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Chapter 02
The direct daughters of the Hoo family were born with the fate of becoming queens. This was not merely a destiny to become the wife of a king. Regardless of her husband’s original status, whoever he was, fate would ensure that he became king.
For a direct Hoo daughter to marry someone who was neither the current king nor the crown prince was almost considered an act of treason. Because of this, the royal family had effectively maintained the legitimacy and power of their rule by monopolizing these daughters.
In other words, Roabellin had simply spoken the “fact” that the royal family had been using the Hoo family’s powerful fate. It was an undeniable truth, but one that was somewhat taboo to voice openly.
Skark, losing his words, felt a surge of anger.
“What did you say? How dare you talk back like that…!”
As he was accustomed to doing with his subordinates, he raised his hand to slap Roabellin’s cheek. Having never faced such a situation before, Roabellin didn’t even think to dodge. She only widened her eyes in surprise.
At that moment, the steward’s alarmed voice rang out.
“Your Highness!!”
Startled by the loud voice, Skark froze. When he turned toward the sound, he saw his father standing before the steward, and behind him, a line of high-ranking ministers, all of whom could not hide their shock.
‘Good heavens…! That young lady is the daughter of Duke Hertenes!’
‘Is the prince seriously assaulting the Duke’s daughter in broad daylight?’
A few seconds of stunned silence passed among the onlookers.
The king, who had never been particularly fond of the Hoo family, had no intention of taking their side. Yet, in front of these high-ranking ministers, the situation could not go unchecked.
The sole prince of the kingdom, committing violence against the Hoo daughter who would become his wife, was not a good image to display. A man who struck a woman—especially his future consort—could leave a lasting stigma on a future king.
‘He’s not exactly a child anymore, yet he does something so foolish where everyone can see… Has he forgotten he’s a prince?’
The king needed to show everyone watching that he was a father correcting his son’s wrongdoing.
With a fierce expression, he strode toward his son.
Smack!
In front of everyone, he slapped his son across the cheek and shouted:
“You foolish boy! Who taught you it was acceptable to lay a hand on a noblewoman! Go to your room at once and reflect. You shall not leave your room for a week!”
For Skark, who had been raised as the most cherished prince in the world, this was a lifelong shock.
Not only had he failed to assert dominance over the Hoo daughter who dared speak back to him, but he had also been slapped and scolded by his father in front of many witnesses.
During the week he was confined to his room, Skark accumulated resentment and anger toward Roabellin and the Hoo family.
‘How dare that girl…! How dare a mere girl talk back to the man who will become her husband! I did nothing wrong! I was just trying to teach her a lesson because she provoked me. Could it be… did she deliberately try to anger me in front of everyone?’
For someone so self-centered, it was impossible to believe he could be wrong.
He began rationalizing his own actions while inflating Roabellin’s supposed faults in his mind.
No one could have known then that after this incident, the future once determined for them as king and queen would begin to change.
About a year passed since the incident. Yet King Yuraksis was always uneasy about the Hoo family. Especially as his son Skark approached the age to marry, merely thinking of the Hoo family felt like a stone pressing on his chest.
What troubled him most was that the Hoo family’s direct daughters could verify the legitimacy of the throne through the appearance of the firstborn child.
Among past kings, some were forced to step down when it was determined they were not the legitimate ruler.
‘That blasted Hertenes, like a litmus test… It would be so much easier if they didn’t exist…’
Yuraksis had ascended the throne over his nephew, the son of his older brother, the previous king. At that time, he was already married, with the Grand Duchess by his side, and his son Skark was with them.
This allowed him to avoid the legitimacy test, but what of Skark?
‘If, by the eyes of the gods, my claim to the throne is illegitimate, then my son, who carries my blood, would be no different.’
Furthermore, Roabellin’s father, Duke Hertenes, had been a close friend of his brother, the former king Erik.
Being a clever man, Hertenes would surely have been suspicious after Erik’s sudden death.
‘Perhaps Erik, sensing something, left some warning before he died.’
Yuraksis’s mind became tangled with these thoughts. The decisive trigger for this anxiety was the oracle Skark received on his fifteenth birthday.
On that joyful day, the royal family and Skark visited the temple to receive blessings and an oracle from the chief priest. They expected a prophecy concerning the next king, but what they received was shocking:
“Skark shall not marry a direct descendant of the Hoo family.”
What could this possibly mean? The three were stunned, waiting for further explanation, but the oracle ended there.
If there were no direct Hoo daughters of marriageable age, it might make sense. But now, there was Roabellin, perfectly age-matched for Skark. To be told he cannot marry her implied that Skark might not legitimately ascend to the throne.
Or did it mean Roabellin would marry another man, who would then become king?
Either possibility was a nightmare.
‘I have no choice. We must eliminate the Hoo family.’
It was a monumental decision, but once made, it felt as though a long-embedded thorn in his heart had been pulled out.
King Yuraksis secretly conspired with the queen, who oversaw the central temple, to find a method and date to deal with the Hoo family. The queen, not being from the Hoo line herself, sympathized, and Skark’s oracle had unsettled her.
“Leave the priests to me. As for the date… shall we wait until after Your Highness’s birthday banquet?”
“A good idea. It’s best to act once the celebration’s excitement has faded.”
The king gave a meaningful smile.
Thus, almost effortlessly, the day for the Hoo family’s downfall was set.
Autumn arrived—the season of King Yuraksis’s birthday. His birthday was a national holiday, celebrated with grand annual festivities. Prominent domestic and foreign nobles, as well as royalty and foreign ministers, were invited.
Among the guests was a member of royalty: Kaisertern, the third prince of the continent’s sole empire, Prahenfeld. Though only fifteen, he had begun diplomatic activities as a representative envoy.
Kaisertern appeared younger than his age, seeming about twelve or thirteen. With black hair and golden eyes, he was handsome but still had the look of a boy.
At such gatherings of royal families and high-ranking nobles, many viewed it as an opportunity to scout potential marriage partners, so the atmosphere was lively and bustling.
However, the young prince, attending under orders from the temporary emperor, his older brother, spoke only with necessary dignitaries and paid no attention to any girls.
Yet he could hear the hushed gossip of Aventador nobles. They whispered softly, but having inherited the blood of a dragon from his mother, Kaisertern’s hearing surpassed normal human limits.
“Seems the rumors are true: the Hoo family has fallen out of favor with the king.”
“During yesterday’s banquet, although she isn’t engaged yet, the Hoo daughter wasn’t seated beside the prince. Instead, she was placed with Duke Hertenes’s family—did you notice?”
“I checked the hunting tournament seating chart in advance. The Hoo family wasn’t even given guest seating. The excuse was that the Duke’s family would be busy receiving guests, but still… it seems strange.”
“Oh dear, even the mighty Hoo family is losing influence. Well, they haven’t produced a queen for the past two generations anyway…”
Having never heard of Aventador’s Hoo family, these whispers barely registered with Kaisertern.
‘In every country, nobles gossip far too much.’
Accustomed to hearing idle chatter, he ignored it. But a conversation farther away caught his attention.
“The prince… isn’t he supposed to be fifteen?”
On this continent, there was only one empire—Prahenfeld. Only two held the title of prince: Kaisertern and his second brother Radak. The fifteen-year-old prince in question was himself.
He focused his hearing on the distant, low conversation.
“Yet he looks like he’s about twelve. Is there another youngest prince?”
“No, the third prince is the youngest. Oh, I dressed my daughter carefully today, just in case. But if he’s still this small at fifteen… could it be that he won’t grow any taller?”
“So what if he doesn’t grow taller? He’s still a prince. He’s handsome enough. Just have him meet your daughter like a playmate for your younger son… hohoho, am I being too forward?”
“Hohohoho, madam, you saw the prince enter earlier. Better have our daughter greet him quickly.”
Hearing all this, Kaisertern quietly bit his lower lip.
‘The ‘eruption’ just hasn’t happened yet…’
