Alessandro’s inspection had taken longer than he had thought. After eight days, he returned to the palace. When he arrived, the first thing he did was send for Sirius, as he had sent him a message that he needed to speak with him.
Alessandro was somewhat worried. He wondered if it was about the princess. When Sirius entered Alessandro’s office, the first thing he did was ask, “Has something happened to the princess?”
Sirius nodded
“Yes, that’s why I wanted to talk to Your Majesty.”
“What happened?”
“A few days ago, the princess’s magic awakened.”
“That’s good news.”
“I’m not so sure about that. Her magic awakened only for an instant. Her magic is truly fascinating. Now I understand why some consider them saints. Her magic reached me, it felt very different from any I have ever known. It instilled peace, tranquility, and blocked my magic for a whole day.”
“So it was true, her magic nullifies other magic.”
“More than nullifying them, I think it blocks them, making you unable to access your magic.”
“She can cure Cassian. We must ask her to do it.”
“Wait, I told you that her magic only awakened for a moment, then she fainted. When she woke upshe didn’t remember anything, it was as if her magic blocked her memories too. I think that’s why she is not aware that she possesses magic.”
“That’s strange.”
“Yes, that’s why I canceled our classes. I need you to lend me that book again and all the books you have on it.”
Alessandro took out the book he had lent him earlier from one of his desk drawers and said, “Here you go.”
“Can I take it with me this time?”
“No, stay in my office until you finish.”
As Alessandro walked towards the door, Sirius asked him, “Where are you going?”
“I’m going to see my wife.”
Abril was watching the sunset when she heard the footsteps of someone approaching. She turned to see who it was and was surprised to see the maid who had been bothering her, and she asked her, “What are you doing here?”
“I came to look for the princess. It’s been days since she came to the main palace. I was wondering what the reason could be.”
“Go away, you don’t have to serve me here.”
“I know, and that’s not really why I came.”
The maid pulled out a knife she had hidden. Abril was frightened, backed away, and asked, “What do you think you’re doing?”
“Today I will kill the princess, or rather the beloved daughter of King Venobich. I want him to suffer when he finds out that his beloved daughter is dead. That way, he will feel the same as I felt when he killed my husband.”
“Listen, I think you’re wrong. I don’t matter to my father. If he cared, he wouldn’t have sent me here. No one would give away their most beloved daughter.”
“Maybe yes, maybe no. We’ll see.”
“Please wait, if you kill me, surely King Alessandro won’t let it go.”
The maid began to laugh hysterically and said, “Don’t make me laugh, princess. Do you really think His Majesty cares about you even a little? If he really cared about you, you would be treated like a queen, but he keeps calling you “Princess.” He clearly doesn’t consider you his queen, not even his wife, since you haven’t even had your first night together.”
“That’s not true, I sleep every day in the king’s chambers.”
“You said it yourself, you only sleep. You still haven’t spent your first night together, you still haven’t consummated your marriage. That’s something everyone knows. I think if I killed you, His Majesty wouldn’t even notice.”
Abril backed away a little more. The maid walked in long strides, shortening the distance between them. She ran the sharp blade of the knife close to her face and said, “I think I’ll destroy that pretty face first. I want to leave you the same way your father left my husband, unrecognizable, but I won’t touch your hair. I want them to know it’s you.”
Abril was terrified. She began to tremble. She was afraid of what that maid was going to do to her.
“Please don’t hurt me, I beg you, let me go.”
“Of course not. I won’t let you escape.”
The maid slowly lowered the knife down Abril’s body, stopped at her heart, and said, “Maybe I’d better stab you in the heart first?” She continued. “Or cut you open? I don’t know where to start.”
Abril began to cry, and with tears in her eyes, she pleaded again, “Don’t hurt me, please.”
The maid seemed crazy. She pressed the knife against Abril’s stomach, cutting the fabric and skin slightly, and said, “Maybe I’ll start here.”
Abril tried to escape by pushing her, but she didn’t even move. A black smoke began to envelop the maid. A chill ran down Abril’s spine.
“Don’t think you can escape me,” the maid said.
The maid plunged the knife into her belly to the hilt and said with a wicked smile, “Die.”
Alessandro had gone to look for Abril. When he arrived at the small house where she lived, he saw that there was a maid with her. He felt something strange seeing the maid so close to Abril, so he approached silently, but when he was close enough to them, he saw fear, pure terror, in Abril’s eyes. With teary eyes, she whispered, “Help me.”
Alessandro hurried over and said to the maid, “What do you think you’re doing?”
Hearing the king’s voice, the maid pushed the princess to the ground and ran off. Seeing that the maid had stabbed the princess, Alessandro used his magic to trap her in a whirlwind,
Alessandro rushed to help the princess. With tears, she repeated over and over again, “I don’t want to die, I don’t want to die.”
Alessandro took her in his arms and said, “And you’re not going to die. I won’t let you die.”
After saying that, Alessandro used his wind magic to rise and fly to the main palace. When he arrived at the gates with the bloodied princess, he shouted for the royal physician.
Abril began to lose consciousness, everything became blurry, and in the end, she fainted, begging God in her mind again and again to help her, that she didn’t want to die.
***
While the doctor was treating Abril, Alessandro sent the guards to look for the maid who had attacked Abril. As he returned to his chambers to see how the princess was doing, he ran into Cassian along the way. Cassian asked him, very upset,
“How is the princess? They told me someone attacked her.”
“The doctor is treating her right now. I was just going to see how she was doing,”Alessandro said.
Alessandro started walking away when Cassian asked again, “The person who attacked her, have they caught her?”
“Yes,” Alessandro replied and continued walking. He waited outside the room until the doctor came out.
“How is the princess?”
“The wound is deep, and she has lost a lot of blood. I did everything in my power. Now we just have to wait for her to wake up.”
After the doctor left, Cassian entered the room. He took Abril’s hand. She looked pale.
“Why did they do this to her?” Cassian asked, squeezing her hand slightly.
“I don’t know, but I’ll find out soon enough.”
“Will she be alright?”
“I hope so, we need her to heal your injury.”
Cassian was annoyed to see his brother’s indifference towards Abril and said in a voice charged with indignation, “Are you serious? Is that all you care about? Don’t you care at all what happens to her? She’s your wife, Lessan.”
“You think I don’t care?”
“That’s what it seems like, Lessan.”
“Well, you’re wrong, Cassian. I’m very worried about her, more than you can imagine.”
Cassian wondered if what his brother said was true, seeing that he seemed so calm as if Abril meant nothing more than a simple tool. He let go of her hand and said, “Her magic makes wounds heal. It must be the same with her, right?”
“I don’t know. We’ll have to wait and see what happens.”
Alessandro went to the door.
“Where are you going, Lessan?” Cassian asked.
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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