🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 3
“Aira!”
Luna approached the carriage with a bright smile. She was wearing a simple gray dress.
When she reached Aira, she took her hand and said,
“Oh my goodness, Aira! You look so beautiful! Even I, as a woman, feel excited just looking at you!”
It was not easy to accept a half-sister as a friend.
But Luna was the kind of person who seemed to bring warmth and light wherever she went.
Even when Aira had been suspicious of her, Luna had always approached her like a bright flower, making it difficult for Aira to reject her completely.
“Yes, Luna.”
Aira gave her a faint smile.
The worst thing about Luna was that she had hidden her true feelings perfectly until the very end.
Even though Aira had already experienced Luna’s ugly desires, Luna still looked so genuine and kind that it sometimes felt as if Aira’s memories of the betrayal were nothing but a lie.
It was a truth Aira would never have discovered if she had not been betrayed.
“……”
Suddenly, Aira reached her hand toward Luna.
Luna flinched and instinctively pulled her shoulders back.
A confused look appeared in her pink eyes.
The corner of Aira’s lips lifted slightly.
“Why are you so surprised? Your corsage is crooked.”
Aira calmly said this without changing her expression.
“Oh, I see.”
Luna gave an awkward smile.
Aira calmly fixed the direction of the corsage attached to Luna’s dress.
“Thank you…”
Luna finally spoke, but Aira had already finished fixing it and turned away.
Luna hurried after her.
“Aira, just now, I…”
“On an important day like today, a sister’s mistakes are also my mistakes, Luna.”
Luna’s fingers twitched.
“So please, don’t make any mistakes. Understand?”
“Y-yes…”
Aira calmly looked back at Luna before taking the knight’s hand and getting into the carriage.
Luna stared at Aira’s back with trembling eyes.
Something is different about her.
Aira did not feel like the same careless girl she used to be.
Whenever an awkward situation happened, Aira would normally pretend not to notice and smile kindly, showing everyone how generous she was.
But today, Aira looked at Luna from above as if she already were a princess.
That can’t be.
Aira is still Aira.
Luna pushed the strange thought out of her mind.
She smiled sweetly at the knight, took his hand with her slender fingers, and climbed into the carriage.
But then she became confused again when she saw Aira.
“A-Aira… Do you want to sit there today?”
Whenever they traveled together, Aira had always given Luna the forward-facing seat because Luna suffered from motion sickness.
The journey to the imperial palace took more than an hour, so Luna would definitely become sick.
“Yes. Why?”
Aira calmly looked at her.
Luna suddenly didn’t know what to say.
Although they were half-sisters, Aira was naturally supposed to sit in the better seat because of her higher social status.
But whenever they traveled together before, Aira had always given that seat to Luna.
“I… I get motion sickness. And…”
Luna hesitated.
“That’s right. Aira, you actually like sitting backward. You always said it was fun to watch the scenery moving backward…”
“We aren’t children anymore, Luna.”
Aira looked at her coldly.
“We should follow proper etiquette.”
Her words immediately made the atmosphere cold.
Luna’s eyes filled with confusion.
Luna had always praised Aira and acted as if she herself were less important.
But if someone looked carefully at their relationship, Luna had always been the one who benefited more.
One small act of kindness from Aira would become something Luna expected from her all the time.
Luna had used her bright smile and cute behavior to influence Aira and always get what she wanted.
“So… I suppose you’re right.”
Luna forced a smile and sat in the backward-facing seat.
“……”
Her lips were still trying to smile, but her eyes were clearly unhappy.
She looked worried about how she would survive the long and bumpy journey to the imperial palace while sitting backward.
She thought about asking Aira again.
But Aira was already sitting comfortably and arranging her dress.
Luna looked as if someone had taken something that belonged to her.
Aira secretly smiled.
We haven’t even started yet, Luna.
Aira thought about what would have happened if she had not died in her previous life.
Luna would have easily taken the position beside Xavier because of the good reputation she had carefully created for herself.
She would also have treated Julius sweetly, like honey, unlike Aira, who had been too straightforward and clumsy when dealing with her mother-in-law.
You’re already making that miserable face?
That’s too boring.
The carriage began to move.
By now, Julius, the Imperial Consort, was probably enjoying tea with several noblewomen.
Luna looked upset as she covered her mouth with a handkerchief and watched the scenery moving backward.
Aira ignored her and peacefully looked out the window.
Her crimson eyes were shining more brightly and intensely than before.
✦ ✦ ✦
The carriage finally arrived in front of Julius Palace inside the imperial palace.
The Emperor had two wives.
One was Empress Marlen, who had given birth to the Crown Prince.
The other was Julius, who had given birth to the second prince, Xavier.
The imperial palace was a huge complex made up of more than a dozen ivory-colored buildings.
Julius Palace had been built by the Emperor to celebrate Julius’s pregnancy.
“Lady Marcelline has arrived!”
The knights of Julius Palace, dressed in white uniforms, saluted Aira and welcomed her.
The carriage stopped, and the door opened.
Luna looked extremely sick after the long journey.
Her lips were almost blue because of her motion sickness.
Aira had wondered whether Luna had only wanted the better seat because she was greedy, or whether she really suffered from motion sickness.
Now it seemed that Luna’s motion sickness was real.
Aira calmly said,
“Everyone is waiting for us, Luna.”
“Y-yes… Ugh…”
Luna covered her mouth with a handkerchief and barely managed to walk.
She was so sick that she no longer had the energy to look at Aira sadly, make Aira feel guilty, or pretend to be kind.
A knight helped Luna out of the carriage.
Aira also hid her smile and slowly stepped toward the carriage door.
Then she saw a man’s hand.
He was wearing black gloves.
Aira assumed he was another knight helping her, so she took his hand and slowly stepped down from the carriage.
When her feet touched the ground, she slowly raised her eyes toward him.
She was about to give him a brief greeting.
“……!”
But the moment she saw his face, Aira’s crimson eyes trembled.
His white uniform was different from the other knights’ uniforms.
It was decorated with several medals and imperial symbols.
He was as tall as Xavier, perhaps even taller.
He had broad shoulders, jet-black hair similar to the Emperor’s, and cold gray eyes.
His nose was high and perfectly shaped, his jawline was elegant, and his skin was pale and smooth, just as people said it was because he had spent his childhood in the northern region.
“Welcome.”
His red lips moved slightly, and his calm, low voice reached Aira’s ears.
Aira knew exactly who this man was.
Walter von Amilleus.
The Crown Prince of the Kalanta Empire.
The rightful heir to the throne.
The man who was supposed to become Emperor.
But in her previous life, Aira had joined hands with her husband Xavier and tried to take Walter’s throne away from him.
He was her husband’s elder half-brother.
In other words…
Her brother-in-law.
Walter’s elegant lips moved as he spoke her name.
“Aira Marcelline.”
