Chapter 2

Lyca’s eyes welled up with tears as she stroked her father’s delicate hand. She didn’t expect his condition to deteriorate so quickly.

“Father, what happened to you? Queen Annabelle said your condition isn’t serious… but—” Lyca couldn’t finish the sentence because her voice broke.

After slowly opening his eyes, King Wilbert let out a weak growl.

Lyca quickly wiped her tears away and forced a smile. “How are you, Father?” she inquired cheerfully.

Lyca doesn’t want to worry about her father because they haven’t seen each other in a long time.

“My princess… you shouldn’t be here,” King Wilbert said, raising his body to better see Lyca.

Lyca quickly attended to her father, allowing him to lean on the bed’s headboard. “Today is my birthday, and I’d like to spend it with you on this special day…” she explained, holding her father’s cheek.

*Cough-cough!*

Lyca’s face was concerned as King Wilbert coughed one after the other, and when he was done, a lot of blood came out of his mouth.

“Please forgive me, my princess… I wanted to give you a grand celebration, but given my circumstances—”

“Sssh… more than the lavish celebration, the most important thing is being with my dearest father…” Lyca responded quickly while holding her father’s hand.

Despite the difficulty, King Wilbert smiled before closing his eyes to sleep.

Lyca remained silent, content to hold her father’s hand as tears streamed down her cheeks.

Lyca is perplexed by her father’s behavior. King Wilbert, her father, is a knight… He is a skilled fighter and swordsman in the Kingdom.

“I need to leave the castle to find a cure,” Lyca said quietly.

“But how? The queen forbade me from going out since my father got sick…” Because Lyca dislikes leaving the castle, she does not object to Queen Annabelle’s order.

But she now has a reason. That’s why Lyca made the decision to tell Queen Annabelle about her desire to leave the castle.

“Father, hang in there… I will find a cure for your illness,” Lyca said quietly before rising to her feet. It won’t be good if the queen discovers her presence in the room.

Lyca was about to open the door when someone shouted from outside the door, so she quickly looked for a place to hide.

Lyca dashes into the thick curtain and hides.

“It’s all your fault! The girl you gave me the last time isn’t pure! She’s stained!”

The queen has arrived! But what exactly are they discussing? Lyca cleaned the curtain partially out of curiosity in order to see who was with the queen.

“Please forgive me, my queen…”

What is his name? Lyca pondered this question. She hasn’t seen the guy in the castle before, so she doesn’t recognize him.

“I will forgive you this time, but I hope this mistake will never happen again!” Queen Annabelle turned around and faced King Wilbert’s bed.

Queen Annabelle makes a calm remark, but the man is terrified.

“My queen, to make amends for my error, I have a gift that you will undoubtedly enjoy,” the man mumbled.

“Hmm, then show me your gift,” Queen Annabelle said as she sat in front of the dresser.

Lyca noticed the man enter a room as Queen Annabelle looked in the mirror.

‘I’m going to go out and apologize to the queen…’ Lyca said to herself.

She deliberated in her mind for a few minutes before deciding to approach the queen and ask for forgiveness.

“Ugh!”

As a woman fell to the floor with her hands tied and a cloth covering her mouth, Lyca’s hand that was about to open the curtain froze in the air.

“She’ll last until the next full moon,” the man said.

“Hmm, she is not pure, but her youth is enough,” Queen Annabelle said, staring intently at the woman who was crying on the floor.

‘What are they talking about, and what will they do to the girl,’ Lyca wonders as she observes what is going on in the room.

Queen Annabelle rose and approached the girl, her smile gradually widening. “Let me tell you a trivial fact about the next full moon…”

When Queen Anabelle firmly held her chin, the girl felt compelled to raise her face.

“On the next full moon, my long-held dream of having a beauty that does not fade even after hundreds of years will come true!” Queen Anabelle said, stroking her face.

Fear was reflected in the girl’s eyes as she shivered as a result of Queen Annabelle’s sudden change in appearance; her hand caressed the girl’s face before landing on the neck.

“Hmm, I wish I had the time to tell you everything…”

The girl has no idea what is happening to her, and all she knows is that her energy is running low.

But it’s not the same for Lyca… She could see the woman’s body drying, and what surprised her was the queen’s grimace.

“Albert, how do I look?” Queen Anabelle inquired after absorbing the energy of the girl.

“As always…unique— your beauty is unparalleled, my queen…” Albert responded, admiring and loving Annabelle.

When Queen Annabelle looked in the mirror, she noticed that her skin glowed, as Balmond had said.

“Then I’ll leave everything to you… I still have to go back to the party to entertain the royalties…” Queen Annabelle said as she sat in her dressing room, adjusting her gown.

“My queen, regarding the princess…”

Albert did not pursue his opinions after seeing Annabelle’s glum expression.

Meanwhile, Lyca’s knees trembled as she covered her mouth with both hands in her hiding place.

What becomes of the girl? And the queen… how could she do something like that? I mean, what— Lyca paused in the middle of her sentence because she couldn’t put what she saw into words.

She returns her gaze to the man who is now carrying the woman’s lifeless body out of the room.

“It appears that the answer to everything is in the castle…” Lyca observed.