Tale Spinster

EP 5: MIND OVER BODY

All I could remember was the flash of white before the loud sound echoed in the darkness. I knew it was the wolf's teeth clashing with the iron bars, but hearing a loud sound like that with a paralyzing fear the princess had bestowed on me made me crawl backward until my back hit the wall. My teeth chattered. My fingers wouldn't stop trembling.

I didn't know Diana was this scared of the darkness.

The wolf growled while still trying to chew on the iron bars. Its purple eyes glowed in the darkness. And to that, I actually felt a little safer, despite those purple eyes staring at me with malice.

The iron bars wouldn't fall, right?

Right?

Finally realizing the presence of the iron bars, the wolf stepped back but kept growling at me. The wolf seemed to hate me. Which was weird, because normally dogs tolerate my presence. Not love, but tolerate. I even did charity work at my local dog shelter once!

I do know that dogs are sensitive to smell. So, maybe the princess had a foul smell. My curiosity got the better of my fear, and I sniffed at my armpits. And no. I did not smell foul. In fact, I smelled really nice. A flowery scent imbued in vanilla hit my nostrils.

Maybe that dog hated vanilla?

At that moment, a flash of light suddenly emerged from the end of the hall. My head spun to the light, and I almost cried when I realized came from another fire torch. "Who is there?" a man asked.

It was a man dressed in a dark uniform and had a device that resembled a torchlight. But instead of light coming out of a device, there seemed to be a glowing crystal on the tip of the wooden staff. I didn't understand why they would have a device like that but still used a fire torch to light up the dungeon. Later on, however, I figured that keeping the dungeon with as minimal lighting as possible was a deliberate move of the King to make it harder for slaves to remember the dungeon layout.

"Princess Diana?" the man asked. I recognized the symbol on the uniform. A dragon chasing its tail embroidered with golden thread. It's Malatai's symbol. According to the book I read, a black uniform with the country's symbol on the front was the knight's uniform.

My body moved on its own. I jumped up abruptly, and I grabbed the knight's uniform hard. I could feel my blood leaving from my fingers slowly, making my knuckles white as paper. I was that scared. Having the light of the crystal calmed me down a bit, yet not quite.

"Why are you down here, Princess?" asked the man, "Aren't you afraid of the dark?"

"Uh... I..."

"Princess Diana!!" the shrill coming from the stair's direction made me cringe. It was such an awful sound and Diana's memories told me it came from Margeritha. Soon, the sound of clanking footsteps echoed in the tunnel along with the sound of heavy breathing.

When Margeritha and Van Dich reached my position. They put their hands on their knees and tried to catch the air they had been missing because they were running. "Princess... you... why... dungeon?"

Van Dich and Margeritha each brought the same crystal torchlight as the knight had. I felt immense relief seeing more light in the dark dungeon.

"I'm here to see a slave," I say while forcing my spine to stand tall and release my clutch on the knight's uniform. My fingers were still shaking, but I hid them behind my dress. The hardest part was maintaining a stable voice. I had to look fearless if I wanted them to respect me as a princess.

I knew Princess Diana's reputation had always been about a spoiled princess who is innocent and thinks the world is full of rainbows. And then in the book, when she was plunged into all the chaos Kieran brought, she had to grow a thicker skin. Which was one of the few minor things I found decent about the book. Even though the 'thicker skin' was not depicted well, in my opinion, since she was still super weak and gullible after two hundred chapters–