The Marked Lady

I watched as Aldric gently comforted Rosalind before he turned and snarled at me. “Leanora, you’re meant to be a noble lady of the Royal City, but all I see is a jealous woman consumed by envy.”

Yet, just last month, on the lakeside promenade, he had whispered tenderly by my side, “Nora, you’re amazing at this style of painting. You’re so breathtaking. Sometimes I wish I could hide you away so only I can see you.”

Perhaps noticing my reddened eyes and fearing that the tension might frighten Rosalind, Aldric immediately sent her away.

“In our previous life, it was your inability to accept Rose that drove us apart. Why are you making the same mistake again?”

I forced back my tears as I looked at him.

“Why should I accept her? You know perfectly well who she is. Her very existence is an insult to House Ashveil. The only reason she was raised in our household was that Father couldn’t bring himself to abandon her.”

Back then, Rosalind’s father had been nothing more than a homeless man who forced himself on my mother, and that was how Rosalind was born. My mother never recovered and eventually died from it. However, Father believed that, no matter what, she was my mother’s child. That was why he couldn’t bring himself to cast her out, nor could he bear to kill her.

Suddenly, Aldric flew into a rage. He grabbed my throat and snarled in a low voice. “She was just a baby. She bears no guilt. And if you ever breathe a word of this, I have ten thousand ways to make sure you never speak again.”

My breathing grew laborious before he finally released his grip.

“Guards. Escort Lady Leanora to the Convent of St. Mary. She wishes to spend a month in prayer for her sister’s happiness. See her there.”

The citizens along the road were not fools. They immediately began whispering and speculating about what had happened.

Confined within the convent, I had no way of knowing what rumors were spreading beyond the walls, including that Rosalind had been spreading the story that I had attacked her out of jealousy, only to be caught in the act by Prince Aldric. Meanwhile, the people praised her endlessly for foreseeing the earthquake and saving countless lives.

On the day I was released and walked out of the convent gates, a crowd had gathered outside. Rotten eggs and wilted vegetable leaves rained down on me from every direction, leaving me humiliated and disheveled.

Suddenly, someone stepped in front of me, shielding me from the crowd.

“Stand down, all of you! Lady Leanora withdrew to St. Maren to pray on behalf of my future princess. These rumors are complete nonsense!”

Through the sticky egg whites dripping down my face, I looked at the tall figure standing before me. My nose stung.

In my previous life, when I had followed him across the battlefield, he had also stood in front of me like this. In the end, everything changed, yet the way he helped me onto the carriage and escorted me back to the residence made it feel as if nothing had changed at all.

He cleared his throat awkwardly. “I want to be clear. I only defended you today because it was inappropriate of me to have you sent to the convent that day.”

I lowered my head and sniffed quietly. “I understand.”

Father hurried back from outside the city as soon as he heard the news.

“I was only away dealing with the disaster relief, and somehow…”

He pulled me into his arms, his face full of distress. Then, he turned to look at Aldric standing behind us.

“House Ashveil is too small to accommodate Your Highness and your future princess. Once Your Highness marries next month, I hope you will no longer trouble my daughter or me.”

Aldric opened his mouth as if to speak. After a long moment, he said, “After the wedding, I intend to call on the Lord Chancellor to discuss the possibility of taking Nora as my mistress.”

Father huffed with anger. He grabbed the doorman’s broom and was ready to start hitting someone. However, the man who arrived behind Aldric stopped him.

“Aldric, this is beneath you. The Lord Chancellor has served the crown and the people his entire life. Breaking your engagement to marry another woman is disgraceful in itself, but now you want his only daughter as a mistress? That is an outright insult.”

Caelen was, after all, the Crown Prince. He immediately ordered his men to escort Prince Aldric back to his residence before accompanying us back to House Ashveil.

While I was in my room tidying myself up, I removed the vegetable leaves stuck to my hair. The birthmark on my forehead was now completely exposed.

When I returned to the main hall, I heard Caelen speaking.

“If the Chancellor does not mind, I would like to ask for Lady Leanora’s hand as my Crown Princess. The Royal City itself will be my dowry.”

As Father hesitated, I pushed the door open and walked in.

“I accept, Your Highness.”

In my previous life, it was precisely because I chose Aldric and bent fate that all those later disasters came to pass. If Aldric and Rosalind believed that by starting over and carrying memories of another life, they could counterfeit destiny, they were ridiculously wrong.

I gave Caelen a curtsey.

“Your Highness must have your own reasons for choosing me. I ask for nothing else, only that you keep my father and me safe. In return, whenever Prince Aldric moves against you, I will aid you to oppose him.”