Chapter 13
by ianthe“You’ve come again today.”
Her mother’s voice was tinged with delight. Mel peeked outside with just her eyes showing from under the blanket she had pulled over herself.
“Yes, madam. I have something to deliver to Mel……”
“What should we do? Mel is sleeping right now.”
“That’s fine, I just need to deliver this item.”
Bane, who had introduced himself as Genoa’s servant, frequently visited the cabin like this, using Genoa’s errands as an excuse. He would also relay Genoa’s apologies for not being able to come personally due to his sudden busy schedule.
“Mel, my child. Wake up for a moment.”
Apparently unable to simply send Bane away, her mother’s voice called to her, but Mel buried her head back under the blanket, pretending to sleep.
Since that day, Mel had found it difficult to face even Bane, Genoa’s servant, and thus knew neither news of Genoa nor what he wanted to give her. Mel couldn’t bear the fear of the space she was dragged into each morning for work.
‘People definitely died there. All the slaves whose numbers, with the numbers decreasing…. they must have died like them.’
Every night, Mel dreamed of dying in the workplace, leaving only bloodstains like those slaves.
If Mel suddenly failed to return one day, what would happen to her mother? Her mother only had her. Could her mother endure in this place that let slaves die in such a way? When she thought about this, Genoa naturally came to mind.
‘If I beg the young master to save me, will he get me out of there? Will he let me stop this work?’
Each time Genoa didn’t come looking for her and only sent his servant, Mel gradually gave up the idea of appealing to him.
“Mel?”
As Mel’s body began to tremble, her mother approached with a worried voice, perhaps feeling the trembling through the blanket. When her mother lifted the blanket, Mel’s face, soaked with tears, was revealed.
“My child! What’s wrong?”
Startled, her mother picked Mel up and held her in her arms. Even as Mel burrowed into her mother’s warm embrace, she trembled at the cold premonition crawling all over her body.
“Madam, if it’s all right, may I check her condition?”
At that moment, Bane, who had been watching, asked. He seemed to have been waiting to deliver what he needed to give to Mel.
“Please do.”
With her mother’s permission, Bane unfastened the chain that had been tied to the cabin door and entered with familiarity.
Mel saw Bane, who had introduced himself as Genoa’s servant, up close for the first time. Bane approached Mel, checked her temperature by touching her forehead, then examined her eyes and ears. Then he directly faced her eyes, which were violently shaking with consuming fear.
“……If I may, madam. I would like to speak with Mel alone.”
“Alone?”
At Bane’s request, her mother looked back and forth between Mel and him with an uneasy gaze, seemingly reluctant. But after meeting Bane’s extremely polite demeanor and careful eyes, she nodded slightly.
“I’ll walk outside the cabin for a bit. Mel, my child. Be sure to call me when you’re done talking, okay?”
“……”
Mel slipped out of her mother’s arms without answering. The moment she met Bane’s eyes, she had a premonition about what he would say to her.
‘He knows.’
Bane knew. That slaves were dying in that place. Which meant Genoa knew as well. After all, Bane was Genoa’s servant. Everything Bane said to Mel was no different from what Genoa himself would say.
Her mother looked back and forth between the two of them, who were silently facing each other, then left the cabin with a sigh. Bane spoke as soon as she left.
“I told the young master about you. That you’re different from what he heard, that you haven’t come out from under the blanket, and that he hasn’t been able to properly face you since you first cried.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I’m not saying this to scold you. I just want to tell you that my master has intuited something from your behavior.”
Bane swallowed a sigh as he looked at Mel, who was nothing more than a child unable to hide her anxiety as her eyes darted around.
‘To stake his fate on a child like this. Young master, what are you……’
Though reluctant, this was something Genoa was certain about. As a servant, he couldn’t question his master’s actions, but he did feel some subtle discontent. Bane tried not to let his personal feelings interfere with his master’s intentions as he continued.
“You saw.”
“……!”
“What happens in that place.”
At Bane’s words, tears welled up in Mel’s eyes. Her trembling in fear was as pitiful as a mouse cornered by a cat.
“Will I die like that too?”
“That’s unknown. Neither I nor the young master has seen what you’ve seen.”
“But you knew! That people die there!”
“We only suspected.”
Mel’s face colored with a slight sense of betrayal. Then, quickly realizing her place, she hastily hid her expression.
Because Genoa had treated her so well until now, she had momentarily forgotten that she was merely a slave. That to nobles, a slave’s life was no different from that of a fly.
“I understand why the young master has been so kind to me all this time. Because he is a kind person, he felt sorry for me. Since I’m a life that will soon end……”
“Ha.”
At Mel’s words, Bane let out a small laugh. Mel narrowed her eyes and glared at him, feeling as if he was mocking her situation.
“Why are you laughing? I’m about to die, so I’m not afraid of anything anymore.”
“That’s not it, ha, how should I explain this……”
Bane raised both hands to calm Mel while inwardly choosing his words.
Genoa intended to use Mel to the bone. Because she was a slave who entered and exited the ‘testing ground.’ But he was perplexed that a child who knew people died there and was gripped by fear that she would meet the same fate, who even realized that Genoa knew this, couldn’t think that he would use her.
‘How have you treated this child that such a sharp-witted slave has such blind faith in you?’
Bane closed his eyes and opened them again, thinking of his master who would be excited about his meeting with Mel by now.
“First, I should give you what the young master asked me to deliver today.”
He took out a thin book and a pencil from his pocket and handed them to Mel. Mel glanced at Bane cautiously, then quickly snatched them while maintaining her guard.
“I heard you told the young master you wanted to learn how to read. This is a basic continental language textbook.”
“……!”
Mel opened her eyes wide. Bane smiled slightly at her reaction and continued.
“He said to study consistently. He’ll give you a reward if you do well, so work hard.”
“Then, then……”
“You seem sharp-witted, so you’ll understand the young master’s intention. You won’t die there. The young master is certain of that.”
At Bane’s words, tears suddenly poured from Mel’s eyes as her lips quivered.
She would live. Since Genoa thought so, the fear that had been constricting her chest instantly disappeared.
“Huuung……”
“Wait, don’t, don’t cry. Please. If the madam hears from outside and misunderstands, I’ll be in trouble!”
Mel swallowed her tears, mindful of Bane’s concern. She didn’t want to worry her mother.
“Ha.”
Looking at Mel trying to calm herself, Bane swallowed a troubled sigh.
Mel, who expressed such blatant emotions, was an extremely anomalous presence in the Ivanstein ducal residence. This was the Ivanstein mansion where it was said that even infants were cautious and didn’t cry even when hungry.
In a place where revealing oneself immediately became a weakness, Mel was, in a way, an incredibly refreshing child. Perhaps this was why Genoa couldn’t help but smile whenever he thought of Mel.
“Reporting what you do to the young master will be very helpful. So I’d like you to tell me everything you see and hear there, without omission, even though it’s frightening.”
“Why, why? Why would that help the young master?”
“That’s……”
A shadow fell across Bane’s face. Seeing this, Mel’s face hardened as well.
‘Why would the young master be curious about what a mere slave does?’
‘If it requires security, it must be something the family considers important. Why doesn’t he know that?’
Even when Mel spent each day performing the same routine of inserting objects into corridor gaps, Genoa would ask how big the gaps were, what the objects were, what the corridors looked like, and where they were located. Although Mel could only give the same answers since she always did the same work, Genoa always listened as if he were hearing new information.
The moment Bane opened his mouth, Mel had a feeling that the question she had been harboring would be answered, though not quite satisfactorily.
“Because someday, the young master will have to enter that place.”
Mel’s face instantly filled with shock.
“Why would the young master, why would he go there?”
At Mel’s wide eyes and trembling voice that seemed unable to believe it, Bane wore a bitter smile. Seeing his face, Mel realized that Bane’s words were true.
“No! It’s dangerous there! There’s no reason for someone as precious as the young master to go to such a place!”
“Shall I tell you why the young master hasn’t been able to come see you?”
Looking at Mel’s face as she nodded while sobbing, Bane hesitated briefly but then began to gradually reveal part of the truth.
About the unethical “test” that the Ivanstein ducal family had long conducted to obtain outstanding successors. And that it was Genoa’s fate to soon be dragged into the “testing ground” that the Ivanstein ducal family had been meticulously preparing.
“……So the young master must eliminate as many competitors as possible before going there. The same goes for the other young masters and misses.”
After hearing everything Bane said, Mel looked as if her soul had left her body. The trembling at the corners of her parted lips made her look somewhat broken.
No matter how harsh a slave’s life she had lived, the test conducted by the Ivanstein ducal family went beyond that. It was hard for Mel to accept that the young master had to survive in this cruel competition.
“Then, then……”
Mel’s mind went blank, and she didn’t know what to say first. Bane understood her and said what she wanted to hear.
“The third miss made a move against the young master. He’s currently suffering from poison.”
“Are you saying the young master is critically ill?”
“Officially.”
At Bane’s belated addition, Mel calmed her startled heart. Then she slightly glared at Bane for adding the most important part at the end.
“The Ivanstein test could begin at any moment. Everyone is desperate. So it was a choice to reduce competition as much as possible before entering the testing ground.”
“So they’ll focus more on the other siblings than on the young master who’s weakened by poison?”
“That’s right.”
Bane honestly admired Mel for understanding his words so well. Despite only explaining the current situation simply, she comprehended quickly for a child. No wonder Genoa had taken a liking to her after just a few meetings.
“So that’s why you needed me. If where I work is the testing ground……”
“The young master will start the test from a more advantageous position than his other siblings.”
Mel bit her lip hard.
She couldn’t even imagine it. That Genoa, born into nobility, seeing and touching only precious things, and living a noble life, would have to be dragged into that terrible place. That he would have to struggle to survive, like her, perhaps even more desperately than her.
Mel tightly hugged the continental language textbook that Genoa had sent her.
“……”
Despite being able to simply use her, Genoa had done many things for her. He brought her delicious food and told her stories about the kingdom. He promised that if he inherited the family, he would free her from slavery and from a life of constant struggle to survive.
He had given Mel dreams and taught her kindness. It was also Genoa who taught her how to negotiate with people. Mel had learned so much from him.
“Sir Bane.”
With firm determination, Mel called out to Bane. He looked at her with wide eyes, surprised by the sudden change in her gaze.
“Help me. What should I do?”
“I’d like you to give detailed information about that place. Including everything that frightened you so much.”
“Then I can tell you differently from what I’ve told you so far.”
Mel now understood how she should convey what she had seen and heard. Simply talking about the appearance of the place or the objects she inserted into gaps had to end now.
The direction of the story Mel needed to tell Genoa was now clear. How to survive in that place. How to outmaneuver and take the lives of competitors who might target his life. From now on, she had to examine the place with these considerations in mind.
‘I need to be properly useful to the young master.’
Mel made a promise to herself. Although she was a slave, she wasn’t ungrateful. Genoa was the first person, apart from her mother, who made Mel feel warmth from another human being when she had never experienced it before in her life. So if she had to be used by him, she wanted to do it properly.
“You’re smart. No wonder the young master cherishes you.”
Bane had always worried about staking his master’s future on this small child. He wondered what help a mere slave child could provide.
A slave who would be easy to dispose of after gathering adequate information about the testing ground.
But he should have recognized it when Genoa’s face began to change whenever he thought of the child. He should have realized that his master wouldn’t cherish a slave without reason. And today, Bane discarded his prejudice against Mel.
“If you’re that devoted to the young master, there’s something I’d like to ask of you.”
“Tell me.”
“……The young master and I have been searching for something. I’d like you to find it for us.”
“How can I find something that the young master couldn’t?”
“When the test begins, all the duke’s attention will be focused on the testing ground. It will be when the security of the Ivanstein mansion is at its weakest.”
When the Ivanstein test begins, everyone in the mansion prepares for the new wind that will blow from the next head of the family who survives the testing ground. According to the history built by all previous heads of the Ivanstein family, the successor who survives the test tends to eliminate, one by one, those who pushed him into that place, as if venting all his pent-up resentment.
Incompetence is death.
The family motto of the Ivanstein family applies not only to those of their bloodline but also to those who follow the Ivanstein family. Therefore, those who fail to recognize the true master are not qualified to remain in this family.
So one must use every means available to hide when preparing for the possibility that someone other than their backed candidate becomes the head of the family. If one fails to escape in time, they must find something that might interest the new head and negotiate with it.
“Everyone will be terrified, not knowing who will crawl out of that hell to cut their necks, desperately trying to find any excuse to survive.”
The current Duke Ivanstein will also be most tense at that very moment. Right after the test ends. The one bloodline that survives is both the strongest and the most enraged.
The single pillar that will lead the future Ivanstein ducal family.
The family prioritizes the will of the future head who will lead the future above all else. Therefore, even the current duke must prepare for the storm that the future head will bring.
To strengthen his own power and to ensure that the Ivanstein led by the future head continues in the same direction as the Ivanstein led by the current head.
“So that’s why everyone jumps into this competition without running away?”
“Yes.”
“The young master too?”
“……Yes.”
A deep fear of the Ivanstein ducal family was engraved in Mel’s heart. If the young master survives that test, what path will he take?
Mel thought of Genoa, who knew how to reach out with the utmost kindness even to a slave like her if there was something to gain. He seemed to be the type who wouldn’t hesitate to use any means necessary to get what he wanted.
“In the end, for both my mother and me to live, the young master must survive. And you too, Sir Bane.”
“Yes.”
Bane nodded honestly.
When the test begins, the slaves who were put into that place would be in the most danger. The purchase of slaves was kept secret from most people within the ducal family, except for a few. This was so they could be disposed of at any time without raising suspicions.
Even now, slaves were dying without a trace in the place where Mel worked. If it was like this before the test began, it would be even worse once the test started.
“Where is the thing I need to find for the young master?”
“No one knows. We only know it’s hidden somewhere in the Ivanstein mansion.”
Bane couldn’t move easily. As Genoa’s right hand, it would be dangerous for him to move after the test began. But Mel could be free from others’ attention.
“……So there was a reason why the young master was kind to a slave like me.”
She truly was in a position to provide enormous help to Genoa. To be an essential existence for him, who would become the most noble from the most lowly position.
Mel felt as if she were a rare person. At least in this moment.
“Only the current Duke Ivanstein knows what it is and where it’s stored. But it’s certain that obtaining ‘that thing’ can make one the victor of the testing ground.”
“How do you know it can make young master the victor if you don’t even know what it is?”
At Mel’s question, Bane’s eyebrows rose with interest before returning to their place.
“There is a tower in the Ivanstein mansion called the Mad Duchess’s Tower. It’s recorded there. Something essential for the testing ground, said to have been created by the duchess to save her son.”
Among the countless legends passed down in the Ivanstein ducal family, the existence of ‘that thing’ divided people into believers and non-believers. Even the current Duke Ivanstein only gave a meaningful smile to those who asked about ‘that thing,’ neither denying nor confirming its existence.
Some said it was the duke’s heartlessness, wanting his children to suffer false hope until death, while others insisted that the head’s attitude must have meaning and tried to prove its existence.
“The current Duke Ivanstein was certain about ‘that thing,’ obtained it, and returned alive as the victor of the last competition.”
The current duke also knew that Genoa had discovered this fact in the Mad Duchess’s Tower. Since Genoa was the child in whom the current duke placed the most hope and who was most suited to the Ivanstein family, he overlooked this matter.
This was likely the current duke’s own gesture of goodwill to maintain an appropriate relationship with Genoa, who would most likely become the family’s successor.
‘It’s understandable to fear the frighteningly growing young master.’
The history of the family showed that the unethical successor test conducted by the Ivanstein ducal family had produced significant side effects. This was because successors who won the test often harbored resentment against the current duke and attempted to eliminate him.
‘He must set up safeguards so his own child can’t harm him.’
How to build a relationship with the future head was the biggest challenge for the Ivanstein family. The current head had chosen to offer subtle help to Genoa, who showed the greatest ability. Genoa was a child who knew how to make good use of such favor, and because of this, he had the most enemies within the family.
“Why didn’t the young master ask me to find it sooner?”
Mel’s face quickly turned tearful. Her anxious appearance as she stamped her feet seemed quite impatient. The child looked as if she thought Genoa would be dragged into that place and die at any moment.
“I wonder.”
Bane raised his hand and rubbed his bitter lips.
He had been raised from childhood to serve Genoa, learned how to understand Genoa’s thoughts, and made it his destiny to act for him. Because of this, Bane felt he might vaguely know Genoa’s inner feelings, even those Genoa himself might not be aware of.
‘He must have grown fond of this child. To the point where he doesn’t want to give her dangerous tasks.’
Weakness is poison in the Ivanstein ducal family. That’s why Genoa erased all his weaknesses.
Even if the young master cherished Mel, it would likely be expressed in a way different from what is commonly known. This was evident just from the fact that he continued to watch the child enter and exit the testing ground, anticipating her reaction when she eventually learned the truth.
Genoa liked Mel, who maintained her purity even within this terrible family. Recognizing this, Bane highly valued Mel for drawing such affection from Genoa.
Mel is helpful. Even if Genoa no longer wants that, this fact remains unchanged.
“Telling you this is my own decision.”
Bane would do anything for his master. Even if it was something Genoa didn’t want, he wanted to do his best for Genoa’s sake.
“……What?”
“It seems the young master doesn’t intend to ask you to find this.”
“Why? Wasn’t the young master planning to use me because he needed me? Why not use me for the most important task? Why?”
Mel asked Bane almost aggressively, as if she couldn’t understand at all. Though it was disconcerting to see a child who didn’t question being used at all, this was precisely why Bane judged Mel to be most suitable for this task.
“Because it’s dangerous. The young master, being exceptional, thinks he doesn’t need your help to find ‘that thing,’ but I believe that’s what makes it even more dangerous.”
“……”
“The more exceptional someone is, the more they need to guard against arrogance.”
At Bane’s words, Mel’s face instantly became complicated.
“Please keep the fact that I told you this a secret from the young master. Otherwise, he will try to stop you.”
“Because it’s dangerous……”
Mel felt scared that the task was so dangerous that Genoa wouldn’t entrust it to her, but she also felt she could be brave for Genoa who cared so much about her.
Her feelings were complicated. Since learning that slaves were dying in the testing ground, she thought nothing could be scarier than that, but now she realized there was something even more dangerous lurking in this mansion.
‘I think I preferred the time when mother and I were being sold from place to place.’
She had thought no life was harsher and more difficult than a slave’s life, but Genoa’s life, which she had thought was the most noble, was more precarious than she had imagined.
After pondering for a moment, Mel opened her mouth with a resolute face, as if she had made a decision.
“Please help me sneak into the Ivanstein mansion.”
Bane quietly extended his hand to Mel. She stared at the outstretched hand for a while before carefully taking it. It was a handshake for Genoa alone. For only one person.
Shortly after, Bane released Mel’s hand and carefully opened the cabin door, looking outside before leaving. Near the cabin, Mel’s mother was pacing back and forth anxiously.
“Have you finished talking?”
When Bane emerged, Mel’s mother approached with a bright expression. She seemed worried about leaving her young daughter alone with Bane in the cabin.
“Yes, madam. For, um, giving us time to talk like this, thank you.”
Unlike when he was talking with Mel earlier, Bane stumbled over his words. His heart was beating with an irregular rhythm. He had lost his composure beyond his control.
“No need for thanks. Well then.”
Mel’s mother hurried to enter the cabin. At this sight, Bane called out to her without realizing it.
“Wait!”
“Yes?”
When Mel’s mother turned around, Bane’s back broke into a cold sweat as he directly faced her face filled with pure curiosity. His mind, turned blank by the words he had blurted out of regret, worked busily to find something to say.
“……Mel is very smart.”
“Is that so?”
When he suddenly complimented Mel for lack of anything else to say, a bright smile bloomed on the face of the mother whose daughter was everything to her in the world. Had a woman’s face shining like flower petals under the moonlight ever been so beautiful?
Bane stared blankly at that face, then bit his tongue to come to his senses, fearing he might become intoxicated by something he shouldn’t.
“……”
Mel’s mother, who had been carefully observing Bane’s face as he closed his eyes tightly and opened them again, narrowed her eyes for a moment. Her eyes, which seemed to have intuited something, slowly scanned Bane up and down.
“I have a favor to ask you.”
“……! Please speak.”
Bane’s voice betrayed a hint of delight, as he hadn’t expected her to ask him for something first.
“Mel is more precious to me than anything. If it weren’t for her, I probably wouldn’t be in this world anymore.”
“……”
At her words, Bane’s face stiffened slightly. The fact that both Mel’s mother and Mel were slaves struck him anew through her words. It wasn’t easy for a woman to live as a slave.
‘She doesn’t seem to have been born a slave.’
Unlike Mel, who had been a slave from birth, her mother exuded a different atmosphere. Despite clearly having endured years of hardship, she had a delicate impression.
Her gentle speech, fragile body, pure atmosphere, and elegant gestures.
‘A fallen noble perhaps.’
Mel might not have noticed, but Bane knew. She was a woman who would choose to take her own life rather than live as a slave.
“Although we must live as our masters command, just once, if the opportunity arises, please save Mel.”
“……!”
Had she sensed something? Was it maternal instinct that instinctively recognized those who might harm her child? Bane swallowed hard at her request, which seemed to see through the fact that he had pushed Mel onto a dangerous path that even Genoa would not recommend.
“……I will, madam.”
Bane nodded, unable to deny what was rising within him, gazing rapturously at her satisfyingly spreading smile.
* * *
Bane roughly grabbed Mel’s wrist and went deeper, deeper into the garden. Mel walked obediently as he led her, looking at his back with cold, settled eyes.
It was the same back of his head that had turned and run away with ‘that thing’ in his hand when hot blood was draining from Mel’s entire body.
“Where are you taking me? Are you abandoning your duty to stay by the young master’s side while he’s in that cabin?”
“……You!”
At Mel’s undisguised sarcasm, Bane groaned with a boiling sound in his throat. Mel finally had her wrist released and rubbed it while still looking at Bane with cold eyes. Her skin felt hot and flushed.
“Ha, so you’re Mel. Not the Reibritton princess.”
“Can’t you believe it, Sir?”
Mel looked at him with a smile befitting the Reibritton princess she had been portraying all this time. Bane suppressed his surging emotions through gritted teeth and asked.
“What happened? You were definitely a slave……”
His voice revealed how his mind was in complete disarray. He couldn’t believe that Mel, who had been a slave, now appeared as the noble princess of Reibritton.
“Seeing how you’ve dropped all formalities, it seems you believe I’m Mel, but are you curious about why I’ve come here with this appearance, this status?”
Mel slowly shook her head and clicked her tongue. Then, pretending to brush off non-existent dust from Bane’s shoulders, she continued.
“If I were you, I’d ask about the storage location of ‘that thing’ that I know about.”
“……!”
Bulging eyes, clenched fists, parted lips trembling. Mel clearly engraved this face of Bane’s in her mind. That was the face of someone who had committed a sin. Eyes frightened that their crime might be exposed to the world.
“Of course, I won’t tell you.”
Typically, those who want to hide their crimes would want to eliminate any living evidence—that was human nature. Now that he had confirmed that Mel was no longer a noble princess but a slave, he would ignite that cruel nature.
Mel believed Bane was fully capable of this. After all, he was the Bane who had constantly antagonized her even while knowing she was the Reibritton princess, simply because her face was similar. When he saw Mel sneaking into the western garden, he was more pleased at the opportunity to get rid of the bothersome princess than concerned.
“You probably want to kill me right now, but hold back. I’ll keep my mouth shut like a clam until I get what I want.”
“……You came back to the Ivanstein mansion with a purpose?”
“I’m surprised you put it that way. It was you and the young master who brought me here after I fainted at the royal palace.”
Mel covered her mouth with her hand and smiled softly. Her demeanor was still so much like the Reibritton princess that Bane frowned.
“Where is the real Reibritton princess?”
“Where do you think?”
As Bane glared at Mel who shrugged her shoulders, something seemed to dawn on him and he asked with wide eyes.
“Don’t tell me, she’s the maid you were looking for?”
“That’s right.”
When Mel nodded calmly, Bane rushed at her. His hands, which looked as if they might grab her by the collar, roughly seized both her shoulders instead.
“You, with a fake princess identity, entered the Ivanstein mansion and then found the real princess using my lord’s hands? What is this!”
“Seems quite bold, doesn’t it? But for me, dying one way or another is all the same.”
“Ha!”
Bane didn’t bother hiding his expression of disbelief. He inhaled sharply without saying anything more, seemingly at a loss for words at Mel’s audacious actions. The force crushing Mel’s shoulders suddenly dropped.
“It wasn’t that the princess resembled you; you resembled the princess.”
“Enough to fool the empire.”
The most astounding thing about this deception was that this impudent slave had dared to fool not only the empire but even Genoa. No one in the Raon Empire or the Ivanstein mansion suspected her.
Even Bane, standing before Mel who had just revealed her mask, hadn’t associated the princess who entered the western garden with Mel at all, showing how solid and thick her disguise had been.
“What were you thinking? If discovered, my lord would probably tear you to pieces.”
“……”
Mel’s face hardened bitterly at Bane’s words. Even Bane, who could be considered Genoa’s closest subordinate, believed that Genoa would kill her if he discovered her identity.
When she saw Genoa sleeping alone in the cabin, Mel had thought that perhaps he had missed her too. That he had left the old cabin in the western garden as it was for that reason. That he had consoled his longing in that way because he missed those times.
But through Bane’s reaction, she realized that sliver of hope was threadbare.
“Would the young master kill me if you hadn’t made me a traitor?”
“It was because of your mother’s request. I saved you because of that request! And because you also asked me to save you, I—!”
“Did my mother also ask you to make me a traitor to the young master?”
“……”
Bane’s lips moved slightly before firmly closing. Mel continued, mocking his silence.
“Why did you let the young master misunderstand? Did you want to claim all the credit for finding ‘that thing’ for yourself?”
“……In the end, you also didn’t seek him out despite being alive. It was a misunderstanding that wouldn’t have happened if you had returned to Ivanstein earlier.”
“Ah, so you’re trying to blame me?”
“Until you explain why you ended up in Reibritton.”
Mel and Bane stared at each other for a while without speaking, neither avoiding the other’s gaze. Mel was the first to break the silence.
“When I regained consciousness, my mother was in critical condition.”
“……!”
“While nursing me as I hovered between life and death, my mother overexerted herself and her chronic illness worsened.”
Bane’s composed face crumbled instantly. He rushed toward Mel and urgently asked.
“The madam, where is she now?”
Bane just realized that Mel had come to the Ivanstein mansion alone, without her mother.
Mel was a child who never wanted to be separated from her mother. Even at a very young age, she had used her wits with the slave manager to be sold together with her mother. The fact that Mel was now alone made Bane imagine the worst.
“Surely she hasn’t passed away……”
“My mother is probably still alive. As long as I remain useful.”
Ha. A heavy sigh escaped between Bane’s lips. Seeing him so openly relieved, Mel realized that one of her childhood suspicions was true. Why he had granted her mother’s request to save her.
“As soon as I could move, I wanted to go to the Ivanstein mansion. But my mother……”
Mel bit her lip hard, feeling like she might cry if she recalled that time.
“She knelt and begged me. Not to go.”
“……!”
“She was so afraid of the Ivanstein family, so terrified of almost losing me there. I couldn’t leave my mother who would collapse with seizures at the mere mention of Ivanstein.”
Mel had held onto her mother who collapsed with her eyes rolling back and foam at her mouth, trying to get as far away from the Raon Empire as possible. As they crossed the border and moved toward the center of Reibritton, her mother’s condition improved.
One day, when they heard news that the Ivanstein ducal family had introduced their successor to society, her mother had a major seizure, but other than that, her health had improved significantly.
So Mel couldn’t go to the mansion even if she wanted to. Her mother had blocked her trip to the Raon Empire with her own life.
“I suppose that could also be considered a betrayal.”
That’s why Mel couldn’t completely deny it in her heart when Genoa called her a traitor. Not returning to the mansion was Mel’s choice. She had chosen her mother over Genoa.
“But I hate being misunderstood for a betrayal I didn’t commit.”
“……What do you intend to do?”
Bane’s voice trembled with anxiety. He feared Genoa would discover his lies.
“Cooperate with me. So I can clear up the misunderstanding.”
“Why would I cooperate with you? If I tell my lord about your deception right now……”
“If I die here, my mother dies too.”
“……!”
Bane’s face hardened at Mel’s words. He was the man who had staged Mel’s death to grant her mother’s request, knowing that Genoa didn’t want her to leave.
“The moment I die, the real princess will have no need to keep my mother hostage.”
That night, the fake Reibritton princess and the most loyal servant of Duke Ivanstein clasped hands. Just as they had done in the past.
* * *
The day of the emperor’s coronation ceremony, which was also the day of the tea party with the first prince’s concubines, approached.
Perhaps due to the great shock from the previous day’s events, Mel hadn’t slept at all. When her identity was discovered by Bane the night before, Mel felt that not much time remained before the truth would be revealed to Genoa.
“He won’t keep his mouth shut forever.”
Mel had noticed Bane’s attraction to her mother when she was young. She had used this to temporarily silence him, but given Bane’s character of absolute loyalty to Genoa, she didn’t think he would keep the secret for long.
“……The sun has risen.”
With sunken, lifeless eyes, Mel stared numbly at the window where light was streaming in.
Lately, she had been contemplating a lot about life. Why did she so desperately want to live? Mel felt as if she had lost track of where her desire for life came from.
‘Perhaps it’s because this is the first time my mother hasn’t been by my side.’
For my mother, because my mother is sad, because my mother lives for me, because if something happens to me, it happens to my mother too.
Mel had always lived tenaciously to repay the debt to her mother who constantly sacrificed for her. But even separated from her mother like this, the sun still rose, food still went down her throat, and she still found reasons to laugh and cry.
Worrying about what might be happening to her mother in Amelia’s clutches was only momentary; increasingly, Mel found herself forgetting about her mother as she focused on resolving her own situation.
‘Is it okay for me to be like this?’
The longer she remained in this daze, the more her guilt about her mother swelled and expanded.
When had it started? When had she become like this?
As Mel was thinking with her foggy, sleepless mind, she straightened her posture from where she had been slumped in the chair when she heard movement outside her door.
“……is here……”
It was just dawn, with the early morning darkness lifting as the sun rose. The fact that the butler’s voice could be heard near Mel’s door at this hour meant Genoa had come. Mel could easily guess why he had come to see her before the coronation.
‘It must be about the tea party.’
She had constantly imagined what it would be like to face that precious face she hadn’t been able to see for days. What would she say? Should she tell him that what she said at the dinner table wasn’t sincere? Should she just close her eyes and accept his marriage proposal?
But now Mel couldn’t even say that to Genoa.
‘He saw me sleeping so ungracefully.’
Though it was Mel who had soothed Genoa’s insomnia the night before, conversely, Genoa had inflicted the pain of insomnia on Mel. As if to make her physically experience how painful it was when she said she would no longer act as his sleeping pill.
That man, who could be called the most precious in this world, whom even the emperor who would be crowned today was cautious around. The image of him curled up like a child, cramming his entire body into the pathetically small bed in a cabin where a mere slave had once stayed, was still vivid before her eyes. Painfully so.
“Haah.”
Mel clutched her stomach, which was twisting so complexly it hurt. She felt unwell. Because she felt as if she had made Genoa that way.
And on the other hand, hope began to crawl out from a corner of her heart that perhaps Genoa’s actions were because he missed her. She felt disgusted with herself for feeling hope from that sight.
That was probably why Mel’s stomach was gradually knotting up.
“Princess, may I come in for a moment?”
With a knock, the butler asked for permission. Mel, whose mind was about to drift into contemplation, barely managed to answer.
“Come in.”
As soon as Mel gave permission, the door burst open and in came not the butler but Genoa. He was dressed splendidly, befitting the weight of his role in today’s coronation ceremony, and Mel thought for a moment she might go blind.
It wasn’t just because of Genoa’s handsome appearance, though that wasn’t wrong, but because of his shimmering silver hair reflecting the sunlight.
“Ugh.”
When Mel frowned and groaned, Genoa approached with a faint smile, having seen her reaction.
“You don’t need to praise me so extravagantly; I already know I look beautiful today.”
“……How nice to know that about yourself.”
“It’s not bad.”
Genoa shrugged his shoulders and then nodded to the butler. The butler quietly turned around and closed the door.
“……”
Before the door closed, Mel saw the head maid who had followed behind Genoa and the butler giving her a secretive look. The head maid seemed to truly believe that Genoa didn’t know about today’s tea party, to the point where Mel wanted to tell her there was no need to be so subtle.
As soon as the door completely closed, Mel immediately said to Genoa.
“Duke Ivanstein, you should have seen the look the head maid just gave me.”
“I did.”
“How?”
“I have eyes on the back of my head.”
“……Judging by your nonsensical talk, you must be in quite a good mood today.”
“It’s the day my master is determined, after all.”
Genoa’s voice even seemed somewhat excited. The word ‘master’ coming from the mouth of this man, who possessed power second only to the emperor in the empire, felt strange.
“Ah, you called yourself ‘the emperor’s dog,’ didn’t you?”
“You forgot ‘loyal,’ Princess.”
“Right. The ‘loyal dog of the emperor’ that you call yourself. What business brings the Duke to me so early on this important day?”
There was a hint of resentment in Mel’s voice. Since she hadn’t been able to meet Genoa even when she had sought him out before, she felt entitled to this much complaining.
“Naturally, to encourage the Princess for her first tea party today.”
At Genoa’s words, Mel’s shoulders, which had been tense with nervousness, dropped. It was somewhat disappointing that Genoa’s attitude showed no sign of being bothered by their previous conversation, as if only Mel was concerned about it.
“Before that, don’t we have a conversation we need to have first?”
“I’m confused that you say there’s something we need to do first when I came here for that conversation.”
“I’m talking about our trust, not the tea party.”
“Ah……”
When Mel pointedly brought up the topic, Genoa finally raised his eyebrows with interest and drawled. His face looked surprised, as if he hadn’t expected her to mention their previous conversation first.
“I thought you had been angry with me ever since that day. Was I wrong?”
When Mel stared intently at Genoa with a direct gaze, he moved his lips slightly before answering with a small sigh.
“You have a talent for making me quite flustered, Princess. I didn’t expect you to ask so directly.”
He seemed ready to have a proper conversation with Mel now, as he pulled up a chair from nearby and sat down in front of her.
“To be honest, since that day, I’ve been doing something uncharacteristic of me—reflecting.”
“……What?”
When Mel blinked her eyes and asked in startled surprise, a small laugh escaped between Genoa’s lips.
After chuckling for a moment, Genoa raised his hand and pressed his finger firmly on Mel’s raised eyebrows as he continued.
“Because you adapted so quickly to the Ivanstein mansion, I momentarily forgot what position you hold in here.”
“What do you……”
“I realized that the current situation could be sufficiently terrifying for you, Princess. That I am Reibritton’s invader, and you’re a victim kidnapped by me.”
“……!”
At Genoa’s words, Mel frowned as she felt her already knotted stomach twist once more.
She hadn’t expected such words from Genoa’s mouth. He was trying to understand her. He was understanding her position, considering the fear she might have felt, and realizing how much of a burden his proposal must have been to her, and was now trying to take a step back.
“Why, suddenly,”
Mel’s face turned pale as she stammered her question. Genoa, perhaps thinking she was frightened, removed his finger from her eyebrows and showed both his palms as he spoke.
“I mean that I won’t do anything you don’t like. I’m not trying to blame you.”
“But why……”
“Looking at your face now, I seem to have already made a mistake, but I think I’ve grown tired of being disliked.”
Ah. This was a side of Genoa that she hadn’t known. He was now revealing his honest inner feelings in front of Mel. Mel, who had known him since childhood, could tell there wasn’t a shred of pretense in his words.
Because the wall of status that she had felt even when she didn’t want to as a slave, the subtle distance that inevitably crossed between them due to their different births, was now completely absent. At this moment, Genoa was sitting before the princess simply as one person.
“……”
And that fact pained Mel deeply. Quite a lot. She felt sad about Genoa’s kindness as he peeled away a layer of himself to show to her, in a relationship that wasn’t real but fake.
This was a side of Genoa he had never shown to Mel when she was a slave, so perhaps it was an aspect of him she wouldn’t have known if she had been her original status. Even though she knew she shouldn’t, when she imagined Amelia sitting here facing Genoa instead of her, she felt her insides twisting.
Genoa’s attitude was courteous. If before he had looked at Mel as if she were an interesting specimen, now he was considering her thoughts and trying to understand her intentions to accommodate them.
“It feels strange.”
“I don’t intend to frighten you anymore, so you’ll get used to it. As a princess would.”
The implication was that Mel, who had always spoken her mind even when Genoa had been coldly calculating her life and death, no longer needed to worry about dying. Mel seemed to understand what Genoa expected from her with these words.
“I think I’ve already adapted as much as possible, so what more……”
“Our relationship will improve.”
“I don’t understand why you’re going this far.”
Mel felt her voice breaking bitterly at the end. She simply couldn’t understand why Genoa, who was already the victor in this war, had become so sincere about his marriage proposal.
“Is Reibritton worth all this trouble for the Duke?”
“If I were to explain it purely politically, then yes, it would be.”
Was the status of Reibritton princess really that significant? She feared that the disappointment he would feel when her misunderstanding was cleared up would be as great as his current kindness.
If Genoa spared her life when her true identity was revealed and the misunderstanding cleared up, would he still want to keep her by his side?
‘Probably not. He wouldn’t be able to fully trust me.’
Mel the slave was no longer necessary to Genoa, who had become Duke Ivanstein. The Genoa she knew was not a man who would keep someone useless by his side.
As Mel thought this, she unexpectedly discovered that she wanted to remain by Genoa’s side even after everything was revealed.
‘That’s absurd.’
Seeing Mel shudder and rub her arms with both hands, Genoa tilted his head to the side before straightening it and speaking.
“You’re wise and bold, Princess. Honestly, my dealings with you have been the most compatible among all my recent endeavors. Perhaps because you’re so perceptive, I never thought there would be a woman who could read my intentions so well.”
That was because she had known Genoa since childhood. She knew how he manipulated people, how he liked to set up his schemes. It was possible because there had been a time when she had desperately tried to learn everything about Genoa because she wanted to know everything about him.
‘If she were the real princess…… would this be different?’
Mel thought of Amelia, who might be heading to the Eastern Continent by now.
Amelia had a hasty temperament, was simple-minded, and hated using her brain. Deceiving the king and installing Mel as her double was probably the first and last time she had used her head.
‘Isn’t this something he’s saying because he’s seeing me, me?’
Mel’s heart, forgetting its proper place, began to race. If she met even some of the criteria by which Duke Ivanstein judged the Reibritton princess suitable to be by his side, then that would make her a little happy.
Genoa couldn’t help but notice Mel’s faint flutter of excitement. His eyes narrowed slightly before curving into a smile. That was when Mel’s face flushed hot. Genoa was behaving quite deliberately. He was sweet to the point of being cloying.
“When you wander around this mansion, I momentarily forget what kind of place this family I lead is.”
“……!”
Mel quietly swallowed. She understood the weight carried by those casually spoken words from Genoa.
The smell of blood flowing through the Ivanstein family must still linger somewhere. Perhaps Genoa too, like previous Ivansteins, might write history with blood, yet Mel couldn’t believe those words that he momentarily forgot what kind of place this family was.
“Perhaps that’s also why I can sleep when I’m by your side, Princess.”
Genoa’s voice deepened and intensified. He rose from his chair and slowly approached Mel. With each step he took, Mel felt her hands and feet tensing. She only raised her gaze to look at him.
“So I’d like you to keep helping me forget.”
“……”
“That I’m in this damned family.”
Genoa’s long fingers gently lifted her chin. His long silver hair fell softly onto her shoulders.
Oh, I can’t do this.
Mel squeezed her eyes shut, feeling as if her heart might jump out of her mouth.
‘I’m someone who makes the young master remember that place.’
She needed to disappear. She needed to disappear from Genoa’s side while still being the Reibritton princess. Even if she could finally clear up the misunderstanding, she had to. She hated seeing him sleeping in that small cabin again, cramming his existence into it while still trapped in the remnants of the past.
Mel opened her mouth, putting strength into her eyes that felt like they might tear up.
“I still want to be free.”
“If that’s truly what you desire, you can have your freedom when our deal successfully concludes.”
Genoa nodded readily, unlike before. He truly seemed to respect Mel’s choice.
“Just know that it will be my job to make you choose to stay by my side with that freedom.”
Not completely, but this was quite a courteous approach for Genoa.
“But now I’m curious. What exactly about me displeases you so much that you reject me to this extent?”
“Didn’t you just admit with your own mouth that you’ve been frightening me, Duke?”
At Mel’s answer, Genoa blinked for a moment before staring at her and slowly opening his mouth.
“You don’t seem to fear me that much.”
His violet-tinged eyes darkened.
Mel bit the tip of her tongue inside her mouth as she thought of an excuse. Something as absurd as possible. Something that would leave Genoa no room to argue or persuade.
“It’s not that I dislike you, Duke, rather, it’s just that I……”
“Speak. You seem to remember well that I said I wouldn’t frighten you anymore.”
“……If I were to become engaged, I’d want to marry out of love.”
“What?”
A gasp escaped between Genoa’s lips. When Mel looked up at him, Genoa was staring down at her with his mouth open, quite unlike himself.
“Am I asking for too much? But what any lady would dream of is……”
“Romance, you say.”
“……Yes.”
Was it too absurd? Mel felt her ears burning red at Genoa’s attitude, which didn’t even try to hide his astonishment. But this was something that the real princess, Amelia, always talked about. That every woman dreams of sweet romance.
“Such a reason, I never,”
“Never even imagined?”
It was usually Mel who was left speechless when conversing with Genoa, but this time she seemed to have succeeded quite admirably in making him close his mouth.
“I don’t like the reason you proposed to me, Duke Ivanstein.”
Genoa ran his hand through his hair once and stepped back a couple of paces from Mel. Just by that distance, he showed he didn’t understand her.
He took a moment to organize his confused thoughts. Mel wasn’t sure whether to be happy or sad that this excuse seemed to be working on him, so she just stared at the corner of his lips.
“You must leave soon. His Majesty will be waiting.”
“Ah.”
At the butler’s urging, who couldn’t wait any longer, Genoa and Mel looked at each other as if they had just come to their senses. They had completely forgotten that today would be the starting point of a new history for the empire.
“This is precisely why I want to make you the mistress of this mansion, Princess.”
You even make me forget useless things. After adding that, Genoa waved his hand at the butler.
The butler, who had been looking anxious, glanced at Mel with eyes seeking help before sighing and closing the door again.
“I hope you will fully experience what it feels like to be the Duchess of Ivanstein at today’s tea party.”
“I don’t think it will be such a pleasant tea party. Since the first prince has moved away from the throne, what can his concubines do?”
“They may not have business with you, but they’ll probably be more interested in me.”
“Ah, so you’re trying to provoke my jealousy somehow?”
“That wouldn’t be bad, but it’s probably because the first prince hasn’t completely moved away from the throne yet.”
At Genoa’s words, Mel couldn’t hide her confusion as she asked.
“You know today is the coronation ceremony, right?”
“Of course.”
Looking at Genoa nodding slightly, he curled up the corners of his mouth and drew a pleasant smile in response to Mel’s questioning gaze.
“The emperor’s will exerts quite powerful force, but if it’s difficult to convince everyone, objections can be raised. Since it’s the imperial succession issue, it means the emperor alone cannot decide arbitrarily.”
“But wasn’t it you who supported the emperor’s will? I heard most nobles moved according to your wishes. Even those who supported the first prince would want to avoid an open confrontation with the Duke of Ivanstein……”
At Mel’s words, a strange light momentarily flashed in Genoa’s eyes. With just one appearance in high society, she had seen, heard, and understood quite a lot.
Ah, truly tempting indeed. The corners of Genoa’s lips dried slightly with obvious thirst. He moistened his insufficient desire with the tip of his tongue and smiled brightly.
“The first prince made many concessions while appearing to step back voluntarily.”
“Why would he do that?”
“He seems to enjoy making a fuss.”
“What?”
Though Mel expressed confusion at his incongruous statement, Genoa offered no further explanation. Perhaps the answer to this question would come through the mouths of the first prince’s concubines attending today’s tea party.
Her homework had increased. Mel sighed, thinking that Genoa was exactly the same as before, trying to make efficient use of her despite having gone so far as to propose to her.
“You said there’s an answer you want to hear from the first prince through me, Duke Ivanstein?”
“That’s right.”
“When you get that answer, what do you want to do with the first prince?”
“……”
Genoa didn’t answer for a moment. Mel shuddered as she sensed something chilling in that brief silence.
“We’ll have to work through that answer together.”
Genoa didn’t give Mel a clear answer, but she knew that the way that answer would be worked through would be handled entirely his way.
Mel reassured herself that she had done well to incur the first prince’s hostility. She had a feeling that if she had gained the first prince’s favor as Genoa had initially intended, she truly might have been disposed of along with him.
“I’ll be looking forward to it, Princess.”
“Please don’t.”
Genoa glanced at his watch and tucked his fallen hair behind his ear.
It was time to attend the coronation ceremony. It couldn’t be delayed any longer. He was the man who would play the second most important role in today’s event, after the emperor.
“Then we’ll continue our conversation when I return. About that love you desire.”
“Oh, no. I find that topic too difficult and unwelcome.”
“It might be surprisingly easy. Isn’t it just a matter of me acting like a man who’s fallen for you?”
“That, that’s not love. Because there’s no sincerity.”
When Mel stammered in embarrassment, Genoa burst into laughter and said.
“Does that matter? Whether I’m sincere or not, the actions of someone in love would come out the same.”
“Even with the same actions, whether there’s sincerity or not makes a huge difference. I don’t need empty sincerity.”
“So, you want my sincerity?”
“No, that’s not what I……”
As Mel shook her head and waved her palms in front of her, Genoa suddenly intertwined his fingers between hers and pulled her toward him.
“You don’t know me well yet, Princess. You speak so easily because you don’t know what kind of person I can be when I’m sincere.”
“……!”
“I could show you if you’re curious.”
Genoa flipped Mel’s hand and pressed his lips firmly just below her palm, near her wrist. With his gaze raised to meet her eyes, his amethyst-like eyes left her frozen, unable even to breathe.
“Of course, it wouldn’t be too bad.”
Genoa’s gentle voice and breath slid across her delicate skin. Following it, Mel trembled at the feeling of a tingling sensation spreading throughout her body.
* * *
In the Peruis County of Reibritton, Crown Prince Adelian watched the rising sun through the window and thought.
The price of abandoning the royal palace was great. The longer the king’s escape continued, the more clearly his incompetence took shape. Both the nobles of Reibritton and the kingdom’s people were gradually realizing this fact. That the necessity of serving a king who couldn’t protect them was gradually disappearing.
The King of Reibritton was now just an old man who had lost his power and was on the run. The only value he now held was the symbolism that Reibritton had not yet completely fallen into the hands of the Raon Empire.
Some might say that was enough, but here, Adelian, the Crown Prince of Reibritton, couldn’t agree.
“Today is the coronation ceremony for the new emperor, isn’t it?”
“Yes, that’s what they say.”
“I wish they would forget us forever.”
“……”
Adelian struggled to manage his face, which naturally wanted to crumple at his father’s lament, who grew more senile by the day.
“Rudrich de Raon maintained his opposition to this war from the beginning. Now that he has become emperor, the war will soon end.”
“But Adelian, if he truly intended to release Reibritton, shouldn’t he have invited us to the coronation ceremony!”
“That’s……”
Thousands of reasons why the Reibritton royal family should neither be invited to nor accept an invitation to the Raon Empire’s coronation ceremony rose to the tip of Adelian’s throat. The royal palace, accustomed to long peace, had collapsed so easily, and the king had weakened from the shock. His insight had dulled, and the wise old king of the past was nowhere to be found.
“I apologize.”
Adelian swallowed his desire to bite his tongue and first calmed the king. His father, who panted and couldn’t easily control his anger, was no longer helpful.
“I’ll go find out about the situation, so it would be better for you to rest a bit.”
“You useless thing. You should have protected Reibritton. You, all of you should have protected Reibritton, me……”
“Rest.”
Adelian left the room, unable to bear seeing the king who was once again hurling insults and blame at him, having felt anxiety from somewhere unknown.
As he closed the door and left the room, Crown Princess Rowse, who had been waiting outside with an anxious face, approached. Seeing Adelian’s troubled expression, she swallowed a sigh and comforted him.
“He’s like that because he’s deeply upset, so please don’t worry too much, Your Highness.”
“I know.”
“……Count Peruis asked when we would leave. What should I tell him?”
“Haah. We’ve only been in the county for a week, and already.”
Adelian pressed his fingers against his temples, trying to soothe his throbbing headache.
After losing the royal palace, they had led the royal elite forces from territory to territory, continuing to fight against the imperial army, but with repeated defeats in battle, many territories had been reduced to ruins.
With the news of the emperor’s death and Duke Ivanstein’s return to the empire, the war had temporarily subsided, but Count Peruis seemed burdened by the royal family staying in his county and was subtly hinting through the crown princess.
Among the nobles, praying at temples to prevent the royal army from visiting their mansions had spread like a fashion. Adelian couldn’t hide his complicated feelings about the royal honor and authority that had fallen to the ground.
As he began to walk, Rowse quickly followed behind him and said.
“It seems there are frequent clashes between Count Peruis’s private soldiers and the royal elite forces. If we can resolve this issue, he wouldn’t dare urge us to leave.”
“Although they’re private soldiers, they too should serve the royal family as citizens of the kingdom. How can they cause friction with the royal elite forces?”
The couple looked at each other before finally swallowing their rising misery.
“I’ll meet with the private soldiers myself and encourage them, so please tell Countess Peruis to soothe her husband.”
“……Haah, if only Amelia were here at a time like this.”
Rowse was startled by her own words that had escaped like a sigh and quickly covered her mouth. She glanced at Adelian and saw his face had also hardened grimly. After the king had confined the princess to the royal palace to buy time to escape from the empire’s attack, her name had become taboo between them.
“She survived even in the empire with her tenacious life, so it would be good if she acted for the royal family until the end. But that child who only cares for her own life without doing anything wouldn’t be much help.”
Adelian briefly assessed Amelia like that and then turned away coldly. He knew Rowse was left behind, fidgeting and stamping her feet, but he didn’t want to face her again.
‘Who would have thought she’d still be alive.’
She was his sister whom he had expected to be the first captured by the imperial army and disappear as dew on the execution platform. He had been certain she would die just running her foolish mouth, but he hadn’t thought at all that she would still be alive.
He too hadn’t stopped his father from confining Amelia in the royal palace. No, he hadn’t tried to stop him. Because they needed to save their lives to plan for the future, fleeing from the imperial army advancing toward the royal palace at a frightening speed.
He thought that if Amelia repaid the royal family in that way, after they had raised her delicately and brought her all sorts of rare things, it would be an honorable death for her too. Adelian carried just about that much guilt.
“……”
A thought briefly crossed Adelian’s mind as he was moving to encourage the royal regular army. He froze in place.
“Could it be that the one in the empire isn’t Amelia?”
Adelian also knew about the slave who served as Amelia’s double. He had kept his mouth shut until now because it was too late to turn back and he didn’t want to cause a commotion.
Adelian and Amelia couldn’t be called close siblings even as a polite fiction. But he had enough brotherly affection to turn a blind eye to the troubles Amelia caused.
“……”
Adelian stopped walking, his face hardening with the subtle certainty that had suddenly struck his mind.
Mel, the slave who looked eerily similar to Amelia. A name that seemed to be taken from just one syllable of the name Amelia Reibritton. He thought it was a fitting name, as it allowed her to live the life of a noble princess for just that short name’s worth while being a slave.
After Adelian caught Amelia using a beaten maid as her double, she came to him every day complaining.
“Now I can’t even kill her! It’s so annoying, really. Is it that hard to just do things moderately? I don’t know if she’s smart or stupid……”
It was already surprising that she had similar looks to royalty despite her lowly status, but she was also exceptionally intelligent. Meanwhile, Amelia was too stupid to notice that the maid had deliberately shown outstanding abilities to secure her own survival.
Adelian thought while comforting the pitifully stupid Amelia. Perhaps the souls of the maid and Amelia had been switched when they settled in their bodies.
“Crown Prince, there you are! Count Peruis has urgently requested your presence in the reception room.”
The servant of Count Peruis’s mansion interrupted Adelian’s thoughts. The servant stood before him, panting without even taking time to catch his breath, having apparently rushed over. A faint crease appeared between Adelian’s brows at this behavior, which lacked the proper etiquette that should naturally be shown before royalty.
He stepped back just far enough that the servant’s breath wouldn’t reach him and asked.
“If the matter is so urgent, the Count could come himself, yet I must personally go to the reception room?”
Adelian was about to raise his voice in anger, thinking that no matter how much royal authority had been driven into the ground, it made no sense for royalty to be summoned back and forth like this.
“A guest has arrived, he says. He couldn’t leave the guest alone in the reception room, so even knowing it’s disrespectful, he’s asking this of Your Highness……”
“Just what kind of guest is it?”
No matter how important the guest might be, Adelian’s hurt feelings were unlikely to improve given the fact that the request was for him, a royal, to move rather than having the guest move. That was until he heard the unexpected name that came from the servant’s mouth.
“Rihast de Raon, the empire’s first prince!”
“What?”
The empire’s prince, and on the day of the coronation ceremony for the new emperor, had come to visit the royalty of an enemy country at war. He didn’t know whether to blame the Count for receiving the prince as a guest, or to praise him for keeping Rihast de Raon in the reception room while he was away.
Adelian hurriedly headed to the reception room following the servant’s guidance. His steps grew increasingly urgent as he approached the reception room.
“Crown Prince Adelian Reibritton has arrived.”
“Ah, please show him in.”
By the time he reached the reception room, Adelian was panting just like the Count’s servant.
Only when he reached the door did he realize his appearance was disheveled, and he took a moment to catch his breath. Though urgent, he disliked giving the impression of urgency. It was the last dignity that the crown prince of a defeated country could maintain before the prince of a victorious nation.
‘No matter what humiliating conversation takes place in here, I will never break down. I must show that Reibritton is still strong.’
Having made this resolution, as soon as Adelian opened the door to the reception room, he was met with the pale, ashen face of Count Peruis.
“Your Highness!”
He approached Adelian with the face of someone who had met a savior. Having been left alone with the prince of an enemy country seemed to have shocked him, and he behaved as if Adelian, as royalty, was his only support. This was completely different from the attitude he had shown when the royal army first arrived at Count Peruis’s domain.
“I’m very pleased to meet you like this.”
“……I heard today is an important day for the Raon Empire. You’ll need to explain why you’re here first.”
“I came with good intentions on a good day.”
Rihast showed a friendly smile and gestured with his chin for Adelian to take a seat. His attitude seemed to forget that he was currently in the middle of enemy territory.
Although it could be said that Reibritton was in a state of defeat in the war, it wasn’t a place where the first prince could visit so fearlessly.
“How were you able to come here?”
“They just let me in.”
With one corner of his mouth curled up, Rihast crossed his legs and sank deeply into the sofa. His tapping foot seemed to mock Adelian, who hadn’t even been able to sit at the negotiation table yet.
“……Count Peruis.”
When Adelian looked reproachfully at Count Peruis, he frantically shook his head and explained with a colorless face.
“No, no! I simply judged there was room for negotiation……”
“Ha.”
With a deep sigh that cut off the Count’s words, Adelian went to sit on the sofa directly across from Rihast.
“I apologize for the disgraceful behavior.”
“Well, I understand. Subordinates are more eager to protect their own safety than to maintain loyalty.”
Rihast said this with a bright smile and then nodded toward Count Peruis, who was fidgeting anxiously. The Count quickly fled outside the reception room.
Adelian bit the inside of his mouth as he looked at Rihast, facing the reality that he couldn’t even discipline the Count who had left without even asking for his permission.
“Now that we’ve sent away the useless person, I’d like to get to the point quickly. That is, if you haven’t forgotten that the royal regular army is here.”
“Ah, of course.”
Rihast quite liked the current situation. The desperate situation of Reibritton, as evident as the crumbling authority of the royalty. It was exactly what he needed.
“We have lost so much in this war. But that doesn’t mean we can just sit idly by and be pushed around, does it?”
“We, you say. I suppose this is what they call deception.”
A hollow laugh escaped between Adelian’s lips. Rihast, seemingly having anticipated such a reaction from Adelian, continued speaking unfazed.
“What we need in this chaos is cooperation. If my strength is insufficient, I must quickly realize that I can only move forward by joining hands one by one to overcome this desperate situation.”
“You’ve been lumping us Reibritton together with you from the start, but why? To hear such words from the mouth of the empire that created this situation is truly……”
“Wasn’t the war the late emperor’s decision? It was what the late emperor wanted, and Ivanstein drew that sword. Not me.”
“You don’t intend to explain in a way I can understand.”
Just as Adelian was about to rise from his seat, Rihast grabbed his forearm and said in a low voice.
“I lost the throne that should have rightfully been mine because of this war. As a crown prince, you would understand this damn feeling, wouldn’t you?”
“……”
Adelian looked at his forearm gripped in Rihast’s hand. The grip, pressing so strongly that blood couldn’t flow, was like a demon using all its strength not to lose its prey.
“……Indeed. There was a reason you came here alone on such an auspicious day for the empire.”
Though he had become someone who fled here and there with the king, Adelian was still someone who had been educated to lead a country. He quickly grasped what Rihast was aiming for and what he wanted by coming here.
“Shall we first talk about the benefits Reibritton can gain?”
“Is that not enough for Reibritton, are you saying this proposal isn’t bad enough?”
“Isn’t that obvious?”
Adelian shrugged his shoulders and removed Rihast’s hand that had been gripping his forearm. Then he sat back down, crossing one leg as Rihast had done, and said.
“Even if you succeed in your rebellion, there’s no guarantee you’ll restore the Kingdom of Reibritton.”
“Ha, haha!”
Rihast laughed loudly. He laughed so heartily, as if it was extremely amusing, bending his waist and shaking his body, that Adelian hid his sweat-soaked fist under his folded arms.
After laughing like that for a while, Rihast calmed down and sat on the sofa, saying.
“The siblings are quite alike. The princess wasn’t the type to mince words in front of me either.”
At the news of his sister coming from Rihast’s mouth, Adelian narrowed his brows. The suspicion he had raised just before coming here raised its head once more.
“She seems quite clever, annoyingly so. Enough that Rudrich personally visited the Duke’s mansion to meet her.”
Annoyingly clever? Could the princess from that mouth really be my sister? Should I ask this man about the doubt spreading in my mind?
Adelian’s lips momentarily moved but then firmly closed. First, he needed to confirm.
Wearing the mask of a brother deeply concerned about his sister’s well-being, Adelian said.
“How is Amelia in the empire? I wonder if that fragile child is doing well……”
“No matter how unfavorable Reibritton’s situation is, you should be able to hear news from the empire quite well. The princess is doing very well. She accomplished a great feat with her clever mind.”
“I heard that she made her debut in imperial high society. If receiving such treatment as a prisoner in the empire is considered a great feat, then it is indeed great, but isn’t the empire’s evaluation too generous?”
As Adelian spoke with feigned modesty, one corner of Rihast’s mouth curled upward.
This man either knew nothing about his sister or knew her too well and was acting this way. He felt it was one of the two. The people of Reibritton’s hearts turning toward the princess would be most keenly felt by the king and crown prince who were currently fleeing here and there.
But he probably didn’t know how valuable the princess had become in the empire, and how cunningly she was acting, eyeing how far she could go.
Rihast decided to share one piece of news that only a few knew with the somewhat naive crown prince.
“Wasn’t the princess’s wisdom something even my late father coveted? It was enough to make the eyes of the imperial nobles who witnessed that wisdom roll back in their heads.”
“……Our Amelia is indeed wise.”
Adelian’s face grew somewhat sour. Rihast thought this reaction was because the sister he had abandoned to die was in a different position from him.
“This war started because of the princess, and it will end because of her. After all, she has captured the heart of Genoa Ivanstein.”
“……!”
Adelian’s eyes bulged at the name that came from Rihast’s mouth. He had never imagined that the name of the most hateful and fearsome man would be mentioned alongside Amelia’s name.
As if enjoying Adelian’s reaction, Rihast spread his arms and said.
“I still can’t forget that boldness, how she even dared to weigh me against Duke Ivanstein. You raised your sister very well.”
“It would be better if you spoke clearly. Is Amelia now with Duke Ivanstein……”
“Duke Ivanstein has proposed to the princess, I hear. She seems to be considering it, but that’s probably a tactic to make the man anxious.”
“Ha.”
A despairing breath escaped between Adelian’s lips.
He had no idea that such a fact was hidden behind Amelia’s ability to enter imperial high society. For the Reibritton princess to choose Duke Ivanstein, who had destroyed the kingdom and invaded the royal palace, with her royal status. Adelian’s tightly clenched fist trembled.
But he set aside his sense of betrayal for the moment and tried to focus on the empire’s first prince sitting before him.
What the prince needed, who couldn’t accept the dead emperor’s decision and wanted to pull down his brother who had ascended to the throne, was chaos. And the way to shake the empire’s interior, which the newly enthroned emperor hadn’t properly secured yet, would be the continuation of the war with Reibritton.
“At least negotiations between Reibritton and Duke Ivanstein seem to be going smoothly. With Amelia by his side, that child would also……”
“Oh, do you think the princess is working for Reibritton at Duke Ivanstein’s side?”
Rihast laughed loudly at Adelian, then clicked his tongue as if pitying him.
“The princess was trying to tear Reibritton into pieces to make my brother’s imperial authority more solid.”
“……What did you just say?”
At Rihast’s words, Adelian lunged at him and grabbed him by the collar. Immediately, the imperial knight behind Rihast quickly drew his sword. Rihast raised his hand to stop him while his collar was still grabbed.
“What is Amelia trying to do to Reibritton?”
“Did I explain too difficultly?”
Adelian realized he had become too excited. He slowly released Rihast’s collar and said.
“No matter how much our Reibritton has been defeated by the empire, the kingdom is still intact and the war is not over. If you insult royalty in the middle of Reibritton territory, even if you are the first prince, you won’t be able to return easily to the empire.”
Despite Adelian’s sharp threat, Rihast didn’t even blink. Rather, his eyes shone cruelly, as if things had become more interesting. Adelian realized an unpleasant truth in those eyes.
“The princess plans to sell all of you who confined her in the royal palace to preserve her own life. On top of that, she’s even tamed the emperor’s dog, Genoa Ivanstein.”
“……”
Adelian wanted to clap in front of Rihast, whose expression teetered on the edge of madness at the royal family’s division. He knew she should wear a look of despair at her beloved sister’s betrayal, just as everyone expected, but the urge to react differently lingered.
“In the current situation, the most fearsome thing will be not the newly born foal-like emperor but Duke Ivanstein, Your Highness. Because the vicious Reibritton traitor attached to his side is whispering your destruction.”
“Amelia…… Ha, haha!”
Adelian laughed as if he were crying, like someone trembling with betrayal. Bending his waist deeply and shaking his body while laughing, he looked as if he had lost his mind.
“So Reibritton must take my hand. I will personally show how the emperor’s dog chooses its master again.”
“……Ha, and why would Duke Ivanstein, who shows absolute loyalty to the emperor?”
Looking at Adelian who had caught his breath and was laughing dejectedly, Rihast’s eyes flashed as he said.
“I know one secret that the Ivanstein family has been hiding from the empire, and from this world.”
“Secret?”
“Duke Ivanstein will realize that choosing a new master is a wiser decision than having a troublesome fact revealed to the world.”
Rihast’s voice was full of confidence. He was saying that Duke Ivanstein would be used in his plan without resistance.
“If he also realizes that my poor brother lacks the ability to suppress the chaos, that choice won’t be too difficult.”
Saying this, he extended his hand to Adelian. Adelian quietly stared at the outstretched hand for a while with sunken eyes, as if deep in thought.
“This weakness of Duke Ivanstein, is it certain?”
“Ah, that’s something you can verify if you just take my hand.”
“How?”
“Because the princess is in Duke Ivanstein’s mansion.”
Rihast’s words were somewhat twisted, making them difficult to understand at once. He seemed to be advising Adelian to get help from her while also calling the princess a traitor to the kingdom. From this one-sided communication style, Adelian could vaguely predict what would happen to the empire if he became emperor.
Rihast was a man who would become a tyrant. And while he voraciously bit and tore at his empire, Reibritton could buy time to rise again.
Adelian quickly made his decision and took his hand, saying.
“Would you first explain how my sister, who you say wants to tear Reibritton to pieces, could be of any help from Duke Ivanstein’s mansion?”
“Ah, that……”
Rihast’s face bore a dangerous smile as his eyes shone. Adelian thought that he quite liked this man’s sinister face now, and listened attentively to his words.
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