Prologue
AS THE AUTUMN WINDS began to blow, I found myself emerging through the castle gate and walking the streets of the royal capital to meet with someone.
After I send her off, I have my audience with His Majesty…
Today was a very important day—my engagement to Prince Eric was on the line.
Though Eric proposed and I accepted, our engagement was not yet official. He was the crown prince, after all. Our engagement needed not only our consent but that of his father, the king, as well. My audience with the king had been delayed due to the aftermath of revoking the special rights of dukes, but the day had finally come.
Earlier, Eric told me, “His Majesty likes you, Leia. I assure you, he won’t object to our marriage.”
With Eric’s vote of confidence and my service to the kingdom as a saint, I didn’t doubt my own worth. However, I was well aware that as a daughter of House Westoria, I would be marrying someone of a higher social class. For someone of Eric’s status, politically useful marriages were preferred—not to mention that my own sister was involved in a plot to murder the crown prince and a saint. And even though Berklein had been behind it, it was doubtful the king would overlook that.
I was at a crossroads, about to embark on a new journey in life. Strangely enough, the girl I was going to meet with was about to take the first steps on a new path as well.
There she stood at our meeting place, a pretty girl with pink hair.
“Oh dear, did I keep you waiting?” I asked.
Noticing me, she ran over with a smile. “Leia! My sweet sister, I’m so glad you came.”
“Of course I came. I promised, didn’t I?”
“I know, but I’m still happy to see you.”
My little sister Jill had such a sunny disposition that she seemed like a total stranger. Her smile still made me feel conflicted after all those long years of abuse I endured.
When a person changes so dramatically, I suppose it takes a while to adjust.
“Is something wrong, Sister? I hope I’m not bothering you by being too chatty and chummy.”
“D-don’t say that, Jill. If anything, it’s the opposite.”
“The opposite… What do you mean?”
Jill seemed concerned that I was thrown off by her radically different personality.
“It’s nothing. I’m just relieved to see you looking so well.”
“Oh, is that all? Well, yes, I am doing well. I had resigned myself to my fate, but your kindness to me has filled my heart with gratitude.”
Reassured by my words, Jill’s face broke out into a smile of relief. Last month, Jill returned to court to be sentenced. Given the severity of her crimes, her punishment was sure to be harsh. The memory of all those sleepless nights worrying over her fate were still fresh on Jill’s mind.
Due to the extenuating circumstances of her case, she was sentenced to join a convent. When I heard the decision, I sighed with relief.
And that was thanks to Eric and Dale, who laid the foundation of her defense by testifying that she helped with Algrene’s arrest.
“Glad to hear it, Jill. But isn’t this still hard for you?”
“Yes, I suppose so, but I must be grateful that I’ve been given a second chance at life.”
Jill was not the sort of person who would find life in a convent easy. Other daughters of the nobility lived there, but she was the only criminal. Considering her position, the convent could possibly be as torturous as a bed of nails to her. But if she had decided to take responsibility for her crimes and walk the difficult path of atonement, it wasn’t my place to intervene.
“Leia…I truly cannot thank you enough.”
“Jill?”
“I assumed I would be sentenced to death. But I’m standing here today, given this chance to atone for my sins, because you didn’t wish such a punishment on me.”
“It wasn’t only me, Jill. Eric and Dale also—”
“Yes, of course, but I think it was your influence that mattered the most. My eyes are finally opened. I know now that God does not hate me—I had only convinced myself so.”
Jill gazed heavenward. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky, the sun gleamed brightly, illuminating the path Jill was to walk. She was moving on with her life. If nothing else, this belief came naturally to me as I looked at her.
“I hope you continue to change for the better, Jill. I’ll be praying for you.”
“And I will change, Sister, just you watch. I promise I’ll never cry again.”
Jill had convinced herself she was the heroine of a tragic story. She spent her days crying, believing she was cursed, that nothing was her fault and everyone else around her was to blame. Unable to face reality, she had sunk into her own world for years.
But she was now ready to take her first step toward a life that embraced the truth. As a saint and as her big sister, it was my earnest wish that she succeeded.
“Jill, I have faith in you. If you keep true to yourself as you are now, I know that God will forgive you.”
Jill looked up and nodded, her eyes filled with determination. “I do hope so. I promise you, I won’t ever run from reality again.” She then took my hands, closed her eyes, and nodded again. And in that moment, my heart felt a ray of light shining on her future.
“Leia, my dear sister, thank you for everything.”
“I pray for your happiness, Jill…”
“Aww, I’ll be praying for your happiness too, Leia. Do tell me when the wedding is. I want to at least send a letter of congratulations.”
“It’s a promise.”
We paused to listen as a horse-drawn carriage approached us from a distance. Her ride to the convent had arrived.
Up to the very last moment, our parents did not come to see her. Even Catherine, my stepmother who loved her dearly, never came to the dungeon to visit her.
That’s shocking. I didn’t know love could be so shallow.
Either her love had run dry, or there was some other reason. Either way, she had turned her back on her own daughter.
“You must be Jill Westoria. I am Sister Eleanor, your guarantor. Are we ready to depart?”
“Yes, Sister Eleanor. I am ready when you are.”
“Then let us be on our way.”
Sister Eleanor descended from the carriage to help Jill inside. She was to supervise Jill at the convent. As Jill followed, her eyes were focused straight ahead on the future. There were no traces of the former tragic heroine in her.
“Jill…I’ll visit you, I promise,” I murmured as I turned away and the carriage rambled off into the distance.
This was for the best. I honestly believed that. Jill would live out the rest of her days atoning for her sins. I knew the road that lay ahead of her would be anything but easy, but I had faith that she would overcome it.
Do your best, Jill… I’ll do my best as well.
I had no need to worry anymore. I just needed to be her ally and wait for her until she was ready to get back on her feet again, no matter how long it took.
“And now…to see the king. I wonder what he’ll think of me.”
I was going to be Eric’s wife. This audience with the king needed to go perfectly.
I gathered my wits about me and started to walk back to the palace. The city streets were livelier than before, but walking them alone felt somewhat melancholic.
These days, the kingdom was bustling with people more than ever as the Elshaid Foundation Day drew steadily closer. The boisterous voices of merchants and frantic footsteps of shoppers echoed out behind me as I made my way to the palace.