Petria, who was organizing the dresses, nervously glanced at Roxiana.

‘The princess seems strange.’

After returning from going out with Floyd, Roxiana looked dazed. Usually, when told she would be helped undressing, she would have said, “It’s okay. I can do it myself,” but today she just stood still like a doll, letting Petria handle her body.

‘What could have happened?’

One might think the reason for a woman’s dazedness after going out alone with a man is obvious, but judging from Roxiana’s expression, that didn’t seem to be the case.

Roxiana sat blankly with her gaze fixed on empty space, occasionally biting her lower lip as if trying to swallow her anger.

‘Did something bad happen with His Highness the Grand Duke? But it doesn’t seem like His Highness would do anything untoward to the princess…’

Roxiana was lost in thought, completely unaware of Petria’s concern.

‘Lucas Pelur.’

She wanted to ask him.

‘What were you thinking when you beheaded my family who trusted you? Was it fun? Or did you feel a little sorry?’

Her heart sank thinking about what her family might have thought and what expressions they might have had as they died by the sword of someone they had just accepted as family.

Roxiana clutched her skirt to keep from screaming. She bit her lip to swallow the wail that almost burst forth.

‘And Elise Hailis, you.’

Only then did she recall the last conversation she had with the friend she had known the longest and thought was closest.

A conversation forgotten in the grief of losing family. A conversation she had tried not to recall for fear of falling into utter despair. A conversation she had turned a blind eye to, not wanting to believe.

-“You know, Princess. You shouldn’t have saved me. You shouldn’t have shown me pity. You should have just, just left me to die with my family. You should have just left me like that! Roxiana! If you had, your family wouldn’t have been killed and thrown into a well!”

‘Did you really think that? Was it a problem that I let you live?’

Elise’s father, Duke Hailis, had committed numerous corruptions and embezzlements while serving as the Minister of Finance of the Kingdom of Canta. He was accused of squandering more than half of the national treasury on gambling-like businesses and appointing officials of each department in exchange for bribes.

Although Duke Hailis was an old friend of the king, the king found himself in a situation where he could not turn a blind eye to his many wrongdoings.

-“It’s painful, Roxy.”

On the night Duke Hailis and his family were brought in, her father, whom she encountered in the garden, wore an expression she had never seen before.

-“Even though I sit on the throne, I too am human…”

Duke Hailis had committed crimes worthy of execution, but in the end, the king spared him and his family. He decided to only strip them of their titles and exile them to the countryside.

Many ministers protested that it was too great a leniency, but the king did not reverse his decision. The Hailis family survived, and Elise, who was the youngest child, remained in the palace to serve Roxiana.

‘I requested it.’

She had heard that the land where the Hailis family was to be exiled was barren and devoid of anything. Roxiana did not want her friend to suffer in such a place with nothing.

So she begged her father to let Elise remain in the palace, to make her her lady-in-waiting.

Her father, who had been agonizing over having to exile young Elise as well, granted Roxiana’s request.

Though called a lady-in-waiting, they lived like friends. Roxiana tried hard to ensure Elise didn’t feel lonely, didn’t cry from the solitude of being without family.

And then news came that the Hailis family had been massacred by bandits on their way to exile.

-“Th-thank you, Princess. I’m alive thanks to you. Thank you.”

Even as she cried upon hearing of her family’s death, Elise thanked Roxiana.

She thought it was sincere. She never dreamed that behind that grateful voice, those eyes, that heart, a knife was hidden.

No one in the Franche royal family treated Elise, who had lost her family, carelessly. They cherished her even more than Roxiana. Her father and mother treated Elise like their own daughter, and her elder brothers doted on Roxiana and Elise equally. And Lanian also followed Elise well, calling her “Elder Sister, Elder Sister.”

‘I saved you when you should have died with your family. We treated you so well. Was that so resentful to you?’

-“I wish the princess would die without even getting to smell Adelia’s scent… That’s my wish…”

‘Enough to utter such a terrifying curse?’

Once started, the anger and hatred did not easily subside. Rather, it called forth many memories, swelling uncontrollably in size.

She hated Lucas and Elise. An intense resentment swept over Roxiana.

-“Still, Princess, I’ll let you live. If you find a good master, they might put some in Adelia’s coffin. This is my last gift to you as a friend, Princess.”

‘Yes, just as I saved you and you resented me for it, now you’ve saved me and I’ve come to resent you for it. Is that what you wanted, Elise?’

If she could, she wanted to run to them right now, grab them by the hair, and force them to kneel before her. She wanted to make them beg and lick her feet.

And then she wanted to behead them one by one, just as they had done to her family, and throw them into a well.

‘If that’s truly the case!’

Wind blew in the room with closed windows.

‘Then I must do that!’

The wind, which started gently, created a whirlwind around Roxiana, growing strong enough to sweep up everything in the room.

Whooooosh-

As the wind suddenly blew, causing the fireplace to burn fiercely, ashes to fly, and blankets to lift, Petria stepped back in fear.

Even though she didn’t know what power Roxiana possessed, it was clear that this strange phenomenon originated from her. Roxiana remained calm at the center of the whirlwind.

While everything in the room was flying about, Roxiana sat quietly on the sofa, staring straight ahead without a single hair moving.

“Princess, I’m coming in.”

At that moment, Floyd’s voice was heard from outside the door.

The raging wind subsided as if it had never been there.

Only after Floyd entered did Petria realize she had been holding her breath the entire time.

Floyd calmly surveyed the room, which was a mess with ashes and broken glass, and the maid who was taking deep breaths, then walked towards the sofa as if nothing was amiss.

Roxiana sat in the middle of the sofa, her back straight and both hands neatly placed on her thighs. Even after Floyd came right up next to her, Roxiana did not turn her head.

“Kyarung.”

Only when an unfamiliar sound reached her ears did Roxiana show movement. She turned her head very slowly towards Floyd, then widened her eyes upon seeing what was in the basket he was holding.

Inside the basket was the gray wolf cub she had seen earlier.

“This is…”

Before Floyd could explain, the wolf jumped out of the basket and ran towards Roxiana.

Floyd hastily reached out his hand, fearing the wolf might attack Roxiana, but the wolf leaped onto Roxiana’s thigh, exposed its belly, and wagged its tail.

Floyd let out a chuckle at the adorable sight, which was hard to believe was the same creature that had been snarling and baring its teeth just moments ago.

“Hexten brought it as a gift for the princess. If you don’t mind, please keep it.”

“Ah…”

“I was going to warn you to be careful because it’s a fierce creature, but seeing it like this now, I don’t think there’s any need for caution.”

The wolf cub was licking Roxiana’s fingers while lying on its back. Roxiana unconsciously tickled the wolf’s chin slightly. The wolf seemed to enjoy it immediately, narrowing its eyes and purring.

‘It was just something that bothered me a little…’

It was an interest small enough to be completely forgotten in the hatred towards Lucas and Elise. Yet Hexten hadn’t overlooked even that tiny bit of interest.

A small flower of warmth bloomed in her heart that had been frozen cold with anger. That warmth illuminated, if only slightly, what had been obscured by resentment.

‘I can’t do anything that would harm Torkan.’

There were many good people here. She couldn’t make innocent people bleed because of her desire for revenge.

My revenge is mine alone. So the blood spilled must end with me alone.

‘But I can’t reach them without any help.’

To receive help, one must first become someone who gives help.

Roxiana raised her head and looked at Floyd. For some reason, he was glaring at the wolf with a displeased expression.

‘The reason this man is kind to me is probably similar to why I feel I could do anything for this wolf.’

The moment the lone wolf cub from the cage jumped onto her and showed affection, Roxiana thought she could do anything to help this wolf grow up healthy and strong.

Isn’t Floyd the same? The moment he saw Roxiana trapped in a small box, didn’t he vow to take care of this woman in every way possible until she became healthy and strong?

Thinking like that, she could understand the countless considerations he had shown until now.

It is human nature to want to help something that is hurt and vulnerable.

‘But I can’t remain hurt and vulnerable forever. First, I need to capture the Grand Duke’s heart.’