So he laced my favorite pastries with the drug, and I ate them without a second thought.

"Chester, my stomach hurts so much. I just ate them, there's still time. Please, go find a physician."

He didn't move. My voice cracked raw with panic. "I won't marry you, is that what you want? I just want my child. I'll take her and leave, go far away. I won't be in your way, I swear."

No matter how I screamed and begged, Chester didn't flinch.

He held out his arm. "Bite down on this. It won't hurt as much."

I shoved his arm away. "Go find a physician. I'm begging you, Chester."

"Stella, don't be ridiculous. No royal physician is going to treat someone of your standing."

"The drug's already taken effect. It's too late. Be good. Once Shelagh gives birth to the legitimate heir, we can have another child."

I seized his hand and held on with everything I had. "Chester, listen to me. I am a princess. Princess Stella Henson. Go get the physician. Save this child."

But he thought I was lying. He wrenched his hand free, anger flashing across his face.

"You've truly disappointed me. If you're going to lie, at least make it believable. This is the capital, not your little countryside cottage. One wrong word here can cost you your head."

He flicked his sleeves and stormed out.

"A miscarriage won't kill you. Look after yourself."

I watched his retreating figure until it disappeared. Every last shred of hope in me went with it.

I curled into the corner, the pain splitting me open. I could feel it, every moment of it, the child slipping away from my body.

The child I had longed for day and night, killed by its own father on the very first day he learned of its existence.

I was unconscious through the night. The skirt beneath me soaked through with blood.

The door crashed open with a kick. Shelagh Fox strode in, flanked by several older servants.

She glanced at me, drenched in blood from the waist down, then settled into a chair by the table and poured herself a cup of tea as if she had all the time in the world.

"Don't blame me. The child in my belly has to be the firstborn heir. That's the only way I'll have any standing in the Delgado household. Surely you understand."

I braced myself against the wall, barely upright. "So you had my child killed."

Shelagh let out a short laugh. "Now that's unfair. Chester was the one who laced the food. Chester was the one who didn't want it. All I did was mention it in passing."

I stared at her, unblinking. My nails dug into my palms until the skin split.

She rose and walked over to me, one hand resting on her belly.

"Besides, you should count yourself lucky. Even if your child had survived, it would have been taken from you and raised under the legitimate wife. Better this way, really."

"Bring the tonic over. Make her drink it. Help her recover."

The servants pried my jaw open and forced the liquid down my throat. I recognized the taste. Safflower. The sterilizing concoction.

I thrashed, tried to spit it out, but they pinned me down and held my mouth shut.

Shelagh crouched beside me and patted my cheek, slow and deliberate, every touch a humiliation. "Can't have you bearing more children down the line. All that squabbling over heirs gets so tiresome."

"My wedding is in two days. I still need to go try on my jeweled crown. If you'll excuse me."

As she stood, she let her robe fall open just enough to reveal the jade pendant at her waist.

Chester's jade pendant. He told me once that his mother left it to him, the only thing he had of hers. And he had given it to Shelagh.

She was nearly at the door when she paused, as though something had just occurred to her. "Oh, one more thing. Chester transferred this property into my name. I hear you're fond of the simple country life, so by all means, keep living here. Just remember, it's my house now. My rules."

My whole body went rigid. When Chester burned down our cottage, he told me he bought this place for me. Told me I could fill the yard with fruit trees and vegetable gardens.

He never intended to give me anything. Not from the very beginning.

"Shelagh."

I called after her, my voice scraped hollow.

"Miss Fox, have you ever heard of Princess Stella Henson?"

Shelagh froze for a beat. "What, are you going to tell me that reclusive princess has something to do with you?"

I forced a bitter smile. "I heard the Princess adores colored sky lanterns. If we could make her smile and convince her to attend your wedding, wouldn't that bring honor to the occasion?"

Shelagh eyed me with suspicion. "How would a worthless wretch like you know what the Princess likes?"

"Believe it or don't. If it turns out to be false, it's no loss to you either way, Miss Fox."

After Shelagh left, I curled into the corner of the bed, my body burning with fever, my lower abdomen seized with stabbing pain. No one came.

Looking back now, meeting Chester Delgado was the single greatest regret of my life.

Through the haze of unconsciousness, I caught a blurred glimpse of rainbow-colored lanterns drifting past the window.

Only then did I let out a breath and smile.

Long ago, my father and I had made a pact: whenever colored sky lanterns were lit, it meant I was in danger, and someone would come to take me away.

At some point, Chester appeared. He sat at the edge of my bed for a long time.

When he saw me open my eyes, he touched my forehead. "The fever's broken. Come on, sit up and have some porridge."

I struggled upright. "Shelagh came. She forced an entire bowl of that sterilizing concoction down my throat. Did you know?"

Chester's expression faltered for a moment. He lowered his gaze. "I knew."

"You knew?"

I clenched every muscle in my body to keep the tears from falling.

He reached for my hand. I pulled away.

"Stella, she was only protecting herself. If you'd given birth, where would that leave her and her child? It's only human nature."

I let out a hollow laugh. Human nature. What a convenient excuse.

Chester set the bowl down and continued. "After Shelagh went home, she had terrible stomach pains. It's possible our child's spirit unsettled her..."

He looked at me, hesitating, then pressed on.

"There's a high monk at Serenity Abbey. Go to him and ask him to perform rites for the child's soul. Then climb all nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine steps on your hands and knees, one bow per step, and bring back a blessing charm for Shelagh. Do that, and we can put this whole matter behind us. Alright?"

I stared at him, my eyes burning red.

"Chester Delgado, you and I are finished. If you want a blessing charm, go get it yourself."

I dragged myself off the bed, trying to leave this wretched place.

He blocked my path.

He scooped me up, ignoring my thrashing, and threw me onto a horse. He rode hard until we reached the foot of Serenity Abbey.

"Take her up the mountain."

Two guards seized me by the arms, one on each side. I hauled my broken body forward, dropping to my knees and pressing my forehead to the stone with every step.

Two days without food or water, fresh from a miscarriage. I passed out and woke and passed out again along the way.

I don't remember how I obtained the blessing charm. All I know is that when I finally saw Chester at the bottom, my legs gave out and I collapsed.

He caught me and gathered me into his arms.

"Stella, you've suffered so much. I promise, even after I marry Shelagh, you'll be the only one in my heart."

I closed my eyes slowly. Three days ago, I might have believed those words. Now they made my stomach turn.

"I got you your blessing charm. Let me go."

He ignored my plea and carried me back to the cottage.

"Stella, don't be stubborn. The wedding is tomorrow. Shelagh has agreed to let you keep living in the cottage afterward. You'll stay out of each other's way. Alright?"

Before leaving, he added one last instruction: "The Princess may come to observe the ceremony tomorrow. Stay in the cottage and don't cause trouble."

Shortly after he left, my father's secret agents found me.

I looked in the direction he had gone, then at this little cottage that had never truly been mine, and a quiet smile crossed my lips.

I hope tomorrow, you won't regret this.

On the day of the wedding, the Delgado residence was draped in red silk, every corner bursting with celebration. Chester stood in his crimson wedding robes, Shelagh at his side.

They were about to begin the ceremonial bows when a voice rang out from beyond the gates: "Her Royal Highness, the Princess, has arrived!"

The red silk in Shelagh's hands trembled. A smile curled at the corner of her mouth. She hadn't expected the Princess to actually come.