I finally calmed down as I stepped outside.

  I told my grandfather that I wanted a breath of fresh air. The early sunlight was dazzling as I moved my heavy feet. The place called the Queen’s Lake was the place where the royal tombs were placed.

  When my mother died, she was sent here.

  She was a princess who went to another country for the sake of her motherland and her sibling at 19.

  It was a tragedy straight out of a fairy tale; I couldn’t even smile at it.

  As I held my hand up, the sunlight touched my hand.

  “Mom…… what kind of curse did you place on dad?”


  Grandfather didn’t tell me what the curse was. He just said that it was a curse that would never come true. It just made me even more curious.

  I found Assisi standing behind me with his head down. I did take him down from his position as my guardian knight, but he was still guarding me.

  “What kind of curse do you think that the late princess has placed, Princess Ria?”


  “Well.”


  “I hate you, Emperor. My body and my blood will never forgive you. Even if my body gets crushed, this child that carries my blood shall curse you.”


  The only thing which loomed in my memory was a woman’s scream, mixed with disgust and resentment.

  No, it was all my imagination. At that time, I was too young to remember what happened, and I could have rearranged what happened since my mother passed away. Maybe after her death, my mind decided to create a new scene to cope with the loss.

  When I think again……

  It wasn’t a scream.

  It was a trembling voice. A voice filled with sadness.

  The sobbing voice seemed sad and in deep despair.

  A curse placed for her longing to live.

  My heart broke when I thought about the love I received from a mother I never met or saw. It would be a lie if I said I never missed my mother, but I never thought about it because of my stupidity; it would only cause pain for me.

  How heartbreaking the road would have been for her since she had to leave so early.

  Looking after a young child who couldn’t open her eyes and speak, what on earth happened in that young mother’s mind as she left forever?

  To leave first.

  Hope for the family. It was said that she was born with the blood of the witch to protect the country.

  At that young age, she traveled a thousand miles to a strange new world for the sake of her motherland……

  what the hell was going on?

  What did I ever do to her for her to do so much for me? I knew better than anyone, even if it would be called an inevitable decision my mother had to take, going down that path was no easy task. If she decided to give up on me or not give birth to me, my mother wouldn’t have had to die.

  How scared she must have been at that age. She was exactly my age when it all happened.

  I could understand then.

  “After walking a long road, I returned.”


  A large willow tree was providing shade for the lake. In front of a small tombstone, I went and stopped.

  She returned to her homeland after her death.

  My mother was now at rest.

  “Me too.”


  How long did it take for me to come here?

  I wanted to hug her, but all I could do was speak and hope she listened.

  “I love you, too, mom.”


  Her young daughter, who never had the opportunity to see her mother, cried till she was out of breath.

  Ezelan Le Elo Broringer

  488 – 509

  Ainsel’s first princess, Ariadna’s mother.