It’s been fifteen days since Prince Theron had left for the war, and Esther had been praying for his safety every moment from the time they parted. Though she was working in the royal library, all her attention was on the most recent news from the western border where Prince Theron was deployed.

Once in a while, especially whenever she went to meet the Queen, she would hear something like how the military campaign seemed favourable and how Prince Theron was leading an army of his own on the battlefield. They had directly engaged with the enemy forces three times, and had managed to give a tough fight to the enemy despite being outnumbered. Although it would seem like the war would go on for a long time, the good news was at least the army of Megaris had prevented the enemies from acquiring more territories from the kingdom.

However, Esther was exasperated.

‘It has been a few weeks, why is he not writing me a letter?’

As Prince Theron was probably on the move with the army and not staying in a single fort, Esther could not send a letter to him at risk of him not receiving it. However, it would be possible for him to at least write to her, especially after what happened on the day he departed.

Wasn’t he supposed to keep the romance going? Did she say ‘yes’ too soon?

Esther wasn’t expecting much—no, she didn’t want to receive a letter every day about sweet nothings from a lover, but it wouldn’t be hard for him to at least let her know he was safe. She would be satisfied with a single letter saying he’s at least eating and sleeping well. He didn’t have to tell her about the progress of the war, or his exact whereabouts as that could compromise the military campaign, but that annoying prince should at least try to comfort the lady waiting for him, right?

‘But why am I not receiving a letter? Did he already forget about me?’

Roughly a month had passed by, yet there was still no letter from Prince Theron. From what she had heard so far from the palace people, the Crown Prince would not be returning anytime soon.

Inside her mansion, Esther was standing by the window of her room, looking at the dark starry sky as she usually did. The head maid, the oldest lady among all the female servants, entered her bedchamber bringing with her a set of calming tea. Seeing Esther like this every night was nothing new for the head maid, as all the servants knew the Baroness had trouble sleeping, though no one knew the exact reason why.

Normally, the head maid would leave quietly after putting down the tea set, but at this moment, Esther’s lonely figure reminded the woman of her daughter and her motherly instincts kicked in.

“Baroness, are you worried about the Crown Prince?”

Esther didn’t look at her but she could see her shoulders stiffen.

The head maid knew it was rude for her to talk to her master this way, but she still continued to speak, wanting to somehow ease the concerns of the troubled young lady. “It’s been a month and I can understand your worry, Baroness. But rest assured, the Crown Prince will return safely with victory.”

“Thank you, Dara,” Esther replied to the sincere words from her servant.

The head maid left, and after a while, Esther tried to retire for the night. The tea was from the Queen, and it was effective in helping her sleep, but she believed that it would be more effective if only she would just receive a letter from Prince Theron. At least one word from the Crown Prince about his safety would surely do wonders to calm her worried heart.

After several more minutes of tossing restlessly on her bed, Esther somehow managed to fall asleep.

‘Your Highness?’

Startled, Esther blinked, but realized she could not move her body. The fast palpitation of her heart eased when she realized that Prince Theron did not return; rather, she was having a vision through her dreams. It was a vision where she saw something was approaching to harm Prince Theron. The Crown Prince was entering a large tent arranged in an encampment, probably at the current war site. It seemed to be his temporary lodging, as she could see his personal articles placed inside. The young prince removed his armour and a soldier brought a pot of water for him to wash as he had blood on his body after slaughtering the enemies.

Just as he removed his undershirt, Prince Theron noticed the bracelet she gave him had blood as well. He removed that bracelet, Esther could not help but cry in her mind, “Don’t…Don’t remove it…”

However, he could not hear her no matter how much she tried. He removed the blue-beaded bracelet, washed it with water, and after he made sure it was clean, he hung it on a nail in the middle pole inside the tent.

“Why…?” she mumbled. “Why did you remove it? You have to put it back. Put it back!”

As it was a vision, she could sense strange energy approaching the tent where Prince Theron was staying in.

“No!”

Screaming loudly in her mind, Esther woke up screaming as well, though it was mostly muffled by her pillow. She gasped for air and her entire body was covered in a cold sweat. She sat up and buried her face in her hands as she sobbed helplessly from the vision she saw.

“T-That…is that a vision of the present? The future? It was not just a nightmare…It’s…what should I do now?”

She anxiously looked around and stepped out of the bed. Her entire body was shaking as she went towards the window where she had put that divine flower growing nicely in its pot.

She touched the delicate petals of that flower with her fingers and closed her eyes. In her mind, words she never thought she would say spilt out.

‘I know you are there. I know you can listen to me. Please…Please help me. Please help me save him. I will do anything you want, so just this once, help me. For the sake of all those moments we had together, help me…and I will never ask you for anything more.’

Esther opened her eyes and looked at the flower in front of her. It seemed to glow in response to her thoughts, as if it was trying to communicate something. It was a sign that the one she was asking for help had listened to her pleas. Esther gave out a sigh of relief and kneeled in front of the flower, lowering her head in a bow.

“Thank you so much. I owe you this favour, and one day, I will repay you for this kindness.”

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