"Princess Nessa," Elowyn said. Now that Soleia looked at her properly, her face had gone pale. There were beads of perspiration trickling down the sides of her forehead, and even her lips were ghastly white. Her voice attempted to sound ek, but if anything, she seed more constipated. "Please, I am far too ashad to remain here."
"There is nothing to be ashad of, Lady Elowyn," Princess Nessa boldly announced, raising her voice. "If anything, she should be ashad! For a princess, she has no decorum and no morality, and that has led to the crumble of your marriage. How could you be so forgiving, Lady Elowyn?"
"The crumble of her marriage?" Soleia echoed, scoffing in disbelief. "Pray tell, what has Lady Elowyn told you of our marriage with Duke Elsher, Princess Nessa?"
"Are you that keen to air your dirty laundry out to the rest of the world, Princess Soleia?" Princess Nessa asked. Her raised voice quickly garnered the attention of several nearby nobility and royalty, all of whom cast their curious gazes over at them.
Seeing that they were being watched, Elowyn’s expression grew paler as she bit her lip. Her anxiousness and clenched fist quickly caused suspicion to grow in Soleia’s chest. She had a guess what sort of lies Elowyn had spread, but she needed to make sure before she brought down the taphorical executioner’s blade.
"Indulge ," Soleia said, forcing the words out through gritted teeth.
"Fine, if you’re so insistent!" Princess Nessa shot back. "We have all heard from Lady Elowyn, Princess Soleia. She and Duke Elsher had a beautiful and prosperous marriage during his campaign. However, that all changed when they returned from the battlefront to see that you had appeared!"
"Oh?" Soleia said, smiling murderously.
"That’s right," Princess Nessa said with a tilted chin. "You are nothing more than a thi―"
Gasps rippled through the crowd as a thud sounded, causing Princess Nessa to stop speaking. She turned to see that the grip on her dress had loosened, and Elowyn had crumpled to the floor by her feet. Instantly, her argunt flew out of her mind and was instead replaced by a mixture of shock and panic.
"Lady Elowyn!" she exclaid, dropping to her feet as well to examine the woman on the floor. Several others gathered as well, forming a circle around Elowyn, and forcing Soleia and her sisters to step back to make way.
"Oh my goodness!"
"Soone call the royal physician!"
"Quickly, bring her into the shade!"
"Lady Elowyn," Princess Nessa said, gently shaking her. "Lady Elowyn, can you hear ?"
Elowyn made a disgruntled noise, her eyebrows furrowed just the slightest, but otherwise, her eyes remained closed and her limbs remained limp.
"Guards!" Bellaflor called out, quickly gathering the attention of several knights nearby. "Bring Lady Elowyn to the infirmary at once!"
Several n hurried over, bringing a stretcher, and Elowyn was quickly brought away. Most won dispersed after seeing she was brought to dical attention, but Princess Nessa followed along. She shot Soleia a nasty glare before hurrying after the guards, and they quickly disappeared into the main building.
Only when they were gone did Soleia exhale deeply.
"Relax your hands," Ralph said, coming to her side. "She will be fine. Unfortunately."
The underlying aning of his words didn’t go unnoticed by Soleia. ’Orion will not bla you for the loss of the child if anything happens.’
Soleia slowly looked up at him, pinching her lips tightly together as she gave a stiff nod. Celestina and Bellaflor reacted quickly, positioning themselves in a way where Soleia and Ralph’s stance would be blocked from King Godwin’s view.
"How can you be so sure?" Celestina asked.
She didn’t like Elowyn, but that didn’t an she didn’t worry. After all, everyone heard rumors of how protective Duke Elsher was with his mistress — even if they hadn’t seen it with their own eyes — when they first arrived. It was only recently that his bias changed to favor Soleia instead.
"It is just an act," Ralph evenly replied. "She is faking it to divert attention."
"Why would she do that?" Celestina said. "Wouldn’t it co as a risk instead? She slamd into the ground pretty hard."
"Because she doesn’t want Princess Nessa to speak her truth," Soleia said through gritted teeth. "Or at least, what she assus is the truth."
"Sister?" Celestina asked.
"Isn’t it obvious?" Bellaflor said. "Lady Elowyn has told Princess Nessa lies about her marriage with Duke Elsher. That is why Princess Nessa is so protective of Lady Elowyn― she thinks she is the victim in all of this!"
"And you knew she was acting because..." Celestina trailed off, raising an eyebrow at Ralph.
He rely shrugged. "I was also there when she and the Duke first got―" Ralph paused and scoffed, as if he was in disbelief of his own words, "―married. I have seen the way she acts, and I know when she’s faking things."
Then, he rolled his eyes.
"That is if anything that she spouts is even worthy of trusting," he muttered under his breath.
The three won chuckled, but the light atmosphere was quickly broken when a guard ca scrambling from the direction of the forest. He appeared by the King, dropping to his knees before the King suddenly stood to his feet in outrage.
"What is going on?" Celestina asked, frowning as she watched her father bark out orders that she couldn’t quite catch.
"Perhaps sothing has happened inside the forest?" Bellaflor suggested.
Soleia bit her bottom lip as she stared at the man who had reported to the King. He nodded at sothing King Godwin said, then turned to leave. As he passed by their tent, Soleia reached out and stopped the guard.
"Excuse ," she said. "Has sothing happened in the forest?"
"Your Highness," the guard greeted. His forehead was coated with a sticky sheen of perspiration, and his tongue darted out to wet his bottom lip. "It’s just―"
Before he could finish his sentence, a deafening roar from the direction of the forest caught their attention.
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