All excuses, at this moment, seemed utterly pale and powerless.
Astreia moved her bloodstained lips, but not a single word came out.
Wendy had brought so much… but as for herself, what could she give him besides trouble and embarrassment?
“So, Your Highness, what exactly can you offer Prince Wendy?”
The White-robed Priestess seemed to be enjoying herself, savoring the pain and confusion on Astreia’s face.
She reached out, her five fingers digging into the golden hair matted with dirt and grass, and yanked upward, forcing the Princess’s face right in front of her, tightening her grip even more.
“In truth, as a survivor of the Cavalier Kingdom, Prince Wendy will eventually need to find a backer—but that person absolutely cannot be you. Do you know why?”
At these words, Astreia’s already unfocused pupils suddenly shrank.
She stared at the Priest in silence.
Clearly, these words had struck deep into the forbidden place in her heart she’d always tried to avoid.
“Because Wendy is the sole bloodline of the royal family. His child will inherit his surname, return to his homeland, rebuild the nation, and become the new king. And you, Astreia Valoran, as the First Princess of the Valoran Kingdom—if you join with Prince Wendy, then whose side should inherit the land of the Cavalier Kingdom? The Cavalier Kingdom, or… the Valoran Kingdom?”
After speaking, the White-robed Priestess waited for the Princess’s answer, those bewitching violet eyes full of eager anticipation, as if watching a good show.
“Of course, it’s the Cavalier—”
Astreia instinctively opened her mouth to reply, but the words caught in her throat, unable to come out.
Right… how could she have forgotten?
To rebuild his homeland, to continue the bloodline, Wendy’s partner must marry into the Cavalier Kingdom, becoming a Prince Consort with status equal to the royal spouse.
But her own identity… was the First Princess of the Valoran Kingdom!
Even though she’d been pushed aside by her younger sister and exiled to the Northern Region, she still bore the noblest blood of the Valoran royal family!
If she were to marry into another country, how would the entire Valoran Kingdom view her?
How would the nobles of the Erashia Continent mock her?
A shameless woman, dissatisfied with her status at home, who ran off to a neighboring country to be a live-in Prince Consort?
A scheming villainess, plotting to use this opportunity to swallow up the Cavalier Kingdom?
When that time came, rumors would drown her like a tidal wave.
Those ambitious schemers in Valoran would seize the chance, under the pretext of “protecting the Princess,” to use it as an excuse to devour the Cavalier Kingdom.
Could it be… Could it be that she and Wendy had never had any chance from the start?
This realization drilled deep into Astreia’s heart.
She had little political sense to begin with, and now her mind was a complete mess, unable to draw any conclusion that would make her feel less miserable—it was nearly impossible.
“Looks like you’ve figured it out, haven’t you?”
The White-robed Priestess seemed extremely satisfied with her lost and broken look, her excitement growing as she spoke.
At some point, those once charming violet eyes had turned into a menacing dark red, like the gaze of a demon from the abyss, brimming with undisguised aggression.
“And your most prized identity, ‘Royal Princess of Valoran’?”
“Ha! A so-called Princess, pushed out by the Royal Capital, thrown into this barren land by your own little sister like trash? What good is that? Do you want Wendy to stay here with you in the freezing Northern Region, gnawing on black bread and drinking the cold northern wind?”
“Do you want him to watch as you and your soldiers get torn apart by hundreds of thousands of rampaging Orcs? Or perhaps, you don’t even want to give him a title, and just want to freeload off everything he has, keeping him as your caged canary in Sunset Fortress forever?”
Astreia was hanging by her hair, half-suspended in midair, blood and tears mixing with dirt as they slid down her cheeks and dripped onto the icy ground.
She bit down hard, silent, letting the humiliation and pain spread through her entire body.
Seeing the Princess Royal remain speechless, the White-robed Priestess pressed on, her voice cruel and almost lyrical as she laughed: “Do you really think all those compliments he gives you are sincere? They’re nothing more than the pretty words of a fallen prince of a ruined nation, struggling to survive, seeking your shelter. Face reality—you have nothing to offer him!”
Her voice suddenly rose, like a final judgment.
Every word was like a battering ram, smashing down on Astreia’s crumbling resolve.
“What can you give him? A land of endless war and biting cold? Or the shame of being a ‘hideous’ wife ridiculed by the whole world? If he follows you, he’ll only ever live in the shadow of schemes and danger, dragged down by your stupidity and weakness, until you and he are both torn to shreds by those Orcs!”
“And I,” the White-robed Priestess released Astreia’s hair, letting her fall to the ground like a dead dog. With her other hand, she wrapped her arm around Wendy’s neck, and under the gaze of those misty, alluring eyes, kissed him wantonly, making shameless “tsk tsk” sounds.
Astreia’s vision was instantly blurred by blood and tears.
All she could see were those two figures entwined under the moon, and all she could hear was that piercing “declaration of victory.”
After a soft “pop,” the White-robed Priestess finally let go, still unsatisfied.
“My identity can take him to the Saint City, to seek the strongest support for founding a nation from His Holiness the Pope. My body can let him taste the most exquisite, most intoxicating pleasure in this world. My profession can keep him forever free from sickness and pain, even grant him eternal youth.”
The White-robed Priestess slowly turned around, looking down at the Princess lying on the ground like a pile of mud, her tone almost pitying as she pronounced the final judgment.
“Astreia, admit it.”
“You’re not worthy of him.”
Boom—!!!
It felt as if something that had supported Astreia’s entire world collapsed completely in that instant.
Strength, status, beauty, love, chivalry…
Everything she had held on to, everything she had been proud of, was torn apart, trampled underfoot, and crushed to meaningless dust by the woman before her, in the most direct and cruel way possible.
So it turned out… everything about her was a joke.
So it turned out… all she brought to Wendy was only burden and danger.
So it turned out… all the kindness Wendy had shown her was just… an act.
Those emerald eyes, once bright as the stars of the Northern Region, dimmed, little by little, until nothing but dead, hollow gray remained.
The White-robed Priestess watched Astreia’s soul die completely and curled her lips in satisfaction.
This toy was broken now.
She squatted down, casting one last look of pity and contempt at the woman on the ground, then gripped the Princess’s slender neck.
Little by little…
Lifting, tightening…
“Farewell… foolish and ugly, defeated Princess~”
Why tf isnt Wendy talking during this?
(also tysm for the song suggestion ill listen to Mozart while reading from now on)