Chapter 3

• When I arrived at the palace, I quickly headed towards the entrance, but as I was walking, three guards immediately blocked my path. They were palace guards.
• "You can't come in," one of them said.
• "I'm just looking for someone," I quickly replied. "I'm Ella Cinderia, the daughter of Trevor and Naomi Fortelle. They've been working here in the palace for a long time. Can I visit them for a moment?"
• "You can't enter without permission from the Corohelia family," he replied without hesitation. "Leave. Don't wait for us to drag you away."
• My heart seemed to skip a beat due to its pounding intensity. I could barely think straight. Fortunately, I remembered something.
• "Wait, here." I took out the medallion from my pocket. "Someone gave this to me on the way here. He told me that if I show this, you'll let me in."
• It was as if cold water had been poured over them when I showed them the item that the man had given me earlier. One of the guards took it and scrutinized it closely.
• "It is indeed the one. . ." he said. Their faces turned almost pale as they gazed at me, which left me puzzled.
• "I apologize for how we treated you, your highness." The guard holding the medallion bowed, and the other two followed suit. "You may enter the palace now."
• Your Highness? Why were they calling me "your highness"?
• I furrowed my brow. Was this how they treated people here?
• Although I was puzzled, I followed the guard as he ushered me into the palace. Instead of being in awe, I felt more uneasy. The longer I stayed there, the more I could sense a strange energy within the palace.
• "How may we serve you, your highness?"
• I was taken aback when an elderly man addressed me. He was also dressed in elaborate black attire. I thought he might be a servant in the palace, but I couldn't understand why he was showing me such respect when we were both servants.
• I chose to ignore it. Fine, I would be a princess for now. Just for now.
• "Trevor Fortelle and Naomi Fortelle. They work here in the palace," I began, clasping my hands behind my back. I needed to hide my nervousness. "Can you take me to them, please?"
• "Of course," he replied quickly. "Follow me."
• I followed him. It felt like my heart was about to burst out of my chest, but I controlled my anxiety. I didn't understand why I felt different.
• While walking, I prepared what to say to my parents – how I would greet or inquire about them. This was the first time I would see them again in many years, and I wasn't even sure if they would still remember me.
• But all my thoughts suddenly vanished as if they were mere illusions. The joy I had felt earlier was replaced by confusion.
• "Why are we. . . here?" I asked when I saw where we were.
• The old man led me to the cemetery. It was quiet, yet well-lit. Like the path outside, there were trees scattered here as well. It appeared that the weather had been dry, as many of the leaves were about to fall.
• Nonetheless, my attention was drawn to the graves, which seemed to be observing my every move. I knew why he had brought me here, and I knew why they hadn't contacted me.
• I couldn't accept it. I wanted to run away, but my feet felt frozen. I had forced myself to come here, but now that I was faced with the answer, I wanted to escape.
• I was losing my mind, perhaps.
• "Follow me," he said.
• He continued walking, and I followed him. I had to step forward, even though it was difficult. It felt like I was holding my breath until we reached the end of the cemetery.
• "Them," he said before pointing to two graves in front of me. "They're who you've been looking for."
• I couldn't control my steps. I felt my knees hit the ground with a thud, accompanied by the flow of tears. It was painful, but I forced myself to read the names on the gravestones.
• Trevor Fortelle, December 25, 2016
• Naomi Fortelle, December 31, 2016
• "Six years. . ." I whispered.
• They had been dead for six years, and their deaths were only six days apart. My tears continued to flow as I couldn't tear my eyes away from their graves.
• It was incredibly painful. It felt like I was being stabbed repeatedly with knives, my heart wrenched.
• "Mom! Dad!" I couldn't help but sob.
• I'm sure it was loud and disturbing, but I couldn't hold back any longer. The pain was unbearable, as though there were knives piercing my heart over and over again.
• It was excruciating. . . it felt like these gravestones were slowly drowning me in darkness.
• I felt like all the hardship and suffering had been in vain. I had waited for so long, only to find this. But I needed to calm down. I needed to find out what had happened and how they died.
• I stood up. I took a deep breath and wiped the tears from my eyes. "What happened?"
• "Trevor was attacked on the road when he was asked to buy supplies for the palace," he said with sadness in his voice. "Naomi couldn't handle his death. We were shocked to find her with self-inflicted wounds."
• I bit my lower lip after hearing that. I didn't want to show weakness in this place. I needed to stay strong, but I still couldn't stop the tears.
• It felt like I was going insane from the pain. That was all I could hear, but it seemed like it was too much to bear.
• "Six years. Why wasn't I informed about this?" I asked with bitterness in my tone.
• "We looked for you for a long time," he quickly replied. "We searched for you because you're their only child, but we only found Elizabeth. She said she would be the one to tell you, which is why I'm puzzled. Why don't you know what happened to your parents?"
• "Elizabeth. . . knew about this?" I clenched both of my fists.
• "Yes." He nodded. "She's Trevor's second wife, so we told her."
• I felt the blood rush to my head. I remembered her mocking, belittling, and the way they treated me worse than a maid.
• Now I remembered when I had threatened to tell my father about what they were doing, Elizabeth just laughed. That was because she knew she didn’t need to worry about that.
• My vision darkened before I clenched my fists. "Thank you. I'm leaving."
• The old man nodded, but he seemed to be gauging my reaction. He didn't say anything else when he saw the dark expression on my face. Just like earlier, he guided me out.
• But before I followed him, I glanced at my mother and father's graves once more. "I'll be back. I promise."
• I didn't head straight to the marketplace. Instead, I went home to confront Elizabeth, but I didn't expect that she and her daughters were waiting for me.
• From their looks, it seemed like they already knew about my escape.
• "You're such a wicked woman!" Elizabeth grabbed my hair and forcefully dragged me into the house.
• It hurt, but I didn't speak. I didn't fight back either. There was nothing more painful than what I had discovered earlier.
• "You thought I wouldn't find out that you ran away from the marketplace?! Fool! I was on my way back when you were just leaving!" Elizabeth released me and pushed me, causing me to fall to the floor.
• "Deserve," Anastasia commented, laughing at my suffering.
• "Yeah, right," Dasha agreed. "Karma works that fast, huh?"
• "Where did you go, huh? Where in the world did you go?!" Elizabeth angrily demanded. She held my chin tightly. "Are you planning to escape from us?!"
• I couldn't take it anymore. Out of anger, I pushed her hands away. "Yes! I am planning to escape from this shitty house!"
• Their jaws dropped, not expecting me to lose my patience like this.
• "Why didn't you tell me about what happened to Dad?" There was pain in my voice. "Why didn't you tell me that my mother and father have been dead for six years?!"
• Elizabeth’s eyes widened, but she quickly composed herself. "Would it have made a difference if I told you? No! You would have still stayed here because you have nowhere else to go!"
• She spoke casually as if everything didn't matter to her—That the people I had been waiting for were no longer around. As if she didn't care about how I felt… On how my dreams had just been taken from me.
• "Use your brain, okay? You wouldn't survive here without me, remember that!" She said before pushing my head with her index finger.
• What did she say? I wouldn't survive? I couldn't help but snort. I had been serving them from head to toe, so it should be me saying that.
• Let's see what their life would be like when I leave this house.