A Vision

Maya walked around the Princess while she was being dressed by the court ladies. She was being dressed appropriately for the rite. It was so sudden that her clothes hadn't been fitted to perfection. Pins here and there were struck to hold the gown in place. Layers over layers were added to prevent it from sticking below her feet. 

Killian wasn't going to accompany her to the rite as per plan. She had got him to inform the King in advance. For the day, the Princess was going to be on her own. But the rite was being held publicly so the Royal guards were going to be present. It wasn't too big of a deal. 

"Your Royal Highness," Maya called her, "We know nothing about the rite." She was concerned, "What if they want to hold your Royal Highness responsible for something?" 

"What exactly have I done to be held responsible for, Maya?" The Princess asked her sternly. 

"I am just worried." Maya looked down in concern. 

The court ladies tightened the corset straps one more time and then stepped aside. The Princess started to adjust her gown by pulling it down. 

"It is all in your head." The Princess told Maya, "We did nothing wrong. The rite is just a sorry excuse to gain His Majesty's generosity." 

With that, the Princess was more than ready to leave. All her court ladies lined up behind her in synchronization while she stepped out of her quarters and walked to the palanquin. 

She sat inside the palanquin and the servants quickly picked it up on their shoulders and started to take the Princess to the hall where the rite was going to be observed. 

Although the rite was the thing she should've been worried about, the Princess couldn't shake off thoughts about Killian from her head. When she should've been worried about him going to the mountains by himself, she kept thinking about how he held her hand last night. She shook her head, trying to shake the thoughts off her head. 

The palanquin stopped outside the big hall by the river bank. The hall was under the government but the public was allowed to enter on such days. The Princess walked out of the palanquin with a veil on her face to protect her identity. 

She was guided by an attendant toward her seat, which was next to the Queen. The entire internal court was present in the hall; Queen Gisela, Concubine Avis, and Consort Helene. 

The Princess took her seat. The rite commenced, with the Royal family picking someone up to pour rice water into the river. Rice water was unclear and signified unclarity. Since the Royal family had started the search party around the mountains, hence they were required to pour the rice water into the river. 

The person chosen for this was Princess Sofia. She was the one who had told the King about the artifact and started the search. Therefore, she was also going to be held responsible for the act. 

"5th July 3002. Unfortunately, such rumors are surfacing," Consort Helene started, "However, we can put a stop to them by offering room for cleansing our souls! Let the unclarity wash down the river, Princess Sofia of Miraculum." She looked at the Princess and smirked. 

The Princess frowned and looked at the Queen. The damage was done, therefore the Queen turned away from her. If Killian was present, he would've stood up for the Princess. 

She couldn't walk to every single commoner present here, hear their curses thrown at her, and expect her soul to be 'cleansed'. This rite was humiliating and unacceptable. The Princess couldn't tarnish her authority like this. If the King had known this was going to happen, he would have objected as well. 

"Your Royal Highness?" The consort pushed her to an edge. 

The Princess clenched her dress in stress. She bit her lips and thought it through. With all eyes staring at her, she found it uncomfortable to stay still and do nothing. She couldn't stand the countless stares and decided to walk down. Maybe some miracle would save her from this situation. 

She walked down with her dress in her hands, raised over the edge of her petticoat. She looked at the pot of rice water. It held her dignity. Agreeing to pour it meant agreeing to the existence of the rumor that brought her here - that her lover had disappeared into the mountains… 

Killian… 

He had gone to the mountains alone. The Princess suddenly shuddered at the thought of losing Killian. She looked at the rice pot once again and held onto it tightly. If she wanted to inform the King about Killian, she had to perform this hard task first. 

—

A pot of ashes tilted around to be emptied into the sea. The man had once again emptied a bunch from the load. It kept stacking as if there was no end to it but he kept going. 

"Great Father," An older man next to the man called him, "Allow this servant to be of some help." 

The man shook his finger in the air, "It was my creed. Therefore, my job."

__

The Princess shook her head. 

'What was that?' She thought to herself after witnessing a strange vision. 'Was it that man?! Heinrich…' 

She looked at the pot and it was the same. Why did she see that? And why was this pot the same? As she held onto it, her head spun around. Her legs trembled and trembled until they lost balance. She felt her body dragging down to the ground and eventually she lost all consciousness. All her servants rushed toward her and the Queen stood up from her seat in utter shock. 

"Princess!"