Unveiling Enigmas

The scene was a tumultuous one, filled with tension and turmoil.

"So, is my sole purpose in life to bless you?" I questioned boldly, causing the crowd to fall into an uneasy silence.

"I did ask something, right?"

"Am I only born to bless you?" I shouted, my voice cutting through the air, and there was a collective disapproval in response.

"Mind your language, princess!" The Emperor's stern voice intervened, reminding me of the audience I faced.

What did he take me for? My frustration simmered beneath the surface.

"Why would I?" I asked, my lips curving into a sardonic smile.

"You are again insulting the imperial family," the crowd voiced their discontent.

It was peculiar how they found their voices now, unlike when I had raised questions earlier.

"I did, so what?" I continued to challenge the status quo.

My sense of self was slipping away, and I felt like a completely different person, observing myself from the outside.

"Why are you all standing so far away? Come and point your swords at me and behead me, just as you did with the previous saint, who was also born just to bless such ungrateful people," I glared, my defiance evident. A stone struck my head, and blood began to flow.

My father rushed forward to stop the bleeding, tending to my wound.

"The sun of the empire, I think you've forgotten the deal between the families," my father finally spoke, his voice laced with disapproval as he bowed to the ungrateful crowd.

"I remember the deal," the Emperor responded.

"So, then what is it? Is this how you want to insult the Usoro family? Or should I think the deal has been broken for a long time, ever since the saint was executed by the empire's order?" my father questioned.

"No, it isn't," the Emperor replied, his voice barely above a whisper.

"Then I think you should stop harassing my daughter, who has no desire to marry the prince," my father demanded.

The Emperor was about to leave, but this time I interjected.

"I still didn't do what I came here to do?" I announced, determined to make my point.

"Now how much longer do you want to insult us?" Crown Prince Griffin spoke, his annoyance evident, but I paid little attention to those who didn't know how to stand on their own.

"You are forgetting that I brought Lady Baron here for a reason?" I pointed out, despite the Crown Prince's irritated expression.

"So, Miss Baron, you wanted to ask for forgiveness while touching my feet, right?" I directed my question to her, but she remained silent, averting her gaze to the floor.

"So do it!"

"Ella!!!" Crown Prince Griffin's voice grated on my nerves.

"Do it, I don't have much time, so do it quickly," I urged, extending my feet toward her.

She reluctantly bowed, uttering, "I have sinned gravely, your Royal Highness. I hope you forgive me for my unwitting mistake."

"What is unknowingly, Miss Baron? Or do you not wish the crowd to know why you are touching my feet?" I challenged, discerning the manipulative undertones in her actions.

The atmosphere was thick with tension as Lady Baron sought forgiveness, her words dripping with insincerity. Her attempt to manipulate sympathy from the crowd was clear, though I remained unmoved by her calculated display. It made me wonder how Ellanious had endured eighteen years in this world, filled with deceit and self-serving individuals. In just a few weeks, I felt as though I were slowly fading away.

With a sarcastic pat on Lady Baron's shoulder, I retreated inside, fully aware that many confrontations awaited me.

The voices around me questioned my actions:

"Do you have to do this to her?"

"How much more do you want to lower yourself?"

"Ellanious, you have crossed your limit now," Crown Prince Griffin accused, pinning me to the wall of my room.

My heart raced with a mixture of anger and confusion. Was this truly the Ellanious I had taken the place of? Her actions and the circumstances of this world only fueled my desire to confront her, even if it meant the end of my existence here.

"Ellanious de Olger Usoro, you think you are the only superior person here?" Griffin taunted, arrogance oozing from every word.

"Do you think there isn't anyone who can stop you?"

"Do you think that by torturing her publicly like this, you'll win me over?"

"If you believe that, then you've succeeded," I retorted.

Griffin's words turned even darker:

"You want me, don't you? Well, let me fulfill your wish. Let me tear that dress from your pristine body, the one you kept for our first night after marriage, and make you beg for mercy," he leered.

His words were infuriating, and his actions were even more repugnant as his hands roamed where they shouldn't. But a shining barrier suddenly manifested between us, separating us as if by divine intervention.

"What the hell are you doing?" Griffin shouted, his frustration evident as my dress lay in disarray.

"Did you just use your saintess power to save yourself from me?" he accused, his voice trembling with rage.

I couldn't be certain of my own actions, and the mysteries surrounding my true identity deepened.

Griffin continued his taunting.

"Wow, I can't believe you're trying so hard."

"Get over this innocent act of yours. You will eventually marry me and become my concubine, nothing more," he proclaimed, his entitlement unwavering.

I resisted his advances and his plans for my future:

"Do you think you, a supposed saintess, can become queen by marrying me? No, you can't, and I won't allow it."

Just as Griffin was about to reveal something about my father's intentions, he was abruptly silenced by some invisible force.

A knight intervened, apologizing for Griffin's behavior:

"Sorry, princess. I'm sorry for the behavior of His Highness the Crown Prince. If you permit me, I will escort him away."

As they walked away, my mind was left with a multitude of questions. What was the source of the protective barrier that had appeared? Had Ellanious hidden her true power behind her illness all these years?

Deep in thought, I was suddenly startled as something fell over my shoulder, providing an additional layer to the mysteries that surrounded me.

What was this, and what other enigmatic secrets lay concealed in this world?

As I pondered these questions, I couldn't help but wonder: Ellanious, who are you, truly?