Chapter 36
제36화
“If you overstep your bounds and act as if you are the ‘master’ rather than a mere ‘guest’ of the Castline family, all because of some petty claim of being a savior… do you have any idea what will happen?”
“I have clearly sworn to protect Her Imperial Highness.”
“Even if I become an enemy of the Castline family?”
“That could never happen….”
“Why not? I am the daughter of His Majesty the Emperor.”
Titania faintly lifted only the corners of her mouth.
“I suppose I should be glad you didn’t tell a ridiculous lie, like saying I am more precious to you than the Castline family.”
“…Imperial Princess.”
“You don’t need to pretend to like me, either.”
“I, toward Her Imperial Highness….”
“The moment I mentioned <Gloriana’s Insignia>, you aimed your sword at my throat. That wasn’t so long ago, was it?”
Raymon suddenly realized.
That day, the day he felt Titania’s change more deeply than anyone else. Even when Raymon had drawn his sword, Titania hadn’t been the least bit surprised.
Like someone who believed he would kill her without hesitation if it were for the sake of the Castline Duchy.
“For Bibi’s sake, I played along to some extent… but let’s just leave it at that. Let’s keep things smooth. Don’t say ridiculous things about giving me the position of the next mistress of the house.”
“Is that not the position you wanted?”
Ah, so it was. Even though Raymon had been unable to properly question Titania’s noticeably altered attitude, he finally ended up asking. At first, because the change was strange yet not unwelcome; then, because Raymon himself had deceived her without giving his true heart, so he couldn’t bring himself to ask if she had been deceiving him. And then….
“If I say I want it, will you give it to me?”
Her voice as she asked was flat. Raymon merely swallowed a dry breath. Even though it was a trivial question, he felt strangely scorched inside.
“…Yes.”
“Don’t do that.”
Titania laughed lightly.
Like a flower born from the corpse of a girl who had yearned for the spot next to Raymon as if it were her life. Like flower seeds scattering in the wind. Infinitely light.
“Right. An imperial fiancée who could die for Bibi…. From the Castline family’s perspective, that wouldn’t be a bad deal. Hmm, I’ve never thought of it that way before….”
Titania murmured softly as if lost in thought.
“Still, the answer is no.”
“We are officially engaged.”
“Find someone you love and get married.”
“…Pardon?”
At those words, Raymon couldn’t help but be shocked.
“You love Bibi, don’t you?”
“That is true.”
“How would you feel if Bibi were forced into a mechanical arranged marriage with someone she didn’t care for, based solely on profit and loss?”
“Our family does not need to go so far as to use Bibi for an arranged marriage….”
“Because Young Duke Raymon is enough for the arranged marriage? Yes, I get it. Our conversation has been going in circles for a while now. Let me just make it clear right here. Young Duke. I intend to break off our engagement in the future.”
This time, Raymon asked back in genuine surprise.
“…Pardon?”
“I am telling you now so there’s no misunderstanding—I don’t intend to marry you. It’s just that the current situation doesn’t allow for an immediate annulment, so I simply hadn’t mentioned it yet.”
Titania’s attitude was decisive, as if she were speaking of something she had been considering for a long time.
“…….”
“I also understand the intention of His Grace the Duke of Castline, who forced the delay of the marriage until after I came of age.”
“What intention do you mean?”
“‘Hold on for now, and I will find a way to break the engagement if you wish.’”
“…….”
An strangely strong sense of resistance rose within Raymon at Titania’s words. He wanted to explain that it wasn’t like that. However, Raymon couldn’t bring himself to deny it. He barely managed to answer while biting the edge of his lip.
“I… cannot deny it. However…!”
“The Duke cherishes the Young Duke in his own way. It means you don’t have to sacrifice yourself unconditionally for the family.”
Her voice was dry, as if the matter had nothing to do with her.
“As for why I am going to such lengths… I suppose that’s what you’re wondering….”
Titania blinked her eyes as if fatigued.
“I have lived without owing anything to Her Majesty the Empress. I don’t believe I owe anything to anyone in the Imperial Family. Though my life may have been a disgrace to the Castline Duchy….”
Her pale face looked more like a porcelain doll than a person. Beneath her pallid cheeks, her eyelashes cast shadows like silhouettes.
“So, you see. I hate it when someone sacrifices themselves because of a hand reached out to me out of mere pity. Out of mere sympathy. The thought that ‘I can help this much.’ I truly hate it. I hate suffering even a hair’s breadth of loss. I hate the thought that it’s considered a natural price to pay for helping that young, ignorant, fool of a princess.”
“…….”
“You might not understand, Young Duke.”
A smile, vivid yet precarious, as if walking on a blade.
Indeed, like a child who grew up without anyone’s love, clenching their teeth while listening to another child brag about their parents’ affection.
Like someone who, when they trip and fall, takes the hand offered to them to stand up, but absolutely refuses to shed a single tear.
Clenching her teeth, she would smile and say, ‘Thank you for your help,’ but she would never cry and cling to that hand, saying, ‘It hurts, it’s too hard, please help me.’
She would not beg for affection, sympathy, or pity. She would not let others watch her miserable state while clicking their tongues.
She hated more than death the idea of seeing someone regret reaching out their hand.
“I have my pride, too.”
Looking at that face, Raymon realized.
Titania Sol Kite Hamastion would never, no matter what happened, beg for Raymon’s affection.
She would never again struggle while laying her heart bare to its very bottom as she had before.
If she knew her love had become a nuisance to someone, she looked as though she would choose to strangle herself and die locked in a coffin. Her eyes were desperate and resolute.
“As expected, this is the evidence of the curse found near the garden of the Rose Palace.”
Everything was going smoothly. Imperial Consort Cleo told the Captain of the First Royal Guard he had done well as he bowed politely before her, presenting a black object contained in a square box.
Everything was exactly as anticipated.
“When did you say the High Priest would arrive, Natalie?”
“He is said to be on his way now.”
“Hmph, taking his time in a situation like this. Well, it’s not a bad thing.”
Imperial Consort Cleo was in a good mood.
Time had been particularly tight for this task. She had pushed things. Obtaining evidence of a curse containing this much ‘dark power’ in just half a day was no easy feat. Though smuggling it into the palace and burying it near the Rose Palace in the middle of the night was child’s play.
Well, she had already formed a similar plan beforehand. That was why, the moment she heard there was a strange sword in the Rose Palace, the idea to link it to a curse had immediately sprung to mind.
She hadn’t known the sword she gifted would become the problem, but what did it matter? Titania would certainly never be able to say that Cleo was the one who gave it to her.
She watched as the apprentice priest, who usually stayed by Cleo’s side to look after her skincare and such, and Head Maid Natalie dug up the evidence in question at the Rose Palace.
The Imperial Consort checked her attire once more. Instead of her usual revealing clothes, she wore a relatively modest navy outfit. She set aside the Ocean of Stars she usually wore in her hair, opting instead for a plain-looking sapphire hairpin.
Because today, her role was to weep and plead over the fact that the precious princess she regarded as her own daughter had been cursed.
High Priest Margid would arrive soon. Then, she planned to receive him and storm the Empress’s Palace.
“Hmph, do they think they’re the only ones who can call a High Priest? They’ve been lying in bed for three days without waking up, yet the excuse of calling a High Priest is even more laughable!”
Imperial Consort Cleo predicted that Princess Titania had likely woken up.
The claim that she hadn’t woken yet must be a lie.
It was still impossible to know whether the accident was staged or not—she had ordered an investigation, but the Castline Duchy had handled it so thoroughly that there was nothing to be gained—but she needed to know the recent status of that little thing who was staying holed up in the Empress’s Palace.
Who would have known she would screw over the maids, who were merely sent in as feelers, in such a manner?
Seeing those clever moves, Cleo guessed that Titania was likely alive and well.
But that, too, was a move they could only make because they mistakenly thought they were the only ones who had secured a High Priest.
There were five High Priests in total. Two of them were elderly and semi-retired. There were only three young High Priests. Among them, High Priests Illian and Margid were famous.
The remaining one had become a High Priest at a young age but was said to be so immersed in research that he didn’t engage in outside activities.
Therefore, the important ones were Illian and Margid.
High Priest Illian was a representative of the commoner faction, one who argued that specialized healing shelters using divine power should be opened to those of statuses other than nobility.
High Priest Margid was a notable figure born into a prestigious family for generations, who claimed that divine power was a gift from God as a reward for the noble deeds of noble humans, and thus should only be bestowed upon those worthy—namely, the nobility.
With these two factions at the forefront, a power struggle was in full swing even within the temple.