The evening breeze whispered gently through the trees of the front garden as Anita, Myrna, and Viola stepped out of the palace. They paused near the ornate front gate.
Anita looked at Viola with a tender gaze and gently asked, "Are you okay?"
Viola smiled wearily, hiding what was inside her: "Yes, I'm fine."
But Anita raised an eyebrow with sarcasm and said, "I'm your closest friend, Viola. And I know very well that you're not fine."
Myrna interrupted, her face flushed with anger: "And how could she be okay? That arrogant princess was showing off with Lucas in front of everyone! I'll never forgive her for what she did to my sister. She made her suffer in silence!"
Anita shook her head in frustration and said, "I hate her... I feel suffocated every time I see her face. She stole my brother's happiness, and now she's forcing him to do things he never would have dared before! The necklace... impossible! Lucas would never buy a necklace for that wretch! He can't even stand her!"
But Viola, in a quiet voice like a stone dropped into still water, asked, "How do you know?"
Anita turned to her, surprised: "What?"
Viola looked at her and said, "How do you know he can't stand her? They... sleep in the same bed."
Anita's eyes widened in shock: "Even if they do, that's impossible—"
She paused, then added, "...That whore... is she using her body now to make my brother lose his mind?!"
Viola whispered, as if confirming the thought: "Yes, she is. I felt that Lucas completely changed since that girl came here."
Viola whispered sadly:
"...He's no longer the person I used to know."
Myrna looked at her sister with pity: "Sister..."
Anita sighed bitterly, her smile vanishing suddenly, as if struck by a sharp doubt.
"But... wait a minute, how are you so sure? How did you know they sleep in the same bed? Did my brother tell you that himself?"
Viola tensed, as if she had just made a slip without meaning to, but quickly recovered: "Of course they sleep together... they're married now. If they didn't, it would cause a scandal. Any woman in her place would complain and make a fuss... but she doesn't, does she? Because she knows exactly how to wrap Lucas around her finger."
Myrna jumped in angrily: "No! Impossible! That arrogant whore! Didn't you say, Anita, that Lucas refused to marry her from the start?"
Anita nodded firmly: "Yes, I'm sure. He always told our father he wouldn't hold on to this marriage, that it was just a diplomatic clause and he wouldn't care what she did. I don't know what happened to him now... it's like he's someone else. Maybe because she looks like her mother, maybe she tempted him the same way her mother did with the king!"
Viola looked at them, her eyes gleaming: "Maybe we can't change what's already happened... but we can get rid of her."
A sudden silence fell. Myrna and Anita stared at her, as if they hadn't heard her words correctly.
"What?" Anita said in disbelief.
Viola replied with a cold tone, sharp as a blade: "I mean... we can make him hate her. Didn't you say the treaty only required marriage, nothing more?"
Anita quickly answered: "Yes, that's what my mother told me. Nothing forces him to stay with her after that."
Viola spoke firmly: "Then, we have a chance. If he gets rid of her before he's crowned crown prince, he can announce our engagement officially... and then I'll marry him before I'm selected as wife to the heir. I'll save Lucas... and I'll save myself."
Myrna's eyes lit up with excitement: "Oh, you're brilliant, sister! I was thinking of a similar idea but hesitated to tell you... Looks like we think the same!"
Anita said passionately: "That's right! I've always wished for you to be my brother's wife. He always seemed happier around you. Even my mother and Violet would've been overjoyed! If it weren't for that Iscardian with mixed blood, that bastard child... I'll make her regret every minute she spent in this house. How didn't I think of this before?"
Viola said firmly, looking at them seriously: "From this moment on... this will be our only goal. We'll make him see her true colors... and we'll bring her down."
Suddenly, a guard entered through a side door in the wall. He paused, as if he noticed their presence, then said respectfully while bowing: "Forgive me, I didn't mean to startle you." Then he silently walked away.
The girls exchanged nervous looks.
Myrna said: "Oh my God... do you think he heard us?"
Anita whispered: "I'm not sure, but his face didn't show anything... maybe he wasn't listening."
Viola replied with cold confidence: "Even if he did, there's no proof. And he wouldn't dare say a word. And if he does... he should know that the least that could happen is his tongue being cut out."
Anita laughed mockingly: "As expected from you, always sharp, Viola."
She hugged them briefly, then the two sisters left on foot with their guard — the distance to their house wasn't far.
And at that very moment, inside the palace...
Irene was still asleep, drowned in a slumber unaware that a conspiracy was silently unfolding behind her back.
She had no idea that someone had already resolved to bring her down, as if the entire world had finally decided to stand against her.
But...
What is thought to be the prey... may later become a ruthless huntress.
---
On the way back, Lucas sat across from his closest friend, Louie, inside the royal carriage.
He rested his head back and closed his eyes as if the world outside the window didn't matter.
Louie looked at him seriously and said, "At least go back home for your mother. It's her birthday today."
Lucas whispered without opening his eyes, "I can't bear to go... I'll talk to her tomorrow."
Louie replied with a stern tone: "Tomorrow might be too late."
Lucas didn't answer. He remained still, calm in an irritatingly cold way.
Louie sighed heavily, then said sarcastically, "Fine, if you insist, then just treat your wife's presence on the trip like it's nothing. Ignore her existence like she's just a regular person... If you can't stand her, pretend she doesn't exist. I don't mean she's a maid, but think of her like that in your head... just to make things easier on yourself."
Then he paused a moment and added, "Your father's right. You'll probably be busy the whole time anyway, so her presence won't matter much... don't make it harder than it already is."
Lucas finally opened his eyes and asked in a hoarse voice, "So what are we having for dinner tonight?"
Louie smiled angrily and said mockingly, "Goat hooves... with sewer soup."
Lucas finally laughed, a brief, faint but genuine smile: "Sounds delicious, really."
Louie grinned: "Ha, you never change, man."
They arrived at the house, where Viola was sitting alone in the dining hall, lost in her dark thoughts.
She had drawn up a full plan in her mind to steal the precious necklace from Lucas's suite, convinced it was hers alone — and shouldn't decorate the neck of that girl whose face had become stained black in her mind.
Lucas entered the hall and paused for a moment when he saw Viola sitting alone.
"Why are you sitting here alone? Where's your sister?"
She raised her eyes to him and smiled, "Ah, Lucas... how are you?"
He answered disinterestedly, "Fine... now that I've seen you, of course."
He threw himself onto the chair in exhaustion and sighed deeply.
She watched him with her eyes, "Are you sure?" she asked with a faint smile that carried more than it seemed.
He shot her a side glance, then turned his face away with frustration.
"Why are you asking like that?" he finally said.
"No reason... just asking."
"Are you starting to doubt me now?"
She moved closer and reached out to hold his hand. Her hands were warm, but his grip was cold.
She said softly, "Lucas... do you love me?"
Silence. He didn't say a word.
She shook her head in pain, "See? You've changed... you're not the same anymore. You used to tell me you loved me without me asking. Now... you barely look at me."
He suddenly shouted, angry: "Why won't you stop bringing up the same thing? The same topic over and over again!"
She looked at him, eyes wide: "Because I'm scared! Scared I'll wake up one morning and find you've vanished. I can't bear that... I won't forgive you if you do that to me."
Lucas stood up abruptly, pushing the chair back with such force that the ground trembled beneath it: "Enough, Viola! You too? What's your problem now? Why can't you stop talking about her? Why do problems follow me everywhere I go?"
Viola said with a trembling voice: "My problem is you... You're the one who changed so suddenly. Since you married her, you're no longer the person I knew. I just want you back... just the way you were."
Lucas paused for a moment, then said with a broken voice: "Seems you're still stuck in that night... Do you think I was lying back then? Why do you think I come back here every day? For whom?"
Viola didn't wait to answer; she screamed, "I'm not sure anymore! I don't understand you now, and I don't know if you'll just disappear from my life!"
He looked at her long and sadly, then said softly, "That's enough. I'm going home."
She yelled after him, "Lucas!"
He didn't care. He turned and left the room, his steps hitting the floor hard. Their voices had risen so much that some of the servants stood frozen behind the doors, listening to every word, watching with wary eyes, then dispersed as Lucas slammed the door behind him.
Louie entered moments later and saw Viola crying silently at the table, her hand still clutching the edge of a torn handkerchief.
He approached her and asked gently, "What happened? Was that Lucas?"
She lifted her head toward him, her eyes red and a trembling, broken smile on her lips: "I don't understand him anymore, Louie... I no longer know who he really is."
Louie looked at his sister — the one who had always been the strongest — now crying like a little child before him, curled up in her seat as if trying to hide her broken heart.
He approached slowly, then sat beside her and wrapped his arms around her in a comforting embrace.
He whispered gently, as if soothing old wounds, "Calm down, please... Give him some time. It's not easy for him either."
But Viola didn't stop. The tears kept falling silently from her eyes, and then she began to speak, her voice shattered and unrecognizable:
"What do I do, Louie? Why do I have to lose everyone I love? Father... Mother... and now Lucas? Why? I don't want him to go... I don't want to lose him too... I can't."
She gripped his wrist tightly, as if clinging to any thread of hope, and added, brokenly:
"I just want him... I want him to stay. I can't watch him walk away from me like this... not after all of this."
Louie patted her shoulder silently. He couldn't find the right words to say... there was nothing to say.
He himself had quietly disapproved of Lucas marrying his sister. He felt the whole thing was wrong — but he... he hadn't done anything.
He was afraid. Afraid to lose his lifelong friend, and even more afraid to let down the sister who meant everything to him.
He knew Lucas well... knew his stubbornness, his pride, and how hard it was to change his mind once made.
That's why he hadn't stopped him back then. He simply waited... hoping things would resolve on their own.
But he also knew Viola would eventually reach this point — this moment of collapse.
And there was nothing he could do... except stay beside her, in silence, watching her hurt, powerless to save her.
He looked up at the ceiling for a moment, as if searching for an answer, then tightened his arms around her and whispered in her ear:
"I'm with you... always. No matter what happens, I'm here for you."
But his heart kept whispering inside...
"What if that's not enough?"
~~~~~