The first thing Maria became aware of was the heat.

The soul-consuming, achingly unfamiliar heat threatened to take over her body and soul. It was bad enough to even pierce her psyche and get her into her unconsciousness.

One second it was all blank, the next second Maria was gasping for breath and fighting against that heat.

“Take it easy and let your body rest. You just lost a lot of life force. Here, eating this will help” Something familiar passed Maria’s lips and her body instantly felt the relief.

The heat was still bad but it no longer felt like it was about to consume her. Maria finally felt like she could open her eyes and face the world.

The first thing her eyes focused on was Nao’s familiar face. She could spot Princess Neah in the background as well, her beautiful eyes focused on Maria.

“Do you feel better now? How much can you remember from today?” Nao’s voice was the same emotionless mess it had always been but Maria was not in a state to correct her.

Despite the hazy state of her head, the events of the day were clear in Maria’s mind.

“Someone sabotaged the ceremony. Why would someone do that to us?” Sabotage was the only thing Maria could think of. No one would in their right mind want the ceremony to fail.

Not when it concerned the whole world’s future.

The other two in the room exchanged a look between themselves but they did not open their mouths. Maria genuinely thought that this topic was over…

…until Princess Neah decided to open her mouth. Her expression looked soft and concerned which made Maria really worried about her next words.

“We did manage to catch the one who planned the whole thing and I want you to know that it is not your fault. Your mother, Lady Silvya planned this whole thing as an act of revenge for taking her away from her home” Maria could remember bits and pieces of her mother’s face.

It had been full of joy and glee. It had looked peaceful as well. She had finally looked alive in those last moments.

And then she had died. Her mother in this world was dead but Maria felt hollow and unfeeling. She did realize that this was what doctors called shock but she could not do anything with this knowledge.

It was not till she had a pair of hands on her face that Maria managed to knock herself out of her thoughts.

“It is not your fault and no one here blames you either. We all knew Lady Silvya was trouble.

But on the brighter note, you are free from your marriage” it was then that Maria realized that she was not the only one who had lost someone today.

Princess Neah had lost her brother as well, the crown prince.

“What happened to the power? The power from the divine portal?” there was another shared look between the pair. But this time their gazes held something darker that made Maria afraid.

“Don’t worry. With my brother dead, the power had no option but to chose me. I will be taking the throne in a few days. There is no need for you to worry. You should focus on recovering your powers for now” Maria did not want to rest but she should.

Most of her previous life had been spent in a bed and this situation felt really familiar to Maria. She hated how she had ended up here once again.

But unlike before, recovery was in sight this time.

“I will rest then. Good luck out in the courtroom and don’t let those vultures eat you alive” Maria felt bad for Princess Neah. She had lost her family member and had not been allowed to mourn for him.

Maybe Maria should be the one to do something nice for her instead.

And then there was Nao who had a small frown on her face as she took the scene in. She looked troubled and this look was something Maria was unfamiliar with.

“What is it? Spit it out right now” Maria’s voice came out flat and lifeless. It was emotionless enough to attract Nao’s attention toward her. All Maria could see in her gaze was surprise and guilt.

But about what, Maria did not know. She did not know anything about Nao. not how she had been created, for what purposes, and by whom. Everything was a blank for Maria.

“I don’t know how much I should say in this matter. Mistress was trouble but I don’t think this was something she could have done alone. And the backlash from the nobles is not something you can take right now” Nao seemed to have a valid point.

But Maria found herself not that much worried. She had a feeling that she would be safe in the castle.

“Don’t worry that much. Princess Neah would protect us from the court and the royal family is on our side as well. I’m worried as well but waiting is all we can do for now” Maria expected Nao to look less worried.

“I’m not sure she would be able to if the court forced her hand but I am willing to give her the benefit of doubt” And that was it. This topic was done and over with.

But that worried expression did not vanish from that face. If anything, it got even worse than before.

Was Nao made at her? Surely that was not the case!

“What is it now?” Maria decided to bite the bullet and ask outright. There was no point in holding her question back and letting it eat away at her.

“I’m afraid that we will be out of your life-force medicine pretty soon. Since Mistress Silvya was the only one who knew how to make them, we cannot make any more of them” Now this was a more pressing matter at hand.

The very thought of going without those life-force medicines terrified Maria. The heat had been bad enough this time.

Maria did not want to have a second time with this heat.

However, there were ways to get around it as well. Maria could always decide not to use her chains and the problem of heat would not come over again.

“We will deal with it later. It’s not like we can do anything about it now” Nao went quiet and so did Maria. The silence was overbearing in the room.

Perhaps that was why Nao decided to leave the room and allow Maria her privacy. She was under strict orders to rest after all.

Not that Maria was going to follow those orders. She had stayed in bed for a ton of years in her past life. She felt good enough to walk around so that was why Maria was going to do it.

“System, is the corridor clear? Can I leave the room?” Maria was not sure what the limit of her system was but she had taken to experimenting with its features.

Maria was proud to say that she knew a lot more about her system and its functions now.

[Scanning space. Generating map]

Maria watched as the dot representing Nao left the corridor and then waited five more minutes before making her way outside the door.

It was not locked. Maria could just step out and be on her way now. There was no need for her to worry anyone else since she would be back pretty soon anyway.

The feeling of guilt in her chest was just temporary and Maria was sure it would be over soon. She would just take a small walk and then come back to her room to rest.

She did not account for getting lost even with a map. In her defense, the corridors looked the same and started to blend into each other after a while. Maria was effectively lost.

She was about to open a door and ask for help when voices reached her ears. They sounded tense and they evoked Maria’s natural curiosity.

“System, sharpen my hearing. I want to know what they are talking about” the words were inaudible one second and the next second, they reached Maria’s ears.

[“-can’t defy them. The royal family refused and died for it. They even have the princess as a captive on their side. Otherwise, why would she betray us like this and chose to become a demon-]

That cannot be right. Neah was human, not a demon. Maybe if Maria listened more, then she would have more clarity.

[-We have to do this. We have to sacrifice the oracle to the demon god. There is no other way. I feel sorry for her but this had to be done-]

Was this for real? Were they really going to sacrifice Maria to the demon god? Surely Princess Neah would not allow this.

[-and don’t worry about the princess. She has already given her go-ahead.]

No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.

Neah won’t. Surely she won’t. They were friends after all. But they also said that Neah was a demon now and demons were not known to be nice. Especially the higher-ranked untamed ones.

Maria felt as if she was having an out-of-the-body experience.

And then she felt a hand on her shoulder and a hand on her mouth that cut off her scream of terror. God, she was going to die right here and now, wasn’t she?