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chapter 14
The Crown Prince was waiting for Uriel with an anxious face.
“Riel is late.”
But an hour passed, and then another, and still Uriel did not appear.
Because he was sure she would be conscious of other people’s gazes, he had rented out the entire shop. As a result, he was the only one inside.
“At this rate, the tea will be completely cold.”
The Crown Prince rose from his seat and reheated the cooled tea.
In fact, he had already reheated the same tea several times over, wanting to ensure that Uriel could drink it warm the moment she walked through the door.
“Hopefully this will be the last time.”
Ding.
When the bell above the door chimed, the Crown Prince turned with a bright smile.
“Riel!”
“As I expected.”
“Erica?”
The one who entered was not Uriel but Erica Medina. The Crown Prince could not hide his disappointment at her appearance.
“You seem disappointed. Because I wasn’t the one you were waiting for?”
“How did you know I was here?”
“I put someone on you.”
“What?”
The Crown Prince frowned, but Erica didn’t even flinch. On the contrary, she looked at him confidently, as if asking what the problem was.
“I set someone to watch Your Highness. Why, is that not allowed?”
“How can you be so brazen about it?”
“Did I do something wrong?”
“Wrong, you ask? Even married couples don’t put spies on each other. Not even in arranged marriages!”
Erica laughed mockingly at his words.
“Why, that’s no different from insulting Her Majesty the Empress.”
“You really don’t understand what ‘moderation’ means.”
“Your Highness, the Empress watches the Emperor closely. When he wakes, what he eats for breakfast, whom he meets, what he talks about.”
The Crown Prince was struck dumb for a moment.
“You can’t deny it, can you? Because you know very well Her Majesty would absolutely do such things.”
Indeed, Erica was right.
If it had been his mother, she would have gone even further—he couldn’t deny it.
“Well, it’s only natural, isn’t it? No matter that theirs was a political marriage, and she bore him an heir, she still hasn’t forgotten her first love. I never understood Her Majesty, but now I think I do. It’s a rotten feeling, realizing my fiancé has someone else in his heart.”
Erica twisted her long hair around her fingers, speaking as though it were nothing.
“Erica Medina.”
The Crown Prince’s voice dropped low.
“Don’t cross the line again. This is a warning.”
“And what line did I cross, exactly?”
Erica stepped closer to him, as if mocking his words.
“If anyone has crossed a line, it’s you, Your Highness. Lately you’ve been acting strange. At first I thought you were envious that Duke Baraota married for love, but it seems you’ve found someone else.”
As soon as she heard that he was buying jewelry and had rented out a famous dessert shop for a whole day, she had prepared to tail him.
“It doesn’t matter to me if you meet another woman. What I want is the position of Crown Princess.”
At her words, a wave of conflicting emotions swept over the Crown Prince.
He had not wanted to live a life like his parents. He had tried sincerely to grow attached to Erica Medina.
When he fell in love with Uriel, at first he had even felt guilty toward Erica.
But Erica now said none of it mattered to her.
Relief washed through him—his guilt could be lifted. But also an emptiness, knowing that no matter how much he had tried, it was something he could never truly gain.
“Whoever it is you’re seeing… it’s not serious, is it?”
Among nobles in arranged marriages, it was not uncommon to have a lover.
“Or did things end today? You waited so long, but she never came.”
“If she had shown up, what would you have done?”
“What else? I only wanted to talk. To see what her intentions were. Whether she hoped to take my place. Honestly, Your Highness is lonely. So if someone showed you affection, of course you would give them your heart.”
The Crown Prince could no longer listen.
He thought it was a blessing Uriel hadn’t come. If she and Erica had met here, he dared not imagine what would have happened.
“Your Highness, just give me your heart. Not the title, just your heart. That’s all I ask.”
“I told you to stop running that mouth of yours.”
This was anger unlike before.
“And you dare set someone on me? If this happens again, I will not stand by.”
“Would you dare to break the engagement? Do you think Her Majesty the Empress would allow that?”
Erica knew very well the Empress would never abandon her.
“If she’s not watching, what can you do about it?”
With that, the Crown Prince left the shop.
Alone, Erica let out a small laugh.
“A puppet that only ever does what its mother tells it to do—what can you really do?”
She sat down naturally at the table the Crown Prince had prepared and calmly sipped the tea.
“Seems her tastes are completely different from mine.”
She looked the picture of elegance—nothing like a fiancée who had just discovered her betrothed was in love with another woman.
“Baron Vitale sent a letter.”
Uriel froze for a moment as she was dining with Duke Baraota after finishing the day’s work.
“From Baron Vitale?”
She worried he might have written something troublesome.
Surely he didn’t tell them everything I said?
“Yes. He apologized for his son’s rudeness and said he wished to invite us to an upcoming party.”
Uriel sighed in relief.
“A party?”
“Yes. What would you like to do?”
“If possible, I’d like to attend.”
She thought Baron Vitale would never extend such an invitation without reason.
“Then I’ll send our reply.”
“Truly?”
The Duke nodded without a word.
“And tomorrow, you remember we must go to the Imperial Palace?”
“Yes.”
Uriel recalled her last meeting with the Emperor, before her regression.
His face was always unreadable.
The Emperor, in short, rarely showed any change of expression—or perhaps more accurately, any change of emotion.
He never spoke unnecessarily, nor seemed interested in anything.
A man devoid of feeling. That’s how he appeared.
“There’s no need to be nervous. If you’re uncomfortable, you don’t have to say anything.”
“…Thank you.”
Meeting the Emperor and Empress worried her, but what worried her most was the Crown Prince.
He won’t say anything strange, will he?
“And whatever you do, don’t let the Empress’s words shake you. She delights in that sort of thing.”
“I understand. But… will His Highness the Crown Prince and his fiancée be there too?”
“Most likely. The Imperial family already treats her as though she were Crown Princess.”
Uriel felt her throat tighten at just the thought.
It will be a most uncomfortable meal indeed.
After much hesitation, the Crown Prince finally stood before the Emperor’s office.
“His Majesty asks that you wait a moment.”
At the attendant’s words, the Crown Prince stared anxiously at the closed door.
After a few minutes, it opened, and the Emperor emerged.
“For you to come here… this is unusual.”
The Crown Prince had never once sought his father first. The Empress had always told him not to bother the Emperor.
“I have something to say.”
“Very well. Come in.”
For the first time in his life, the Crown Prince entered the Emperor’s office.
“Sit.”
“Thank you.”
He sat carefully, swallowing dryly in nervousness.
“What is it?”
Unlike other fathers, who might exchange greetings or small talk, the Emperor went straight to the point.
“I have a request.”
The Emperor looked at him as if to say, Go on.
“There is someone I love.”
The Emperor’s face showed a flicker of surprise.
“She does not love me yet. There have been misunderstandings. And she is not in a situation to accept me.”
He spoke quickly, trying to hide the tremor in his voice.
“But I’m telling you this now because I want to ask you, just once, to be my father. If I can win her heart, I want you to let me break off my engagement with Lady Erica Medina and live with her instead.”
It had taken tremendous courage to say this. His fingers twitched with nervous energy.
“The Empress will never allow it.”
The Emperor studied him calmly.
“That is why I came to you. The Empress will never bend her will. And she will never accept this woman.”
“She must be someone of mismatched status, then.”
The Crown Prince immediately nodded.
For a moment, the Emperor’s own past came back to him.
“I love her sincerely. Why must you say such cruel things?”
“Had you brought me even a slave of the Empire, I would not have opposed it this strongly! But her? A maid from a conquered nation, and once a princess’s attendant? How could such a person ever be Empress of this Empire? Impossible.”
“Father.”
“Throwing a tantrum will not change reality. Everything you’ve enjoyed was because you are Crown Prince. And you must bear the responsibility that comes with it. Fortunately, your fiancée, Lady Silvestri, has graciously said she would accept the woman as your concubine. Be grateful for that much.”
The Emperor, too, had once been forced to leave behind the woman he loved, marrying another in her place—believing only in her promise that she would accept his beloved as consort. But after the wedding, the woman vanished without a trace.
“Shouldn’t we ensure such tragedy never happens again?”
So much was contained in those words.
“…Very well. This once, I will stand by you. But know this: if you choose her, every consequence that follows will be yours alone to bear. I cannot shoulder them for you.”
“That is more than enough for me.”
“Then leave.”
“Yes. Thank you, Father.”
The Crown Prince rose, his expression lighter than when he had first arrived.
The Emperor could not take his eyes off him. Perhaps, for the first time in over twenty years, he had truly faced his son.
