Lost Princess's Vengeance

I watched Grandmother's chest rise and fall with labored breaths, her skin burning beneath my touch. Three days had passed since the wasting illness first took hold, and with each passing hour, she grew weaker. The local healers had shaken their heads, their eyes filled with a pity that terrified me more than their words.

"I've never seen anything like it," the oldest healer had murmured, his weathered hands hovering helplessly over her frail form. "The fever doesn't break, and she can't keep down even water. There are medicines in the royal palace that might help, but..."

But we were peasants. We had no access to such resources.

I pressed a cool cloth to her forehead, watching her eyelids flutter open briefly. "Vanessa," she whispered, her voice barely audible. "Don't worry about me."

"How can I not worry?" I choked back tears, forcing a smile. "You'll be better soon."

She didn't believe me. I could see it in her eyes. Neither did I.

That night, as moonlight spilled through our small cottage window, I made my decision. I would go to the palace. I would find Aurelio—the man whose life I had saved, who had promised to marry me, who had kissed me goodbye with such tenderness just months ago.

"He'll help us," I told Grandmother's sleeping form, carefully packing the precious marriage contract into my travel bag. "He promised."

I tucked the jade pendant—the one he'd worn when I found him bleeding on the forest floor—into my pocket. Proof of our connection. Proof that I wasn't just a desperate peasant girl with delusions of grandeur.

---

The palace gates loomed before me as dawn broke over the horizon. Travel-worn and exhausted from the overnight journey, I straightened my simple dress and approached the guards with as much dignity as I could muster.

"I need to see Prince Aurelio," I said, my voice steadier than I felt. "I'm Vanessa Edwards. We're... betrothed."

The guards exchanged glances before erupting into laughter.

"Betrothed?" One of them mocked, his eyes cruel. "You and the prince? That's a good one."

"I have proof," I insisted, pulling out the contract. "We signed an agreement. He promised to marry me after I nursed him back to health."

"Look at this," another guard snatched the document, holding it up to the light. "A forgery. A pathetic attempt at a forgery."

"It's not forged!" My voice rose with desperation. "Please, my grandmother is dying. She needs help that only the palace can provide."

"Move along, peasant girl," the first guard shoved me back. "Before we arrest you for treason."

I stood my ground, watching wealthy nobles glide through the gates with barely a glance from the guards. Hours passed. The sun climbed higher. Still, I refused to leave.

"Please," I begged a young servant who appeared at the gate with empty water pitchers. "Just deliver my message."

His eyes darted nervously around before he nodded. "I'll try, but don't expect anything."

As sunset approached, painting the palace walls golden, a stern-faced official finally emerged. "You're making a scene," he said coldly. "The prince won't see you, but you can present your case to the council."

---

The council chamber was cold despite the warm evening. I stood before a semicircle of impassive faces, my heart pounding so loudly I was certain they could hear it.

And then I saw him.

Aurelio sat in the center chair, elegant in his princely attire. But his eyes—those warm eyes that had gazed at me with such love—were empty. Beside him stood a beautiful woman with calculating eyes, her hand possessively resting on his shoulder.

"Your Highness," I began, my voice breaking. "Don't you remember me?"

He frowned slightly, confusion flickering across his features. "Should I?"

"We met in the forest. You were wounded. I nursed you for six weeks. We fell in love." The words tumbled out desperately. "You gave me this contract. You promised to marry me."

I held out the document with trembling hands. For a moment—just a moment—something flashed in his eyes. Pain? Recognition?

Then the woman leaned down, pressing a handkerchief to his temples. "Darling, your headache again?" Her voice dripped with false concern as she shot me a venomous glance.

"The woman is clearly unwell," she murmured to the advisors. "Delusional, poor thing."

One of the advisors—an older man with cold eyes—took the contract and examined it. "This could have been stolen," he said dismissively. "Or forged. The prince's signature is common knowledge."

"But the jade pendant—" I reached for it, only to be interrupted.

"Enough!" The advisor's voice cut through the room. "You're clearly a con artist who found the prince's lost belongings and concocted this story."

Aurelio said nothing. He just stared at me with those empty eyes, as if I were a stranger—or worse, invisible.

The woman smiled triumphantly, her fingers tightening on his shoulder as something that looked almost like fear crossed his face.