“Thirteen girls turned to stone after the prince kissed them, and my sister was one of them. I became the fourteenth bride to find out what had happened to her. After the kiss, I remained alive and realized: there was no curse. And when I uncovered who was behind everything, the prince went pale — of all people, he could have expected betrayal from anyone, except that person… 😨
My sister Teresa became Prince Adrian’s thirteenth bride. I saw with my own eyes how she collapsed after the kiss and how her skin began to turn white. I screamed and tried to reach her, but the guards wouldn’t let me through. Teresa was carried away to a closed gallery together with the other “stone” brides.
For four months, I couldn’t sleep peacefully. Then a former servant secretly brought me a piece of the white coating from one of the girls’ bodies. It wasn’t stone, but ordinary resin.
That was when I decided to become the next bride.
Before the ceremony, they gave me the same necklace with a blue sapphire that all the girls had worn. I am a jeweler’s daughter, and I immediately noticed a tiny hole in the stone. There was an unknown liquid inside. I replaced the sapphire with blue glass and the next day allowed Adrian to kiss me.
When I was still standing after a minute, the hall erupted in celebration. Everyone thought the curse had disappeared. But my hands were trembling because I already understood the terrible truth.
— This isn’t a curse, I told Adrian when we were alone. — Think about it. Why did all the girls wear the same necklace? Why did I replace the stone and remain alive?
He went pale.
— You think someone did this deliberately?
— I think someone wants the entire kingdom to believe you are cursed. And if the heir cannot marry and have a family, sooner or later people will demand another ruler.
Adrian remained silent for a long time, but I insisted:
— We have to check the girls. Tonight.
That night, we entered the closed gallery. I touched Teresa and felt warmth. Then I heard a faint heartbeat.
She was alive.
All thirteen of them were alive.
Over the next few hours, we found enough evidence to understand who had been orchestrating all of this for years and trying to take the throne away from Adrian.
When the person’s name was spoken, the prince simply froze.
He could have suspected anyone in the palace.
But not the person he trusted more than anyone else… 😨
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That person turned out to be Duke Victor — Adrian’s late father’s own brother.
The prince stared at me for several seconds, as if hoping we had made a mistake.
— Uncle Victor? He raised me after my father died. He has always been there for me.
But the evidence said otherwise. It was Victor’s people who ordered the identical sapphires, paid the doctors, and made sure that none of the families ever saw the “petrified” girls. Even the old legend about the curse began spreading at court with his help.
The reason was simple and terrifying. If Adrian were declared cursed and unable to continue the royal bloodline, Victor would become the next claimant to the throne.
Adrian wanted to summon the guards immediately, but I stopped him.
— If he realizes that we know everything, he’ll try to get rid of the girls. We have to save them first.
That same night, we secretly brought two doctors into the gallery, doctors Adrian personally trusted. They confirmed my suspicion: the girls had been kept in a deep artificial sleep for years. The white resin only created the appearance of stone.
Teresa was freed first. When the doctors removed the coating from her face, I sat beside her and held her hand. After several hours, her fingers suddenly squeezed mine weakly.
— Teresa?..
She slowly opened her eyes.
I couldn’t hold back my tears and embraced her. For four months, I had believed I had lost my sister, and now I could hear her voice again.
By morning, the other girls were beginning to wake as well.
And Victor still knew nothing.
He calmly appeared at the council meeting and even approached Adrian.
— I heard the fourteenth bride survived. It seems the curse has finally lost its power.
— There was no curse, Adrian replied.
The smile disappeared from the duke’s face.
At that moment, the doors opened.
Teresa entered the hall. Behind her came Beatrice, Clara, and the other girls.
Victor went pale.
Adrian looked at the man he had spent his entire life calling almost a second father.
— You made me believe thirteen times that I had destroyed innocent women. All for my throne.
Victor tried to deny everything, but it was too late. The doctors, servants, and people who had helped him began giving testimony. The duke was arrested, and all the girls were placed under the care of independent doctors.
Teresa needed several months to fully recover. Some of the other girls took even longer, but all thirteen survived.
After that, Adrian abolished the old rules for choosing a royal bride and ordered an investigation into everyone who had helped Victor.
And our relationship began much later.
One day, Adrian asked me:
— You understood that you might not have walked out of that hall alive. Why did you still agree to become my bride?
I looked at Teresa, who was working again in our family jewelry workshop.
— Because if I had been in her place, she would have done the same.
Two years later, Adrian asked me to become his wife again. This time there was no council, no dress chosen by the palace, and no blue sapphire.
And when he kissed me during our wedding, no one expected me to turn to stone anymore.
The loudest applause came from the thirteen women whom the entire palace had once believed were dead.
