I am Reborn through Revenge

My body winced for him

***Marie's POV***

Marie was sitting on a chair in her office. She kept her head on a table opposite her, relaxing, or was she worrying? She had already seen more than enough in the day. In her very eyes, she watched as a kind man, a man so beautiful and nice, a Prince she presumed would be a good leader pass through the shadows of death but luckily came out unhurt. And it all happened in the early hours of the day. She almost cried her heart out watching him die. When her eyes caught his, and her gaze fell on his dreamy inviting blue eyes, she couldn’t believe that her body would wince. She didn't believe that she cared for him that much. Her heart fluttered in her chest when the Prince shot her a dire look. She remembered that she had promised the Prince that she would never come there. But she couldn’t just resist the urge to see that wonderful man one last time. She had wanted to stay behind and do as the Prince requested but she couldn’t. She was now worried that the Prince would think of her as someone who would never be able to keep simple promises. But that doesn’t matter so far he was alive. At the moment the King came and released him, she felt like she had been rewarded with one of the greatest gifts in life.

Why that? Why did she feel this way?

She shed tears but it was tears of joy. Tears of excitement. It was only because of the Prince's sake, she had to beg Angie so she could go in with her to witness the Prince's trial. It was a request she never believed she would ever ask from Angie. Though she didn’t tell Angie exactly why she wanted to be there but it was something she needed to see. And she knew that the best way to go about it was to go in with someone who would be granted a pass. Someone who virtually has the authority to go almost everywhere in the palace without any sort of identification.

But the thing was, she did all these things just for the Prince. Why? Why would she care that much for him anyway? Why would she even go down to the level of asking for a request from a supposed enemy of her? Could it be that she had fall. . .? No! No!

She jerked her head up from the table. A slow chill went down her spine. That couldn’t be true. She didn’t want to believe what her heart was telling her. Or could it be that her heart was telling her the truth? He was just too charming to resist and too precious to die young as well. She didn’t want to believe that she had a thing for the Prince. It would be quite safer for her to keep her distance from now when she still had time, she thought.

But would she be able to stay away from that charming man? How would she be able to resist those looks? Those eyes? Eyes that made her cry like she had been beaten by something. Eyes that made her wept like she had lost someone she held dear to the cold hands of death.

She assumed that the Prince would be angry with her since she wasn’t able to keep her side of the bargain. It was a good thing. At least the Prince would stay away from her naturally onwards, she thought.

Luckily, there was a knock on her door. She was really happy that someone had knocked on her door because she had been enslaved by imagination. She had been thinking about the Prince for half of the day that she couldn’t even think of anything else. Whoever that person behind the door was, she was happy that the person had brought her back from a fantasy land— a land of no return.

She stood up from her seat and gently stood up from her chair. “Please, I am coming,” she said. She hurried to the door and opened it.

“Greetings, my lady.” A young guard greeted.

My lady?

Wow! That was new. Nobody had ever called her that before. She found herself tightening her lips, trying to suppress what would have seemed to be a gleeful smile.

“Greetings! How may I help you?” she asked?. She was surprised to found a guard at her door. She was even more surprised that she found a guard as young as her. She never expected that she would have an unknown visitor in that lonely place.

“I was asked to give you this,” he said. He flashed a warm smile on his face and he gently brought out a white envelope from his pocket. She took it from him. “It’s a letter. Someone outside the palace sent it.” He spoke with a smooth baritone voice.

She was surprised to receive a letter from outside the palace. It was kind of weird. It had never happened before. She looked at the white envelope, she saw “To Marie” written on the front of it in red. She stood still for a while.

“My lady,” the officer said. It startled her.

“Hmm!”

“D-do you care if I read it. . . for you?” he asked.

"Hmm? Why?" she asked, surprised.

He didn't answer the question. He just smiled innocently.

Marie was shocked. Does it mean the officer has heard the rumors that she doesn’t know how to read? And she would have made the mistake of opening the letter right in his presence if he had not been required to read the letter for her. He was just right on time.

“Yes, please.” She smiled too.

She gave back the envelope to the officer. He opened it and brought out a letter. Then he began to read:

Dear Marie;

I hope you are doing great? I hope your expectations in the palace would turn out the way you had expected them to be.

I’m sorry I haven’t been a good guardian to you. I’m sorry I haven’t been able to reveal all the things you wish to know. But believe me, sooner than later, all those things you need to know would be revealed to you. It’s a promise.

I developed an illness recently. The doctor has been trying his best but I don’t know if that would be enough. There are some herbs that I would need to buy according to the doctor but it is way behind my budget. I would need your assistance, Marie. No matter how little it is, I will appreciate it.

Thanks.

Lots of love, from Alice*****

“That’s all my lady.” He gave her back the letter.

She forced herself to smile even though she didn’t want to. How could madam Alice send her a letter after she had refused to tell her what she demanded from her? How could she? No shame at all. She didn’t want to keep the officer waiting.

“Thank you,” she said.

He nodded and turned to leave.

“W-wait. What’s your name please?” she asked.

He turned. “My name is Theo,” he answered. Theo was wearing his silver-looking armor over his gangly appearance. He had a slim body structure. It would be really difficult to tell that he was a soldier if not for his uniform. Even his face was too young and handsome for his kind of job.

“Okay. Bye, Theo.”

He nodded again and left. She didn’t know why she cared to know his name. But something inside her wanted to know. She closed the door as Theo left her office. She went back to the seat she had been sitting in before.

There, she began to contemplate. She began to think about the letter she had received. One part of her wanted her to help but the other part of her wanted her to stay and ignore everything. If only Madam Alice had been a little more open to her, then she might have considered helping her out in this case. She had kept a lot of secrets from her so why would she suddenly say that she would tell her all she needs to hear? Was it because she was now sick? It means that if she wasn’t sick, she wouldn’t have agreed to tell her anything. Marie angrily assumed that Madam Alice only wanted money from her and nothing else. At least, she would have been more direct in her letter than lying that she was sick, she thought.

She folded the letter and flung it away, somewhere across the corner of the office. She decided that even if she would offer her assistance to Alice, she wouldn’t immediately do it and she would love to see her first to confirm if what she had said about her condition in the letter was true.