Chapter 2

But a second later, Cecilia straightens her back.

“What? Am I wrong? You grew up far from here. Who knows what kind of people you spent those years with? Now House Ashford brings you back, and you think you can take Vivienne’s place? Who do you think you are?”

Vivienne lowers her head and says nothing.

That is what she does best.

She never gets her own hands dirty. She simply stands aside and lets other people say the cruel things for her.

I look at her and smile.

She raises her head. The moment our eyes meet, her face pales slightly.

“Vivienne, do you think so too?” I ask gently.

The people around us fall silent.

Everyone looks at her.

Vivienne bites her lip, her eyes turning red at exactly the right moment.

“Elara, why are you forcing me like this? I’ve never tried to compete with you.”

“Really?”

I close my fingers around the broken locket in my palm.

“Because you look afraid of me.”

Vivienne’s eyes widen slightly.

The clink of glass comes from across the hall, drawing everyone’s attention.

Prince Adrian stands there, his face deathly pale.

He is staring straight at me.

Someone beside him asks quietly, “Your Highness, are you all right?”

Adrian doesn’t answer.

I smile at him.

He takes another half step back.

The room goes completely silent.

Vivienne sees it too.

Clearly, she never expected a woman House Ashford had only just brought home to frighten a prince like this.

Cecilia still doesn’t understand.

She frowns at Adrian.

“Your Highness, do you know her?”

Adrian says nothing.

His gaze drops to the broken locket in my hand, and his face grows even paler.

I find it amusing, so I give him a small nod.

“Your Highness.”

Two words.

Adrian’s hand jerks, and his wineglass slips from his fingers, shattering across the floor.

Now no one can pretend they haven’t noticed.

Cecilia finally senses something is wrong, but she still tries to save face.

“She’s just some woman who grew up outside the capital. Why would Your Highness—”

“Shut up!”

Adrian cuts her off sharply.

Cecilia freezes.

Adrian doesn’t even look at her.

His eyes remain fixed on me, sweat already forming on his forehead.

Of course he’s afraid of me.

Seven years ago, I was still a young traveling healer.

Adrian had been drinking when he stopped me on the road and tried to take me away with him.

He probably thought I was just an ordinary healer who couldn’t refuse a prince.

He smiled and asked if I wanted to go with him.

I smiled too.

Then I slipped something into his wine.

The poison wasn’t deadly.

It only made his entire body itch, all the way down to his bones, no matter how much he scratched.

The royal healers couldn’t help him.

Only after someone from Valemont Sanctuary recognized the poison did Adrian finally understand who he had offended.

Seven years later, he clearly remembers.

But he doesn’t dare reveal my identity here.

Because the moment he does, tonight stops being a petty fight between a few noble ladies and the biological daughter House Ashford just brought home.

I don’t rush him.

I simply watch.

The sweat on Adrian’s forehead becomes more obvious.

Finally, he speaks.

“They didn’t know who they were dealing with. They offended you.”

His voice is low.

“Please don’t hold it against them.”

A prince is apologizing to me in front of the entire court on behalf of several noble ladies.

The hall falls silent.

The color slowly drains from Cecilia’s face.

At last, she is afraid.