THHAAWMF

Chapter 115

***

'Me too... I wanted to give you a handkerchief...'

Water stirred in the fresh rust.

Tyriel crumpled the handkerchief in her hands. She had stayed up all night to embroider it, stitch by stitch, to give to the crown prince.

She had recently returned from a trip to the Temple, and Reynos had stolen her heart.

"This, this is...?"

Tyriel was stunned when Knox showed her a portrait of the crown prince for the first time.

She had thought he was a monster, but he was so handsome. It was even a face she recognized.

The handsome blond knight she knew as a brother of the temple, the one she'd always followed closely!

And if rumor had it, he wasn't just handsome, he had a nice personality, too.

Rumor has it that he's also very compassionate, even forgiving Marquis Cherish for pointing a finger at him.

'No way...'

Tyriel, who was staring at the portrait, clasped her hands tightly without realizing it.

If she had known that this was the Crown Prince, she wouldn't have run away like that. She would have been willing to follow the Imperial Highness' orders to make a good relationship with the Crown Prince...

So upsetting, but fortunately, there was still a chance.

The mirror named Knox offered her. The crown prince's only salvation is herself.

Only she, with her powers of purification, could free him from the evil dragon's curse.

「I assure you, if I receive the power of purification even once, I will never turn my back on you.」

Tyriel believed Knox's words, and she believed the other thing Knox told her.

'It was at this very Ruby Moon that he said he would turn into an evil dragon.'

So if she waited long enough, His Highness would seek her out to lift the curse. Tyriel awaited Reynos's call with such anticipation.

But.

"Does the Crown Prince have a lover? Well, the most likely candidate is Little Marquis Lavirins. Didn't he make his first official appearance at the Little Marquis' celebration?"

"I hear he even danced with her at the celebration."

"Did you hear? His Highness chased away the man who was courting the Little Marquis!"

... Would he call her?

It took a moment for her suspicions to falter. Tyriel bit down hard on the corner of his mouth.

Not Count Essit, not Duke Absulekti, not even His Highness the Crown Prince... All eyes were on Ciella, and it made her both envious and angry.

As far as she was concerned, Ciella had always been a radiant person, and that was why she had always admired her and wanted to be like her.

But...

'Why can't I be like her?'

No, on the contrary, the more she felt like she was being compared to Ciella, she felt like she was stuck in the sludge.

Unaware that she was feeling inferior, Tyriel grew impatient. She was depressed all day, thinking, "I can't do this."

It was Knox who encouraged her.