Grant Me Your Grace

“Ugh…!”

The sound of a harsh gasp clung to her ears. 

At the same time, a deep pain ripped through her chest.

“Hmph, ugh…”

Dahlia gurgled and clutched at her throat. A sharp pain took over from around her lips to deep in her throat.

Even without looking, she could tell that red spots covered her entire stomach.

“Your Highness, are you awake, do you recognize me?”

Through my blurry vision, I could make out Bertha’s silhouette. Bertha had heard her and was looking at her anxiously.

Dahlia slowly blinked and called out to the sobbing woman.

“Ber…tha”

At the sound of her voice, the pain rushed through her again. It was as if dozens of needles were scraping her neck at the same time.

I narrowed my eyes in blinding agony, and Bertha sobbed, tears dripping down her face like a river.

“Yes. It’s Bertha, Your Highness. Don’t worry, I’m right here with you, thank you for waking up, thank you, Your Highness…”

Bertha sobbed incoherently. She must have been very frightened, because she blurted out whatever came to mind.

Dahlia forced her eyes open and looked around. 

Beyond the familiar scene of the room, the rain had stopped and a dark sunset was setting outside the window.

She hadn’t been unconscious for this long, no matter how excruciating the pain.

But the next thing Bertha said surprised Dahlia.

“Your Majesty has been in bed for the past five days.”

“Five days…”

Involuntarily, Dahlia, who had mimicked Bertha’s words, wrapped her arms around her throat, which felt like it would tear. 

The stabbing pain brought tears to her eyes.

Bertha brought her a piece of paper and a pen so she wouldn’t have to use her throat.

I was worried that the secret of the blood had leaked out while I was unconscious, or that something had happened to the Emperor.

Fortunately, the Emperor was unharmed, and the blood secret was not discovered.

“But because of the marks on your body…”

The Emperor was unharmed, except that she was covered in spots that she couldn’t hide.

Checking her face in the mirror Bertha had brought, Dahlia let out a shaky breath. Her face was covered in red spots, starting around her mouth and moving down her chin, neck, and chest.

Her neck, where the pain was especially intense, was so bright red that it could have been painted with red paint.

Closing her eyes tightly, Dahlia picked up her pen and began writing again.

she wrote.

Hovan was the one who took the blood that day, so he must know something about what happened to the Emperor. 

Knowing the truth wouldn’t make the pain go away, but I wanted to at least know what was tormenting me.

But instead of answering with an instant understanding, Bertha looked at Dahlia with tearful eyes, her lips pursed repeatedly before she finally managed to speak.

“Your Highness, can you please not… go to the prayer chamber in the future?”

Lips pressed together at the end of the sentence. Guilt shone in Bertha’s eyes, as if she had committed blasphemy. 

Dahlia didn’t know what the child wanted to say.

Every time she’d gone to the prayer chamber, she’d come home with red spots, but there were many times when she’d been so desperate to hide her pain that Dahlia hadn’t noticed.

But lately, the pains have been too much for even Dahlia to bear. Eventually, Bertha begins to doubt Priest Hovan.

If only she could say she didn’t want to go.

Swallowing her bitterness, Dahlia had no choice but to deceive Bertha with a few words.

Bertha choked back the sobs that threatened to burst forth as she read Dahlia’s words. She wiped the tears from her large eyes and nodded.

“I’ll be right back, just give me a minute.”

Bertha quickly left the room.

Left alone, Dahlia let out a long breath and leaned back. 

Closing her eyes, she could see the dream clearly once more.

It was the day her divine power first manifested. The day the captive boy escaped from the dungeon, and the day she fed him her blood before he lost his last breath.

Looking back, I couldn’t explain how the idea of feeding him blood came to me at that moment; I just felt hot, like hot water coursing through my veins, and a thought came into my head, ‘I must feed him blood.’

Luckily, the boy survived on my blood. 

The boy’s body shook like he was having a seizure, and he grabbed my hand, and that’s when the grains of sand got stuck in the wound and became the little bumpy mole.

Unlike in the dream, the boy ran away as soon as the wound healed. 

As she watched him flee, Dahlia was knocked unconscious by the pain that washed over her, and she awoke to find herself in the Princess Palace.

Turned into an unholy princess who stole divine power from the Crown Prince.

She wondered if her desperate desire to save someone had moved the heavens, which was understandable, since she was a good person who cared about a dying life.

‘No… perhaps the goddess is punishing us for saving the lives of enemy prisoners.’

Otherwise, the Goddess of the Nuit would not make a mere Princess bear such a blood price.

Dahlia turned away and looked out the window, the sunset having been completely consumed by the ground and lost in the shadows of night.

The red color made her dizzy. 

‘Thank goodness,’ Dahlia thought and crawled back under the covers.

‘Hissin… I must meet him.’

Part of her wanted to head to the temple right away, even if it was tonight, but she could barely take a step out of her bedroom, barely able to breathe.

If only he could enter the palace as he had in her last dream, then she wouldn’t be afraid to give her blood again dozens and hundreds of times.

Dahlia endured the pain of swallowing fire and waited for Priest Hovan to come. Her breathing was painful enough to make her miss the days when breathing was a chore.

As deep as the pain was, she longed to think of the temple.

‘But… what did he look like?’

The thought was soon forgotten with the visit of Priest Hovan.

✨

A few days later.

As soon as she was able to get around somewhat on her own, Dahlia made her way to the temple, hiding in the darkness. 

The cause of her pain was still unknown, but she couldn’t bear it any longer.

To the point where she wanted to do anything to make them disappear.

Unable to run as fast or walk as briskly as before, she had to stop and rest many times. Every breath burned in her throat like she’d swallowed fire.

Still, Dahlia did not turn back. 

Slowly, step by step, she made steady progress toward the temple.

There was no thought that she would not meet him.

[Next time, Your Highness will find me.]

That day, Hissin had spoken as if he was certain that Dahlia would find him. 

It meant that he already sensed that she wanted something from him.

It didn’t matter that it was just a thought. Likewise, it was certain that contact with Hissin could lessen the price of blood, so she had to find him somehow.

“Ha, phew…”

Reaching the temple, Dahlia exhaled heavily. Her mouth and lungs still ached like they were being torn apart, and the slightest harsh inhalation brought tears to her eyes.

What should I do now? 

Should I go straight to the temple, and what if I run into another priest?

I stared at the statue of the goddess, not knowing how I would find him.

“Here you are.”

From behind the statue of the Nuit goddess, she heard Hissin’s voice. 

Startled, Dahlia looked down and saw Hissin leaning against a pillar of the temple.

Although she had been thinking of him all day, her mind went blank when she saw him. 

Unsure of what to do, Dahlia stared at him blankly.

“Your Highness, the Princess.”

Hissin bowed languidly. He must have known she was flustered by him, but he kept his expression stoic.

Dahlia returned his greeting wordlessly. 

As he watched her move, Hissin smirked.

“I’ve been waiting, Your Highness.”

His smile was so innocent, so sweet, that Dahlia felt as if she had come to a rendezvous.

‘How dare she, how foul.’ Dahlia thought inwardly.