MEHHM 09

CHAPTER 09

“Ariella.”

The man standing behind her felt overwhelmingly vivid.

Every nerve in her body sharpened as though thorns had sprouted all over her skin. Even without touching him, she could feel the rise and fall of his breathing.

“Why are you so wary of me?”

Ariella swallowed dryly.

“What? Do you think I’m going to strangle you?”

At that moment, something unbelievably warm touched her shoulder.

Her breath caught.

Only after a few seconds did she realize it was Dmitri’s forehead.

Then his low voice slipped into her ears.

At the same time, hands even hotter than his forehead gripped both her arms tightly.

Goosebumps erupted across her body.

“You shudder this much just from hearing me say your name… and yet you claim you like me?”

Thud-thud-thud-thud—

Whether the violent pounding was his pulse or her own heartbeat, Ariella couldn’t tell anymore.

Within the sluggish flow of time that felt nearly frozen, he let out a faint laugh.

“See? Hatred really doesn’t need a reason.”

Though his tone carried amusement, why did it sound so bitter?

“You’re saying you fell in love with me at first sight?”

“……”

“Even though from the very first moment you looked at me like I’d murdered your parents?”

The words struck her squarely in the chest like an arrow from nowhere.

She knew she should say something—some kind of excuse—but no words came out.

She couldn’t even explain what she herself was feeling right now.

And yet it felt unfair that she had to feel this way at all.

For a long while, the only sound filling the room was their rough, tangled breathing.

“Fine. We’ll do as you said. Within three years we’ll become strangers, and you can return to your homeland whenever you wish. Though I don’t know whether His Majesty will obediently move according to our plans.”

Raising his head, Dmitri slowly opened the door he had closed.

The colder air of the corridor pierced straight into her lungs.

“So there’s no need to tell those lies anymore.”

Though she stepped outside, it felt as though she had left her mind behind in the room.

Ariella pressed a fist tightly against her wildly pounding chest.

She couldn’t tell whether the emotion burning hot inside her was fear or pain.

She touched the shoulder that still felt scorched.

Then suddenly—

Her legs buckled.

“Are you alright?”

It was Adjutant Eric.

“Ah, I’m fine.”

Ariella hurriedly straightened herself.

Eric was a gentle-looking man with brown hair and blue eyes. His gaze toward her was full of concern.

“I’ll escort you to the first floor.”

He willingly offered her his arm, and this time Ariella didn’t refuse.

Her legs felt so weak she thought she might collapse right there in the hallway.

Everything had once felt flat and clear.

But now, the grotesque lines and shadows she had only seen in darkness had taken shape in the light and come rushing toward her—

In forms completely different from what she had believed.

The crimson sunlight stretching endlessly through the corridor and Dmitri’s voice endlessly echoing in her ears made her steps unsteady.

“My lord…”

They had just reached the spiral staircase when Eric cautiously began speaking.

What was he trying to say that required such hesitation?

“…is a good person.”

“What?”

Ariella’s incredulous voice echoed loudly through the stairwell.

It almost sounded ready to produce an actual echo.

She awkwardly cleared her throat.

“I… see.”

“I understand why Your Highness reacts that way. People who don’t know His Highness the Crown Prince tend to misunderstand him. But he’s someone who deeply cares for others.”

If he cared for people any more deeply, he would’ve destroyed not just the continent but the entire world.

Suppressing the thought threatening to leap from her mouth, Ariella merely nodded.

“He’s been pushed onto battlefields since he was fifteen. Because of that, he’s not good at expressing himself.”

“……”

“His Highness has never feared standing at the front lines in any battle. He always cared for his subordinates before himself. Our army serves him not merely as Crown Prince, but as our commander-in-chief.”

Thinking about it, that was true.

Dmitri’s rebellion had succeeded in less than half a day.

He must have already held complete control over the military, making it almost absurdly easy for him.

Eric couldn’t hide the pride in his voice as he spoke of Dmitri.

With so many people believing in him like this… why had he become so cruel?

Ariella continued down the stairs heavily.

Then suddenly, a memory surfaced—

Gerald the Swallow Knight’s words.

“Ever since Sir Timothy died recently…”

Gasp.

Ariella abruptly lifted her gaze.

Her eyes met pale blue ones directly.

The confusion in his expression looked harmless.

“What is it?”

You die.

And not long from now.

But… why?

You look so young and healthy.

And “Ever since Sir Timothy died recently…”

What came after that?

“Ah, it’s nothing.”

Gerald only began standing guard at Ariella’s tower about a year after she was imprisoned there.

Which meant Eric would survive at least another year.

Of course, this empire surely had more than one Sir Timothy.

And yet she couldn’t shake the feeling that the tragic figure in that memory was the man standing beside her right now.

If another war broke out, it wasn’t impossible for an adjutant like him to die.

Was it because of his kindness?

Or because he felt like the only warmth in this desolate place?

Though they had only just met, the death waiting in his near future suddenly felt unbearably tragic.

Pushing everything else aside, Ariella focused solely on stepping down the stairs one at a time.

For now, that was all she could do.

Ariella nervously chewed on her lip while staring fixedly at the outfit she was supposed to wear for the hunting festival.

She had only heard about the event three days ago.

For whatever whim, the Emperor had personally ordered her attendance.

This was a country where wars broke out almost constantly.

Perhaps because of that, even women in Triphina learned archery as a basic skill.

“When the chamberlain said His Majesty wished to see you personally, I thought it would be about the wedding. But instead of a wedding dress, it’s hunting clothes…”

Reina acted as though she had completely forgotten Ariella’s declaration that she intended to annul the marriage.

Since her conversation with Dmitri in his office, she had heard nothing from him.

That was both a relief and strangely disappointing, because her thoughts kept drifting toward the palace where he stayed.

“In this empire, even women go hunting directly. These clothes are so indecent.”

Reina circled the outfit, inspecting it critically.

Ariella agreed wholeheartedly.

Partly because women wearing trousers felt almost like walking around in underwear alone…

Ariella glanced down at herself.

Then at Reina.

A sigh escaped her naturally.

Reina was the same age as her, yet slightly taller and more developed.

Compared to her, Ariella still looked too much like a child.

And wearing this would only make it more obvious.

What if they criticize me for being ugly again during the hunt and drag me back to the tower?

“Am I… too skinny?”

Reina, who had been fiddling with the sleeve of the hunting outfit, glanced at Ariella reproachfully.

“Do you realize you’ve lost even more weight since leaving Forenze? I keep telling you every meal that you need to eat properly.”

Ariella let out a weary sigh.

As if that were something she could control.

Still, it wasn’t something she needed to worry too much about.

If her memories were correct, then in three years she would be noticeably taller than now.

And her chest too…

It would eventually grow larger than Reina’s.

Of course, that would only matter if she stayed alive.

“You’ll have to wear a wedding dress soon too. What if you become even thinner?”

Cruelly enough, in her previous life the Emperor really had locked the portrait away with her in the tower.

Because of that, Ariella suffered every single day.

And yet she could never bring herself to destroy it.

Inside the tower, where there wasn’t even a proper mirror, she felt that if she discarded the painting, she would lose herself forever.

The fact that the woman in the portrait didn’t truly resemble her had become its own strange comfort.

Shaking away her thoughts, Ariella hurriedly rose and changed clothes.

Dawn was breaking.

Once she actually put the outfit on, it didn’t look quite as strange as she had feared.

She turned before the mirror, examining herself from every angle.

Not long after she finished preparing, word arrived that the horse prepared for her had arrived.

Hoo—

Taking a deep breath to steel herself, she stepped outside the palace.

The one leading the white horse prepared for her was, surprisingly, Dmitri himself.

It was the first time she had seen him in three days.

“I greet the empire’s little sun.”

Seeing her offer a greeting while pretending to hold nonexistent skirts, Dmitri merely tilted his head slightly.

His dazzling blond hair was so radiant that the breaking dawn felt like midday sunlight.

Gray stood beside him as well.

As though sensing they were heading for a hunt, the dog was visibly excited.

Gray barked happily at Ariella in greeting.

When she approached, he wagged his tail and circled around her.

“May I pet him?”

Without answering, Dmitri simply cast his gaze elsewhere.

Permission.

Ariella gently stroked Gray’s head.

His fur was much softer than she had expected.

“Take good care of me today, Gray.”

Dmitri waited briefly for Ariella to mount the horse, then handed Gray’s leash over to Eric.

Afterward, instead of mounting a horse himself, he personally took hold of the reins of Ariella’s horse.

And he walked beside her.

Clip-clop.

Only the quiet sound of the horse’s hooves filled the morning as the sun slowly rose.