Chapter 128: Beneath A Saint’s Smile.

Chapter 128

The morning sunlight filtered through the tall, arched windows of the royal bedchamber, offering no warmth to Crown Princess Maria as she paced relentlessly across the polished marble floor. Her long silk robes swished in a frantic rhythm, matching the chaotic beat of her heart.

Prince Ragnar had departed early that morning alongside the King on urgent state business, leaving her entirely isolated within the palace. Worse still, the Queen had issued a strict, unyielding decree placing her under partial confinement, explicitly forbidding her from stepping foot outside the royal quarters until the public outrage subsided.

Maria hissed through her teeth in pure frustration, spinning around to face the gilded vanity mirror. What she saw reflected in the glass made her stomach turn. Her face was haggard, her eyes ringed with dark shadows of exhaustion, and her hair lacked its usual pristine luster. Everywhere she turned within the palace corridors, she imagined she could hear the faint snickers and mocking whispers of the staff and visiting courtiers. Paranoia had dug its sharp claws deep into her mind, turning every quiet sigh into an indictment of her failure.

"How could she do this?" Maria muttered aloud, her voice trembling with a mixture of grief and unbridled fury as she pulled viciously at her own hair. "My entire life... my entire chance of becoming Queen—ruined! And it is all because of that wretched Sigrid!" The humiliating memories of the past four days burned behind her eyelids. Whenever she had dared to venture out of her chambers, the icy, contemptuous stares of the high nobility had felt like physical blows.

And Ragnar... he had looked upon her with a cold, detached indifference, as though she were a stranger who had trapped him. Even when they had shared moments of fragile peace, his mind had clearly remained haunted by the specter of Sigrid. That venomous wench had poisoned everything, mirroring the haunting visions of the future Maria had witnessed in her youth—visions where Sigrid and Ragnar stood side by side, and where Sigrid always looked down upon her with supreme, effortless superiority.

A strangled, furious scream tore from Maria’s throat as she slammed her palms against the vanity table. "There is nothing I can do to make her pay for this absolute humiliation!" she sobbed internally. In those cursed visions in her youth of the future, Sigrid had never shown a single ounce of weakness, always managing to possess everything she desired. Just as Maria had finally clawed her way to the life she rightfully deserved, Sigrid had returned from the shadows to tear it all down.

She continued her frantic pacing until a sharp, sudden knock echoed against the heavy double doors of her chamber. Maria froze, her eyes widening in momentary shock before a desperate, hopeful smile broke across her pale face. Rushing across the room, she threw the heavy doors open, expecting guards or perhaps a royal summons, only to find her parents standing upon the threshold. Duke Vesper and Duchess Genevieve stood quietly in the corridor, their expressions grim and burdened.

Tears welled instantly in Maria’s eyes, and she threw her arms around her mother’s neck, burying her face in Genevieve’s shoulder as a sob escaped her lips. "Mother..." she whispered, her voice cracking with despair. "It is all ruined. It is all Sigrid’s fault."

Genevieve gently patted her daughter’s back, her own face twisting with indignation. "Hush now, my love, everything will be set right."

Maria sniffled loudly, pulling back just enough to look into her parents’ eyes. "No, Mother, you do not understand! Sigrid has destroyed my chances of ever becoming Queen, and the court treats me like a criminal!"

Genevieve shrieked in sudden outrage, stepping past the doorway as Vesper followed behind, closing the heavy doors to secure their privacy. "No, that is utterly impossible!" Genevieve cried, glaring as though denying reality itself. She turned toward her husband, expecting immediate solidarity. "Vesper, tell her!"

Duke Vesper stood near the center of the room, his brow deeply furrowed as he recalled the terrifying, dark instructions Queen Evelyn had whispered into his ear just the day before. He looked down at his distraught daughter before speaking with cautious gravity. "Maria... why would you cast such absolute blame upon Sigrid without concrete evidence of her direct hand in this disaster?"

Maria gasped, her breath catching in betrayal as she stumbled back a step. "Father! I know it was her! I know it!"

Vesper crossed his arms, his tone remaining firm. "Knowing and having proof before the high council are entirely different matters. You ought to have acted with far greater caution." Maria opened her mouth to argue, but the words choked in her throat. She could hardly confess to her father that her conviction stemmed from prophetic visions of a future that was rapidly unravelling.

Before Maria could spiral further into despair, Genevieve stepped aggressively between them, glaring at her husband with flashing eyes. "How can you speak to her like that, Vesper?! She is our daughter! Why must you constantly defend that northern demon while blaming our sweet Maria?"

Vesper sighed heavily, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "I am not blaming Maria, Genevieve, I am simply stating that recklessness breeds ruin."

Genevieve scoffed dismissively, turning back to gather Maria into her arms once more. "Pay your father no mind, my darling; you know anything Maria says is absolute truth. She could never be at fault. This catastrophe is entirely Sigrid’s doing, and we both know it!"

Maria seized the moment, pulling away from her mother to approach her father with wide, pleading eyes. "Father, I am truly sorry," she murmured softly, playing the part of the injured maiden to perfection. "Sigrid tricked me. She engineered this entire scheme so the Queen would despise me and Ragnar would turn away from my side. After all, she always coveted the crown for herself! Father... will I truly be denounced as Crown Princess?"

Duke Vesper looked at his daughter, his hardened expression softening slightly at her genuine terror. "No, you shall not be stripped of your title, my dear," he assured her firmly. His noble standing depended on her alliance with the Prince.

Maria’s heart swelled with sudden, overwhelming relief, a triumphant smile briefly touching her lips before she masked it with a fragile expression. Vesper continued, his voice dropping to a low, conspiratorial register, "Besides, the time has come to teach Sigrid a permanent lesson."

Maria’s eyes lit up with ecstatic delight. "How, Father?"

Vesper offered a cold, calculated smirk. "Do not trouble yourself with the details. She shall finally learn that she cannot simply reach out and steal what rightfully belongs to you."

Genevieve nodded fiercely, a malicious grin spreading across her face. "Indeed! How dare that ungrateful wretch, after everything we provided for her, marry that monstrous northern duke and attempt to turn our Maria’s life into a living hell? It shall not stand!"

Vesper added, his mind racing with the deadly mandate the Queen had handed him. "And striking now, while the Duke of Aethermor is away at the southern border, presents the absolute finest opportunity."

Maria stepped back, her brow furrowing slightly in curious disbelief. "Do you truly believe the Duke cares nothing for Sigrid’s well-being?" Her parents fell silent, exchanging uneasy glances. Maria let out a soft, mocking laugh, shaking her head. "He is a monster, Father. He cares nothing for human life, let alone a selfish, arrogant woman like Sigrid." In my... in the accounts I have gathered from the visions of the predetermined future, the Duke was always a terrifying tyrant. Maria says Internally. Sigrid marrying him was merely a desperate anomaly; she believed that because I was destined to marry Ragnar, fleeing to the North would grant her safety, only to plunge herself straight into the jaws of a beast. The Duke cares for no one, and his impending hostility toward the crown will inevitably burn her alive.

A brilliant, twisted strategy blossomed within Maria’s mind. She would allow her father to deal with the current catastrophe, letting them dismantle Sigrid’s northern life. But before the dust settled, Maria would ensure that blame landed squarely upon both of them. Once Vesper finalized his sabotage, Maria would use the chaos to cast deep, unshakeable suspicion upon the Duke himself and the crown can begin the search for plans of his impending treason in the northern fortress. Before this war concluded, the Duke of Aethermor would be branded a treasonous criminal, and Sigrid would rot beside him in a dungeon and better yet executed, leaving Maria free to reign as Queen by Ragnar’s side.

As Maria stood smiling inwardly at the sheer brilliance of her forged plot, her mother’s voice pulled her abruptly from her reverie. "Maria?" Genevieve asked, a flicker of hesitation crossing her features.

Maria instantly smoothed her features into a picture of serene innocence. "Yes, Mother?"

Genevieve lowered her voice, glancing toward the heavy doors as though fearing invisible ears. "Tell me truly... is the Queen treating you with kindness? I only pray she is not making your life more unbearable than it already is. After all, the royal family should fall to their knees in gratitude that you have blessed their bloodline—you, the most beloved maiden in all of Arkovia."

Maria caught the subtle waning of her mother’s confident smile, recognizing the deep-seated inferiority complex that had haunted Genevieve ever since her days as a commoner in the lower districts. Knowing how harshly aristocratic society treated those of low birth, Genevieve lived in constant terror of the royal family’s true disdain.

"Do not worry yourself over the Queen, Mother," Maria replied smoothly, forcing a radiant, untroubled smile to her face. A complete lie, she added bitterly to her inner thoughts, remembering the chilling threats and bitter insults Evelyn had hurled at her behind closed doors. Yet, she refused to show such weakness. She was destined to become the supreme Queen of the realm once the old viper passed away, so she would endure the Queen’s venom for now, though a deep, simmering hatred burned in her chest whenever she recalled how the Queen had historically treated Sigrid with far more underlying respect than she ever afforded Maria in her visions. That realization alone made Maria despise Sigrid even more.

Duke Vesper placed a heavy, reassuring hand upon his daughter’s shoulder, snapping her back to the present. "Do not fret, Maria, everything shall be resolved swiftly," he promised. Maria offered a saintly, breathtaking smile, her heart racing with dark anticipation. Soon, she thought silently as her parents turned to depart, Sigrid will finally be dealt with forever.