Married To The Enemy Kingdom's Illegitimate Prince Chapter 70 — Fire (2)

"The fire is bigger than I thought..." Cynthia mumbled, glancing at Lucian, who stood at a distance, talking to his knights.

She didn’t expect Lucian to agree so quickly to her suggestion of letting her use her powers to stop the fire from spreading.

She had read in the magic books Edric had given that fire created by magic wasn’t always easy to extinguish, as it contained another person’s mana fragnts.

"Whenever I read those books, I feel like I never existed in my past life," she chuckled, looking at the burning trees. "I didn’t even know what mana fragnts were..."

Mana fragnts ca from the mana core, which made magical spells more effective compared to natural elents. To nullify or stop the magic, a person needed to use a fragnt of their own mana core, and often the most effective way to stop it was to kill the caster—sothing Cynthia couldn’t afford to do. She would be seen as a vile woman, unworthy of being a grand duchess, a figure ant to protect others.

But... isn’t the person who created the fire much worse? Not only that, no one even knows who is behind it! Useless...

Cynthia muttered softly, extending her hands from one another and creating a flickering white light between her palms. The attention of the knights standing with Lucian, along with his gaze, shifted her way once they noticed the brightness flickering behind them.

Feeling the piercing stares at her, Cynthia felt a cold sweat run down her face. She never knew casting a spell would make her so nervous. She gulped and threw a wave of water onto the fire. However, the result wasn’t what the crowd had anticipated. The flas grew larger as if the water had only fueled the chaos.

"What have you done?!" Lucian shouted, frowning at her.

"I..." Cynthia wanted to explain herself—that she was as shocked as everyone else. Yet, when she turned to look at the knights, their expressions only showed anger, making her reluctant to explain. It felt futile; no one cared. It didn’t matter whether she was at fault or not; they would bla her regardless.

"Your Highness," she spoke in a low voice.

Her sentence was cut off as the soldiers rushed to fetch water to extinguish the fire, despite knowing their efforts were likely in vain.

Lucian inhaled deeply.

"Let give it a try," he firmly stated, walking slightly closer to the fire, resolved to stop it at once.

He recited the spell Cynthia had written on a paper in case she could forget, a dark red light ford at the palm of his hands. Once he attempted to strike the fire with the wave of water, the flickering red light disappeared.

Lucian gritted his teeth, irritated.

It was working just a while ago... Why can’t I cast this spell?

He wondered, unable to find an answer. He believed the dark magic that caused the Rune inside his mana core had vanished. A few months ago, he could rely use small magic spells that didn’t require much mana, however, earlier, when he was practicing, he succeeded in performing a new and stronger spell. Yet, for so reason, it was no longer working.

The frustration was evident on his face. However, it vanished as quickly as it ca. He couldn’t afford to show any sign of weakness in front of his n or Cynthia. He began chanting again trying his best to draw out all the mana he could muster.

"Why isn’t this working?"

He wondered, clenching the paper in his hand.

Cynthia watched Lucian, feeling helpless. She had offered to help, but instead, she only made things worse. Now, Lucian had to step in. It wasn’t about wanting to be in the spotlight—she just wanted to prove she could be of so use.

Suddenly, a rock ca flying toward her, barely grazing her arm. The shock jolted her back to reality. She had completely forgotten the villagers were still there.

Cynthia turned, spotting the old man who had thrown the rock. Others began gathering around him, picking up whatever they could find—stones, sticks, anything to hurl at her. Chanting slogans, they edged closer, their anger rising like the flas. Panic surged through her as she darted toward Lucian. The knights stood motionless, making no effort to protect her. It was as if their duty was to shield the townsfolk from her, not the other way around.

What are they doing? Shouldn’t they be trying to keep us safe? To keep safe?

The thought stung, but it wasn’t unfamiliar. She had seen this before, in her past life, when she ventured beyond the mansion’s walls. Back then, the sa disdain had t her—hatred in the eyes of those who saw her as nothing more than the vile princess from Eldoria.

Despite everything, their perception hadn’t changed. The fear she had hoped to instill in them had failed to protect her. Unlike the servants who feared her in this life, the villagers’ resentnt toward her was as strong as ever.

She clutched her dress, running as debris and flas threatened to consu her. The mob’s chants grew louder, their words cutting deep through the crowd of knights that sprang nonstop to get water to cease the flas.

"You evil witch!"

"Wasn’t the blood you spilled on the battlefield enough?"

"Are you trying to burn us alive now?!"

Cynthia had thought these words wouldn’t hurt her, but the old scars from her past life hadn’t healed. Tears welled in her eyes. She blinked them away quickly, scanning the smoke-filled air for Lucian.

I just need to stand beside His Highness.

She reassured herself, knowing that the commoners wouldn’t dare harm her in Lucian’s presence. Her eyes caught a glimpse of a tall figure through the thick grey smoke. It was him—Lucian.

With every ounce of strength she had left, she raced toward him, seeking refuge behind his broad figure.

Lucian was too focused on thoughts to even notice what was happening around him. Desperate to extinguish the fire, he began fumbling in his pockets, searching for the magic stone he always kept with him.

"Where is it?"

Unable to find the magic stone, he glanced around, and finally noticed Cynthia behind him.

The nervous expression was evident on her face however, she wasn’t looking at the flas but at the angry mob that was screaming at her.

He inhaled deeply, pulling his hand out of his pockets, glaring at the commoners, hoping they would stop their ridiculous behavior. He didn’t expect them to be "well-mannered," as the nobles would say, but he hadn’t thought their deanor would be this bad towards Cynthia. He knew they hated her, as did he, but he had never behaved like this towards her. At tis, he did wish to kill her, but he couldn’t. Perhaps his real feelings were confused with Keal’s, or perhaps he simply couldn’t handle the consequences. But could these commoners handle the consequences of insulting a higher-ranked noble such as the Grand Duchess?

Feeling the Grand Duke’s intense glare on them, the commoners briefly shut their mouths, while those holding rocks and sticks dropped them to the ground. They joined the knights, attempting to help stop the fire.

"Your Highness..."

"Stand back. I will try to—" he paused, realizing his magic wasn’t working—again.

It worked briefly, only to fail once more.

Keal.

Lucian thought, hoping he would respond, but no reply ca from the dark shadow who often hovered around him.

"Let try again..." Cynthia suggested, though she feared making the situation worse, just as she had earlier. However, sitting still was not an option!

"Your Highness, I can’t let you repeat that!" Lucian’s voice sounded hard, echoing through the woods.

"But can you let everyone here die, Your Highness? At least, we can keep trying until we succeed! Or else, we will have to say goodbye to the forest and the villagers who live here!"

Hearing her logical reasoning, Lucian couldn’t help but stay quiet. He slumped his head for a mont before giving her a soft nod of agreent.

"Everyone, stand back!" Lucian ordered, his voice loud enough for everyone in the forest to hear.

Cynthia, determined to stop the inferno no matter what stepped closer to the burning blaze. She inhaled deeply, closing her eyes. As she parted her lips, she felt Lucian’s presence behind her. She turned to face him, wondering what he wanted.

"You forgot the paper," he said, handing her the small piece of paper that had beco wrinkled.

Cynthia shook her head.

"There is no need for this. You can step back," she said, facing the fire threatening to consu her, just as it was devouring the dried, dead trees.

Lucian, seeing her strong, resolute expression, couldn’t help but comply with her order.

She didn’t seem like the foolish, villainous young woman he had first t, nor did she resemble the kind, well-mannered, and elegant young woman he had seen over the last few months, but rather soone entirely different. He was once again left to wonder which side of her was real and which was fake.

Once Cynthia heard Lucian step backward, she closed her eyes again, whispering a spell she had morized over and over for the sole purpose of burning down the people she wished to ruin. Her heart raced rapidly, but she couldn’t stop now.

This is the ultimate attempt... So please, stop the fire.

She told herself as if praying to gods she didn’t even believe in. She had long stopped believing in them, but now that she was blessed with divine power related to gods, she wondered if, by praying, they would grant her desperate wish to extinguish this wildfire.