Unravelling Fate

07: Mystified

chapter seven;
mystified

—

I FELT like my brain scattered to different parts to think of numerous things about one subject: Marriage.

Even though, I accepted parts of it because it was really the safest choice. There were still pieces that made me doubt.

Really? Me? This body? Evelyn Portia Baudelaire? A failed prophecy?

Ganoon ba talaga kahina 'yong abyss ni Kallisto? I mean, Portia was basically celestia-less. It might not be known to a lot of people, but it wasn't really a secret that Portia didn't have an ounce of celestia in her.

It'd be a scam to agree to this marriage when I didn't have anything to offer as a Celeste. And I knew exactly why Kallisto proposed this deal. It was to ease the pain he was feeling, and a Celeste with a celestia was the answer to that.

He was really smart. He wasn't the Crowned Prince, so Elysia—especially the Shrine—wouldn't prioritize him, and he might not get a Celeste even in his deathbed. So, instead of begging the Shrine for a Celeste, he was going to take me and it'd solve his problem.

And for me who might be punished by death, I would still live and even as a Princess. So... I really had no reason to refuse. It was a great answer for my survival. But if I go too deep from the surface. Agreeing would create a lot of problems and it could also lead to a path of doom.

A grave I dug for myself.

In the end, if I really wanted to live, I needed to come clean.

And the people in here, even with my sin, didn't mistreat me. They were even considerate. They were just really distant because of this body, because of Portia's image. If I wanted to really start again being surrounded by this people, I wanted to be Evienne sincerely.

"Your Highness... are you saying that you're willing to marry a Celeste that was only by name... without an ounce of celestia?" Celestia was the only thing that helped with the Abyss. But, without it, I doubt it'd keep my head for a long time.

Napakunot-noo si Kallisto sa sinabi ko at napatungo ako. My breathing became heavy as I waited for his answer.

"Are seriously going to lie?" His voice was calm but my ears heard a threatening tone in it.

"I'm sorry, Your Grace?" kinakabahang sambit ko. I could feel my stomach turning in trepidation. Wasn't he aware of how obvious that I—or Portia—didn't have any celestia? Wasn't he still in pain right now?

Celestia could be activated instantly and/or unconsciously as long as there was an Abyss near, but it could also be controlled to not give comfort for the Abyss. And for my case, it was none of the above because there was no celestia in the first place.

Unless... I suddenly manifested Celestia?

But its manifestation wasn't ordinary either. A Celeste would have a fever or other symptoms of sickness for days or more, because celestia would be unstable in their body at first.

And when I woke up, none of those things happened nor even the times that Portia's body was asleep there was nothing of some sort.

Even Juno experienced three days of flu-like symptoms after using her celestia with Azazel. Sobrang powerful nga no'n na kahit ginamit niya 'yong celestia three days lang siya nagkasakit, kahit sa totoo pwede siyang mamatay sa ginawa niyang paggamit no'n, lalo na hindi siya pamilyar paano kontrolin o gamitin 'yon.

"If you are trying to get away from this deal by saying you don't have celestia, well, better think of another not-so-dumb reason." Napalunok naman ako nang wala sa oras sa narinig na sagot kay Kallisto.