The peasant boy was beheaded inside the castle by Ranavalona's personal guard, and his body was completely burned in the hearth. Her secrets went up in ashes.
In the following years, the old woman who had carried the baby to Wallachia was also sentenced to death. No traces remained to provide evidence of the incident. Meanwhile, Frenec was appointed chief commander of the Hungarian troops, leading them into battle against the Ottoman forces of Western Europe.
Wartburg was surrounded by estates that primarily cultivated tea and strawberries. The villagers worked on these estates, which were governed by Ranavalona and Frenec. With Frenec away at war, all authority fell to Ranavalona.
The area was densely forested, filled with tall pine and birch trees. The Ottomans had attempted to occupy Wartburg and its surrounding villages but failed, leaving behind destruction in their wake. They wreaked havoc on the fields and homes during their assault.
In response to this threat, Ranavalona heightened security around the castle and the villages. Checkpoints were installed at all possible entrances, and the wooden doors of the castle were replaced with heavy iron.
Despite these security measures, some Ottoman soldiers managed to blend in with the common people, attacking travelers in the forest during the late hours. Several bodies were discovered by castle guards in the oak forest, victims of those searching for the Ottomans.
Ranavalona suffered from multiple seizures, likely caused by epilepsy—a condition possibly stemming from the inbreeding of her parents. As a treatment, fresh blood from a healthy individual was rubbed on her lips. This method reduced the severity of her seizures year by year, but no permanent solution was found.
Some areas on her hands still showed signs of skin issues, burning and turning red when exposed to sunlight. To conceal this, she always wore long-sleeved dresses. Many of her soldiers were dispatched in search of a medicine that could cure her condition permanently, but most returned with disappointing news.
On another front, several dead bodies of young women were found, sparking concern among the villagers. They reported the incidents to the soldiers in charge of defense. This news reached Ranavalona, prompting her to strengthen security measures further and increase the number of soldiers deployed to hunt for the Ottomans.
One fine evening, Ranavalona summoned one of the maids to dress her. A girl named Bianca, around 19, hurried to Ranavalona's dressing room. She entered with a mild bleeding wound on her right wrist, having caught it on the sharp corner of an iron door. She left it uncared for, unaware that this injury would lead her to the end of her life.
Bianca tied the knots of Ranavalona's puffed, floral, full-sleeved dress designed for the evening party. As she covered Ranavalona's right arm, a drop of blood from her wrist accidentally smeared across the queen's skin.
Neither Ranavalona nor Bianca noticed this; the maid was focused on dressing her queen, while the devil within Ranavalona admired her own beauty in the mirror.
Later, when the party ended, Ranavalona found herself unable to sleep. She wandered through the open spaces of the castle, feeling a cool breeze touch her arm. To her astonishment, the area of her skin that had burned felt soft, like silk. A smile of joy and ecstasy spread across her face, while the devil inside her laughed maniacally.
Owl cries echoed throughout the village, sounding like hellish screams, and the moon appeared to bleed in red.
Two days later, Bianca was reported missing.
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