“I will never touch your disgusting body.”
“Who knows how many men you’ve been with before me.”
“Listen carefully, princess Abril, you will never have my heart, not even a place in my bed, and from this day on, make sure not to cross my path, because if you do, I may lose control and end up killing you.”
After saying everything he wanted without giving her a chance to speak, the king left the room, slamming the door forcefully.
Abril knew she wasn’t liked by the king, although she had never imagined his dislike was so great.
“It seems I’m not welcome in this place either.”
“I just hope they don’t make me go hungry.”
“I can handle everything else except hunger,” she said.
Abril spent a good while trying to take off the corset, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t do it. So she looked for something to cut the corset of her dress, otherwise, it would be impossible to remove it. Seeing the attitude of the maids, she knew none of them would help her take it off.
She searched through the drawers and luckily found a sewing box that had everything. She took out scissors and began cutting the corset, trying not to hurt herself.
When she took off the dress, she felt like she could breathe again. But then she realized she had nothing else to wear. She had arrived at the palace with only what she was wearing, and she had just ruined it.
“Why am I so foolish?”
“What am I going to do now?”
“The king made it clear that I cannot ask for anything in this place.”
“And even if I did, I doubt the maids would give it to me.”
Abril laid down on the bed, wearing only her thin under-dress, and started thinking about how she could get clothes. She rolled several times on the soft bed, caressing the smooth silk sheets. Then an idea came to her. Since she had no dress to wear, she would have to make one herself. While searching for something to cut her dress earlier, she had found several sets of sheets. She could use them to make one or two dresses.
Abril got up from bed, took out a white and a lime green sheet, and got to work. Luckily, she was skilled at sewing and could make a simple dress. That was better than walking around in just her underwear.
As she cut the sheets, Abril said:
“I just hope they won’t be mad about cutting the sheets.”
She shrugged and told herself:
“If they are, I’ll have to endure the scolding.”
“There’s nothing I can do.”
“I need my clothes.”
She stayed awake all night making her dress. She used some decorations from the wedding dress to make her dress look less plain. In the early hours of the morning, she finished her first dress, which was a simple lime green dress with white lace trimmings she had cut from the curtains.
She tried on her dress and, seeing that it fitted her like a glove, she smiled and was satisfied. Then she picked up the pieces of fabric and hid them so that the maids wouldn’t find them, and then she went to sleep.
The next day, no one came to wake her up for breakfast. Abril woke up at noon, and shortly after, a dark-haired maid entered. She said her name was Rena and brought her a simple meal consisting of vegetable soup, a piece of bread, water, and an apple. The maid thought that by giving her such a small meal, they were bothering her. However, for Abril, who couldn’t have three meals a day, this was a luxury. She ate the soup and the bread, left the water jug, and saved the apple in case she didn’t have dinner.
After finishing, the maid collected the plates and left silently.
Abril spent the rest of the day making another dress and underwear for herself.
At dinnertime, the same maid, Rena, returned to her room with a tray of food. The dinner was more plentiful than at noon; she had served her a beef steak with potatoes and salad. She also had an apple for dessert. Abril ate all the food, cleaned the plate, and saved the apple as she had done at noon. The maid stared at her, but didn’t say anything about her strange habit of saving fruit.
The seasons passed, spring ended and gave way to a hot summer. For the first time, that room that had become Abril’s home became a true prison. It was so hot that it was unbearable. She would go out to the balcony, but the sun shone all day long without giving her a break. Even the nights had become hot. She had asked the maids several times to let her leave the room, but they said they couldn’t let her go out, as it was the king’s order.
One night, when Abril felt like she would die from the heat, she escaped from her room. There were no guards positioned at her door, so she had no trouble escaping. She went to the garden, sat next to a fountain, and enjoyed the fresh air mixed with the water from the fountain.
For the first time in days, she felt like she was able to breathe again. She stayed there for a while, but when she had to go back to her infernal room, she hated it. However, she didn’t want to get into trouble, so she returned, making sure nobody saw her.
After that day, every night she would escape and go to the fountain to refresh herself. She would put her feet in the fountain and enjoy the cool water, which gave her a little break from the suffocating heat of her room.
Alessandro went out for a walk. He had been working all day, going through documents, and he felt stressed. The heat only made things worse. As he walked through the garden, he saw a young woman sitting on the edge of the fountain with her feet in the water. He wondered who was so shameless for doing that.
He approached a little closer and, seeing her reddish curly hair, he knew who it was. It was his wife, Abril Venobich. Alessandro clenched his fists tightly to suppress his killer instinct. Every time he saw her, he wanted to kill her. Her hair reminded him of King Vritra Venobich, who had cruelly killed several of his brothers some years ago.
She was so small and thin that he only needed to apply a little force to her neck to kill her. He turned around and went back to his room to push those thoughts out of his mind.
After that day, he discovered that Abril would escape from her room every night to go to that fountain to refresh herself. He found her behavior rude, but he let it go. He pretended not to know what she was doing and stopped thinking about her, letting her once again be forgotten.
Summer passed, giving way to a refreshing autumn. Abril continued to escape during the nights, finding it fun to walk through the gardens at night, especially because when winter came, she wouldn’t be able to do it again. Her clothes were light and she didn’t have a coat. When winter arrived, she would have to stay in her room, sheltering herself from the cold, wishing for spring to come again.
Abril had always hated winter, she always suffered from the cold during those months. She wished it would be different this time, but she doubted it. The maids ignored her, and when she complained, she only received worse treatment. The maids would stop bringing her food, and on those days, Abril would eat the fruit she had hidden until they decided to return.
These had happened the times Abril had complained about the suffocating heat in her room, and again when she protested about not being brought her food. After that, she stopped complaining about it for the sake of her stomach, and even when she needed something, she never asked for anything. She managed with what she had in her room.
Autumn passed in the blink of an eye. When winter came, Abril had to stop her nightly walks. But once in a while, tired of being confined, she went out to the garden for a moment and then returned.
One night, while taking a walk in the garden, Alessandro saw her again. He hid behind some bushes and immediately wondered why he had done that. He didn’t approach her, neither did he let her see him. He stood watching her from the shadows. Seeing that she was barefoot and not wearing a coat, but instead wrapped in a blanket, he thought the princess was weird and then left.
This winter wasn’t as bad for Abril as it had been in the Kingdom of Laios. Although she didn’t have suitable winter clothes, her room was comfortable and pleasant. She also had enough blankets to not feel cold.
When winter ended and spring began again, Abril felt happy because she could go on her nighttime walks again.
Abril was singing a song as she looked through the window of her balcony at the beautiful garden full of flowers, when one of the maids entered and said to her.
“Princess, it’s a nice day today, why don’t you take a walk in the garden?”
“Can I do that?” She asked.
“Of course, Your majesty has given permission.”
Excited, Abril left her room and headed to the garden. She had been so excited that she forgot to put on her shoes. She only had one pair, and they were uncomfortable because they were too small, so she never wore them.
As she walked through the garden, she felt the cool and soft grass under her feet. For the first time, she walked in the sunlight, enjoying the beautiful flowers that shone brightly.
Suddenly, she heard a female voice speak to her. It was a beautiful woman with brown hair, wearing a beautiful red dress that stood out among the white flowers in the garden. She was a very beautiful woman, Abril thought as she looked at her. She approached and asked Abril,
“Are you Princess Abril Venobich, from the kingdom of Laios?”
Abril nodded in response. The woman laughed mockingly and said,
“I can’t believe my engagement to Alessandro was broken by someone as insignificant as you.”
“Who are you?” Abril asked.
“I am Victoria Vampel, I have been his majesty’s fianc?e since we were young.”
“We were supposed to have been married a year ago, but because of you, that didn’t happen.”
“I’m sorry.” Abril said, not paying much attention to what the beautiful woman was saying.
Victoria became upset at her indifference. She pushed her, causing Abril to fall into the roses behind her. Thorns pierced her arms and back, while others pierced her bare feet as she struggled to get free.
Victoria looked at her with a satisfied smile on her face. She was enjoying her pain. Abril asked for help from the maid who had been accompanying her on her walk, but she didn’t lift a finger to help.
“I don’t want to get hurt.”
“It was your mistake to fall into the roses, get out on your own.” The maid replied not feeling bothered.
At that moment, Abril realized what was going on. It had been planned in advance, the maid was conspiring with Victoria, and she had foolishly fallen into their trap.
Suddenly, Victoria threw herself to the ground and screamed in pain. Abril thought she had gone crazy, she had not even screamed like that when she fell into the roses.
Alessandro, who was passing by, rushed to help the screaming lady. When he saw Victoria, he ran to her side and asked her what was wrong. She lied, saying that the princess had thrown her to the ground and that she accidentally fell into the roses.
Up until that moment, Alessandro hadn’t noticed that Abril was entangled in the thorns, but when he realized, he helped her out and asked her, “What happened here?”
Before Abril could say a word, Victoria and the maid made up a story in which Abril became the villain and Victoria the victim. It was two against one, and Alessandro didn’t even let her speak before judging her.
“You’re just like your family, cruel and heartless.”
“You feel so entitled in the palace that you think you can trample on others.”
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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