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Chapter 13
Life for commoners was like this here. It could fall apart in an instant, collapse without warning. Perhaps Halara clung to a powerful man just to survive.
Why, of all times, did that mercenary man come to mind?
For a brief moment, she wished someone were by her side—but she quickly pushed the thought away. Quietly, she slipped out the back door and ran toward the market.
Meanwhile, at the peaceful training ground of the Bloodymary estate.
“Prince! Prince!”
A knight came running in a hurry, panting roughly, red-haired and wide-eyed, toward the youngest son of the family, Helbern, who was doing pull-ups.
“Go away. Don’t you see I’m training?”
Helbern, hanging from a tree, waved him off with his feet. The knight, dodging the kicks and then getting hit once, let out a frustrated cry.
“This is huge! A really huge event!”
“Huge event? What do you mean?”
“I don’t know! If you don’t want to hear it, don’t!”
At those words, Helbern swung down and lightly grabbed the knight by the neck.
“Die. Seriously.”
“But it smells like sweat!”
“What’s this huge news, then?”
“Prince Dochev is getting married.”
The knight confessed immediately.
“What? Married?”
“Not a formal wedding yet, I think. Uh, please keep your voice down. It’s still a secret. I barely overheard it myself.”
“What! Is it true?”
“The bride is a commoner. That’s all I know. Also, the Duchess has approved it, so she’ll soon join the family.”
Helbern’s face crumbled rapidly.
“Seriously…? And a commoner?”
“Yes.”
“So… a love marriage?”
“Uh, probably?”
Thunk.
It was as if Helbern’s sanity had snapped.
Even though it was supposed to be a secret, Helbern grabbed his sword and stormed out toward the mansion.
Helbern Bloodymary, the third son of the famed Bloodymary ducal family known for swordsmanship, was a genius who appeared only once in a hundred years, even within the family.
Dochev was a 1-star knight. Helbern was an 8-star.
Not only the rank, but their temperaments were also completely different.
Helbern’s impulsive nature and reckless mind, combined with his tendency to act before thinking, meant he hadn’t even properly debuted in society. Outshone by the openly reckless Dochev, Helbern was no less a wild man himself.
He stomped heavily down the corridor. The crimson sash on his shoulder shimmered in the light.
Helbern was livid. Only curses came to mind.
“Crazy! Dog-like delinquent.”
What? Always wandering around outside, getting up to that kind of thing?
‘Not just drinking himself under the table, but impregnating a woman while running around?’
A mix of disgust and nausea bubbled up from his stomach.
“Ugh.”
It was a family shame, but he had never imagined Dochev could cause such a massive incident.
The worst of the worst was Dochev.
“Just try meeting him. I’ll punch that smug face of his.”
With burning eyes, Helbern set out to find Dochev.
Unlike clever Nikolai, Helbern’s guesses about where Dochev might be were simple: the estate’s training ground, the stables he often visited, or possibly the commoner woman’s home.
Helbern decided to check Dochev’s room first for clues and burst in.
“Gah!”
Surprise!
Yet, he didn’t even need to search—he found Dochev in his room. Ridiculous.
“In your room… what the hell are you doing?”
Damn it.
“Damn it. You delinquent!”
Dochev was changing clothes, completely unfazed by Helbern’s shouting.
Disgusting.
Helbern stormed over, grabbed Dochev by the collar, expecting to toss him down. But somehow, Dochev didn’t fall as usual.
“Oh?”
Helbern gripped harder. Blood rushed to his arms, strength surging instantly. Only then did Dochev move slightly.
“Helbern, stop it.”
Calling his name so calmly.
“Don’t call my name. Disgusting.”
“Bern.”
“Are you insane?”
Helbern shivered from a chill down his spine, letting go of Dochev’s collar. More unsettling than that was Dochev’s changed attitude.
Sniff.
“You don’t smell like alcohol… Are you really insane?”
“Why? Sometimes Mother calls you that too.”
“Are you the same as Mom?!”
“Well, same family. You’re my only younger brother.”
Dochev smirked.
Helbern’s face paled. Hundreds of insults he wanted to pour on Dochev had evaporated in his head.
‘Focus. First, the marriage. That’s what matters!’
His gaze fell on the clothes Dochev was holding: ragged garments, the kind a poor low-rank mercenary might wear.
‘She’s the woman he met, disguised in clothes like that?’
And she was said to be a renowned beauty of the village.
‘Damn. That bastard… a love marriage? With a beauty? I should strip him naked and throw him out of the family!’
Love marriage.
Helbern had dreamed of it for a long time. His room held a worn copy of the famous romance novel Juliet and Romierre’s Fate, its cover torn and hidden to avoid family discovery.
Loving someone, having a romantic relationship, marrying the person you love, and living happily ever after—that had always been Helbern’s dream. But in this family, such dreams could only remain dreams.
And yet, he wouldn’t let Dochev snatch that opportunity.
‘You bastard. You think you get to enjoy that?!’
“Want to get kicked out by Father? You’re crazy!”
Helbern scowled at Dochev.
“How do you keep tarnishing the family name and still want to stay?”
“Yes. Family should live together.”
Dochev answered as if it were obvious.
Hah!
“Shameless. You think I’ll just let that slide?”
Yet, even as Helbern growled with murderous intent, Dochev looked at his brother like a fond little child.
Then he grabbed Helbern’s shoulder.
“If you’re jealous, just say so, Helbern. I can introduce you anytime you want.”
And then he vanished.
“Damn it!!”
Helbern cursed freely, his stomach churning at the sudden brotherly sweetness.
“Ugh, crazy bastard! You dog!”
He had clearly lost his mind. Or was it the woman Dochev was meeting? A commoner, seducing a worthless delinquent prince?
“Yeah, Mother approved it… If she comes here, we’re doomed.”
And his anger shifted toward Halara, the woman Dochev would bring instead.
“I’ll kick you both out.”
Unaware that Helbern’s wrath was aimed at her, Halara wandered the market late in the evening.
Going home meant risking Francesca barging in. She was also afraid of the man who might come looking for her. How had her life turned out that men chased her even in the early dawn?
“Fate or the story itself… you can’t easily escape it.”
The phrase ‘escaping the original story’ wasn’t without reason.
“I don’t mind being poor, and I don’t care about dresses…”
She just wanted to live well on her own.
Growling.
Her stomach grumbled—maybe from eating lightly, maybe from tension.
“I have to get something to eat today!”
Making an excuse not to go home, she bought a chicken skewer at the market and slipped into a narrow alley.
The alley was dark, with little sunlight—but that made her feel safe. No one would come looking for her here.
She decided to wait until Madame Michelle returned. She was about to take a big bite of the chicken when a voice whispered:
[Should I just break it off?]
What? Who’s there?
The alley was empty except for the wreckage of a broken box.
[Now’s my chance… should I just twist that skinny neck?]
Where on earth was this rough voice coming from?
