A couple of hours after training, she was still awake, even though her body was literally demanding it.

  She was afraid that if she fell asleep, she would forget everything she had learned about her past today.

  Ife thought about asking for something to write it all down on, but that could arouse unnecessary suspicion and attention, which she definitely did not want.

  She sat up in bed and looked around the room for something to write on and something to write with. The answer to the first question was found quickly—the wall—but no matter how much she looked around her room, she couldn't find the answer to the second. She needed not only a tool to write with, but also ink. However, there was neither in her room.

  She knew that Arenor had removed any sharp sticks—such as those used for writing—from her room after the incident with the dagger in her stomach. He was clearly afraid that she would do something similar to herself again, so Ife had no doubt that even if she searched every corner of her room, she would still not find anything suitable for writing.

  However, the answer came from where it was least expected.

  Ife glanced at the wall again and noticed how uneven it was and how some of its edges were peeling off. She moved closer and then began to try to scrape off a piece with her fingernail, small but sharp enough to write with. And she succeeded.

  The small, irregularly shaped triangular piece flew off the wall and fell to the floor, covering it with small cracks. She was ready to give up, but when she picked it up, it surprisingly did not break, allowing her to breathe a sigh of relief.

  The corners were too wide, so she had to spend a few more minutes grinding one of the corners to the sharpness she needed, and for this she used the wall in her room again; she ground the corner of the slightly cracked stone against the stone until it reached the sharpness she needed.

  Then she returned to the other issue: ink.

  And this time, unfortunately, the wall could not help her.

  She looked around her room again and suddenly her gaze fell on the makeup bag that Arenor had left her. She hadn't used it once since her arrival at the palace, but now was clearly the moment when she could finally use the cosmetics he had given her, even if not for their intended purpose.

  She walked over to the cosmetic bag and opened it: inside were several small jars, one of which was filled with antimony - a kind of black ink that was mainly used for eyeliner and eyebrows; and the second - dark blue shiny lipstick, which was used to color the lips.

  Until then, Ife had never seen such a shade of lipstick; she was more familiar with red and pink, which were sold in sufficient quantities at the Night Bazaar. However, she had never seen such an unusual dark blue, and a shiny color at that. And even more so, on someone's lips.

  Curiosity got the better of her, so before using it as ink, she unconsciously decided to try it on herself. She put a small amount of lipstick on her fingertip and ran it across her lips, leaving a clumsy dark blue and shiny mark on them.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  Ife felt the urge to look at herself in the mirror—she wanted so badly to see how the lipstick looked on her and whether it suited her—but then she remembered that Arenor, along with sharp objects, had also removed the mirror, which, with some effort, could cause harm.

  Slightly upset, she looked at her finger—there was still lipstick on it, and she wasn't going to ask to wash it off with water, so instead she rubbed it between her fingers, getting even more dirty.

  Cursing, she glanced at the two remaining jars: one of them contained a blue mixture similar to lipstick, but much brighter, and the second was exactly the same consistency as the first, but had a green tint instead of blue. In an instant, Ife wanted to smear it all over herself like a little child. Without thinking about anything, she wanted to paint her whole face and sit shining in the dim light of the oil lamp.

  However, she then remembered what she had seen before her eyes: a crackling fire, pouring water, someone's piercing scream, and a strong blow to the head.

  No. She couldn't back down. Not now.

  Remembering the true purpose of her cosmetics bag, she took out two jars—one with eyeliner and one with lipstick—and then went to the place where she had left the writing stick she had carved herself.

  But then another question arose: where was she going to write all this down?

  The wall was a good option, but she was worried that someone might see it, and then, if the Prince found out, he would surely execute her. Now, Ife was completely convinced that he was connected to her long-forgotten past, and she thought that if he hadn't told her about it yet, it meant he wanted to hide this fact from her. And if he wanted to hide this fact from her, he definitely wouldn't like it if she tried to reveal it.

  But then she calmed down; Ife remembered Zafir's words that Arenor cherished her very much, and she herself had seen proof of this many times. After all, even when she accidentally spat grape juice in his face, he did not execute her. And that was an absolute insult to His Royal Highness.

  This time, she allowed herself to hope that even if Arenor discovered what she had written, he would not kill her. But even if he wanted to, she was not going to give up without a fight.

  However, even so, she had no intention of putting everything on display, and if she had even the slightest chance to protect herself and her findings, she was going to do it. Glancing at the stone chest standing close to the wall, she decided without hesitation to move it aside so that she could use the wall behind it for her notes.

  It took quite a long time for a petite, weak, and still exhausted girl to move the stone chest, but Ife did not regret it. Taking a writing stick and two jars of ink in her hands, she began to write.

  Dipping the sharp end of the stick into lipstick, she began to write the word "promise" in large letters on the wall. Then, wiping the remaining lipstick from the tip of the stick with her finger, she dipped it in antimony and, under the word "promise," began to write in small letters the sentence "Arenor did not keep his promise." Then, wiping the remains of the antimony from the tip of the stick again, she dipped it in lipstick again and this time wrote four words: "fire," "water," "cry," and "blow," also in large letters. Removing the layer of lipstick from the tip of the stick again, she dipped it in antimony again and wrote the question "Who did this?" under these four words.

  When she was done, she stepped back from the wall and examined it. The letters were clear enough, but since the ink was dark, it was almost impossible to see them in the dark unless you shone a light on them.

  Satisfied with her work, Ife put the cosmetics back in the box, thinking that one day she would definitely use them for their intended purpose. Then she spent many more long minutes moving the chest back against the wall to cover the inscription. All that remained was to decide where to get the writing stick she had made herself; she couldn't put it in a visible place, because then she risked Arenor taking all sharp objects out of her room again, or worse, doubling the security, or even worse, demanding that Zafir stay with her everywhere and always, even when she was sleeping in her room, or even worse, demanding to stay with her himself—

  She shook her head, dismissing unnecessary thoughts. Glancing at the chest, she thought that putting the writing stick in it was the only possible option. Opening it, she saw a pile of incredibly beautiful dresses, but, not wanting to be distracted by their beauty as she had been with the cosmetics, she lifted the edges of all the dresses and placed the stick in the bottom corner, covering it with the dresses.

  Slamming the chest shut, she sat down on the floor and exhaled, hoping that no one would rummage through her things.

  Getting to her feet and walking over to the bed, she took out a herbal sleeping potion, put a few drops on her tongue, swallowed them, and put it back. She didn't think it necessary to hide it, as it didn't arouse any suspicion and, in general, was the most ordinary medicine with a soporific effect; nothing unusual.

  Ife lay down on the bed and closed her eyes; she saw Arenor's face from her dream, and his words, "Why are you still alive?" echoed in her head again.

  "I don't know why I survived..." she whispered as she fell asleep, "...but I will find out why I was supposed to die."

  And at that moment, she fell into a deep sleep.