“Is it a sin to not possess magic?”
“What is my offense?”
“I have always been treated as defective and useless for not having magic.”
“Commoners don’t have magic, and they have a good life, but if someone from royalty doesn’t possess magic, they are considered a fraud, a disgrace.” Abril said.
Cassian could feel the pain in every word Abril said. At that moment he realized something. The princess had not lied when she said that she had never been treated like one, that her whole life had been ignored. When King Venobich, a cruel man who values strength and power above everything else, found out that she had no magic, he had treated her the same or even worse than his brother, she must have had a very hard time.
“You are not a waste, and it is not a sin that you don’t possess magic.” Cassian said to her.
Abril found Cassian’s kindness strange, but she felt very grateful. He was the only one who had cared for her and defended her, he was the first person who did not ignore her.
“Thank you very much.” She said again with a broken voice. Cassian patted her head to calm her down.
A carriage came to pick them up. When they were about to arrive at the palace, Abril said to him.
“What should I do?”
“I’m supposed to go to His majesty’s chambers, but if I go, he will surely kill me.”
As she uttered those words, Cassian saw Abril trembling with fear and said to her,
“You don’t have to go, go back to your house and rest.”
“I’ll talk to my brother.”
“Thank you very much.” She replied.
When they arrived at the palace, Cassian bid her farewell and went to find his brother, who was in his office and clearly seemed to be in a bad mood.
“Brother,” he called.
Alessandro did not respond. Cassian approached him and said,
“I’m sorry, Lessan, attacking you was not my intention.”
“Why did you defend that woman?
“Until recently, you hated her and wanted to see her dead.”
“Cassian, since when do you care about what happened to that woman?” His brother questioned.
“She is not a bad person,” he replied.
Alessandro looked at him astonished and could not believe what his brother was saying.
“If I didn’t know that she didn’t have magic, I would say she had enchanted you.” The king responded.
“I know what I’m saying may seem like madness, brother, but I can assure you that she is not the monster we thought she was.” Cassian said.
Alessandro stared at him and asked,
“What do you know about that woman?”
“More than you know for sure,” he replied.
“I told you to stay away from that woman, Cassian,” the king said.
“I know, but I can’t stay away from her anymore,” he replied.
“What are you saying, Cassian?” “Are you in love with that woman?” The king questioned.
“No, I could never look at my brother’s wife that way.”
“I can’t stay away from her because when I’m with her, the pain in my leg almost disappears completely and my leg stops failing me.” He answered.
“What nonsense are you saying?”
“That woman doesn’t possess any magic,” the king said.
“I’m not so sure about that, brother.”
“I don’t know why the test to determine if she had magic went wrong, but I’m sure she has something special.”
“I have been visiting her almost every day for a few months now, and since then, my leg has stopped hurting.”
“But when I don’t go, the pain returns.” Cassian said.
Alessandro recalled something. When he had been attacked in the forest, he remembered that the wound he had received had been very deep. However, when the doctor examined him, he said that the wound was not very deep. Perhaps the princess had something to do with it.
He said to him,”I will find out if what you’re saying is true.”
“If it’s not, I hope you don’t…”
Cassian didn’t allow him to complete the statement and said,
“Don’t hurt her.”
“What?” The king questioned.
“She was very scared.”
“She thought you would kill her.”
“She was trembling just a moment ago.”
“She said she had to go to your chambers.”
“I told her it wasn’t necessary for her to go, so please don’t take your anger out on her.”
“I’m asking you as a favor, brother.” Cassian said with eyes filled with concern for Abril’s safety.
Alessandro stayed in his office late, thinking about what his brother had told him. It was assumed that the princess had no magic. He had seen it with his own eyes, but he doubted that his brother was lying.
The next day, Alessandro called his brother again and a doctor to examine him, just as Cassian had told him. The doctor confirmed that he was better, that his condition had improved greatly.
When they were alone, Cassian said to him,
“Lessan, I wasn’t lying to you.”
“I don’t know what the princess possesses.”
“All I know is that, thanks to her, I have improved.”
“So don’t kill her, because if you do, you will condemn me to a life of pain.”
“I won’t do anything to her, don’t worry.” The king assured him.
After Cassian left, Alessandro called the butler and told him to make sure that the princess was in his quarters that night.
The butler went to find Abril as dusk fell. The maids gave her a bath and dressed her in a light white nightgown with straps, then they took her to the king’s quarters and told her to wait for His majesty.
Abril was very nervous. She was afraid that her life would end that very night. She stood completely still in a corner of the room, staring at the door, waiting for the king to enter.
The king was taking a long time. Abril was tired of standing, so she squatted as she finally sat on the floor. The hours passed, and the king did not appear. Abril felt her eyelids heavy. She fought against sleep, but in the end, she lost and fell asleep.
Alessandro had more work than usual, so he had stayed up working late. When he entered his room, he turned on the light. He was tired, took off his clothes, and when he was about to go to bed, he noticed that someone was in a corner of his room. It was the princess, she had fallen asleep hugging her knees. He had completely forgotten that he had asked the butler to bring her to his quarters that night. He approached, tried to wake her up, but he couldn’t. She was deeply asleep.
Alessandro couldn’t leave her sleeping on the floor. He carried her in his arms and gently placed her on the bed. He stared at her intently. She was a young beautiful woman with delicate features. Alessandro wanted to verify if it was true that she possessed healing magic and there was only one way to do it.
He took a letter opener from the bedside table and made a somewhat deep cut in his hand. After cleaning the wound and bandaging it, he laid down next to the princess. Alessandro had trouble sleeping. Sometimes he only slept for three hours because he always had nightmares that woke him up. However, that night he slept deeply like he hadn’t in a long time.
The next day, when Abril woke up, she found herself lying next to the king. He was sound asleep and holding her. She stayed still, not knowing what was happening. She didn’t remember how she had ended up in that situation. Her stomach started to growl, Abril was starving because she hadn’t had dinner the day before because the maidservants hadn’t allowed her to. She wondered when the king would wake up and let her go. All she wanted was to return to her small house in the farthest part of the castle and eat until she was satisfied.
When Alessandro woke up, he felt a strange warmth. As he opened his eyes, he saw that he was embracing the princess. He thought she was still asleep. He planned to get up slowly when he heard the sound of a growl. It was the princess’s stomach. He got up and saw how embarrassed she was. Alessandro ignored her as if he hadn’t heard anything. He removed the bandage from his hand and was surprised to see that the wound had almost completely healed. He turned to look at the princess and said to her,
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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