled, — Besides, I have some duty to Her Highness. I think now is the best chance to get him back.

Jeremy, along with Camille, looked puzzled.

— Debt...? What do you mean?

— It’s not that important.

Instead of answering directly, the woman chose to dismiss the answer, and all the gossip about this stopped pretty soon. After all, there really wasn’t much time.

After Celina de Loon made this decision, Jeremy realized that there was no point in him trying to dissuade her. After all, he knew the Duchess’s character better than anyone else. Instead, he just had to obediently step aside so that the woman could take the necessary action.

Camilla and the second princess did the same, intently watching what was unfolding before their eyes.

At this time, when everyone else had moved aside, the northern Duchess began to whisper a magic spell under her breath. At the same moment, the ground beneath them glowed with white light, and it was truly an amazing sight. This peculiar ritual continued for some time. After which...

Having finished this task, Selina felt a sudden weakness in her whole body, and, unable to stand it, she staggered. At the same time, Jeremy hurried over to his wife to hold her down.

«Your Grace, are you okay...?!» he asked worriedly, holding her arm.

The Duchess, in turn, nodded weakly.

— It’s okay... It’s just a little bit of overwork after using the spell.

«.....»

Although the woman said that there was nothing critical in her condition, the baron’s youngest son still couldn’t help but feel that using this magic had really affected her greatly. Selina’s condition now felt much weaker than usual. Jeremy frowned involuntarily, wondering if everything was really okay.

And then at the same time...

«Huh... huh...»

The golden eyes, like a wild predator, slowly opened.

***

When Kaena Gessen de Ronan opened her eyes, she couldn’t believe that she was actually in reality. In the end, she thought she was going to die for sure. However...

— Your Highness!

As soon as Kaena barely opened her eyes and took her first breath, an exclamation immediately reached her ears, which made it clear that she really wasn’t dead. The next moment, a man whom she definitely did not expect to see here bent over her.

— Camille...? What? — she said hoarsely. — What are you doing here?

The Crown Princess couldn’t believe her eyes. More precisely, it still seemed to her that she was only seeing a death dream in front of her.

But... The warmth from the hands touching her was definitely alive.

— Your Highness, I am... I’m so glad you’ve come to your senses! — The girl was sobbing.

— ...

I was so afraid that you would really die here!

At this time, while Kaena was still recovering, and Camilla excitedly continued to question her, the presence of other eyewitnesses here seemed to have become completely superfluous. Catching the atmosphere, Jeremy cleared his throat awkwardly:

— I think it would be better for us to leave them now.

«But...!» the second princess was about to argue, as she clearly had something to talk to her sister about at this moment. However, the baron’s youngest son cut off all objections at that moment.

— Come on! Why don’t we take a walk in the woods while these two are talking?

— ...Take a walk in the woods?

Jerica de Ronan frowned in puzzlement, while the Duchess did not utter a word.

«I mean, isn’t the setting here wonderful?» He continued, «We should definitely get to know this place better!»

In the end, Jeremy managed to get the second princess and the duchess away from here under the pretext of a tour of this forest. And then the Crown Princess and Camilla were left alone.

After using Celine’s spell, Kaena managed to avoid certain death, and the wound on her body now looked much better. However... After the princess was able to take a sitting position, silence reigned between them for a while.

In fact, none of them knew what to say first in such a situation.

— ...What are you doing here? — Kaena finally asked softly, — Didn’t I send you to a safe place from here? So why are you...

At this moment, Camilla couldn’t help but exclaim loudly:

— Your Highness, please... I’m so sorry!

— ...What? — The woman stared at her, dumbfounded.

«I... I finally realized that I was wrong all this time, and now I sincerely regret it,» she continued with a shudder, «I know that now I have no right to ask you for forgiveness, but still... I still hope so.

The Crown Princess looked at her with considerable surprise for a while.

«Don’t you hate me?» Kaena asked softly.

The duke’s youngest daughter quickly shook her head.

— How can I, when I know now what you’ve been doing for me all this time? I was such a fool...

— That’s not true.

— In the end, because of my own prejudice and ignorance, I caused you so much pain. I really don’t know how I should apologize for that now...

Kaena de Ronan sighed.

— ...Actually, you should forgive me, — she countered.

— what?

— All this time, I continued to do my own thing and did not take into account your feelings at all, — she summed up gloomily, — The fact that we ended up in this position is completely my fault.

— No! I think it’s both our fault.

The golden pupils of the princess shuddered for a moment, after which she lowered her gaze, as if for the first time she did not know where to put her eyes now. At that moment, Camilla decided to take the initiative first and asked:

— Your Highness... No, Kaena. If it’s still possible, could we start over?

— ...At first? — she asked.

The duke’s youngest daughter nodded.

— To start a new stage of our relationship from scratch. Only this time we will be sincere with each other, without any innuendos and secrets.

For a moment, the Crown Princess was speechless as she was too stunned by this.

— Really... Do you really want to do this? — She asked incredulously.

— Now I realized that this is what I really want the most.

After a short silence, during which Kaena thought about her words in confusion, she finally made a decision.

— OK... Then that’s what we’ll do, — she smiled faintly.

At that moment, the heart in the chest of the duke’s youngest daughter stopped for a moment.

— Actually, I am... I wanted to ask you something else. — She said excitedly.

— what is it?

— Do you still want to marry me?

Kaena blinked in surprise.

— Why are you asking that?

— Because... I’m going to propose to you this time! — The girl blurted it out with alacrity.

Kaena’s pupils opened wide.

— I’m going to make an official proposal to the Crown Princess of this Empire. Would she accept him?

After Camilla made this bold and decisive statement, which she could not have expected from herself before, there was a pause between them. And then...

— Of course.

Kaena’s lips stretched into a smile that was completely different from the sinister smile of the monstrous crown princess that was once legendary in the empire.

«Now... I’m really not going to step back anymore.»

Smiling more brightly than ever before, Camilla approached and kissed the Crown Princess before she could realize it.