Chapter 211 Men always want to be with their lovers...
Princess Nora has come several times, and she doesn't look well. Whenever she comes, I immediately avoid her. Princess Nora's expression grows increasingly grim. I suspect there's a traitor among the female healers who has reported everything to her, including his sweet words to me; otherwise, why would her expression be so unpleasant?
I can't describe the feeling in my heart; I feel sorrow for myself and for her. We became enemies because of the same man, enemies for life, and perhaps this can never be changed.
Ten days later, Bernard's injuries had improved significantly, and I began to ask people to leave.
“You should go back to your palace,” I said simply.
"My injury hasn't healed yet," he said pitifully.
"Go back to the palace to recover."
"I was injured saving you, shouldn't you take care of me?"
"I don't need you to save me. It doesn't matter if I'm taken away by the Elf King or Manberia. The Elf Realm is beautiful, and the Northern Territory is nice too."
"Although the Elven Realm has beautiful scenery, it's isolated and incredibly boring. The Northern Realm has snowy landscapes, but it's freezing cold. Our Eastern Realm is much better," he said with a grin.
"I think it's pretty good."
Just then, the female healers cautiously knocked on the door, preparing to come in and change his dressing. I had to keep quiet. Our negotiations yielded no results.
Back in my study, I slumped back in my chair, at a loss for what to do. He was determined to stay there.
After spacing out for a while, I started tidying up the books on the bookshelf. These were brought from the palace, and I hadn't had time to organize them until now.
My right hand accidentally touched a piece of paper that was burning hot—it was that yellowed paper. That day, after escaping back from the sea, my bedroom was occupied by Bernard, and I was changing clothes in the study when I casually put this paper on the bookshelf.
It's so hot! I was quite surprised. I had only felt a slight warmth when I placed it in my breast pocket that day, but I never imagined that it would become so hot I couldn't touch it after ten days.
I picked up the paper through my sleeve and examined it closely. A topographical map faintly appeared under the words "The cycle of life, the cycle of fate".
“That day, Bernard’s blood splattered all over me,” I murmured.
Could it be his blood that worked? The blood of the owners of the gold, silver, copper, iron, and tin anklets? If we collect all their blood, perhaps this map will become clear?
Perhaps it was a case of sleepiness bringing a pillow, because the next morning I received a letter from Princess Yanni. I quickly welcomed her in and warmly offered her fruit and refreshments.
Princess Yanni was quite surprised. "I thought you were so poor that you couldn't even afford to eat. I didn't expect you could afford these things?"
"What are you saying?" I said with a smile. "I am a proper princess, and I receive a monthly allowance of 300 gold coins."
"Isn't that just giving alms to beggars? 300 gold coins isn't even enough for me to buy a few clothes." Princess Yani frowned as she looked at the expensive fruits and pastries I offered. "Oh, I'm almost embarrassed to eat your food. I'm afraid I'll eat you out of house and home."
The maids beside me frowned, but I remained calm and smiled, "Eating won't make me poor. I have a patient here, and he hasn't made me poor."
“Oh, right,” Princess Yani’s thin lips were like knives, “You found your old lover to be your sucker. I was confused for a moment and forgot that some women always find a way to live well.”
Feeling slightly embarrassed, I quickly picked up the fruit knife on the table and started peeling the apple. "You're a guest from afar, please have an apple first."
"Oh, no, I'll go see your old flame first. I'm doing alright, aren't I?" Princess Yani smiled haughtily, "I've only just arrived in the Eastern Territory and I'm already thinking of seeing you all."
"Have an apple first, take a break, you just arrived," I hurriedly tried to pull her down to sit, "so you won't say I haven't been a good host."
She pulled her sleeve back with disgust, seemingly extremely averse to being pulled by others.
I pulled my hand back, and before I knew it, the fruit knife had grazed the back of her hand. With a thud, the fruit knife fell to the ground.
The cut was quite deep, and blood gushed out immediately.
I exclaimed, "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry!" I took out my handkerchief to wipe away the blood, and the maids hurriedly went to get the medicine box.
She watched us scrambling around, a cold smile playing on her lips. "You just don't like me, so you're deliberately making me bleed?"
"No, no, how could that be?"
"Your act is ridiculous." She snapped, shaking off my hand and pointing at a maid, "You, take me to Prince Bernard's room."
I stuffed the blood-stained handkerchief into my pocket and quickly followed.
When Princess Yanni arrived at Bernot's bedside, she showed him her wounds. Bernot promised to compensate her with a sapphire necklace worth two thousand gold pieces, and only then did she stop complaining.
Afterwards, Bernard asked me with a smile, "Did you want to mess with her, so you made her bleed a little?"
"How could that be?!" I vehemently denied it.
Bernard smiled without saying a word.
I asked him again when he was leaving, and he immediately changed the subject, saying, "Princess Yanni said she will come to see me again tomorrow, but she shouldn't make things difficult for you again."
"I asked you when you're going back to the palace?"
"The weather hasn't been very good lately; it rains a lot, and the rain wets the wound, making it harder to heal."
"You won't get wet sitting in the carriage."
There's always a time to get on and off the carriage.
"You're really so fragile; your wound won't heal even if you get a little rain on it."
"I was seriously injured this time," he said pitifully.
I couldn't be bothered to argue with him any longer, so I turned around and went to the study. As soon as I closed the door, I immediately took out the blood-stained handkerchief and placed it on the yellowed paper.
The paper, which had already cooled down today, suddenly became incredibly popular again.
The map, which had only a few blurry lines, seemed clearer now, with a few more lines added.
I stroked the yellow paper that had warmed up again, wondering how to get the blood from the other people.
The gold anklet belonged to Manboa, the silver anklet to Diya, the bronze anklet to Haiya, the iron anklet to Desen, the tin anklet to Nasia, and the lead anklet to Yani.
Blood from each person is not easy to obtain.
Wait, Benoit isn't any kind of anklet, but blood can still work, probably because they're both in Castle Black. Speaking of which, Benoit was the "core" of the group—a beautiful young boy sacrificed to the evil spirit; everyone else was there to keep vigil for him.
A loud boom, a clap of thunder, and then the rain poured down, pounding against the windowpanes. The weather was really bad; it started raining.
I sat by the window and wrote to Derson, saying that I missed him and asked him to send me some handkerchiefs that smelled like him, including the ones he always carried, those stained with blood, those stained with sweat, and so on. I asked him to send me as many as he could carry.
Of course, I only want the ones stained with blood. I only asked him to send different types to avoid suspicion.
The next morning, Princess Yanni arrived swaggering in, arm in arm with Princess Nora. I greeted them respectfully at the door, and Princess Yanni smiled enigmatically, saying, "I hope we haven't disturbed you; it's too early."
"How could that be?!" I said with a forced smile. "It would be an honor for our humble abode to have the princess here."
Princess Nora smiled strangely to the side, while Princess Yanni tilted her head and looked at me, saying, "You're so good with words, I'm almost embarrassed."
As we were talking, Bernard suddenly came out to greet us, which startled us all.
He was helped into the hall by two tall, strong maids. Princess Nora rushed to greet him, wanting to replace one of the maids, but he waved her off and sat down on the sofa.
"You haven't had breakfast yet, have you?" He asked them, acting like the host of the house, inviting them to eat together.
Breakfast was quickly laid out on the table. This old aristocratic house was rather small, with the dining room and living room connected. Princess Nora and Princess Yanni were clearly not used to it and didn't eat much breakfast.
Bernard appeared very gentle and considerate. Wherever Princess Nora's gaze fell, he would take the initiative to get her food, sometimes bread, sometimes jam, and sometimes water.
Many men like to climb the social ladder by relying on women, especially beautiful and intelligent men. There's no way around it; if you don't have a strong foundation and no one helps you, it's too difficult to gain influence. In this world, apart from a romantically attracted partner, no one will truly help you.
Marriage can sometimes be a path to advancement for both women and men.
Princess Yanni kept looking at me with a half-smile, but I pretended not to notice.
Women are clearly more easily moved. Before she had even finished breakfast, Princess Nora's previously somewhat mournful gaze towards Bernard had softened into one of tenderness and affection.
If he truly cared for her, he would have already returned to her side.
But she didn't think that way. She thought that he still cared about her, and that if that woman hadn't used some underhanded tactics, he wouldn't have stayed here.
Of course, perhaps the man had other plans and schemes in mind that led him to stay here.
Princess Nora looked at me with a hint of mockery in her eyes, and Bernard rarely looked at me. I acted like an outsider—calmly eating breakfast, and after finishing, I sat calmly without saying a word or looking around.
As everyone stood up, I finally said, "Princess Nora, would you like to take the prince back with you today?"
"It's raining outside," Princess Yani said first.
I glanced at her in surprise; she was remarkably attuned to Bernard's thoughts.
“I have an umbrella that can escort the prince to the carriage.” I added, “I won’t use the umbrella myself, I’ll just hold it for him, and I’ll make sure not a single drop of rain will get on him.”
Princess Nora remained silent, but looked at Bernard with great anticipation.
The anticipation a wife feels when she longs for her husband to come home.
A sudden, inexplicable sadness welled up inside me, for her, and for myself. Neither she nor I were women loved by our husbands; they were always out with other women.
Men always prefer to be with their lovers rather than their wives.
"Let's go back." I suddenly became a little impatient, strode to the front door of the hall, and opened the door. "The rain has subsided."
Princess Yanni and Princess Nora were dumbfounded; this was practically turning them away.
“You two,” I said to the two tall, strong maids who had just helped Bernard in, “help the prince into the carriage, and I will hold the umbrella.”
Bernard sat motionless, a hint of displeasure on his face. Two tall, strong maids approached, but hesitated to help him up.
"Alright, alright," Princess Yani said, realizing her mistake. "We're just checking on his injuries, and we'll be leaving after that." She took Princess Nora's arm and said affectionately, "Now that the rain is getting lighter, how about we go shopping? I saw a diamond necklace I liked yesterday, could you help me check it out and see if the diamonds are clear enough?"
Princess Nora glanced at Bernard a few times, then suddenly smiled and said, "Let's go take a look."
With the sound of the door closing, the house returned to silence. I stood on the porch for a moment, preparing to return to my study, but was stopped by Bernard.
"She is my legal wife, and I must give her the respect she deserves in public." He was referring to the attentive service he had given her at breakfast earlier.
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Author's Note: Sorry for the lateness, some trivial matters have caused me some trouble. I apologize profusely.
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