🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 26
My parents’ marriage was nothing but a political arrangement.
Father loved Charlotte. He fell for her the moment he saw her—a former dancer from a famous troupe, with her skillful acting, fluent singing, and dazzling beauty.
A wealthy duke’s family, one of the richest in the empire, and a famous troupe dancer—an impossible, forbidden love like something out of a fairy tale or a novel.
Yes.
Every story like that has a villain. If it weren’t for my mother, I probably wouldn’t even exist.
Mother turned a blind eye to Father’s affair. More precisely, she had no choice but to endure it.
Father held a position second only to the royal family in the empire.
As a young lady from an impoverished family with no estates and no heirs, Mother couldn’t annul the marriage just because her husband was having an affair.
So she went through the wedding and, after Father took Charlotte as his mistress, she tolerated it—even knowing of her and her daughter’s existence.
As long as the child she carried would be born.
Even if there wasn’t love, there was at least some friendship between husband and wife. Surely, she thought, she would care a little if a child was born.
But that fragile hope vanished the moment I came into the world.
What must Mother have been thinking as she carried me alone, waiting for Father—an ordinary child, without memories of a past life, unable to communicate with trees or horses?
Was she hoping for an ordinary child, one you could find anywhere?
But unfortunately, Mother’s wish never came true.
The child she carried in her womb was a half-baked being, a soul left in the gutters, merely given a new body.
“Are you alright, Your Ladyship?”
“I’m… I’m fine.”
Asha, who was helping me change, asked with genuine concern. Though I tried to act fine, my pale face and trembling hands betrayed me.
After all, it was thanks to my elder sister, Lena, that I regained memories of my previous life.
‘Why… did she suddenly come here?’
I couldn’t imagine why my sister would visit. She and Mother would probably prefer to see me die on the street rather than succeed.
No matter how I thought about it, I couldn’t find a reason for her sudden visit to Glacies Castle.
As I was trying to calm my uneasy heart, Asha suddenly grabbed my face.
“Your Ladyship! Look at me!”
“Huh… eh?”
How am I supposed to see if I can’t even see?
Still, Asha didn’t let go and spoke slowly and clearly, as if she wanted me to remember it:
“I don’t know exactly what happened between you and your sister. But there’s absolutely no reason for you to tremble in front of her!”
Asha…
She knew that my relationship with my sister was strained. That’s why she hadn’t asked any specifics and just waited, sensing my anxiety.
“So if your sister even slaps you, draw the knife in your stick! She won’t be able to say a word.”
Draw the hidden knife in the stick to threaten her? What kind of advice is that?
“Heh… what is that…”
I couldn’t help but burst into laughter.
After the ceremony ended, Asha supported me as we went outside. I repeated her words in my mind.
“Your Ladyship, listen well. Today’s dress is simple, yet the decorations, down to the engravings, are exquisite. If you dress too fancily, she’ll find it odd; too plainly, she’ll dismiss you.”
Though Asha was trying to give me courage, the reality felt different as I stepped into the cold wind.
How would my sister see me?
Would she still see me as a useless, nominal young lady?
My body trembled uncontrollably. I wanted to run away.
Just then, I sensed a familiar scent of peppermint and the sound of footsteps nearby.
Ah.
Russell had finished preparing and stood beside me. Outwardly, as my fiancé, he had to be by my side.
“Russell… I…”
“Don’t say anything.”
Russell took my hand with the one not holding the stick. Unlike his usual thick leather gloves, these thin ones conveyed warmth.
“Nervous?”
“Yes… a bit.”
“You don’t need to tremble.”
His voice was unusually calm, almost as if he was suppressing some emotion.
Was he holding back anger at my sister for showing up in the north without warning? Or was it displeasure?
I couldn’t gauge his feelings. Then he spoke again.
“You are my fiancée, no matter what anyone says. So don’t tremble.”
Ah, this…
It was a simple sentence, but I felt tears threatening to spill. I lowered my head, clutching his hand tightly to hide my reddened eyes.
“…Thank you.”
“Meet Princess Lena of Lucianos!”
The carriage door opened, and the click of heels echoed. I was trembling from tension when he spoke.
“Do you know what your sister looks like?”
“No.”
“Prater, explain.”
Prater had been nearby? I hadn’t noticed at all, my attention fully on my sister.
I heard footsteps approaching. Prater came closer and began describing her.
“She has golden hair down to her waist, green eyes, and wears a blue dress like a serene lake. Her shoes are heavily decorated and appear worn. Her appearance… she is exceptionally beautiful.”
“Cut the extra details and just describe her plainly.”
“Then it would be better if the Duke explained it himself.”
Since that early morning, there had been a subtle tension between them. Was I imagining it?
I painted an image of my sister on a mental black canvas: elegant, beautiful, but unbearably arrogant.
“Fiana!”
At my sister’s call, I stopped painting the image. Her voice wasn’t a shout of anger—it trembled with emotion.
My sister’s voice… trembling.
This had to be a deliberate act, conscious of her surroundings.
“Sister…”
My head felt hot, and I instinctively stepped back.
Would she strike me? Or grab the stick and make me fall, like last time?
Her footsteps grew closer. I instinctively closed my eyes, bracing myself.
“I really wanted to see you!”
Her voice was artificial, but she hugged me. I froze, unable to move.
She simply hugged me. That alone made the feelings I had been suppressing threaten to burst.
If I denied it or pushed her away, I felt she would strike me.
Seeing me frozen, my sister held my shoulders and spoke with a trembling voice:
“Do you know how worried I was? When I had no way to contact you, I thought you might even die on the streets!”
What should I do?
I had to remove her… but my lips were stiff, my body immobile.
“What should I do?”
“Sister, I…”
Just as I struggled to speak, a snapping sound came from the side.
A refreshing scent, like morning dew on leaves, reached me. I knew exactly what it was.
Russell, holding a bouquet, spoke cheerfully beside me.
“Pleased to meet you, Princess Lena of Lucianos.”
The scent of flowers grew stronger.
He handed the bouquet to my sister.
“Flowers don’t grow well in the north, as you can see. It’s not much, but I hope you’ll accept them.”
“Oh my! That’s quite unnecessary. I came without notice, yet you welcome me like this…”
My sister finally let go of me. I felt the breath I had been holding slowly return.
In a nasal voice, she addressed Russell:
“It’s an honor to meet you, Duke of Glacies.”
Russell didn’t reply. Judging by his presence, he didn’t bow or show formal courtesy.
“First, I suggest you rest from your journey. Your feet show you shouldn’t be outside too long.”
As she approached, I caught the faint scent of blood—her foot wounds.
Russell turned his back and instructed Prater:
“Prater, guide her.”
“Yes. I’ve prepared a room. Please follow me.”
“Oh, Duke, you have a character different from the rumors. Thank you for your consideration.”
Her footsteps faded.
But the weight of the previous tension made it hard for me to breathe.
Then, three finger snaps came from in front of me.
“Focus.”
“Russell…”
I grabbed his arm with my other hand, wanting to lean on him and hide in a room, but that wasn’t possible now.
“It’s alright.”
I heard his confident voice again:
“I’m here.”
