I Love You, My Cursed Prince

She didn't read. She pretended to read while thinking, but that didn't get her anywhere.

Feeling quite embittered by her lack of mental progress, Muriel let her eyes float around the library.

Books ... couches ... armchairs ... paintings ... tables ... bookcases ... plants in pots and vases ... stuff ... stuff ... stuff ...

Huh?

Muriel slowly and lightly closed her book against her thumbs as she gawked at something. It wouldn't normally have bothered her. In fact, had her outlook been normal, she would have assumed she was looking at nothing more interesting than a wallpaper's pattern.

And the wall did have a wallpaper with an intricate pattern. Muriel had seen so many rooms with luxurious wallpapers. She had become accustomed to these expensive things in a very short time. She wouldn't have thought to look at the wallpaper if she hadn't been thinking so painfully.

Someone was watching her.

The wallpaper in this room had a repeating vertical pattern of exotic bamboo, foreign insects and spiders, and many tiny flowers. But in one spot ... near a small table ... where a little vase holding a plant innocently stood ... there was something off. Something that was partially hidden by the plant's leaves.

One of the insects in the pattern, a black one, it was only just a little bit larger than its brothers, which certainly were meant to be the same. The pattern seemed to have been made with a rolling and printing method. The duplicating images should be precise.

Muriel wanted to investigate, but she was afraid of doing so with the princess nearby. So, she decided to wait until nighttime.

But, sadly, the princess wanted to go on long walks around the estate after lunch. Then she wanted to practice some dances for the next Capital Season. Then, before dinner, the princess wanted Muriel to play the piano for a long time. After dinner, more dance practicing. When it was time to go to bed, Muriel was frazzled.

However, she was also determined.

When Muriel thought that everyone was asleep, she dressed into a very casual outfit. A pair of soft slippers, a comparably narrow skirt, a white shirt with long sleeves, and a set of quilted jumps on her torso. She didn't even have stays. She did, however, put on a dark blue cloak with a hood.

She should have been ready to go, but she was so tired. She was worried that if she laid down she would fall asleep and forget to leave her room, but she wobbled a bit as if walking was too unbearable. Muriel g.r.o.a.n.e.d and took a seat near her bedroom window.

The moon was full, which meant that it was bright.

The moon's glow reflected on the black sea.

Beautiful.

Her elbow went to the windowsill. Her cheek went to her palm.

She sighed.

Huh? What was that on the shore?

Muriel's gaze tightened.

It was ... a shape, a tall dark shape. The details were impossible to see. The thing was moving along the shore. It looked bulky.

She watched the thing until it eventually turned, moved away from the shore, and went out of her view. Muriel thought it might have went under the cliff the castle stood on.