Agnes blankly gazed at Laslo's face.

“It's already decided that he'll be crowned king. He also has two sons, and won't need to kill the princess. Isn't that right?”

“You're right.”

“Then…”

“But there's still a reason to do this. Because as long as I'm alive, I'm a thorn in his side as I also have the chance to seize the throne.

Laslo was about to refute her when Katherina returned with an old paper bundle.

“This is it.”

“Nothing else?”

What she brought back was a small booklet so thin that one could count its pages from a glance.

Katherina shook her head.

“Even in this scripture, there is little written about the royal emblem.”

She opened the booklet in the middle and pointed with her finger.

“You can start reading from here.”

Agnes read the part where she had pointed at.

(Only the red star that marks the first dawn has the power to erase old promises. The greater the pain, the stronger the power, and the closer to death, the easier it is.)

These sentences were too short.

“And the rest of the text?”

“None.”

“That's all?”

She felt dispirited. Agnes couldn't believe it, so she picked up the old booklet and looked back and forth for another clue.

“How can you be sure that this is about the emblem?”

“Traditionally, the old promise mentioned here is interpreted to be the royal emblem.”

“Then what is the red star that marks the first dawn?”

“Maybe it's talking about the Ranunculus(1).”

“What is that?”

“It is a star that rises with the break of dawn, and since it gives off a red hue; they also call it the red star.”

“Really? A star that rises at dawn? Then we'll be able to see it tomorrow. Isn't that so?”

Agnes' face lit up with excitement. Things seemed to be going smoother than she had expected.

On the contrary however, Katherina's complexion darkened.

“It's a star that rises according to its given cycle.” Responded Laslo, who had been listening silently.

“How long of a cycle are we talking about?”

“I'm not sure about the exact time span. Was it five or ten years?”

“It is fifteen years.”

Katherina carefully corrected him.

Agnes' face tensed up in an instant.

“What? Are you saying that it's a star that's visible only once every fifteen years?”

“As far as I know, yes.”

“So, when will the star appear next?”

Katherina shook her head.

“My apologies, d.u.c.h.ess. I'm not that knowledgeable about it either. Ah! But perhaps Buschke would know. She's a sage who knows everything.”

“Right, Buschke would probably know. Princess.” Laslo courteously comforted her.

Agnes took hold of her anxious heart.

“Hmm… Then how do you interpret the following part? The one about pain and death.”

“The interpretation of this part is divided. Some take it figuratively, while others take it literally as being close to death.”

“I see.”

Agnes read the sentence carefully one more time. It wasn't easy to understand.

“I'll have to think over the emblem more. Thank you for your time.”

She requested Katherina to transcribe the text and then returned to the castle.

Laslo got off the carriage first and helped her get down.

“Oh, I was going to talk to High Priestess Katherina about the rite of vows, but I forgot.”

“Why don't you think about it a little more before deciding?”

He knitted his left eyebrow in a frown on his troubled face.

“There's nothing to think about. My heart will not waver.”

Agnes stared into his eyes as she said it again in a firm tone.

“Tell the high priestess that I'll be doing the rite of oaths.”

“Princess, don't rush it. Even if you and I don't take the oath, aren't you already the d.u.c.h.ess of Alpharde?”

“I don't want to be recognised as the d.u.c.h.ess, I want to be recognised as your wife.”

Laslo was speechless for a while. He looked down at Agnes with a complicated face.

She couldn't guess what he was thinking.

“Duke?”

“…….It is a ceremony that takes a long time to prepare.”

“I don't care, no matter how long it takes. But…”

Agnes was about to say something.

“Master!”

When a man intervened between the two. It was a knight whose face she had seen many times.

“Sir Gabor?”

“Hah, right now, huu, a monster has emerged at the northern defense line.”

He couldn't suppress his panting as he was gasping after air even when he was standing still. He had probably run here at full speed.

His forehead was dripping with sweat.

Laslo's expression hardened at the news brought by the knight.

“I see, we're departing immediately. I'm sorry, Princess, but I have to go. Let's talk again next time.”

“Be careful.”

Agnes stood there, seeing him off until he disappeared from her view.

She called Buschke right after returning to her room.

“I heard I was requested?”

Buschke arrived in a polite manner as always.

“Look at this.”

Agnes handed over the note from the temple.

Buschke's eyes shone.

She looked at the short text for a while.

“Meaning the Ranunculus…”

As expected, Buschke understood the meaning of the first line in a heartbeat.

“The high priestess said it appears once every 15 years.”

“That is correct.”

“Then when will the star rise next?”

Agnes clenched her fist tensely and swallowed the saliva in her mouth.

“My apologies. It is difficult to give an answer right away. However, finding the location of the star is not too difficult, so I will try to find out and return with an answer within the next few days.”

“Oh… is that so? Yes, please do so.”

She felt disheartened.

She wasn't sure if she was anxious or relieved as her heart was pounding in her chest.

After Buschke left, Agnes unclenched her hand and stared at the emblem on her left hand.

‘I will change it.'

No matter what happens, she would change the future.

She will save Laslo and they will survive.

* * * read @ lilacpoo.blogspot.com

For a while, it was difficult to even catch a glimpse of the hair on Laslo's head due to evil powers invading. But the real problem started after his return to the castle.

Using this excuse as an excuse, he avoided spending time with her.

Whenever she was told that he was busy not only during the day but also at night, she burst into anger.

Instead, Zoltan hanged around the princess.

“Ugh, bitter.”

He frowned as soon he tasted the tea Ney had poured with great care.

The tea cup shook and the inside overflowed.

Ney, who was standing to the side, rolled her eyes.

“You are very good at drinking things like this. Princess.”

The disgusted Zoltan pushed the teacup away.

“If it doesn't suit your taste, tell me and I'll bring you something else.”

“If it's not alcohol, I'm good.”

He leaned back half-heartedly on his chair with a sloppy att.i.tude.

“Then should I request some alcohol for you?”

“Milady!”

Ney had raised her voice before she realised.

“Alcohol? No thanks. Drinking alone is no fun.” He raised his head halfway and replied profoundly.

“I can keep you company.”

In order to start learning how to manage the household in earnest, she'd asked Niall for the ledgers, but he answered by asking her to wait because it was still being organized.

For that reason, she could spend her time leisurely.

“Milady, the sun has not even set yet.”

Her loyal maid widened her eyes in terror.

“Originally, alcohol tastes the best when you start drinking before the sun sets and finish when the sun rises.”

Meanwhile, Zoltan was frivolously giggling.

Ney stared fiercely at him, but Zoltan wasn't intimidated at all.

“But if you're gonna be my drinking partner. Princess, do you know how to drink?”

Zoltan was clearly looking at Agnes disrespectfully.

Rather than paying him any attention, Agnes just lifted up the corners of her mouth in a sneer.

“I've been drinking alcohol as if it were water ever since I was the age of 14 years.”

“I have been filling my stomach with alcohol since I was thirteen.”

Zoltan immediately countered the princess' words with his own.

“I seem to somehow never get drunk after drinking alcohol?”

“I will not get drunk even if I bathed in alcohol.”

The two stared at each other for a while. A feeling of compet.i.tiveness Agnes didn't know she rose up from somewhere deep in her heart.

“I'll have to check if that's true.”

“Do as you please. However, Princess, the alcoholic beverage here is different from the fruit wine served in the palace. It is much stronger and I don't know if you've drunk it at the palace before.”

“I don't drink fruit wine just to fill my stomach. You don't have to worry about unnecessary things.”

Agnes spoke pompously while the man on the opposite laughed out loud.

Agnes told Ney to bring some alcohol at once.

Her maid hesitated and did not move, emphasizing that it was still bright outside.

As she had not started moving yet, Zoltan chipped in.

“Can you not hear the princess?”

In the end, Ney went down to the wine cellar, groaning. Shortly afterwards, Ney returned with a couple bottles of distilled liquor that was commonly drunk in Sutmar.

The two drinking buddies who had begun lightly with one or two gla.s.ses, showed no signs of stopping as the sun set and the sky turned dark.

In the meantime, a servant came to look for Zoltan.

“Oh dear, young master. It's already dark outside.”

“I'm busy now, so come back later.”

The servant hovered around him, fl.u.s.tered.

The drinking party between the lady of the castle and the lord of the castle's younger brother did not end even deep into the night.

“Princess. You hold your liquor better than how you look, don't you?”

“Is that so?”

In fact, Agnes has never been drunk after drinking alcohol.

Lila's notes:

 According to Wikipedia, Ranunculus is: “…a large genus of about 600 species of flowering plants in the family Ranunculaceae.” Including b.u.t.tercups. Also “…the name Ranunculus is Late Latin for “little frog”, the diminutive of rana”. But I guess it's a star now.