47: 47 Start of Trial

47 Start of Trial

"Delia, it's almost time. We should go." As one of the candidates for the Queen's trials, I had been preparing since noon with the help of the handmaids. 2

As dusk fell, the maid beside Susanna raised her lantern, and I sat at my dresser without answering. I just looked at myself in the mirror and remembered what Kral said to me yesterday afternoon.

"You know what, Delia? Royal burial places were only accessible to women twice. The first was at the time of the wedding and the second was at the burial. Even if I am a prince, I can only go in when I am buried, or it will bring me bad luck," Kral said, his eyes wide open, his golden eyes dimmed in the night.

"So when you get to my parents' grave, stay a little longer and look at them for me."

At that moment, in Kral's low voice, I heard a very deep loneliness.

……

"Where's the prince?" I said, looking at the crowd at the door before we set off.

"According to royal rules, the Prince will wait for you at the Moon Goddess's palace, my lady."

"I see," I replied, somewhat depressed. Susanna beckons the maid to open the door. As I got up to leave, I looked back at myself in the mirror.

The girl in the mirror was wearing a simple pure white dress. Her long arms were wrapped in long velvet gloves, and her long chestnut hair was tied in long braids around her head, revealing her fine features. The braids of her hair were dotted with tiny pearls, like tiny buds in full bloom. She wore a simple pearl necklace around her neck, pure and touching. She wore a long lace scarf at the end of her hair. Many small diamonds set in the scarf, like the stars falling in the night sky spread on her back. These added a noble splendor to her beauty.

But no one knew that on my foot, a wolf's tooth, which did not match my make-up at all, was clinging to my ankle. The fangs rubbed against my skin, and it always gave me a twinge of pain, but now the twinge of pain actually made me feel more at ease.

At the door of the carriage, Vivian took my hand and said nothing. I gave her a strange look, but Vivian did not wink at me as she had done before. I thought she was intimidated by the test I was about to take, so I reached up and touched her blonde hair and said softly, “Don't worry, Vivian, I'll be back. It's just a normal test.”

Vivian had a strange look on her face, as if this was the first time she had been touched on the head. She stared at me with somewhat surprised eyes, but did not say a word.

"Ahem!"

Alen suddenly jumped off the horse in front of me. "Delia," he said with a smile, "Let's go. Don't waste any time." He lowered his voice and whispered into my ear, "Vivian, as your maid, has no right to enter the Land of Glory. Let her stay in the palace."

Is that so? No wonder Vivian looks so strange today. I nodded and left the palace in a carriage under the eyes of Susanna and Vivian and the others.

I looked out the window and touched the necklace around my neck. I thought to myself: mom, please bless me.

……

"Here we are, Delia."

Alen opened the carriage door and I went out. What we saw was a group of men in black masks surrounding us.

Moon goddess, who are these people?

The men in black were carrying flaming torches, each wearing a mask over his features, revealing only a pair of golden eyes. In the darkness of the night, it was like a group of ghosts wandering in the wilderness of the earth.

"They are the guards who live in the Land of Glory. No one can enter without their permission, and neither can I, Delia. Let them decide what to do next," Alen said, standing behind me.

"I am the guardian of His Highness Kral and have been ordered to send His Highness' future queen, Delia, here to participate in the Queen's Trials," Alen said loudly as he drew out his sword bearing the royal insignia.

“Delia, please follow us.”

One of the men in black stepped forward. His voice was gender-neutral and indistinguishable. His golden eyes were fixed on me, and he handed me a long white rope, which I held in my hand, and I followed in his footsteps.

The men in black lined up behind me. The burning torch formed a long snake in the air. There is no moon tonight, not even the stars can be seen. Under the black night, I like a white dove falling into the black crows. The light from the torches was weak and unsteady, and I could see only the shadow of distant mountains on the Black Plain, and the small shadows of our party on the ground.

The plain was too quiet, too lonely, and the people around me were too cold. They were like a group of mute puppets. The breeze lifted the scarf at the back of my head. The deep chill made me hold on to the rope. I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself down.

“Here we are, Delia,” said the special voice of the man in black, and we stopped.

I blinked, almost wondering if my eyes were hallucinating. A huge and magnificent door suddenly appeared before me.

Many white slender columns of stone grow out of the soil. They rose to the sky, and the black marble served as a base to hold them down. The golden branches spiraled up the black marble base and around the white pillars. The wolf's head, made of gold, was so lifelike that it melted on the surface of the gate. Its fangs were wide open, and a pair of blood-red gems glistened in its eyes as if it were alive.

“From here on, Delia, if you can reach the moon Goddess's palace at dawn, you will be considered to have passed the Queen's trials.”

The man in black held a torch. Instead of looking at me, he caressed the wolf's open fangs and recited the incantation. Soon, there was a whiff of blood on the white fangs. Then, I was surprised to see the blood flowing through the wolf's head. Its blood-red eyes seemed to blink a few times. A wolf howled out of nowhere.

The inexplicable fear made me breathe hard, and I clenched my hands to try to give myself a little warmth. I still have the bell Vivian gave me in my hand. Unfortunately, the distance from the palace was too far. The bell failed. I can't even talk to Vivian.

The door opened heavily, and the man in black handed me a lantern.

"Good luck. The Moon Goddess will bless you."

The rest of the men in black with torches still looked at me in silence. Their golden eyes remind me of someone.

I say his name in my mind: Kral.

Kral. I said his name again, as if it would give me courage. I'll do it, Kral. I'll prove my strength.

I took the lantern and entered the gate alone.

"Clang!" The door slammed. I looked back and saw that the great gate and the mysterious men in black were all gone from the Dark Plain.

！！！

Calm down, Delia! I couldn't help but tremble. My hands clung to the candle-lit lantern. The white scarf touched my ankles, and the tiny fang slid across my skin.

Holding the lantern, I took another step forward slowly. The touch of my feet startled me, and the solid ground suddenly became empty.

I missed my step.

I screamed in horror, "Ah!"

When I woke up again, I found my surroundings completely changed.

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