Back inside her room, she lay in her bed, refusing to eat.
She reflected on the fact that she had only vaguely considered what it meant to become a queen. She felt foolish, and powerless, and as though she had nothing. She felt as though there was nothing she could do.
In a dream, Azure was talking to her, and she was shocked to find herself back in Fortna. He reminded her that she had led a life of a great many hardships to get where she was today. It was normal for her to experience desperation and despair. She smiled, though, because the little joys in life were still there for her to look back on.
She eventually woke with a rumbling stomach, and found a small joy in the amazing food that was served to her. She wasn't going to die defying Set, and she wasn't going to die of sadness. Still not knowing the answer, she chose to start the day with a smile.
She strolled around the castle, surprising the servants with her loud and excited manner. Despite having already met Prince Set, the people simply couldn't ignore those big blue eyes.
When she decided to go and see the prince, the guards turned her away, saying that he was busy. She wasn't having it. She could see him clearly, lounging around behind them, and she tried to call out to Set, but the guards told her that she wasn't permitted to speak to him unless he spoke to her first.
So she told the guards to tell him this: she would never defy him, nor weep, but she also wasn't going to do what he expected, and she would become essential to him as his queen.
In response he called her a fool, and said that nothing in this world was essential, and then commanded his guards to throw her out.
Nenah looked back, and seeing his red eyes, she thought that he truly was a scary man. His eyes and his words were enough to tear her to shreds. But no. She couldn't get discouraged. She told herself not to think of him as scary, even if she had to endure a hundred unpleasant things.
And then she suddenly bumped into one of the servants. Seeing the servant's face, she called her Colin.
Sitting down with Anne, Nenah explained that she resembled Colin, an old friend of hers. Anne explained that it had only been three days since she arrived at the castle, and questioned whether Nenah should be talking to her. Nenah responded that it was fine, since she herself was worth less than a bug here.
Nenah desperately wanted Anne to be her friend. And when Anne agreed, Nenah lit up, so happy to have finally made her first girlfriend.
Back in her room, Hikami was skeptical about things going well between Nenah and her new friend. Nenah wanted to give Anne jewelry, which Hikami said was maybe too much for her servant, so she went with a shiny pin instead, and it made Anne really happy.
The next day, though, there was quite a fuss going on in the castle, and Anne was being reprimanded for picking up one of Nenina's feathers from the floor, not knowing that it belonged to the prince's favorite pet. The guard who scolded her became ecstatic, saying that she'd pay for her crime with one of her arms.
Nenah intervened, because that was nonsensical, and explained that Anne was just new and hadn't known.
The guard responded that ignorance was no excuse, and that everything here belonged to Prince Set, even feathers that fell on the ground.
As Set took his leave, Nenah asked whether that was what he really thought. But when he turned toward her, he told her that he had not given her permission to speak, and declared that Fortna had earned his displeasure.
She countered by saying that Fortna had nothing to do with this, and that she was now a Galatadan citizen. The prince came toward her, sarcastically calling her a possession of Galatada, who should be fine with it if he decided to cut her down. She nervously accepted this.
So he drew a blade and sliced her, and she fell over.
He hadn't been bluffing.
Nenah felt hot. The wound hurt. She wondered whether she was going to die, but he assured her she shouldn't worry, since he was going to get her treated right away. He didn't care if it would scar her, since he was going to be the only one to see her body.
Nenah's eyes widened, and she pointed out what he had just said. He'd said he would be the only one to see her body. In other words, an admission of his intention to make her his queen.
Set was flabbergasted at Nenah's challenging statement. She placed her bloody hand on his chest and said she was delighted to hear his intentions. And when she fell over and passed out, he thought: what is wrong with this princess?
That night Nenah lay panting heavily in bed. Set simply watched her, drawing himself close to her face.
Hikami arrived and told him there was no need to worry for her, though his attack would certainly leave a scar. He smirked, told her that he hadn't asked, and then called her rude and impudent for not kneeling before royalty. She brushed him aside; her only objective was attending to Nenah's bandages.
Set continued to observe Nenah, thinking that with her eyes closed she looked just like a cute little creature. He brought up Nenah's unusual behavior, which Hikami attributed to the fact that Nenah had been raised within the astral villa throughout her childhood, which had made her unacquainted with the ways of the world, since she was designated as the messenger of Fortna's god of stars, who governs fate.
When Nenah was all better, she assaulted her pillow, taking out all of her anger at Set on it. Hikami came to check on the silly girl and explained that she needed to be careful, since the wound hadn't fully healed. Nenah was fine in spirit, though. She was going to go and see Set with this injury she had traded for his word.
But she learned that he would be gone for a while, conducting a purge, because the other two potential brides had fled back to their home nations.
Heads were about to roll.