I walked out the door and gasped. What just happened? I need to urgently translate two, calm down the raging heart, and think everything over carefully. On wobbly legs, which still retained the feeling of a rough hot tongue, I hurried away.

Going down the flight of stairs from the third floor to the first, where my room was located, I periodically glanced through the narrow windows, watching the movement of the delegation of Princess Giselle. She herself was not visible, the butler must already be showing her her chambers.

Some kind of acrid feeling was born in my chest, but I hastened to brush it off. I never know why she’s here, and I shouldn’t care at all why Raphael is giving her a special reception.

And anyway, everything that happened between us... It’s my own fault that I succumbed to his charm and lost my head in the moment. What a fool I must be not to understand that he is using me for his own purposes. I closed my eyes in irritation, trying to calm down after the rush of realization.

Actually, I don’t care about him or this Giselle. All I have to worry about is getting out of here as soon as possible and living quietly away from Abion and my own father. But I have to run faster from Raphael, while I’m still determined and not wallowing in this intoxicating feeling for him.

Like a sticky resin that an insect got into, all I did was think about him as I walked into the room. I let out an inner cry of despair, I managed to get into such a mess.

***

I lit a candle and climbed onto my springy soft bed, collapsing face down into the pillow. I lay there for a minute, and then, as if scalded with boiling water, touched her face with her hands. It doesn’t hurt at all.

I flew off the bed as if stung and ran to Jen’s small mirror, and at that moment I was seized with disbelief. I just couldn’t believe my eyes. There was not a single scar on my face. Perfect matte skin, soft and elastic to the touch and no claw marks.

- What kind of medicine did he give me? - I was whispering to myself. Confusion consumed my mind.

It’s just not possible. I was very well-read person, I knew that there was no such magic that could heal wounds in a matter of hours without leaving any hints of their former presence. However, magicians did not have the ability to create healing at all, and witches treated for a long time and drearily, practicing their potions on the patient.

I became very uncomfortable and restless, bad forebodings overcame me. I’ve never been a coward, but this magic medicine made me change my views. He said it was just an infusion of herbs and some kind of acid. But is it so?

In am again convinced that this place is strange and a little scary. Or a lot.

Closing my eyes, I tried to calm down, these reflections will lead to nothing. I either need to squeeze the truth out of the king, or I have to put up with it and put everything superfluous out of my head. For some reason, I wanted the first one more.

I looked around, realizing that the room had become somehow gloomy, despite the burning candle and my eyes caught a faint flicker. I looked up and saw that the magical sky above my head was covered with black thunderclouds, through which fiery lightning bolts were constantly breaking through.

It is very interesting, so does the "sky" react to the mood? Curling my lips, I thought about how it would be nice to send this cloud right on Raphael’s head now and squeeze it out to the last drop of rain. Villainy has crept in and taken invisible roots.

He’s probably entertaining Princess Giselle at the moment. This thought made me shudder, it became so unpleasant. I wonder who this princess is like? She must be very beautiful. Is she young or the age of marriage?

I knew that aristocrats and noble families often visited each other in order to maintain ties and there was nothing wrong with that, but for some reason now I was only thinking that this visit of hers was not just some kind of relationship support. And something more. My heart gave an unpleasant twinge again.

***

On the far side of the castle, the former silence was broken by the visiting delegation of Princess Adaman. A lot of ladies-in-waiting, there were at least five of them, simple servants and a personal dressmaker.

Giselle was pacing the room at a brisk pace, roughly gesticulating with her hands and grumbling angrily.

- Charles, why didn’t he come to meet me? This is outrageous! - her face was flushed with anger and expressed extreme indignation.

- Milady, His Majesty expresses his great respect to you, but, unfortunately, he cannot personally greet you now, as he is solving important state issues in the Сouncil. He asked me to tell you that he will join you for dinner. In the meantime, you can rest. A royal maid will also be assigned to you in order to complete your errands on time.

- My ladies-in-waiting and servants completely suit me. That’s it, you can go. - She waved away the old butler. He bowed politely and left the room.

- I can’t believe it. He sent me a personal invitation and ignores me? What does he do there? Katie, Monica - she called her ladies-in-waiting. – You and I are going to the king.

Then she ordered her maids to prepare a suitable outfit for her and fix her hair. Today she should look perfect in Raphael’s eyes.

The servants hurriedly helped Giselle take off the dress she had been wearing ever since she left Adaman Castle. She stepped over the silk fabric with her feet and went to the full-length mirror, admiring her perfect figure.

Sharp aristocratic features, brown eyes, straight nose and thin lips, straight raven-colored hair, long neck smoothly passing to sharp shoulders. She had an extremely expressive female figure. Despite her thinness, she had good volumes in the right places, which always provided her with the views of men.

Giselle was a special narcissist, selfish and arrogant – a true spoiled princess. She took another look at her naked body and turned to the servants, who brought her a gorgeous purple dress made of glossy satin decorated with soft black lace.

The servants gathered her hair into a braid, which was wrapped around her head, pinned with a comb lavishly decorated with rubies, pearls and black diamonds. The image was complemented by a necklace and earrings from the same jewelry collection with a comb.

The Adaman princess had left her chambers and was about to head to the Council. To outsiders, this might seem pompous arrogance and bad manners, but for Giselle, this was education. She has never been denied or forbidden anything.

A maid stood obediently near the door of her room, her head bowed low and her hands clasped together at her waist. Giselle lifted her chin with her index finger.

- Did they send you to wait on me? - Her coldly arrogant voice sounded and the maid’s blue eyes lifted to meet her gaze.