Chapter 4
The first time Princess Titania and Young Duke Raymon faced each other as fiancés was when they were a mere five years old.
‘Do not show any weakness.’
Those were the words added by the Duke of Castline—a man who rarely set foot in the Imperial Palace—as he personally escorted his eldest son.
‘She is but a child, so much could change in the future, but…’
Instead of answering, the Duke of Castline looked down at his eldest son, who, despite his young age, possessed more spirit than most adults.
‘The opponent is the Imperial Family, and this marriage is a bond they forced upon us to bind us. Just play along appropriately until you reach adulthood. It may be better than giving those pathetic jackals an excuse to target you.’
Raymon simply nodded at the words of his father and the master of his house. The Imperial Family was the political enemy of the Duchy of Castline. There was no way he didn’t know that.
The five-year-old Titania he met for the first time at the Imperial Palace was beautiful.
With her long platinum-blonde hair flowing and her bright green eyes blinking, the young girl was, quite literally, like a doll.
He had frozen in place the moment their eyes first met.
Because of the cumbersome ornaments hanging heavily from her young neck, wrists, and head, she could have easily looked like a ridiculous mannequin.
However, as she peeked at him with flushed cheeks, Titania looked more like an angel wearing those jewels as a halo.
The way her gaze followed Raymon alone, with eyes as blind as if she were looking at a god, was an alien experience.
Had she maintained the image of that first meeting, Raymon might have kept a reasonably decent impression of his fiancée.
However, Princess Titania became obsessed with Raymon.
The direct bloodline of the Duke of Castline rarely stayed in the capital. They spent more than two-thirds of the year at their northern estate, only coming up to the capital for the New Year’s banquet held at the Imperial Palace and the summer social season.
Furthermore, Raymon was the next Duke and had many tasks to handle and duties to fulfill. Along with the secrets tied to his bloodline that must never be revealed to outsiders.
She was a fiancée he would only see a few times a year anyway; he could have just treated her as such.
But Titania always clung to Raymon. When he showed no reaction, she became even more tenacious. Despite this, Raymon could not give Titania the reaction she wanted.
It was because she always wished for things Raymon could not give.
‘…Why doesn’t Raymon like me the most?’
‘…….’
‘Why does Raymon…’
I… like Raymon… the most…
Just once, Princess Titania had broken down and cried in front of Raymon.
It must have been after he had given the first dance of the year to the daughter of Count Orland, a loyal vassal of the Castline family, at her birthday banquet.
Titania, who had always sat perfectly dressed and smiling like a doll out of sheer spite, had finally snapped. Regardless of whether her makeup melted or not, she had sobbed like a child, gasping for breath as she spoke.
He was used to her being angry. He was used to her grinding her teeth, saying she would kill that damn bitch. He was used to her throwing tantrums, telling him to act like a fiancé should.
However, seeing her wail as if she had let go of everything was unfamiliar.
Raymon remained silent, unable to even reach out a hand.
The answer was simple. Raymon was the next head of the Castline family. The Duke was robust, but he had already passed the peak of his power and was in decline, and his younger siblings were still immature.
The reason Raymon tolerated his fiancée’s tyranny was also because this engagement was a contract between the Imperial Family and the Duchy.
The emotions between the two were not what mattered.
Raymon could absolutely never like Titania ‘the most.’ He carried the weight of his castle, his family, the safety of his people, and the northern front.
Therefore, he could neither comfort the weeping Titania nor lie to her. The girl who had smiled as brightly as if she were holding a bouquet when they first met gradually saw her eyes become stained with venom.
She would overtly ignore him or throw fits of rage, as if just to see Raymon flustered or angry.
Raymon became accustomed to such things. He thought it was better that way.
“It’s probably a lie anyway.”
Raymon moved his feet, ignoring the grumbling of his adjutant, Cassian.
“Are the Imperial family made of sugar cookies or something? How do you even have to fall from a mere second-floor balcony to end up in a coma?”
“If it were a civilian, falling headfirst could certainly cause that.”
“This is the Imperial Palace, the Palace! No doubt she’s exaggerating to lure Young Duke Raymon in. Is this the first or second time she’s told such a lie?”
Raymon remained silent at Cassian’s words, but he agreed in spirit.
The Princess had almost no allies of her own within the Imperial Palace. She was certainly old enough to make her social debut, but due to being neglected, she hadn’t even debuted yet.
Consequently, while her fiancé Raymon traveled through high society and attended other people’s parties, the Princess could do nothing but summon Raymon to her palace and vent her anger.
It would be similar this time. The claim that she was hurt would be an excuse, and she would appear perfectly dressed to vent her anger and complaints over a tea set.
And to keep Raymon by her side for even a little longer…
“Welcome, Young Duke Raymon.”
…I expected her to pull all sorts of tricks?
Raymon stopped in his tracks momentarily. He had no choice. Cassian, who had been following behind him grumbling, let out a groan of shock.
Princess Titania greeted Raymon with a bright smile. No, there was no problem with that fact itself.
If there was a problem…
It was Princess Titania’s appearance.
As if the words that she had been drifting in and out of a coma were not a lie, the bandages and splints wrapped around her head, neck, slender wrists, and legs were vivid. She even had gauze stuck to her cheek.
Her hair, which had always sparkled like sunlight, was frizzy and left loose without care, and the clothes she was wearing were…
My god. She was wrapped in a baggy white dress that one wouldn’t even show to family, with a shawl like a potato sack draped around her.
Just looking at her gaunt cheeks and pale skin, which still showed signs of illness, it did indeed seem true that she had almost died.
What was surprising was that she was showing that appearance fully to Raymon.
Titania took great pride in her beauty. In fact, she might have thought her beauty was the only thing she could rely on.
The greatest beauty in the Empire—that was her pride. She never received Raymon unless she was perfectly groomed. Raymon also acknowledged her pure physical beauty itself.
“…I heard you were very ill. Please forgive me for only visiting you now.”
“It’s an embarrassing wound to show before Young Duke Raymon.”
Instead of rebuking him with ‘Why are you only coming now?’ or ‘Will you only come when your fiancée is dead?’ or complaining that ‘It was so hard because I was in pain,’ Titania gave a clean answer and invited him to sit.
Cassian, who had seen Titania’s words and actions from the closest distance as Raymon’s aide, wore a bitter expression that seemed to say, ‘She said she almost died, has the Princess really gone mad?’
However, Raymon felt a strange sense of dissonance.
“Young Duke Raymon. I have something urgent to tell you, so could you please dismiss your adjutant?”
…Since when did Titania speak in such a manner?
Forcing Cassian—who was saying with his eyes that it was impossible because he didn’t know what she might do in her madness—out the door, Raymon sat across from Titania at the table.
Even in her disheveled state, the Princess picked up her teacup with incomparable grace, moistened her lips, and set it down. Then, with her sharp green eyes shining, she spoke.
“I propose a deal to the Young Duke.”
“…What kind of deal are you talking about?”
The more they spoke, the greater the sense of dissonance grew.
Titania was not someone who could act so composed in front of Raymon.
She was someone who would pester him to acknowledge her pain, be upset about showing an embarrassing side of herself, and if there was something she wanted, she would wheedle, saying, ‘A fiancé should naturally do at least this much for his fiancée.’
She should have been angry that he didn’t even say he missed her after not seeing her for a long time.
Above all, there had always been a desperate longing dripping from her gaze when she looked at Raymon.
“The estate of the County of Bradley… there is an abandoned iron mine on Mount Hailon, northwest of the Whitton region. It was granted as a reward when my mother was presented to His Majesty the Emperor, but it was closed after the iron ore was exhausted. It is far from the main estate and is now nearly deserted as it is no longer profitable. In fact, there are ominous rumors that ghosts appear, so most people don’t even go near it.”
However, the current Titania only smiled softly like a seasoned merchant while stroking her teacup.
Even while wrapped in bandages and gauze from wounds that hadn’t yet healed, she acted as if her own appearance was of no concern.
Her transparent green eyes looked almost indifferent.
“At the end of the mine shaft, the <Insignia of Gloriana> lies dormant.”
“……!”
It was information he never even imagined he would hear in this place. Raymon’s face hardened.
