Chapter 76
Chapter 76
It was the reactions of those who had witnessed the deaths of the crown princess candidates. Their words and actions were consistently uniform. There were only two possible explanations for such behavior.
The first was that everything they said was true. That the candidates had all died because of a curse. If that premise were correct, then the consistency of their behavior made perfect sense.
“But that’s impossible.” I shook my head. The second possible explanation was pressure from someone or something. Perhaps there was something more hidden behind the convenient explanation of a simple curse.
The same aversion I’d sensed from those who tried to exclude me… Their fear…
“Your Highness.” Delphina’s voice broke through my thoughts. Her face was serious.
“Yes?”
“You need to be ready before sunset.”
“Ready for what?”
She blinked, as if she couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Had I said something strange?
“Your Highness, have you forgotten what day it is?”
“Is it an important day?”
“It’s your wedding night!”
“Oh.” I almost blurted out, “What’s that?” The wedding night. Now I remembered. Delphina had been diligently caring for my skin every night for the past few days. And she had confirmed the schedule with me this morning. I’d been so preoccupied with the recurring nightmares and unraveling the mystery surrounding the deaths that I had completely forgotten.
“Actually, you should have started getting ready this morning, but…” She’d been preoccupied with deciding what I should wear. Now that I looked closely, she had brought in extra maids, and the bath and my clothes were already prepared.
It seemed I was the only one unconcerned, which made Delphina even more anxious.
“Your Highness, shall we use goat’s milk for your bath today?”
I quickly shook my head, thinking that was a bit excessive. “That’s too extravagant. Besides, we share a bed every night… Is all of this really necessary?”
Delphina’s cheeks flushed crimson. I realized my mistake. While it was true that we shared a bed every night, it was easy to misinterpret my words.
“W-Well… I know the two of you are close, but… tonight is your official first wedding night.”
“Oh, no, it’s…” I wanted to clear up the misunderstanding, but I held back, swallowing my words. While we shared a bedroom every night, nothing had happened. Nothing like what Delphina was imagining. But I couldn’t exactly say that nothing at all happened. That would be strange in its own way.
So, I twirled a strand of hair around my finger, trying to figure out what to say.
“The two of you have such a wonderful bond.”
“Um, yes…” I felt a pang of guilt at the unspoken expectations in her smile. Our bond was good, yes, but not in the way she thought. Or was that a problem?
“Oh dear, even so, you must get ready.”
In the end, I was swept away by Delphina’s insistence and dressed from head to toe in finery.
***
There were a few checkpoints before the consummation.
I stood before the royal physician and Countess Elvira, clad in a thin nightgown over the chemise Delphina had chosen.
The royal physician examined me thoroughly. He began by asking when my last menstrual cycle was and whether I had experienced any anemia or nausea. I didn’t know how he’d gotten the information, but he already knew how many times I’d fainted this month and what medication I was taking.
He then pricked my fingertip with a needle, collecting a drop of blood and adding it to a reagent, observing the color change, and continued with a few other tests.
“Hmm, everything seems normal.” He answered in a detached tone, scribbled the results on a piece of paper, and handed it to Countess Elvira, who stood behind him. She silently scanned the paper and then studied my face. Her gaze was so intense that I felt a flush creep up my neck. I felt like a piece of meat hanging in a butcher shop.
After a moment, the Countess nodded, and the maids helped me up. I walked toward the bedroom, supported by their arms, careful not to limp.
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