What should I do? What should I do?

  Vivia’s brain was close to exploding on her way back to her chamber. Audreya's death sentence was simply a matter of time now. If not today, her head would be under the guillotine tomorrow. If not tomorrow, the day after, but death was imminent.

  “Princess, what's the matter?” Erissa asked. “You look stressed.”

  Stressed? I’m exhausted…I barely stepped foot into the pace and things have already escated this much!

  The only thing she cared about right now was thinking of a way to save Audreya. Her rival’s stubborn streak wasn't news to Vivia, but how long would she be able to hold out for?

  “Just tired…”

  “You should rest, my dy. I’ll bring dinner to your chamber, and then you have a good night’s rest.”

  Leon’s head popped out from behind Erissa. “Shall I give you a head massage, Princess? I give head massages to Lady Sierra all the time. She likes them very much!”

  Though her death made Vivia extremely cautious about arrows in general, she wholeheartedly welcomed the arrow of his pure and sunshine adorableness to strike through her.

  I feel healed already…

  “Hmm, let me just hug you and I’ll be all better!” She shone.

  Erissa dropped to her knees. “My dy, Leon is just a maid’s child. He’s not allowed to come so close to the princess.”

  What kind of a nonsense rule is that? The pace is so stiff all because of Elvin and Rosrell!

  Vivia refused to give a damn’s worth of importance to any useless impositions and pulled Leon in her embrace, pressing her face against his chubby cheeks.

  “You’re so cute!”

  “Princess!” Her eyes widened in horror.

  “Calm down, Erissa. A child is a child. Love and hugs don't have to look at css,” she frowned heavily.

  “Princess…”

  “What happened to my chamber? Everything has changed here!” A distraught and indignant voice harshly cut through the corridor, making them jump.

  The realization came soon enough. The scream had come from none other than her own chamber. Stepping in, Vivia gnced across her room, which was now a big pile of a mess. Things were violently thrown and shuffled - including her presents from the Demon Realm.

  The lilybell pot from Doloras and the silver mirror from Azarael y scattered on the floor in a pathetic state. Her hard gaze fell upon their miserable fate, and she lifted her shes, her eyes now frosty and deadly.

  “Who did this?”

  The young woman commanding the other maids turned, her wavy hair gliding along with her fury. As soon as her eyes fell upon Cirette, poison seemed to flow beneath her beautiful orbs.

  “So the runaway princess is finally back,” her lips curved into a sneer.

  “Did you do this?”

  The woman gnced at the fallen flower pot and mirror and smiled. “I don't know who put those ugly things on the table, but they surely have poor taste.”

  Her steps didn't ring the faintest echo as Vivia walked past her in silence and picked up the presents, hugging them against her chest. Thinking about Doloros and Azarael and every other demon she spent good time with in Rudaheim, she pressed them tighter. Relief washed over her to see the flower pot and mirror unharmed.

  “You should feel fortunate that they didn’t break, Lady Priscil,” Gently pcing them back on the table, every angle of Vivia's turn invoked a deeper and chillier menace that looked equivalent to hell.

  Priscil met her cold gaze with a bnk stare. “You’re Cirette, right? Why are you looking at me like that?”

  “Why did you touch my things?” Vivia cut through her meaningless chatter.

  Casting another bnk stare, Priscil burst into abrupt but hearty chuckles. “You mean your things in my chamber?”

  “This is my room.”

  “It was your room. It became mine when you disappeared into the Realm of Harmony. There wasn't any use in continuing for this room to be yours anymore, now was there?”

  “Because you thought I’d be dead and never return?”

  Animosity was quick to greet Priscil’s eyes, her tone irking the patience within her.

  “You should be cautious of what you speak and insinuate, Cirette. Don't forget that you’re standing in front of the blessed Harbinger of Seasons. My Gilmore family is one of the Three Great Families, and I’m the blessed.”

  Her decration barely moved even a single hair on her eyebrows.

  “Audreya is right. Everyone in the royal family likes to keep reminding people of their titles so much. Yes, I’m already aware who you are, Lady Priscil - the precious blessed of the Human Realm and sister-in-w Sierra’s younger sister.”

  Priscil smiled.

  “But being blessed still doesn't give you the right to make a mess of my room and touch my things, much less throw them away so disrespectfully.”

  “I threw them away because that's what they deserved. I heard you received some presents from the Demon Realm. I did what you should’ve done long before - cast them away. Hateful things from the hateful demons don't belong in the Human Realm. Even their sight disgusts me!”

  Rather than letting those words fuel a counterargument, Vivia simply said, “Apologize.”

  Priscil’s shes blinked rapidly, confused and utterly perplexed. Terror had fshed across the maids, including Erissa, who didn't dare to intervene. Leon looked up.

  “Mother-”

  “Sshh, just keep your head low.”

  “Apologize…and me?”

  “Who else do you see here? The maids are innocent, so that only leaves you.”

  At first, it was a no-brainer for Priscil that Cirette was joking, but then studying the dead seriousness in her frigid countenance, the contours of her face twisted.

  “You sure are shameless, Cirette! Who should be apologizing to whom here? I heard everything that happened from brother-in-w Elvin. You dared to pose as the blessed and fool the demons into thinking that you’re the Harbinger of Seasons! You took credit for a resolution that came by a mere coincidence, yet you had the audacity to decre yourself as the esteemed blessed and steal their praises! You stole my title just to elevate your status!”

  “I did no such thing. I never decred myself as the Harbinger of Seasons. On the contrary, I kept telling Crown Prince Zerath that he was mistaken. That the eternal winter being lifted can only be a coincidence. It had nothing to do with me.”

  “And you think we should believe you? I understand all your intentions, Cirette. You were always filled with envy and jealousy towards me because I’m the blessed Harbinger. But you could do nothing about it, so you pathetically fooled the demons at the first chance you got and felt good about yourself. You should feel fortunate that His Majesty forgave you for this crime!”

  Vivia stared at her mockery and disdain-filled eyes. “If I’m so jealous of Lady Priscil, then why are you eyeing my chamber? Shouldn't it be the other way around? Suddenly, you don't feel so insulted anymore in hijacking my chamber to make it yours? I expected the blessed must be living in luxury, yet here you are fighting for a mere royal princess’s room. What does that say about you?”

  Rage crooked her pretty dimples.

  “The royal pace doesn't ck rooms and surely, you can have a much grander one than mine. Then…”

  Vivia stepped closer, her cold shadow and biting gaze consuming Priscil, making her ever-so-faintly stumble back.

  “What meaningless point do you want to prove by barging into my chamber like a thief and touching my things that I hold so dear to my heart?”