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CHAPTER 07
Just as the chamberlain had said, Ariella’s new residence was only a stone’s throw away from the Crown Prince’s palace. From her bedroom, she could practically see the fountain where the Crown Prince had been shoved earlier.
At the appointed time, Ariella walked to his palace.
The spring garden was peaceful, as though nothing had happened there at midday.
As soon as she entered, a chillier air greeted her before anything else. Dmitri’s palace resembled him. It was magnificent, yet desolate. There was neither warmth nor even the slightest trace of human presence.
“Greetings, Your Highness the Crown Princess. I am Adjutant Eric Timothy.”
The one who came to escort her was neither a servant nor an aide, but an adjutant. It felt as though she had stepped onto a battlefield. Thinking about it, she had barely seen any palace attendants from the garden to the first floor.
“His Highness is waiting in his office.”
“Thank you, Sir Timothy.”
As Ariella climbed the stairs, she reviewed in her mind the reason she had come to see Dmitri.
Once they reached the end of the second floor hallway, the adjutant knocked on the door.
Creak—
The door opened, but Dmitri was nowhere near the desk.
Only after stepping inside did she finally spot him.
He was sitting on the windowsill, dressed in nothing but a white shirt.
The crimson sunset dyed him in red.
He looked like a painting.
Beauty was truly powerful. They were destined to become mortal enemies, yet she couldn’t shake the feeling that she was gazing at a masterpiece.
Slowly, he turned his eyes toward Ariella.
Perhaps because she had seen him drenched earlier—
He looked sorrowful.
Like a watercolor painted in pale shades.
Up close, Dmitri stood somewhere between a boy and a man.
It was hard to believe that someone so delicate and sensitive-looking would one day become the butcher who stained the entire continent in blood.
A breeze drifted through the window, scattering his hair.
It felt as though time itself cracked sharply apart.
“Come in.”
He stepped down from the windowsill and approached Ariella.
At that moment, she instinctively halted.
Because of the massive black dog following behind him.
“Don’t worry. He’s gentle.”
Ariella nodded. In truth, she wasn’t afraid of dogs.
Perhaps sensing her feelings, the dog showed no hostility toward her either. The large animal, with sleek, glossy fur, walked with elegance. Like its owner, it was graceful.
When Dmitri sat down, the dog folded its long legs and settled beside him.
It was such an ordinary scene, yet one that made her unconsciously stop breathing to watch.
Warmth flickered in the Crown Prince’s eyes as he looked at the dog.
It was only a faint emotion, but Ariella could feel it.
Warmth… from a tyrant.
The thought felt strangely absurd.
“What’s his name?”
“Gray.”
“He’s truly magnificent. His name suits him too.”
As though understanding the praise, Gray’s ears twitched once.
After exchanging a few words about the dog, an awkward silence settled between them. She had come boldly enough, but now that she was actually here, she felt lost.
Then Dmitri spoke first.
“You saw it, didn’t you?”
“No.”
The moment the answer left her mouth, Ariella bit the inside of her cheek hard.
When asked “Did you see it?” she should have replied, “See what?” Yet she had blurted out “No.”
But even stranger than her response was Dmitri himself.
This should have been the moment he pressed her about what exactly she had seen, but instead he merely gave a faint smirk.
“I didn’t mean to watch.”
“I don’t care.”
Dmitri lowered his eyes slightly.
His long eyelashes naturally drew her gaze.
For some reason, one corner of her eyes stung.
Ariella bit down on her lower lip.
“But aren’t you curious? Why His Majesty treats me that way?”
“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t.”
“The Emperor you admire so dearly hates his son.”
He’s telling me this so easily?
Something this important?
“For… what reason?”
“Well…”
He looked slightly flustered.
As though he had never once considered the question.
After briefly frowning, he answered lightly.
“Because he just hates me? Hatred doesn’t need a reason.”
How could that possibly make sense?
Hatred always had a reason.
For a moment, Ariella wondered whether Dmitri wasn’t actually the Emperor’s biological son. But aside from their eye color, the two looked almost identical.
And the Emperor had no brothers with similar features either. Most had died young in wars.
“Oh, of course there’s always some excuse. What was today’s reason again? Because the weather was nice? Naturally that was only a pretext. Someone probably defied Father’s wishes by using me as an excuse again.”
“……”
“The people there and my adjutant are the only ones who know the Emperor treats me like that. And now, you’ve been added to the list.”
Most of the books Ariella had read in the tower praised Triphina and the Hakliteri bloodline.
Because of that, she knew the Hakliteri family tree so well she could practically draw it from memory.
The same went for the history of Triphina. If someone asked her to sketch a map of the country, she could probably even draw the smallest hills in detail.
That was the power of books.
“When I was young, it was much simpler.”
“W-What was?”
“The way Father hated me.”
She truly couldn’t even imagine it.
Should she really keep listening to this?
Could she survive after hearing such things?
“What do you mean…?”
“Whatever you’re imagining, it’s worse than that. Once I grew older—more precisely, after I became Crown Prince—it became more subtle.”
“……”
“He may have decided physical methods no longer worked.”
Ariella shook her head.
There was far too little information to understand the current situation. Royal histories were always written by later generations.
What was certain was this: the Crown Prince was the Emperor’s legitimate son.
Another thing she had only recently learned was that Dmitri’s mother had been a princess of a kingdom that no longer existed. Her family, Serhena, had been absorbed into Triphina and eventually became one of the empire’s three great noble houses. They were no longer even regarded as foreigners.
Their influence was enormous, and the family remained powerful to this day.
That was why Dmitri still retained the position of Crown Prince.
Moreover, every citizen of the empire endlessly praised Dmitri’s greatness.
People believed his black eyes were those of a dragon.
In every sense, Dmitri was perfect.
That was the truth Ariella had always known.
And yet—
“Before long, you’ll be locked back in the tower again. Unless the temple changes its stance.”
What?
“Perhaps that would actually be safer.”
“That makes no sense—”
“If you had quietly stayed in the tower yesterday, I would’ve handled things somehow.”
No.
You didn’t handle anything at all.
Though she couldn’t know whether he had at least tried.
“So wait quietly. I’m thinking of a way to annul this marriage. Of course, it’ll take time.”
Ariella focused hard, trying to process everything happening around her.
People believed that once Dmitri became Emperor, Triphina would enter an age of unparalleled glory. They believed even the Emperor himself couldn’t recklessly interfere with him.
And yet all of it had been an illusion.
In short, this man before her possessed no real power at all.
There was a vast difference between being deposed as Crown Princess and having the marriage annulled. If she were imprisoned in the tower under false charges of insulting the Emperor, she would merely become a criminal.
But if the marriage were annulled, she could return to the homeland she missed so dearly.
“I don’t know what you came here intending to say, but no matter what happens, I’ll send you back to your country. So cooperate as much as possible. Beyond that, there’s nothing else for us to discuss.”
Once again, he stood first.
Then he walked to the door and opened it without hesitation.
“W-Wait a moment.”
Still gripping the doorknob, Dmitri turned his gaze toward her.
“Are you certain? That this marriage can truly be annulled?”
Ariella strode toward him and slipped herself between him and the door.
Then she reached behind her back and slammed the door shut with a loud bang.
Silence fell around them.
Ariella stared directly into Dmitri’s eyes.
At such close distance—close enough for their breaths to mingle—even the slightest tremor could be felt clearly.
If everything he had said was true, then everything she had believed until now was being shaken to its core.
“As far as I know, three conditions must be met for a marriage to be annulled.”
A trace of curiosity flickered across his face.
“The marriage must not be consummated. Both parties must mutually agree. And both families must give permission. Even the imperial family is not exempt from these rules.”
“So?”
“If, as you say, His Majesty despises Your Highness, can you truly fulfill all three conditions?”
Dmitri fell silent for a moment.
She couldn’t tell what he was thinking at all.
Trying to bolster her shrinking courage, Ariella straightened her back further.
“Of course I know it would benefit Your Highness far more to marry someone else—someone from a powerful family or influential nation.”
“……”
“But if the Emperor deliberately chose me as Crown Princess, how can this marriage possibly be broken?”
“That’s not something you need to concern yourself with.”
“And how exactly do you plan to do it? Are you going to publicly declare before the ministers that I’m so ugly you’d rather die than marry me?”
Dmitri’s lips pressed tightly together.
Did I guess correctly?
If so, then that absolutely could not happen.
“I’ll help actively.”
“What?”
“The feelings of the two of us are firm, so all we need to do is persuade both sets of parents, right?”
