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Chapter 10
“…I came back to this accursed imperial palace just to find you.”
“What?”
At that moment, distant voices searching for the crown prince echoed from afar.
Se-tsu looked like he still had more to say, but I pushed him away.
In the end, he was the crown prince, and I was a noble lady of the grand ducal house. Any physical closeness between an unmarried man and woman was an invitation for scandal.
And I was not someone who matched him.
“…Tea.”
Se-tsu looked at me with confused eyes.
“Later. Let’s meet later in private. Not now. People are coming.”
“…I’ll send someone to you later.”
“Okay.”
After barely finishing our conversation, I slipped away in the direction with no people and hid.
From a distance, I could hear attendants speaking as they met Se-tsu.
I had been waiting the whole time for him to come find me again.
“Lady Tearina, the Crown Prince has sent something. Shall we open it?”
“Miss, what should we do?”
That evening, someone came to my room.
The palace maid attending me asked for my decision, and I forced myself to hide my excitement.
“Open the door.”
The maid hurried over and unlocked the tightly shut door.
“Lady Grand Duchess.”
But the person standing outside was not just a servant delivering a message.
A large stack of boxes tied with golden ribbons was piled up in front of the door.
I froze.
“His Highness the Crown Prince sends his congratulations for the Lady Grand Duchess’s birthday. He humbly asks you to accept these gifts.”
Today… was my birthday.
Even I had forgotten it, but Se-tsu had remembered.
News that the Crown Prince had sent birthday gifts to Tearina Tormoran spread like wildfire. Naturally, rumors followed immediately, questioning how the Crown Prince even knew her birthday.
“Isn’t her real birthday today? Unlike what is publicly recorded?”
“So how did His Highness know? This is their first official meeting today, isn’t it?”
“Apparently they had a prior connection before she entered the ducal house…”
“If that’s true, doesn’t that damage her reputation?”
Regardless of the rumors, few people dared to ask me directly. Only Remir, Remic, and my parents did.
“Teara. Is it true? That you had a prior connection with the Crown Prince?”
“…Yes.”
There was no point in denying it. I simply accepted it and waited for judgment.
But what I heard instead was unexpected.
“…We should arrange your marriage quickly. Slightly earlier than planned.”
“What?”
“You will marry the Crown Prince, Teara.”
I had never expected that outcome.
Marriage. With Se-tsu.
“Father!”
“Absolutely not! Sister marrying the Crown Prince?!”
Remir’s sudden shout interrupted my words.
“Remir.”
The Duke pressed his temple in frustration.
“Remir, this is a matter of state alliance. It is not about personal preference.”
“I… I love him, Father… I love the Crown Prince…”
Remir burst into tears and clung to him.
“No, Remir. Marriage is not something decided by feelings alone.”
“…Sister, you won’t marry him, right? Please say you won’t. Please?”
If I were honest, I couldn’t say I had no desire for that position beside Se-tsu.
But seeing Remir’s desperate plea made my heart waver.
Still…
“There’s no need to give it up.”
I rejected her request.
“I’m sorry, Remir. I feel the same.”
The engagement proceeded quickly.
It turned out that a political marriage alliance between House Tormoran and the Empire had already been under discussion. The scandal between me and Se-tsu only accelerated it.
From that point on, Remir no longer hid her hatred toward me.
Even in front of our parents, her gaze was sharp.
Two days after returning from the hunting tournament, I lay exhausted in my room.
In the afternoon, a dressmaker was scheduled to arrive for my wedding attire fitting.
“Elder sister.”
But before I could rest, Remir and Remic entered my room without warning.
“What is it?”
“…Well, since you’re getting married, we thought we’d like to have tea with you. It’s been a while. Remic is here too. You still have time, right?”
They always assumed I would comply.
And I usually had.
“Not today. I’m tired.”
But I no longer felt anything even when they smiled sweetly.
“I insist. This is Sister’s favorite white rose tea. It was brought from the Northern Continent. You don’t hate it, do you?”
“…Fine. Let’s drink it.”
I was too tired to argue.
The tea was brought in.
I didn’t touch it.
“Sister is so lucky.”
Remir’s voice was dripping with sarcasm.
“Getting to marry the Crown Prince.”
“Yeah. You’re really lucky, right, sister?”
Remic echoed her.
I took a sip of the tea.
It tasted good.
“Thank you for bringing this.”
I said it calmly, as if nothing was wrong.
Then—
“You really are shameless.”
“You wear the Tormoran name so easily, living in luxury… and you don’t even feel guilty?”
“You don’t deserve the title Crown Princess.”
Remir’s voice sharpened.
She smiled.
And then I understood.
Before I could speak—
“Guh—!”
Pain exploded in my throat.
Poison.
The tea was poisoned.
“…Why?”
I couldn’t even finish the question.
“Because you’re trying to take my man.”
“Your… man?”
“His Highness doesn’t belong with you. He only needs our house. And me.”
Remir’s smile was bright, almost innocent.
“Goodbye, sister. Don’t meet me in your next life.”
Remic stood behind her, pale, but silent.
So even this was family.
I slowly lost consciousness.
Unfair.
That was the last thought I had.
Then—
Something strange happened.
I was looking at myself.
My body collapsed on the floor, tea spilled over my white dress, my dull blue eyes half-open.
So… that was me?
I had never really looked at myself like this before.
And then I noticed something.
A small black hole in the corner of my room.
“…Huh?”
It grew.
Rapidly.
“Ah—!”
It swallowed me whole.
And I lost consciousness.
