Oriana paced back and forth inside her room; Sophie was a variable she hadn’t considered when her feelings for Adric started growing. She stopped walking, raising her brows. But didn’t even know when she started feeling this way for Adric. So, it wasn’t her fault either.

"And where is Freya?" Oriana finally stopped thinking about Sophie. She remembered she hadn’t seen the girl since she returned from the hunt. She left her room and went to Freya’s room, which was in the servants’ quarters. Maids stopped to bow when they saw the princess and waited for her to pass before going their way.

Oriana got to the last door she assumed to be Freya’s room and pushed it open, but it was another maid in there.

"Princess," the maid quickly stood up from her bed and bowed.

Oriana waved, "What about Freya, my personal maid? Is this not her room?" she asked, looking behind the maid to see if Freya was there.

The maid raised her head slightly. "No, Princess, it’s the room before this one, but she is not inside. I heard she’s at the physician’s," she replied.

"Physician? How? Why? Must be her father." Oriana didn’t wait for the maid to reply. She ran towards the royal infirmary. She hadn’t gone to see Louis since he started recovering. When she got there, she ran inside the room only to see Louis standing near the bed while Freya lay down with a white piece tied to her ankle.

"Freya!" Oriana shouted. "What happened to you?" She went to sit close to the girl’s bed, holding her hand with worry written all over her face.

Freya tried to stand up. "Princess..." her voice shaky as she tried to hold back her tears. She thought she would die back in the forest and wouldn’t see her father or the princess again.

"I was in my room when the guard... what was his name again? The one that is always with the crown prince? He came to tell me about Freya’s situation," Louis spoke with a deep sigh. He had just recovered only to hear news about his daughter.

Oriana leaned forward to touch Freya’s face. "What happened? How did this happen? Tell me, did someone hurt you when I was not here?" Oriana knew she had many enemies in the palace, and if they couldn’t get to her, they would try Freya or Louis, as they were the only ones she cared for.

"No, nobody tried to hurt me. I-" Freya paused because of the new person that had just entered the room. She wanted to hide her face; she couldn’t forget how she had let him carry her with her body pressing on his own.

"You what?" Oriana nudged her to talk, but Freya pressed her lips, looking to the side. Confused, Oriana turned to see what had made the girl tight-lipped. She saw Rowan standing close to Louis, and he bowed. She acknowledged him with a nod.

"She got lost inside the woods," Rowan explained. "She was lucky to only sustain an injury, as people usually don’t make it all alone in the forest."

Louis held his hand over his chest. "Thank goodness," he turned to look at Rowan. "Thank you so much. I heard from the physician that you carried her here yourself. You also did the same for me. I can’t thank you enough."

Rowan shook his head. "It’s my duty as a guard, and also, it was under the order of His Highness."

"I know, but what about my daughter? I really owe my life to you. Thank you so much," Louis bowed deeply to the young man. Freya refused to turn her face, but she murmured a thank you that was only audible to Oriana.

"Thank you for your help, Rowan," Oriana also bowed. The guard had no reason to help Freya, but he did, and she was grateful.

Louis reached out to hold Rowan’s hand. "I know my only mistake as a father was overfeeding my daughter."

"Pa!" Freya quickly turned to look at her father, who had no problem embarrassing her in front of the guard.

Louis sucked his teeth as if scolding Freya. He turned his attention to Rowan, his face adorned with a warm smile. "I should cut down what she eats. Was she too heavy?"

Oriana snickered, trying to hide her face so she wouldn’t embarrass Freya more than her father was. She turned her face to the side to laugh.

"Princess!" Freya called out. Nobody was on her side right now. She closed her eyes, overwhelmed by the shame.

Rowan chuckled. His eyes moved from Louis and settled on the girl, who had already turned red in shame. "I feel like my arm is about to rip off, and my back aches so bad," he replied, seeing the girl turn to glare at him.

"You don’t need to tell me; I know well. She eats quite heavy meals for a young girl. I’m worried that when she is ready to get married, no man would want her at this rate," Louis shook his head.

Freya prayed for the ground to open and swallow her up. What was all this embarrassment for? She barely even ate that much, and how could he say she weighed a lot?

"You know what, let me get you a drink so I can apologize for the disturbance my daughter and I have caused you," Louis said, pointing towards the door for Rowan.

Rowan stared at the girl for some time. He had come to ask her questions about the body found close to her, but now wasn’t a good time for it. He decided to come back later. "I would really love that drink now; my body is aching."

"Let’s go, please." Louis stepped out of the room with Rowan.

Oriana finally stopped laughing. Looking at Freya, she said, "Open your eyes now, they left."

Freya opened her eyes. "He was lying. I’m on the slimmer side, and also, I wasn’t the only one he was carrying," the girl cried.

"I believe you," Oriana bit her lips to stop herself from laughing, but it was difficult. She burst out laughing again. "I’m sorry, Freya, I tried," she held her stomach tightly.

"Princess!" Freya cried, "You’re not helping."

Oriana finally stopped laughing. "Sorry, Freya, but your father is so funny," she remarked. The warm relationship Freya had with her father always made her happy. It was refreshing to watch them together.

"He just likes to disgrace me," Freya muttered with a deep sigh.

Oriana touched the girl’s hair. "All that matters is that you are safe. I’m sure your father was worried about you."

Freya nodded. Earlier, her father was bawling his eyes out when he saw her leg. "Have they said anything about the dead bodies?"

"What dead bodies?" Oriana asked, as she hadn’t heard anything concerning that since she came back to the palace.

Freya pushed herself up. "The place in the forest where I got trapped. I saw two dead bodies, and it looked like they belonged to palace maids," she informed. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"What?" Oriana covered her mouth. "How..." She paused when she remembered how Adric and his guard had gone back to the forest after the hunting ended. That must have been the reason. "Who knows what happened," she said in a low voice.

"Also," Freya continued, "I heard that your sister is going to be invited here, and from what I heard, it’s to cause trouble for you."

Oriana scoffed. "She’s already here. But who did you hear this from?" She wanted to know who it was that was trying to get at her.

Freya tried to remember the details of everything she heard. "I heard the princess call Mother, and the princess with her was Kai and Walter’s mother."

"Princess Jasmine and the Queen," Oriana nodded. They were the only ones who openly attacked her. That explains the reason Sophie was in the palace then.

"Do you think they have something to do with the dead bodies?" Freya asked, looking at the princess who was deep in thought.

Oriana bit the tip of her fingers. She knew that Jasmine and the Queen were plotting, but what she didn’t know was if they could kill. There was a need to doubt everything. "I don’t know, but I need you to be careful here in the palace, Freya. You will see more in days to come, but make sure you watch your back and let me know if you find something suspicious." Oriana was worried that she had dragged the girl and her father into the royal family’s dirty fight while she was still trying to save herself.

Freya nodded. "I will be careful." The palace was even scarier than what she had read in books. It wasn’t as they portrayed it. The conspiracies and evil that loomed in the palace were just too much.