The Awakened Betrothed

The following day, Lumina and Francesca were alerted when Diana started crying in her sleep.

They had immediately summoned Frederick in the case that Diana’s mana got out of control again.

Frederick would rather stop any leaks this time; they had just finished fixing the garden.

When he went to Diana’s chambers, he gulped at the sight of the girl crying in her sleep like she was in some kind of pain.

Tears were flowing down her closed eyes.

It made him feel bitter.

‘From now on, I would have to protect this poor little girl so she would not get hurt again after all the tragedy that had already happened.’

He did not realize that he had started touching her; wiping the tears with his own fingers. Until –

“Don’t touch me!” Diana suddenly screamed as she pushed his hand away violently and suddenly sat up. Her eyes looked wild and angry.

Frederick gasped. He could not be more shocked. He instantly kneeled and asked for forgiveness.

‘How could I be so idiotic? I did not have the right to touch her yet. She had not yet agreed to the engagement. What the hell was I doing? I must have relaxed since Lumina and Francesca had been allowing me to take care of her.’

With how violent Diana had pushed his hand away, she must have thought that he was trying to violate her. He had no such thoughts at all. He was merely drying her tears. And she was just a child in his eyes.

Frederick’s betrothed finally woke up, but he was mistaken as an indecent man and her first words to him were a loud declaration not to touch her.

‘What could be a clearer way of rejection?’

Diana was not even told about their engagement yet, but his mental image must have already plummeted in her mind.

‘Of course, she would not agree to marry a man who tried to touch her when we were not even married yet.’

There was no ill-intent on Frederick’s part. But if she had thought that he was indecent, there was no hope for him. He would be the shame of Varondel.

‘Ah, I should not meet Anthony in the next life now. He would probably laugh at me so hard. After he even warned me that she could be troublesome.’

Gladly, Diana seemed to have calmed down when she saw Lumina and Francesca.

But the way they were talking, somehow made it seem like Frederick was a villain. Sure they were not referring to him, but to the just awakened Diana, it might seem that way.

She was probably angry at him as she did not look at him again. She looked around the room perhaps noticing that it was not her room in Evymeria.

He just hoped that the room was to her liking at least.

That room was the grandest in the mansion. He had long prepared it for his future wife. He did not expect that it would be Anthony’s favorite little sister who would use it in the end.

Frederick could feel pity from his older brothers behind him. He was just relieved that they kept their mouth shut and did not further embarrass him.

He was totally ignored as the sisters reunited. He did not even seem to exist to Diana at all. Not a glance was spared for him.

‘Was she that angry?’

Queen Isabella’s former head attendant seemed to notice his worries and took pity on him.

Frederick felt even more pathetic to be pitied by a servant. But at least the ladies were reminded of his presence.

It seems that Lumina and Francesca had honestly forgotten about him. They thankfully spoke in his favor, perhaps, as a form of apology.

Diana, meanwhile, looked at him like she was confused.

‘Did she feel displeased that her sisters were taking my side?’

Lumina and Francesca explained the situation.

Frederick was relieved that Diana was apparently merely still drowsy from her sleep.

He still had some hope. He tried not to seem nervous despite how tense he was when she looked at him.

Frederick apologized again and Diana seemed to ponder whether to forgive him or not.

Lumina spoke up for him again to appease Diana.

‘But Lumina did not have to frame it that way, what did she mean I was worried that he could not help but wipe Diana’s tears. Sure it was worrying that the little girl was crying but I wiped her tears without knowing I was doing it.’

The whole room tensed and Frederick froze when Diana spoke and called him brazen. It seems she would not forgive him. He would be the shame of Varondel indeed.

Then she suddenly said she did not mind and smiled at him sweetly. He could tell that the smile was faked.

‘She was really angry at me wasn’t she?’

Frederick concluded that Diana must have not been willing to forgive him, but had to say otherwise due to their position.

Shaming him might be interpreted by other duchies as conflict within the two supposedly friendly duchies.

Diana said she had forgiven him and told him to rise so he did.

“It was rather rude of me to have my savior kneeling on the ground for such a long time,” she said and Frederick tensed again.

‘She indeed could not forgive me but since she knew I saved her life, she must have felt obligated to say she had already forgiven me.’

Frederick quickly tried to not make her feel indebted. After all, it was his duty as her betrothed to take care of her, and he had promised Anthony to keep her safe.

And it was truly thanks to Lumina and Francesca’s quick thinking that he had the chance to make the antidote for her.

He instantly closed his mouth when he almost said out loud that he was her betrothed. Thankfully, the servants arrived and he had a reason to excuse himself.

“You hang in there well,” Raphael praised him once they were at a safe distance from Diana’s room.

“It seems you will have it rough. But do your best dear brother,” Herbert slapped his shoulder to encourage him but it hurt instead. His brother seriously needed to know to control his strength.

“Mind your habits. Do not ever hit your wife like this or you might accidentally kill her,” Frederick glared at Herbert.

His older brother blanched at his words. Lumina looked so fragile after all. One hit and her bones might break.

They went outside to the pavilion in the garden to take a breather.

Lumina and Francesca had followed them and the three knew why. They had to decide what they could and could not say.

“My sister had just awakened. Her mana and life force are stable but we do not know if her mind is. She must be traumatized from the poisoning attempt,” Lumina began. Everyone nodded in understanding.

They all agreed that they had to take things slowly and closely observe Diana’s condition first. They could start revealing things bit by bit the more stable she was.

The first thing that they should reveal would be the engagement with Frederick.

However, they could not reveal the truth about any family members yet since it might be too much of a shock to Diana.

The marriage between Lumina and Herbert; and Francesca and Raphael; would be fine to reveal

It was to assure Diana that she was not the only one getting married out of the usual route which was supposed to be with the Royal Family. They could show the edict as proof but could not tell how the edict came to be.

Lumina and Francesca figured that Diana might be against the betrothal at first since it had been ingrained in her mind since she was young that she would surely wed into the Royal Family.

It was especially true because ever since Diana was a toddler, she had the potential to surpass all her sisters once she grew up.

Diana had the best mana capacity among the sisters.

And although the three elder sisters had more mana since they were older, the sudden growth in Diana’s mana just a few days ago proved her potential to be truly great.

She had already surpassed Lumina and Francesca’s mana and she was still twelve. She would grow more in the future.

The fact that Diana had absorbed so much of their mana while she was unconscious was also still a mystery to them.

They could say that it was the cause of her mana rampaging the other day, but the amount of mana leaked was still far from what was absorbed.

It simply did not explain where all that mana went.

Diana had absorbed more than five times Frederick’s full capacity and it just seemed not viable for a twelve-year-old to be able to take all of that.

The adults all agreed on what they could and could not say to Diana and then proceeded to make sure that breakfast would be healthy for the girl.

They all panicked when Diana appeared at the dining hall when the food was ready. Lumina and Francesca were supposed to dine with Diana in her room.

Frederick instantly teleported beside her in case she collapsed. He nearly held her by the shoulder or by the hand to support her.

But the thought that she might scream at him not to touch her made him shudder. He would rather not get yelled at and rejected by a twelve-year-old lady twice in a day.

He asked her for permission before holding her hand to escort her. He observed all her reactions.

She stared at his hand for several seconds before giving hers. She once again stared at their hands for several seconds when he held hers.

A/N: Here is another chapter for everyone. I hope you like it.

Please do leave a vote / comment / review.

Add this story to your library for instant updates regarding the next chapters.

Thank you.