Memories of the day that she left that place resurfaced in her mind. The day when Riftan led her by hand and brought her into a carriage felt like a distant past, she left on a whim, without knowing the world, innocent. Even in her dreams, she would have thought that she would have returned there of her own free will. She leaned her head against the wall of the carriage, drenched in a strange sense of despondency. Her father, who was sitting quietly across from her, looked at her and made an unpleasant expression, then struck the floor with a cane. Max shuddered and sat upright.
Riding in a carriage with her father was like torture, she couldn’t relax for a moment. She closed her mouth tightly like a clam, trying as much as she could to not get on his nerves. Fortunately, Elliot was with them. The knights argued that they could not disobey Riftan’s orders, so they insisted that at least one of them had to accompany her. It was then concluded that Elliot was going to be the one to escort her to Croix Castle.
The duke couldn’t unleash his wrath upon her because he followed them closely on horseback, right next to the carriage. The duke could do nothing but ferociously glare at her with his eyes and clutch his cane tightly.
“When you get to the castle, live as if you were a dead mouse.” He would say repeatedly, nailing it to her ears the whole journey. “Rosetta will be married as spring comes next year. You should hide quietly in the castle until then. I intend to reject all the visitors who will come, making your recovery an excuse. Although I told them to tell Calypse to come if he wishes to take you, I have no plans of letting him meet you. When he comes, he will formally demand for a divorce. That will have to be delayed until next spring.”
The Duke of Croix looked at her with faded gray eyes. “Even the church sees it justifiable to divorce a woman who miscarried a child. Needless to say, King Ruben will grant that divorce with open arms. You shouldn’t be the cause of ruining what I have planned for decades.”
Max was overwhelmed with shame and lowered her head. It was his father’s ambition ever since to obtain an outstanding successor through Rosetta, he planned it to the point of obsession: it was so embedded in him, comparable to a stew left to boil for a long time that it had stuck to the bottom of the pot. He continued to speak of his plans, anxious to manifest it.
“Rosetta needs to have at least two children. A healthy child, a boy, who will inherit the royal lineage and another boy, a perfect child to be the successor of Croix. I will surely convince them that Rosetta is the healthiest and most perfect woman, better than anyone else, unlike you.”
Knowing that he wasn’t expecting a reply from her, Max simply held her hands tightly and earnestly prayed that an Ogre would come out of nowhere and overturn the carriage right away. But, as always, her expectations were shattered. The carriage entered the luxurious and magnificent gardens of Castle Croix without any trouble. Hundreds of servants descended the stairs to greet the Duke, who returned earlier than expected, as she stood in front of the carriage and anxiously clutched the skirt of her dress.
Elliott jumped off his horse and approached her. “Are you alright? Your complexion does not look good.”
“She must be tired from the long journey.” Before she could reply, the Duke of Croix quickly intervened. “Now that she is home, she will recover soon.”
He wrapped her around his shoulders and turned around. Then, he looked at Elliot over his shoulder and talked.
“Are you satisfied now that you have seen with your own two eyes that she has arrived here safely? You have fulfilled your duty. I will allow you to stay in my castle tonight, but you must leave at once tomorrow.”
