When the king and his brothers bestowed divine blessings, holy light emanated from their hands.

I was different from them.

Flowers appear along with my light. When this phenomenon first appeared, people and the temple cheered.

Their attitude changed when a gifted person who received my blessing screamed in agony.

They despised it as a divine curse, a negation.

Liam knew that fact too.

“Don’t try anything.”

He sneered as he removed his hand from my neck. Stepping back, he crushed the white flowers that had fallen on his body.

“Save? You? A princess who can’t even take care of herself?”

There’s no time to explain until Liam understands.

“I go to the temple once a week. On the way back, I have a cup of tea at the dessert shop. I’ll tell you the details in two days.”

I passed by him and left the balcony.

“Bring the flowers then.”

Liam’s gaze followed me, but he didn’t grab me.

I hadn’t taken more than a few steps out of the balcony when people’s gazes unusually concentrated on me.

‘Could they have seen me with Liam?’

As I looked around, worried about disrupting the plan, a strong force gripped my arm.

I almost screamed but bit my lip to hold it in.

“Can’t you quickly remove that ominous flower stuck to your head? Everyone’s looking.”

Jeffrey Olan growled so that only I could hear, with a distorted smile.

Only then did I realize why people were looking at me. I removed the flower stuck in my hair and put it in my pocket.

“Move quickly. Let’s go. You have to make up for being accepted as a useless princess.”

The words he spat out while feigning a kind smile were sharper than knives.

“It seems the princess’s beauty is not visible to foolish people. Princess Ormia is more beautiful and radiant than anyone. It breaks my heart.”

He was the man who approached me, saying he felt sorry for me being alone. It was natural to be swayed by the first attention and kindness I’d received.

I was deceived by Jeffrey, who approached with intentions, and as soon as we married, I had to face reality.

I clung to him because he was the only one who showed affection.

I mistakenly thought Jeffrey was all I had left.

When in fact, there was never anyone who would truly like me.

Urged by Jeffrey Olan, I headed to the reception room.

The knight standing by the door frowned at me and Jeffrey but didn’t block our entry.

I was an ambiguous existence – officially present but unofficially unacknowledged. That ambiguity forces awkward permissions.

In the king’s reception room were royals and dukes who had left the banquet early, along with their heirs.

When Jeffrey and I greeted them, they merely glanced to confirm our presence, but no one returned our greetings.

“Damn it, it’s all because of you, Princess Ormia. To think I’d be treated like this.”

Jeffrey complained so that only I could hear.

He wouldn’t have even been able to enter the king’s reception room if he hadn’t married me.

“We should make a threatening move. How dare the knighthood threaten to invade?”

“We must show them why this country is called the land of the gods.”

“Even the empire has been unable to do anything and has retreated out of fear of the believers, hasn’t it?”

“Where are there any royals who aren’t busy? It takes over half a year to travel to and from the empire. The delegation will realize how reckless their demands are when they see the schedules of the royal family.”

“How dare they, when there are already many who can’t receive blessings.”

Duke Windsor didn’t hide his irritation.

Whether direct line of the ducal family, collateral line, or born by mistake from a distant bloodline, those who manifested abilities suffered side effects proportional to the size of their power.

As the divine blessing disappears the further one is from the royal bloodline, only the king and his direct children, and three other royals can bestow blessings.

The number of royals who could give blessings was small, so they were always busy, and not everyone could receive those blessings.

Duke Bersi of Water suggested mischievously with a smile.

“Let’s negotiate.”

“What negotiation when we won’t do it anyway!”

“We can’t just tell them to wait endlessly, can we? We should at least pretend to do something from our side to make the empire more anxious. And we can also find out how desperate they are.”

“It’s because of the Wilboyers, obviously. It’s amazing they’ve held out this long after being exiled. I heard the medicine given by the emperor isn’t very effective…

When I was stranded before, I thought I was going to die trying to survive for a week without a blessing.”

Duke Windsor shuddered.

Duke Windsor, who had an unexpected accident while out hunting, couldn’t meet a royal for a week even after being rescued due to geographical issues.

“According to the information we’ve received, the second son of the Wilboyers has been in serious condition since two years ago.”

As Duke Haiman of Wind spoke, the king made his decision.

“We cannot bestow blessings on those who have betrayed the gods. Duke Bersi, I’ll leave it to you. Drag out time while negotiating.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Duke Bersi took the king’s hand and kissed the back of it. A faint light of blessing shone from the king’s palm and then disappeared, and Duke Bersi’s expression softened considerably.

The princes and adopted daughter Leticia Beltoa entered the reception room, having finished their small talk with the nobles at the banquet.

Everyone’s attention focused on them.

“You’re still beautiful, Princess Leticia.”

“You shine even more today.”

“Has something good happened? The surroundings all brighten up when Princess Leticia enters.”

“Thank you. You flatter me.”

Although they must have greeted each other at the banquet, they praised her again while kissing the back of her hand. Then the royals would bestow a little blessing.

While attention was focused on them, I approached the king and knelt before him.

I didn’t raise my head, but I knew what expression the king would have looking at me.

“Your Majesty.”

My voice was ignored.

“Count Rebler.”

“Yes.”

The king called for his advisor, Count Rebler. He didn’t even ask why I had come forward.

Heavy footsteps approached from the side.

Although I hadn’t received the king’s permission, I opened my mouth.

“I wish to divorce Viscount Jeffrey Olan.”

For a moment, the reception room fell silent.

Jeffrey Olan, who had been greeting the princes, hurriedly ran over and broke the chilling silence.

“Oh, Ormia! What are you saying to His Majesty! I apologize. The princess must have some grievances against me.”

“Marital affairs should be resolved at home. Even if there’s a quarrel, you shouldn’t damage your husband’s reputation in front of everyone like this.”

“I’ll talk to her well and cheer her up. I’m sorry.”

Jeffrey tried to grab my arm to make me stand up. His grip was rough despite the many eyes watching.

The sound of someone clicking their tongue was heard.

“There she goes again. She used to do such strange things to get people’s attention when she was young. When will she ever grow up?”

The second prince, Alian, complained irritably.

Yes, I did behave like that when I was young. Before I was eight years old, perhaps.

“Well, the princess has always wanted attention from people.”

The third prince, Noyer, chimed in agreement.

There was a time when I wanted attention, but they thoroughly ignored me.

“When will she ever have any dignity? Tsk.”

“Stop it, the princess must be acting like this because she’s upset.”

Leticia’s kind voice trying to stop them was also heard.

“Princess? You may not want to call her sister, but you’re royalty now too. You should use the proper title.”

“Who would want to call someone like that sister?”

“I’m sorry, it’s become a habit since I don’t meet her as often as I do with my brothers.”

“It’s that cold-hearted girl’s fault, not something you should apologize for.”

Regardless of what they thought, I raised my head. I met the king’s cold eyes.

In the past, I couldn’t speak properly because I was suffocated by that gaze, but now it was different. I remembered the image of the king trying to confine me out of fear in my third life.

Any affection for my parents had already disappeared.

“Please grant me permission for divorce.”

Seeing that I wouldn’t back down, the king gave an order.

“Take her away at once.”

“Princess, let’s go now.”

“Ormia, stop this. Let’s talk at home.”

Jeffrey pestered me to stand up, but he couldn’t force me.

This is the advantage of having many people around.

He can’t treat me roughly because of appearances.

“I can no longer continue this marriage.”

“It’s only been three months since you got married due to your stubbornness. And now you talk of divorce! If you were thinking of divorcing on a whim, you should have been more careful! I’m sorry, Jeffrey Olan. I’ve raised my daughter to be ill-mannered.”

“I’ll talk to her properly. I’m sorry for causing you concern over marital affairs.”

“It’s fortunate she at least found a decent husband.”

This time, Jeffrey’s hand gripped me quite forcefully. He forcibly lifted my body.

I shook off his arm with all my might.

Jeffrey seemed surprised that I would do that to him.

“It’s not a whim. Jeffrey is in love with another woman. I can no longer continue this marriage. Please grant me permission for divorce.”

“What? What are you talking about? No. How could I love another woman?”

Jeffrey’s face turned pale with shock as he explained to the king.

“Maybe she felt that my feelings for the princess have been neglected because I’ve been busy since we got married. To condemn me like this, Ormia, did you hate me that much?”

He blamed it all on me.

Just like everyone else.

Since I’m the divine negation and an incompetent royal anyway, they think it’s okay to blame all misfortunes on me and resent me.

Because I’m an easy target.

“Shall I tell them?”

“What?”

In my first life, I briefly gave my heart to him. He’s someone who knew my feelings and used and butchered them.

“Shall I tell everyone here who the woman you’re meeting is?”

His face contorted with shock, as it had when he was caught cheating and blamed it all on me.

“Can you handle it?”