Chapter 16
“Why are you trembling like this?”
In that instant, Dmitri’s gentle tone pierced her ears.
“Don’t be nervous.”
Between the weighty sound of his name that thudded in her chest, a playful voice slipped in.
“It’s because I’m the best at hunting.”
“Ah……”
Dmitri tilted his head slightly toward something.
Where he pointed, an enormous pile of beasts was stacked.
Deer, a pack of wolves, and even bears.
At a glance, it was obvious that these were Dmitri’s kills.
But was that really the result of hunting?
No it was the aftermath of desperate struggles to survive.
Still, when piled up like that, it was impressive.
Just catching one deer was enough for people to boast about a successful hunt yet here was a bear.
The crowd continuously chanted his name.
The voices calling for Dmitri were filled with excitement, as if he had returned victorious from a war.
While everyone praised Dmitri’s greatness, Ariella measured the wounds hidden beneath his flawless exterior.
People didn’t know.
They had no idea how deep the scars behind his perfection were.
That’s why they could cheer for him so purely.
As Dmitri’s name, hailed as the masterpiece of the Hakriteri royal family, echoed through the forest, the emperor slowly emerged from his tent.
Just as at the beginning, he climbed onto the platform.
The flickering torchlight cast an uneasy glow on Frederick’s face.
His features were steeped in boredom.
A frown formed instinctively.
Even though the son he had tried to kill returned alive, there wasn’t the slightest trace of guilt on his face.
Ariella’s horse drew closer to the platform.
She had to use all her strength just to maintain her expression.
From atop the horse, the emperor’s face was clearly visible, so much so that she could even see the traces of age that were not noticeable from afar.
Frederick waved his hand, urging the crowd to calm down.
“Dmitri, my son.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
The two called out to each other as though they were a close and affectionate father and son.
“You caught the most game, so I will grant you one wish.”
Ariella’s eyes narrowed.
Was this the reason he needed to win today?
“What is it?”
“I wish to keep Ariella of Forenze by my side for the time being.”
At his sudden declaration, Ariella sucked in a sharp breath.
The annoyance that had lingered on the emperor’s face instantly turned into displeasure and puzzlement.
“For what reason?
Do you intend to hold a wedding?”
“Before Her Majesty the Empress’s coronation, how could I dare to do such a thing?”
Ariella’s political marriage had always been nothing more than the emperor’s ploy to obtain a young bride.
Unless that plan was realised, her life remained as fragile as a candle in the wind.
“And so?”
“Just as I said.
For the time being, I will keep her as my consort.
Please grant me full authority over Ariella of Forenze.”
Frederick twisted one corner of his lips.
“Do you actually like her?”
That ugly thing?
He hadn’t said it, yet it felt as if those words were spoken aloud, and Ariella pressed her lips tightly shut.
“Yes, I like her.
Therefore, she is mine now.”
The surroundings fell silent, as if struck by lightning.
But only for a moment the forest suddenly broke out in commotion.
Not knowing why, Ariella’s wide eyes darted about.
She couldn’t grasp what was happening.
Then, one of the attendants standing behind the two stepped forward, bowing deeply.
“Your Majesty, His Highness claims what is his, now that he is of age to wed.”
Only then did Ariella faintly understand the reason behind the murmurs.
Perhaps Dmitri had never opposed his father before.
But now he was taking a stance, as if to say he would protect what was his.
“Indeed.
He is of that age.”
As though those words were permission, the men around them began chiming in one after another.
It was at that very moment that a strange light flashed across Frederick’s face.
The one who saw it most closely was none other than Ariella.
“Look at these hunting spoils.
Doesn’t it seem as though a dragon swept through here?”
“Just by seeing how His Highness the Crown Prince Dmitri resembles the black eyes of the illustrious former Emperor Norlan, it is clear he is the very incarnation of the dragon that protects the empire.”
The emperor’s cheek twitched faintly.
What they spoke of was not the founding emperor of the Trifina Empire, but the first king of the Hakriteri royal line.
Count Norlan, the one who had raised Hakriteri into a royal dynasty, soon became a legend.
People revered him as sacred, believing his bloodline was bestowed by the heavens.
To resemble him meant unquestionable legitimacy.
“To call him the incarnation of a dragon that appears once in a thousand years this is the greatest glory for the empire.”
It sounded almost rehearsed, as if they had prepared the flattery beforehand.
While the others babbled on, Ariella focused only on Frederick.
The subtle changes of emotion flickering across his torchlit face were faint but not too faint for someone so close to miss.
She just found it hard to believe.
“Yes.
His Highness Crown Prince Dmitri is more than worthy to be given the title of Triphinos.”
Triphinos.
A title meaning “One who stands tall above the empire.”
It was an honour granted only to the founding emperor.
Frederick raised an eyebrow, his narrowed gaze chilling beneath it.
“Indeed so.
If not His Highness, then who else could reclaim that title?”
The courtiers unanimously voiced their agreement.
Ariella, however, studied Frederick’s face again and again, unable to accept it.
“Enough.
This is excessive.”
At those words, the noisy mouths all shut tight.
In that instant, Ariella was certain.
What the emperor was feeling now was jealousy.
Jealousy so raw it could not be concealed.
The same fierce, vile jealousy that had once driven him to aim an arrow at his own son.
Ha, she let out a disbelieving laugh.
Frederick had fathered Dmitri in his thirties.
For the imperial family, it must have been a great celebration, as he had sired his first son relatively late.
Frederick had spent most of his twenties on the battlefield.
And on those battlefields, he had lost all of his brothers.
When only the fourth son of the late emperor Frederick survived, naturally, there had been whispers.
Moreover, he was not born of the empress.
After he ascended the throne, people hushed such talk, but one cannot cover the sky with the palm of a hand.
At any rate, he had won the fierce struggle for succession and constantly laboured to keep the throne he had gained.
Yet, inevitably, the question of legitimacy haunted him endlessly.
But Dmitri?
From birth, he was showered with the world’s praise.
Faultless Dmitri.
The treasure of the Hakriteri royal family.
The incarnation of the guardian god of Triphina.
A clear, flawless bloodline that silenced even the debate over his father’s legitimacy.
And those radiant black eyes besides.
An endless stream of exalted epithets followed him.
All of it things Frederick could never possess, no matter how much he craved them.
Ariella bit down on her lower lip.
For some reason, her eyes burned hot.
She both wished Dmitri knew all of this and that he would never know.
Could he truly accept that the father who should have only given him love instead tormented him out of jealousy?
And in such a cruel way at that.
Just then, a man standing right beside the emperor stretched his arm toward the crowd.
“How can the servants of His Majesty act so recklessly?
Do you even know what that title means, to throw it around so lightly?”
She didn’t know who that sly-looking man was, but one thing was certain.
He was one of the few who knew the emperor harboured petty inferiority toward his own son.
‘Dmitri seemed completely unaware……’
And of course he would be.
Who would ever imagine such a thing?
He was not only an emperor he was a father.
Ariella’s gaze fell upon Dmitri’s hand, gripping the reins.
Long and delicate fingers so hard to believe these were the hands that had slain countless beasts.
And yet, one day, Dmitri would kill his own father with those very hands.
Hands that once seemed only cruel now struck her heart with pain.
And so, Ariella found herself understanding this man more and more.
If Grey had died today, how long would Dmitri have wept?
Or would he have wept at all?
Perhaps he would have simply spoken of his p
ain with that same calm, indifferent face.
If so was it right to let that ruthless emperor live?
Or was it better to simply let him die?
Unable to decide anything, Ariella clutched his hand tightly.
The man’s large hand, too big for her own to fully grasp, trembled faintly.
