Chapter 42

"She was his heart," Lyana whispered suddenly, repeating King Ulrics words, which again seemed so familiar to her. But it wasn't long before she remembered why. "Baridi, I really need to speak to your father. Do you think you can secretly bring him here?"

Again she seemed to surprise him. "Well, that should be doable. But why?"

"I think he might know what happened back then."

Baridi rubbed his forehead and nodded. "There could be something to it. I took over this position from my father when he got too old. He grew up in this castle."

"In addition, he is not directly subordinate to the king anymore and can therefore speak freely," added Lyana.

"Understand. I will talk to him. However, I won't be able to bring him here until tomorrow at the earliest."

Lyana nodded understandingly. "Is okay. It's not like I'm already doing something tomorrow." It was supposed to be a joke, but Baridi looked depressed. So the princess tried to distract him. "Do you think it would also be possible to smuggle down some food for me?" This time his face lit up. "Of course. You can count on me. The king pays attention to us with eagle eyes, but luckily he gives me a little more freedom. It won't be much, but I will definitely find something."

Lyana said goodbye to him with thanks. But a little later he came back and handed her bread and sausage. As he had already announced, it really wasn't that much, but it was enough for now. She had already considered playing the king's game and starving. But she didn't know what would happen from here on, so she had finally decided against it.

Time seemed to pass very slowly and the longer she was alone with her thoughts and these new feelings, the more she felt the need to see the king again. Once she almost called the guard to tell him that she absolutely had to speak to the king. But when she opened her mouth, she couldn't utter a word and so she had discarded this idea again.

The next day she waited longingly for Baridi and his father. But nobody came. The day after that there was still no trace of Baridi. Only Alisen had managed to sneak down briefly to give her something to eat. But before she could ask her maid about Baridi, she was gone again. King Ulric must be really scary right now if even her maid behaved like that.

If she had to be honest, Lyana no longer expected that Baridi would be able to bring his father here.

The next morning, however, he came into the dungeon accompanied by a person who was

completely covered. The guard wanted to stop them, but Baridi said something that the princess couldn't understand and the guard made way for them.

Lyana got up quickly from her hard bed and ran to the bars. "Baridi. You did it?"

As if in response, the visitor took off his hood and Nevis did indeed emerge from underneath. "I can't stay long," Baridi explained to her, slightly rushed. "Otherwise the king will be suspicious. I really hope that will work. We don't have much time left, I'm afraid. The watchman thinks my father

is a pastor who was sent by the king to take care of your sins." Immediately afterwards he waved the watchman over. "I really have to go now."

The princess nodded and the valet disappeared again. Her guard now opened the door and let Nevis in. Then he went back to his post.

"Nevis!" Overjoyed, she took the old man's hands. "I'm so glad to see you."

"When my son told me that you were imprisoned, I had to come. But now tell me first what happened."

And so she did. She told him how the king had protected her from the hunters and how she

discovered the paintings. Even from her brief imprisonment in the room and also from the kiss. She was embarrassed to talk about it, but she wanted to be honest.

The old man listened to everything patiently without interrupting her even once. Only when she was finished did he start talking. "So you've developed feelings for the king?"

Lyana sighed. "You were right. He may be cold and scary at first. But it seems like that's not really him. He's a good man, I can tell."

"He really is. I suppose you wanted to speak to me because you found out what I meant when I said your family stole his heart."

She nodded. "The moment I saw him looking at her painting, I knew that he must have loved her more than anything. When I talked to Baridi, I realized that you were talking about her at the time."

"Loved. That is true. But in a different way than you seem to think, Your Royal Highness."

Lyana looked at him confused.

Nevis sighed and rubbed his chin. "Princess Feronia was not his fiancée as you seem to believe. She was his younger sister."