Married To The Enemy Kingdom's Illegitimate Prince
Chapter 33 — Does He Want to Meet Me?

Chapter 33: 33 — Does He Want to Meet Me?

"Tell me what happened?" Cynthia demanded, her voice firm as she watched her brother’s trembling hands, wondering what could be causing such a reaction.

"Well... we called a priest," Alistair said with a sigh. "I know you don’t like anyone touching you without your permission, but we had no choice."

"Alright... and?" Cynthia tilted her head, still waiting for a clear answer.

"Just tell her," Vincent said with a sigh, pressing his palm against his face. "Or I will," he added, fixing Alistair with a determined look through the gap between his fingers.

"I’ll do it. I’m better at this," Alistair snapped, glaring at Vincent, who merely shrugged.

"What are you both talking about? Just tell me," Cynthia said, exasperated.

"It seems there’s a chance for you to manifest mana."

At her brother’s words, Cynthia froze. Her mind went blank for a moment, and she could feel her heart racing and her breath coming in uneven gasps.

"M-mana?" she stuttered.

Both brothers nodded.

"Isn’t that great news?! You’ve finally manifested! I can teach you how to use spells!" Vincent exclaimed, trying to lighten the mood that had suddenly grown dark.

Cynthia managed a tight-lipped smile and nodded.

"Aren’t you happy? I thought you’d be overjoyed. It’s wonderful news," Alistair added, pausing before continuing. "Oh, are you worried you’ll have to quit swordsmanship? Don’t worry, you’ll always be a knight of Eldo—" He stopped abruptly, noticing the empty smile Cynthia gave him.

It was rare for her to look at him like that unless he was bothering her—or she wanted to be left alone.

Ever since their parents’ passing, his little sister had become different. Sometimes, she behaved like an adult, while at other times, like a child.

Cassandra, the head maid of the palace, often remarked, "The princess has been acting strange. I can hardly recognize her. It’s like she’s possessed."

Though Alistair couldn’t deny it, he chose to ignore her reckless behavior. He was waiting—waiting for the day she would tell him what was in her heart. But that day never came.

And now, even after hearing such shocking news, she wanted him to leave and be alone.

"We’ll come back when you call for us," Alistair said softly, gently caressing Cynthia’s head before opening the door.

He glanced back one last time, but his sister didn’t bother to look at him. With a deep breath, he stepped out, Vincent following behind and closing the door quietly.

Once alone, Cynthia stared blankly at the closed door for a while. The room seemed to close in on her, and then a soft, eerie chuckle escaped her lips. The sound grew into uncontrollable laughter and soon a few tears ran down her cheeks before she realized it.

"I have mana?" she whispered gently, caressing her cheeks, and wiping the liquid off her skin.

Her eyebrows twitched in disbelief, her hands slightly trembling at the possibility.

"What a joke of a priest!" She scoffed, a bitter laughter of longing and yearning resonating in the hall.

In her past life, she had struggled endlessly because she couldn’t manifest any mana. Everyone in high society had picked on her, criticizing her flaws as if they were perfect themselves. There were no balls where she could be in peace, without anyone trying to step on her.

She prayed to gods through the ten years of war with Selvarys and Eldoria. During the king’s absence, the servants would do something to harm her daily. She was scared, she didn’t want to die.

"Do anything, but please give me some magic so I won’t be totally useless to His Majesty and he would..." the tears flooding from her eyes wouldn’t stop as she gasped for air. "And he would look at me a little bit warmly. Perhaps like he used to? A little bit is alright, so please."

Recalling those desperate, futile prayers, Cynthia’s laughter turned darker, more derisive.

The gods had never answered her pleas in her past life, and though she wasn’t remorseful, she resented them deeply. They had upended her life, leaving her to grapple with a cruel twist of fate, abandoned and betrayed. Yet now, they...

With a chuckle, Cynthia shook her head.

"No, I shouldn’t get my hopes up. Hopes only bring disappointment. I should ask Arlot."

Just as she was about to get out of her bed, someone knocked on the door.

Raising an eyebrow, wondering who it might be, Cynthia gave permission to the person at the door to enter.

Slowly opening the door, Anni peeked inside through the small opening it made as the opening gradually turned wider.

"What brings you here?" Cynthia smiled, masking her irritation. This wasn’t the time she wished to be disturbed. No matter who it was.

"Well..." the hesitation the maid before she felt was evident to Cynthia as she watched Anni fidget her hands nervously.

"Go ahead and tell me. I won’t scold you. Do I seem that horrible?" The subdued sarcasm in her tone was evident although Anni failed to catch it.

"Of course not!" She exclaimed for fear the lady she served would misunderstand her.

"Ah," Cynthia tried hard to not laugh.

She is... too innocent for this hell of a place. Poor girl. She will be tainted if she stays here.

The silver-haired young woman approached the maid, stepping outside of her bed, locking gaze with the shorter young girl.

"Anni. How about you leave this palace? I will arrange another job for you."

Although the grand duchess’s words contained a soft tone, to Anni, it seemed like a threat to fire her.

"I-I apologize if I have offended you. I will do better... so," Anni stuttered.

Although shocked by her reaction, Cynthia burst into laughter despite her.

"I won’t fire you. Don’t worry. But do tell me what brings you here when I haven’t called for you."

"W-well the grand duke wanted me to verify if you were awake."

"Hmm?" Cynthia raised an eyebrow, wondering why Lucian would bother checking on her. After all, it would make no difference to him.

Ah, is it because my brothers are here? No. He wouldn’t care about that to go as far as acting like he cares. Maybe he needs information for his knights to lead an investigation on that monster.

"Uhm... Your Highness?" Anni gently spoke, hearing no reply from the grand duchess.

"His Highness... does he want to meet me?"

***

Lucian tapped his fingers lightly on the table, his mind replaying the strange events from the reception banquet. The appearance of that creature lingered in his thoughts.

Upon arriving back at the mansion, he wasted no time. He ordered Dylan to fetch a priest, while Glain was sent to bring a physician.

Both examined Princess Cynthia thoroughly, and Lucian was relieved to learn her condition wasn’t life-threatening.

After all, if she had died, King Alistair might have blamed Selvarys, risking the outbreak of another war.

Taking a deep breath, Lucian closed his eyes, trying to piece together the bizarre scenes that unfolded before him.

In his mind, he saw Cynthia standing in the middle of the banquet hall, the room cloaked in darkness. The hall filled with whispers, halted by her faint voice as she spoke strangely.

As a few candles were lit by the servants, her silhouette became barely visible. She seemed to be searching for something, a gleaming blade gripped tightly in her hand.

Then, the dark smoke came, thick and suffocating, swirling around her until she vanished completely.

A moment later, the lights returned, but the guests stood frozen in shock, murmuring in disbelief and wondering what happened to the princess of Eldoria.

Even King Alistair and his brother, Prince Vincent, were visibly shaken, their hands trembling.

It was strange to witness them shaking as they watched their sister disappear before their eyes; however, it only showed how much they cherished her and Lucian’s guess that King Alistair might begin another war for his sister wasn’t wrong.

Just as they were preparing to search for the princess, she reappeared—this time, surrounded by a huge amount of white light.

Lucian was perplexed by the events which occurred before them. It wasn’t rare to see magic however this time, everything about it was different!

He, himself, never used magic, hence he wouldn’t know how it worked but he knew for sure, that Princess Cynthia, whom everyone knew for not possessing mana, used magic.

He was certain of it.

All he needed was confirmation.

"Might I enter?" A female voice muffled by the wooden door demanded, knocking on the door.

"Yes," Lucian sighed, tilting his head back.

"You seem to be having tough days, Your Highness," Cynthia entered the study room with a bright smile.

"And you seem to be doing well. Just as always," Lucian remarked, tapping the plume pen in his hand as he looked at the papers placed on his desk.

"May I take a seat?"

"It would be stranger if you didn’t."

Although irritated by Lucian’s sarcastic remarks, Cynthia kept a tight-lipped smile on her lips.

She couldn’t show him what her true nature was yet. She needed to remain calm, and composed and lose her cool as she used to in the past which only resulted in arguments and the distance between them grew wider.

However, this time, she needed him to be close so that she could get information about him.

"I heard you wanted to meet me. What made you finally think about me?" Cynthia demanded, crossing her arms as she looked at the young man before her.