"Did he...did he change my clothes too?"

My breath was stuck in my chest, and no word could come out from my throat. I felt like I would suffocate at the thought of what happened last night. 'The red-eyed man should not be that sort of a rascal, right?'

I squeezed my eyes shut as I let out the stuffy air stuck through my mouth.

"Did he see me naked, or did he not?" I kept mumbling under my breath, not knowing what I should feel now. It might be a kind gesture, but it would be downright embarrassing if a stranger—a man to boost—saw a lady without clothes on.

I wanted to scream, but I covered my mouth, trying to swallow my frustration. It wasn't easy to accept it, and though I didn't wish to say a word about it, my mind kept thinking on its own, asking the same questions again and again.

'Did he really personally change my clothes? Did he see me without clothes on? Did he? Did he not?'

However, the thought that he must be the one who changed my clothes dominated my mind. I curled myself in a ball and shrank on one corner of that bathtub.

'Who is he? How can he… just… ?' Then, a certain memory struck me. Last night would not be the first time. That red-eyed man had seen me without clothes when my scrying caused me to meet him underwater while I was in the middle of a bath. 'Does he enjoy seeing naked bodies? Is he what Martha calls a pervert?'

A scream of frustration wanted to escape my lips again. I didn't even know who he was and what he had to do with me! How could this happen?

I allowed myself to vent out until the water turned cold, and afterward, I composed myself. It was useless to cry over what had happened already. My time and energy were something I could not waste, and dwelling on something that could not be changed would be a waste of both. Once I got away from here, I could leave these things behind, and no one would know. I wouldn't even have to see that man again.

"Forget it. I can run away again tonight. Since I don't feel weak at all and my body seems better than yesterday's, this time, I can manage to go deeper into the forest."

With my determination renewed, I stepped out of the tub and dried myself. I helped myself into a simple yet elegant dress since my brother would come to see me soon.

Remembering the events of last night, it was strange that I was feeling fine, even somewhat energetic. There were no traces of myself getting hurt or feeling tired. No feeling of any sort of weakness.

"But how? Am I getting stronger? Do I have a hidden power inside me that is showing its effect now?"

I had always been told that I was cursed and those curses could bring destruction, but I always wondered why I could not cast magic or have useful special abilities if they called me a daughter of a witch.

In the mirror, I looked at the image of myself. 'Don't witches have magic? Even Martha can do magic, and no one calls her witch, then why can't I? Did my mother forget to pass on her powers to me? Isn't it always that the child inherits powers from their parents? In those storybooks I had read when I was a kid, they said it like that, then why can't I cast magic?'

I looked at my fingers and tried to twirl them like Martha, but there was nothing special appearing on my fingertips. There was nothing but thin and fragile pieces of bones joined together and covered with delicate skin.

"Maybe I need to have a magic wand like what those witches have in the story books?"

Losing interest in my hand, I could only sigh.

"If I am the daughter of a witch, then let me use my powers so I can use it to run away from here." But I knew the reality, "I am nothing but a powerless witch."

I thought about whoever was my mother and said, "Before abandoning me, you should have at least given me some of your powers. I would have been grateful to you. You gave me nothing but this veil."

I looked at that veil which had changed its color from white to light blue to match the dress I was wearing. "Even this lifeless veil has its own power, then why not me?" My anger erupted at the unfairness of everything. "I don't even need this veil! I can just take it off."

Out of impulse, I raised my hand to pull that veil away from my face, forgetting that only Martha could take it off. The next moment, I got nothing but disappointment in return. My fingers couldn't touch the veil, as if there was some invisible energy covering my face. My fingers passed through this energy and touched my skin, but I couldn't touch the veil itself. My hand retreated, but I tried again to grab it. Still, the results were the same; I couldn't touch it. Well, the disappointment was nothing much. It was not like I was not prepared for it. In the past, I had tried too many times to count but could never touch it.

When I was a kid and went out in the palace, the other kids tried to take it off of my face saying, 'Let us see your ugly face,' but they too could not touch it. Only Martha could do it.

My thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door, and the female servant entered my bedchamber. "Your Highness, Prince Cian is here."

"Let him in," I instructed and was ready to welcome my brother.

He entered the bedchamber with the same pleasant smile that he always had whenever he came to see me. Even his eyes seemed to be smiling.

"Greetings, Brother." I bowed lightly.

With a slight nod, he accepted it and came to me as he observed me from head to toe. It surprised me to find him observing me so blatantly. 'Does he know I tried to run away the previous night?'

My palms turned sweaty as I clenched them into fists. I was not scared that he would scold me, but I would be sad if he was disappointed in me. He cared for me, and if he knew what I did, he might blame himself for not taking care of me properly.

Just then, I heard him say, "You look completely fine today. It seems like the medicines are working well on you."

I sighed a deep relief and agreed, "Seems like it."

What more could I say? Even I was surprised to be feeling so energetic, like someone had just fed me some magic medicine.

'Wait!' The thought stuck in my mind and I repeated the words inwardly, 'Magic medicine? I have them. I can…but they are in a tower...I can't go there to get them...that scary place.' A shiver ran across my spine at the thought of going back there.

"What are you thinking so deeply about?"

My brother's question pulled me out of my thoughts and I looked at him. "N-nothing. Even I feel that those medicines are really effective on me."

"Isn't it good? We should reward the Head Royal Physician again for it," Brother said and I just nodded lightly.

Soon after, Cian's knight entered the chamber as he lowered head to bow and said to my brother, "Your Highness, everything is prepared."

My brother nodded and looked at me. "Let's go."

"Where?" I asked.

"The place where you would like to be," he replied. He led me out of the bedchamber as the knight followed behind.