How much time passed? Three days? Four days? A week?
She tried to guess the time of day in the midsummer heat, but after about two days, her mind stopped functioning properly.
She could not guess what time it was, how many days had passed, or when she would be released from this prison-like place.
The wounds on her legs festered, and her heart became even more sick. While she could quell her hunger with bread and water, it was not enough to soothe her loneliness.
Even if she shouted and begged that she was wrong, and pounded on the solid door until her knuckles bled, there was no response. With every passing minute and second, she felt herself slipping further into madness.
In the darkness, she looked at the small statue. With her vision accustomed to the dark, the gentle face of the goddess was faintly captured.
Be kind to the weak. Forgive the wicked…
The words she had muttered habitually gradually diminished and eventually disappeared.
The insects that made scratching sounds crawled up her legs, and even when their long antennae brushed against her festering wounds, Ariella simply lay there, leaning against the stinking box like a corpse.
And finally, at the end of that nightmarish time, the door opened.
She was washed, dressed, and forced to swallow a liquid that was either thin soup or something else by the hands of the maids, still half-conscious.
The servants, who had dressed her like a doll, soon grabbed her arms and took her somewhere.
When she opened her eyes again, she found herself in her father’s study.
Ariella still vividly remembers the scene she saw that day, even years later.
Her father, standing under the pouring summer sunlight, looking down at her. His beautiful blonde hair shimmering in the light and his ostentatious noble attire.
“Well, did that great god save you?”
The words he spoke, gripping her thin shoulders tightly and laughing mockingly, are also unforgettable.
“Of course not. Remember, Ariella. Only I can decide your life and death. It is I, your father, who made you and can kill you. So never kneel before a god in front of me again.”
This was the first time.
Ariella’s first incident that made her hate Bedford.
***
Ariella had been preparing to leave Bedford for a very long time.
But executing that plan was not easy. There were far too many watchful eyes, and even if she managed to escape, the Duke would never let her go easily. If it was obvious she would be caught within days, there was no point in attempting to flee.
For her, the opportunity Lizzy laid out was truly like a gift from the heavens.
When Lizzy first claimed to be the real Ariella, she was simply bewildered. The feeling of betrayal was overshadowed by the absurdity of such a reckless challenge.
However, the moment she saw Aaron siding with Lizzy, Ariella saw a possibility.
A new possibility to hand over her life, all this misfortune, to Lizzy and leave Bedford.
Her heart raced, and her lips twitched with anticipation. She wanted to admit that Lizzy’s claim was true and leave this place immediately.
But Ariella endured. It was because it was none other than Lizzy.
Lizzy was a child who resembled Kaia. The atmosphere was entirely different, but her round eyes, small nose, and short face were strikingly similar.
Just as Kaia had saved her, Ariella wanted to play a similar role for Lizzy. She resolved to repay the debt she had never been able to settle in the past, even if only in this way.
Having made that determination, Ariella held back. Even if Lizzy had betrayed her, she hadn’t committed a sin so great as to bear all this misfortune in her stead.
But the moment she witnessed Lizzy stealing her clothes, engaging with her fiancé, and being called by her name.
And again, the moment Lizzy, who had orchestrated all of this, smiled brightly at her.
Ariella decided to give it all up.
The pretense of being good was over.
Since the day Ariella witnessed the affair between Lizzy and Aaron, time passed without incident.
Some servants whispered ominous tales after hearing laughter in the early morning, but no one could guess that the madwoman was the princess of Bedford.
It was thanks to Aaron secretly leaving someone behind to help him sneak into Lizzy’s room.
Thus, Ariella returned to her daily routine as if she had seen or heard nothing that day.
A week.
Having witnessed the mating of the two beasts at midnight on Monday, she planned to maintain her previous attitude and observe the situation until at least the following Monday.
This was one of the habits she had learned from being beaten by the Duke of Bedford.
“Don’t bite unless you’re sure. Acting rashly will lead to failure. Understand the enemy’s situation completely, then corner them into an indefensible position and strike.”
