Chapter 3

"Mona, don't you remember anything from yesterday?" Rolf's voice sounded dry and tense. He looked worried in a way I had never seen before.

I looked at him, then at Shana, who looked nervous. "I remember. Yesterday you took me out. You bought me a hairpin. You said if the weather was good, you would take me to the lake today."

He froze for a second, clearly stunned. Then he started repeating himself under his breath. "She forgot. She forgot everything..."

There was something unsettling about the way he looked.

I studied his face carefully. "Rolf, what is wrong? Did I do something wrong?"

My voice was soft, almost careful, like I was afraid of the answer.

But somehow, that only made him look more troubled.

"You did nothing wrong," he said in a low, rough voice. "It's my fault. I was wrong."

He let go of my shoulders and turned away from me. He stood there with his back to me for a long time.

After a while, he said, "Go and bring the royal doctor, Jerry Barnes."

I sat in the room while the old man with the white beard checked my pulse.

Bored, I stared at his beard, then looked out the window.

He finished with one hand and moved to the other.

His brows slowly drew together. He pressed his fingers against my wrist again and again, as if trying to be sure.

I couldn't help but yawn.

After a long moment, Jerry finally let go and stood up. Then he walked outside with Rolf.

I listened closely, but I could only catch a few broken words. "Blood clot... Head... Cannot be cured... Shock... Memory loss... Her body is special..."

They kept their voices low, so I could not hear clearly.

I looked down at my hand. It looked just like anyone else's.

But I knew the blood inside me was different from other people's.

It happened once by accident. I had fallen and cut my palm on a sharp stone, and blood had poured out.

I had been terrified. I ran to Rolf in tears. But when he took my hand to check, the wound was already gone. Only a bit of dried blood remained.

I had cried and asked him why I was so strange, and whether I was sick.

He had stayed silent for a long time. Then he rubbed my head and smiled. "Don't say silly things, Mona. You are like a goddess, so of course, you don't get hurt easily.

"But you must not tell anyone about this, understand? If you do, bad people might come after you."

I nodded right away and kept it a secret. I never told anyone.

He had clearly told me not to tell anyone. So why did he bring someone to examine me now?

*****

In the days that followed, Rolf became busier and busier. He left early and came back late, and sometimes, I didn't see him at all for a whole day.

I asked him what kept him so busy.

He only said it was about political matters. He said I would not understand and told me to focus on recovering.

But I wasn't even sick.

Still, it didn't matter. Shana stayed with me and talked a lot.

One day, she was trimming plants in the yard. Suddenly, she looked up, her eyes lighting up. "The water lilies in the lake have bloomed. I heard they look beautiful.

"There are pink ones and white ones, and they are all so pretty. When Prince Rolf has time, he can take you out again."

I was kneeling by the garden, looking at the apple tree.

Rolf had built this garden just for me. He had planted every strange and beautiful plant he could find because he said I loved flowers. He had turned the whole place into a garden for me.

We planted that apple tree together.

He dug the hole with his own hands, and I held the young tree steady. We filled the soil in together.

His hands were covered in dirt, and the edge of my skirt got dirty. But we were both laughing.

He had said he would marry me when the apple blossoms bloomed.

But now the tree was still full of green leaves. There were not even any buds yet.

I stared at the branches and slowly lost myself in thought.

"Shana, what am I to Rolf?" I asked suddenly.

Everything went quiet behind me. I turned back and saw Shana standing there, looking stunned.

She looked at me, and there was something else in her eyes. I could not quite name it, but it made my chest feel heavy.

Her voice dropped as she lowered her head and went back to trimming the plants. "You are the most important person in Prince Rolf's heart."

I turned back again and kept looking at the apple tree.

Over the next few days, I stayed in the yard like before, but I kept hearing strange things.

The maids who cleaned the yard whispered to each other. They said Rolf's wife needed power. They said he needed support from his wife's family.

People also said that the Menzie family had returned after winning the war, and the King was very pleased.

Once, I even heard two male servants whispering in a corner. They said Jillian had done a great job this time. They said Rolf would...