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Chapter 64
“You have me, so how could you even talk about a marriage proposal? That’s impossible!”
I shouted, and Eshedwa let out a small laugh.
“Everyone knows we can’t marry. Are you really unaware, or just pretending not to know?”
His words pierced my chest like a dagger.
“What do you mean by that, Eshedwa?”
I asked him what he wanted to say, but in truth, it was a meaningless question. I already understood exactly what he meant.
My heart tightened painfully, pushing me to the brink of despair.
“There are many reasons, but from the perspective of the Libedro Empire, it’s advantageous for the first prince of the Rümen Empire to succeed the throne next.”
He leaned against me like a satisfied beast, his eyes long and sharp. Then, in a soothing, gentle tone, he continued:
“Even though the second prince currently has little standing, he will soon grow in influence. He’s intelligent and skilled in diplomacy, not lacking compared to the first prince. Before his power grows, the first prince will send him to you.”
“Why…?”
“Where else would there be a place as suitable as you to handle someone like him?”
The air pressed down on me so heavily I could barely breathe. How could this…
“It’s a marriage to the only daughter of a ducal family, a family unmatched anywhere, but you are the duke, so what else could the second prince do besides play the role of the house’s lady?”
He spoke with a bitter smile.
“He won’t be able to do anything else. Nothing but guard the house.”
Why do you seem to know exactly how to make me sad?
Still, all I could do was follow his outstretched hand, as if he was inviting me closer.
“So, if he proposes, accept it, Inerea.”
“Huh?”
Eshedwa’s hand, draped over my thin gown, felt painfully… painfully heavy.
“It’s a matter of marrying him, Inerea Mertiel.”
His next words pushed me straight off a cliff.
“You can do at least that much for me, can’t you?”
✦ ✦ ✦
I’m not sure about Kischel, but I didn’t find the voyage difficult.
No seasickness, and just staring blankly at the sea in the cool ocean breeze was enough rest.
Still… what am I supposed to do with this desolate heart?
“Crown Prince Eshedwa Paul Libedro, and Duke Inerea Mertiel, welcome to the Rümen Empire.”
The man I love.
The man I am supposed to love.
“Your rooms have been prepared in the palace’s guest quarters. If anything is insufficient, please let us know at any time.”
He treated me like a father.
Trapped in this miserable reality, I could do nothing. Frustration came, pride wounded.
“We will help you change your clothes.”
It hurt.
Even in the brief time given to recover from the journey in a strange empire, I couldn’t rest. I could only replay Eshedwa’s words from just a few days ago on the ship.
“There’s no answer.”
Kischel came with me as my aide and assistant, but as a person of the Besen lineage, he was assigned a separate room.
I sat alone in the spacious guest room, clutching my head in agony.
Whenever he spoke, I could sink like a ship going under, so I couldn’t refuse Eshedwa.
All I could do…
“Because I love him, I can only refuse with dislike.”
I sighed and changed clothes. I could only hope this would work.
If it didn’t… if it really didn’t… I might have to try another method. I didn’t want to, but…
✦ ✦ ✦
At the Rümen Empire’s coronation, my seat was surprisingly elsewhere.
In other words…
‘I thought I would be placed next to Eshedwa.’
People still mostly recognized me as the Crown Prince’s lover rather than as Duke Mertiel. I expected the seat next to him that suggested the future Crown Princess, not a separate seat as Duke Mertiel.
I pushed aside the champagne offered and popped a macaron into my mouth.
‘So extravagant.’
I clapped under the gaze of the new emperor, who had become so terrifyingly powerful, and met the eyes of the princes seated below.
‘Ah.’
I didn’t know who was who, but judging by their positions, the tall man with slanted eyes like Pablo must be the first prince, and the gentle-looking man next to him must be the second prince.
The first prince smiled at me, while the second fixed his joyful gaze on his father.
I felt nothing but irritation.
It was clearly a case of parallel worlds in one room.
When the coronation ended and the party began, I tried to move toward Eshedwa, but the princes blocked my way.
‘Damn it.’
I muttered a curse silently.
“Are you Duke Mertiel?”
They spoke in Libedro. I nodded and replied in Rümen.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Your Highnesses, First and Second Princes.”
“Oh… I didn’t expect you to speak our language with such a beautiful voice.”
“Not at all.”
I responded formally as Duke Mertiel, not the affectionate lover, since they clearly approached with a purpose.
“I am First Prince Calvin Sisedo en Rümen. And this is… Ren, right?”
“Nice to meet you, Redro Liam Rümen.”
The second prince—the one Eshedwa had “ordered” me to marry—stood right in front of me.
“I’m Inerea Mertiel.”
“Haha, a female duke from the Libedro Empire! I was so surprised when I first heard. Had I known such a beautiful duke existed, I would have attended the coronation myself.”
Smooth talker.
Calvin gestured to his brother.
“Right, Ren?”
“Of course. I’m also surprised; I’ve never met someone so beautiful. Such remarkable dignity.”
I politely replied in kind.
“By the way, you became of age last year, correct?”
“Yes. I recently celebrated my twentieth birthday.”
“Ren just turned twenty-two.”
I looked up at the second prince. He bowed.
“But how troubling—no fiancée, making the family worry. Ah, and you also have no betrothed, right?”
The Crown Prince, known to be Eshedwa’s lover, was here, yet the first prince asked nonchalantly.
I realized that if I mishandled this, I would inevitably be entangled with the second prince.
‘This is a meeting orchestrated by a foreign first prince. One wrong move, and it could escalate into a diplomatic incident.’
Moreover, the Rümen Empire was Asra Trading Company’s top client and largest business partner. I couldn’t afford a mistake.
And I had already anticipated this situation.
“I have no fiancée, but I do have someone I love.”
The first prince raised an eyebrow, and the second prince turned his gaze toward me.
“I’d like to be introduced.”
I slowly bowed my head and lifted it again. Warmth filled my gray eyes.
Smiling, I passed the two and sought Eshedwa.
I approached the man watching me curiously and linked arms with him.
“Eshedwa, First and Second Princes. As you know, this is the future sun of our empire, Eshedwa Paul Libedro.”
A smile deepened on Eshedwa’s lips.
Here… I’d make it impossible to say otherwise.
A marriage with the second prince?
‘There’s a loophole there.’
If I’m not careful… Eshedwa could be accused of losing his lover to the second prince.
If it passed quietly, it would simply appear that our relationship had naturally ended, and each of us would find a spouse to continue our family lines.
“The sun of the empire, but also my sun.”
I publicly flaunted my relationship with Eshedwa in front of the second prince. Later marrying the second prince? I would become a villain playing with two men, while Eshedwa would be seen as someone whose lover was taken by a foreign prince.
Now, Eshedwa…
“Meeting those who lead an entire nation at the same time, it makes my heart flutter.”
What would you do now?
I smiled at the princes of the Rümen Empire and at Eshedwa with nothing but love, acting out the love he had once given me—the only “love” I knew.
