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Chapter 87
“Leave right now? Then I’ll call Katarina.”
“No. I will act as your escort.”
Hearing that he wanted just the two of us to go put my mind at ease. I had to hold down the corners of my lips that threatened to curl upward.
“But why are you wearing hunting clothes in the morning?”
The Grand Duke asked after noticing my outfit.
At this hour, it would have been natural to come out of my bedroom in nightclothes, but here I was in a tunic, vest, and riding pants. No wonder he found it strange.
“…I thought I’d get some shooting practice for exercise this morning. You know I like firing guns.”
I smiled as I made my excuse.
The truth was I had dressed this way hoping the Grand Duke would take me to meet his younger sister.
I hadn’t slept a wink the previous night, tossing and turning until I finally gave up and got up.
It was needless worry that kept me awake—fear that the child wouldn’t recognize me.
Over ten years had passed. My tall height and red hair hadn’t changed, but the atmosphere of me at eighteen and me now at twenty-nine must be very different.
If I wanted the child to recognize me at a glance, then at the very least my appearance had to resemble how I looked back then.
So I left my hair down instead of tying it up as usual, slipped into simple hunting clothes, and put on no makeup, letting the freckles on my cheeks show plainly.
I took hold of the Grand Duke’s wrist and followed him all the way to the stables of the lord’s castle.
During the whole walk, he didn’t mention our destination once. Looking closer, I noticed his lips were dry, his shoulders stiff, and his eyes slightly reddened. He must have suffered all night before making up his mind to come to me.
“Grand Duke, where are we going this early?”
In the end, I had to ask first.
“…There is someone I wish you to meet.”
“Someone you wish me to meet? Who is it?”
“Just a moment.”
From inside his cloak, the Grand Duke produced a white headscarf and a wide-brimmed hat.
He pressed the hat snugly down on my head, then used his fingers to gently gather my hair and tuck it inside. He wound the scarf below my eyes to conceal my face.
He, too, pulled his cloak’s hood low over his face.
“Do we really need to hide our faces? Are we going on some kind of secret errand together?”
It must have been to keep the pawnshop owner’s mercenaries, who might be watching near the princess’s house, from recognizing me.
“Get on, first.”
He lifted me onto the saddle, then climbed up behind. His left arm circled tightly around my waist, while his right hand held the reins.
We rode out of the castle, the cool late-summer dawn breeze brushing against us.
I carefully watched which way he turned the horse at the front gate.
He chose a direction—the central western district.
The house belonging to Sir Kirill, where the princess and her nurse were staying.
“You’re not going to tell me who it is, even now?”
I pretended as though I knew nothing.
The Grand Duke remained silent for a long time. From behind me, a heavy sigh stirred the hair near my ear.
The horse clattered onto a gravel road. The arm holding me tightened. I could feel his nerves trembling straight through to me.
I wondered what kind of expression he was making right now behind me.
“Grand Duke, did you make a new friend in Blansk?”
“…No.”
“If not a friend, then who is it you want me to meet? Now I’m getting worried. If we can’t show our faces, then isn’t it someone dangerous?”
“They are not dangerous.”
He denied it firmly.
“Then who?”
“There is something I have never told you.”
His deep, low voice slipped into my ears. The arm around my waist rose gradually to rest heavily on my shoulder.
The horse slowed its pace little by little.
Then suddenly something pressed into my shoulder—the Grand Duke had buried his face there.
Did he lack the courage to say it to my face?
Holding me close from behind, he spoke softly.
“Will you believe what I am about to tell you…?”
Melania sat blankly in front of a teacup, staring into space.
At dawn, her nurse Olenka had shaken her awake, saying someone was at the door. When Melania looked out the window, Lord David was standing outside.
Rubbing her sleepy eyes, she had greeted him warmly. But the first thing he did was bow his head and apologize.
He said he was sorry for always hiding the truth. That he would finally tell her what she had always wanted to know.
And then he dropped an utterly shocking revelation.
“Lord David is my real brother…?”
She couldn’t believe it.
She had noticed that his violet eyes and fair hair resembled her own, and thought perhaps he was some distant blood relative.
But no—he was her sibling, born of the same parents.
At such an untimely confession, Melania had pinched her cheek hard. It stung. It hurt. It wasn’t a dream.
Mustering courage, she asked him:
[Then that means I also have parents? But you told me your mother passed away long ago. What kind of person was she?]
[Our mother was a dancer.]
[A dancer? That’s amazing! And what about our father?]
[Madilov.]
[Madilov? That sounds familiar. Ah—that’s the same name as our king, isn’t it?]
To her question, David responded with a simple gesture.
King Madilov—the very same. He was their father.
“Could this really be true? It feels like I’ve walked into the pages of a novel.”
This was the kind of story one only read in cheap fiction. To think she was of royal blood!
Her heart pounded wildly.
Never before had she heard anything about her birth. She had asked countless times, but neither David nor Olenka had ever given her an answer.
“I’ll be seventeen soon. Maybe they finally thought I was old enough to hear it.”
Yet new questions bubbled up one after another.
Why had she been raised in Olenka’s care? Why had she been hidden away so deep in the forest, never meeting anyone?
Melania pressed for answers one by one. David answered without hiding anything.
[Our father was unwell in the mind. He tried to harm you when you were a baby. To protect you, the nurse secretly took you into the forest and raised you there.]
[Father tried to harm me?]
[Yes. He committed an unforgivable sin against you. He isn’t even worthy of being called father.]
[So that’s why you never told me… You didn’t want me to be hurt.]
Melania nodded calmly.
If it had been so hard to tell, then there must have been good reason.
Madilov—once revered by the people as king. But to Melania, he was just a name. Not even a blurred image remained in her memory. He felt like a stranger.
She felt no urge to resent him.
“I’m just happy that David is really my family. I thought he lived such a hard life as a knight, but it turns out he was a prince… and now the Grand Duke of this country.”
Melania lifted her cup and took a sip, her heart confused yet delighted.
Beside her, Olenka let out a long sigh and set some cookies on the table.
[This should have been told to you long ago, my lady. I’m sorry.]
Olenka, too, looked unsettled by David’s sudden visit and confession.
Melania waved her hand cheerfully.
[It’s fine. But why are they taking so long? He said he’d come back with his wife.]
*[They should be arriving any moment now,] Olenka said after checking the clock.
The two of them were waiting for David, who had gone back to the castle to formally introduce his spouse.
[What kind of person did David marry?]
[I heard she’s the granddaughter of the King of Levanteia. I’m worried, though. When I asked around the neighbors, they shook their heads, saying she’s a witch destined for hell.]
[A witch? You mean she can use magic?]
At Melania’s innocent question, Olenka couldn’t help but laugh.
[There’s no such thing as magic these days, my lady. People just call cruel, wicked women “witches.”]
[If she were really bad, David wouldn’t want me to meet her.]
[Well, as a ruler she must be capable. I’ve never seen such a clean and pleasant city. Not even a single beggar on the streets.]
[That’s true. How did she make the city so beautiful? I have so many questions to ask her!]
Melania’s heart fluttered with excitement at the thought of meeting someone new.
Then—the sound of a bell rang out.
“They must be here.”
Olenka tightened her apron strings and headed to the front door. Melania trotted behind, quick and light-footed.
The door swung open.
Two people stood side by side: Lord David, dashing in his black cloak, and a tall, slender woman in hunting clothes.
Melania clasped her hands and beamed, welcoming them warmly.
David led the woman into the sitting room.
She wore a brown hat pulled low and a white cloth covering her face.
“Why is her face hidden?”
As she wondered, Melania studied the woman carefully.
Their eyes met. The woman’s shoulders flinched. At what? Melania tilted her head. Was it surprise? Nervousness?
“This is my younger sister, Melania. And this is her nurse, Olenka.”
David introduced them.
The woman looked at each of them in turn and bowed lightly.
[And this is my wife, Alisa.]
Melania watched closely as David signed the letters of her name. Alisa. Thankfully, it was an easy name to remember.
[Nice to meet you, Lady Alisa!]
Melania rose on her toes, signing energetically.
“Phew…”
The woman named Alisa took a deep breath, then removed her hat.
A cascade of long, rich red hair spilled free.
“Red hair! Red hair!”
Melania squealed inwardly, instantly smitten with her hair color.
Then the woman slowly pulled away the cloth covering her face.
Her features were revealed at last.
