The physician arrived shortly after Dacia returned to her chamber, checking her pulse and temperature before prescribing a calming tonic for her nerves and a fever remedy. He left with a bowed head, saying she only needed rest and time.
But Dacia's condition lingered beyond physical fatigue. She remained bedridden for days, unmoving except to sip water or accept the porridge Libby brought her. Her body burned with fever, and her lips quivered with half-formed words.
"Please...I don't want to die..." she whispered deliriously one night, her forehead drenched in sweat.
Libby stayed by her side faithfully, wiping her with cool towels, taking care of her. She grasped her hand whenever Dacia whimpered in her sleep.
She dreamt of that moment-standing helpless before Nickolai, Lucas, and Alma. Their three silhouettes like shadows of judgment. Her screams, ignored. Her pain, mocked. Her death, orchestrated.
When the fever finally broke after nearly a week, Dacia remained in her chamber.
She didn't wished to see anyone. She barely spoke.
That afternoon, Libby placed a warm bowl of porridge and a fresh pot of tea by her bedside. Dacia sat by the window, the chest from her mother resting in her lap.
She ran her fingers slowly over the carved lid.
The necklace inside felt heavier now-more than just a family heirloom. It held power. Perhaps divine. Perhaps cursed.
The Goddess answered her mother's prayers... and returned her here.
A question she feared to voice aloud.
And then-clarity.
She couldn't remain trapped in the same cycle. She wouldn't wait until Nickolai became king. That was when everything fell apart. She would act before then.
Before chaos devoured her again.
She would survive.
She sent out a letter requesting to meet the crown prince. And surely two days later, she had been summoned to see him.
In the crown prince reading room...
Dacia sat upright, her hands folded tightly in her lap as she faced Nickolai across the wide desk. The contract rested before her.
Nickolai flipped through the pages with an unreadable expression.
His cold, sharp eyes lifted from the parchment.
"You want...a divorce," he said, voice flat.
"Yes," she answered calmly, though her knuckles had turned white. "After 1 year, let us separate peacefully."
He narrowed his eyes.
"And why one year?"
"This should be the appropriate amount of time to separate, after our 4 months of marriage. To avoid any issues arise within the court. I'm afraid if we do divorce on this short amounts of time, it will bring unnecessary attention. Still, within this marriage, I won't interfere with your duties. Nor cause any trouble to you. I'll fulfill mine quietly until then. After that, we will officially divorced." She looked him in the eye then.
His gaze hardened, assessing her face for lies.
"I want to live simply, Your Highness. I don't wish for wealth, or title. I'm not asking for compensation. This marriage was arranged. Forced upon you. I... was foolish to hold on to feelings that were not returned. I'm letting them go."
Nickolai sneered. "Oh really...how noble of you, to think this way."
"Forgive me, Your Highness" Dacia whispered. "I truly regret it. I regret the jealousy. The possessiveness. The cruelty that came with it. That's why I'm doing this now... to make amends. To start over."
YOU ARE READING
When Beauty Destroys The BL World
RomanceIrene was just a normal girl, waiting for her graduation day to set up her new journey. Her dream is to be a doctor and a good daughter for her single father. But all of that change when she tries to help an old lady from a robber, as she was push d...
