A Not So Villainous Girl [UNDER REVISION - HIATUS]

Chapter 23: A Lot More Questions

I stared at him with confusion, furrowing my brows with that questions. "Does what hurt?" I asked back.

"Your...body. Does it hurt when you get those marks?" He asked.

I was a little baffled. The faint runes on my skin doesn't really bother me too much but I certainly never thought any of the boys asking me about it especially Max. But he did attend the pre-ceremony with his family.

"Ah...it doesn't hurt. Don't worry about it." I assured him with a smile.

However Max didn't look like he was satisfied by my answer. He continued, "I saw Angelina getting hurt so badly during the pre-ceremony ritual. Did you know what I saw when you did your ritual?"

My parents did tell me that during the ritual - my magic reaction to the glass ball I touched caused frozen ice released from my palms but my parents didn't elaborate more on the details. They told me not worry about it so I trusted them. But Max here was giving me the chance to know what exactly happened.

"What happened during my ritual?" I asked. Hoping that it wasn't anything bad.

His face turned grim. "Your eyes were...different. Your eyes turned deep black then your hands started to ice and freeze until it spreads around you. It was like a sudden snowstorm appeared in the room. It looks really dangerous even though the wizards were trying to keep the magic inside the barrier from leaking out fully but the audience could still experienced the effects. We almost thought that you were gone because the wizards were trying to pull you back to reality. It was only after ten minutes that the snowstorm ceased and your eyes turned back to your original color."

I was shocked to my core. It almost sounded like satanic ritual than a blessed pre-ceremonial for holy magic. Perhaps when I went in my visions and the previous Saintesses, I was already out of touch with reality. I'm really thankful that I could go back to my body again without losing my sanity after that happened.

"That...sounds frightening." I confessed.

"Yes. It was." Max frowned, "Even his highness, prince Fred was horrified at the scene. He almost left his seat to get over to you but the queen held him there so it was fine by the end."

'Fred did?' I didn't know he would be that worried for me but by the description of what Max explained earlier, it seems logical that when your friends are in danger you would feel horrified or scared. I'm just glad that I was fine by the end. It was perhaps why Fred seek me out right after the pre-ceremony ended.

"I think what is most important is that I'm safe now. What happened before was scary but perhaps it was necessary for the ritual. I'm unprepared for it that was why the ritual went a little different than we expected. Now I'm safe and sound, these marks on my body doesn't hurt me too." I confirmed, lifting my arms and looking at the faint runes on my skin of different shapes and sizes.

Max added. "But are you upset with how it made you look like this? I heard that...girls find it difficult to marry if they have marks or scars that are visible."

I chuckled. "Well good thing that I'm not planning to marry anyone soon. Besides why is it so important that these marks affects my marriage prospects in the future. It doesn't hurt anyone too. I think it feels a little ridiculous that girls are being judged for scars or marks that they didn't wish on their body."

"I see...that make sense." Max agreed, leaning back to his chair. Though his eyes still linger on the exposed skin of my wrists, the shapes of the faint marks drawn along my skin. "I just thought..."

"Yes?" I prompted.

Max rubbed the back of his neck. "I have a relative - she is a female knight, wed into my family, since she married my uncle. She received a lot of negative impressions from my family members because she has several scars on her shoulders and my grandfather thought it was inappropriate for a scarred woman to marry my uncle but my uncle didn't mind it at all." He explained, "I remember him arguing a lot with my family members despite them trying to tell him that it was for his sake but...I understood his feelings. He truly cares for her and wished for the union no matter how different she may look."