Chapter 3
The storage room was drafty and freezing, causing me to have a high fever in the middle of the night.
In a haze, Lucian burst in, furious, and threw me onto the ground.
“You dare curse Ruby?!” he roared.
A blood–red sigil landed at my feet.
I didn’t even bother to lift my eyelids.
The blood on it was still fresh, but after I had returned from the palace yesterday, I hadn’t even been near my own room.
There was no way it could have been me.
The sigil was so crudely finished, yet Lucian didn’t even take a second look before rushing over to accuse me.
After venting his anger, he took Ruby and left.
I dragged myself back to the storage room, curled up tightly, trying to ease the pain.
But the noise outside was relentless.
could hear the servants‘ exaggerated gasps.
Lucian had taken Ruby out shopping for their wedding supplies.
Everything he bought for her was even more luxurious than what he had once bought for me.
And not only that
–
he even went to the palace to request a royal crown for her.
wwwww
Back then, he had simply commissioned a craftsman to make mine.
I had thought it was because I was of low status and not his true love, so I wasn’t worthy of a royal crown.
But now I knew that wasn’t the reason.
Thinking back, I realized how foolish I had been.
I had mistaken Lucian’s mere politeness for affection, and blamed everything afterward on Liora’s manipulations.
In the end, it had always been nothing but my own pathetic wishful thinking.
www
Lucian came back in high spirits for once, and had me moved to the guest room.
#
He tossed me a purse of coins and said, “Go buy whatever you need.”
But even through the fever haze clouding my mind, Aveline’s summons came. That’s when I remembered that today was the day they’d lay my child’s spirit to rest.
I forced myself to stand for three hours.
When I left the palace, I remembered the money Lucian had given me.
–
I remembered how he had ordered me to buy things I need. I guessed it was probably for his wedding.
So, gritting my teeth, I went to the market to buy jewelry and fabric before heading back to the castle.
But what I saw upon arriving left me frozen.
Lucian was helping Ruby deliver puppies.
Ruby looked at the newborn pups and said meaningfully, “I wonder who has been reborn today.”
“How fortunate to be born as my dog!”
Fury exploded inside me.
I’lunged forward and slapped Ruby across the face.
Lucian kicked me hard, sending me crashing into a pile of boxes behind me.
Silk fabric spilled out, its bright white color glaring against the ground.
Chapter 3
Lucian’s face darkened.
“What madness are you up to now?” he barked.
“And what’s with all this stuff?”
“I told you to buy things for the child! When he returns from the palace!”
“And you went and bought clothes and jewelry for yourself?”
“Felicity, you’re so shallow and vain it makes me sick!”
“Someone like you doesn’t deserve to raise a child! Let me tell you, if you don’t behave yourself, when the child comes back, you won’t even be allowed near him!”
Child… child…
My child was already gone.
I let out a hollow laugh, picked up a hatpin nearby, and stabbed it toward my heart.
