Chapter 38
As Silver sniffed obsessively, Aselin let out a small chuckle.
“Are you looking for this?”
She pulled a dried sweet potato from her pocket and held it out in her palm. Silver quickly devoured it.
With a look that seemed to ask, “Is that all?”, Silver stared at her.
Aselin narrowed her eyes.
“By the way, were you happy to see me, or were you just after this?”
Her voice carried a slight hint of hurt, to which Silver responded with an internal conflict, letting out a soft grunt.
Then, to soothe her, Silver stuck out his large tongue and slowly licked her palm.
His fluffy, long tail swayed gently and softly.
Then, he looked at her with a pitiful expression, and those sparkling eyes made it impossible for Aselin to not give him more.
She had no choice but to surrender the rest of the dried sweet potatoes to him.
As she stood up, the sound of footsteps from behind made her turn around.
There stood Claude.
“…!”
His messy black hair, the lazily fluttering eyelids, and the glowing red eyes were still beautiful, despite the sharp aura surrounding him.
“You know I’m in the annex. Alvin must have told you. So, what were you doing all this time instead of coming up?”
Claude asked, his hands behind his back, looking at her as if he had been waiting for hours, though it had only been a few minutes.
“Ah, sorry. I was just looking around the garden. How are you feeling, Your Highness?”
“Hmm, how do I look to you?”
“…What?”
She was asking about his condition, but he responded with a question instead.
Aselin carefully examined his face, which appeared especially grumpy today.
His eyes were heavy, his complexion was off, but the corners of his lips were oddly curled up.
…What expression is that?
Aselin rolled her eyes around before picking a safe answer.
“Well… You look tired, maybe because of insomnia. But you don’t seem to be in a bad mood.”
Claude raised an eyebrow without saying a word.
To Aselin, it seemed like he was annoyed, but in reality, it was different.
Claude had no intention of letting this moment slip by, as he trapped her in his gaze.
Her bright, sky-colored eyes sparkled in the summer sunlight.
He liked how only he was reflected in those eyes.
When she looked at him, she avoided meeting his gaze, except when she had to examine him or hear something ridiculous.
It was as though she was setting a boundary he would never cross.
Maybe that was why.
A sense of stubbornness had begun to grow within him.
He became curious about what was inside her small head.
He had a crazy thought—he wanted to fill her eyes with only his color.
***
Flashback
“You, weakling! As the first prince of the Bertha Empire, you need to be strong! Fight anything, break everything, and conquer it!”
At the age of 7, Claude twisted the neck of a chicken.
At 10, he tore open the guts of a bear with his bare hands, and by 12, he had gone to the battlefield and slain people.
Then, he boldly made a contract with that woman…
Was he wanting to conquer her?
…I’ve truly lost my mind.
“Damn…”
Claude muttered under his breath, slightly turning his head.
“…What? What did you say?”
Aselin asked, but Claude scowled, giving her a sharp look.
“I didn’t say anything.”
“…Ah, okay…”
Aselin tilted her head, feeling puzzled.
He definitely said something… Was it another hallucination?
She took a small step back from him.
Today, his condition was off, and he was asking strange questions…
She quickly counted numbers in her mind.
It seemed like another one of his episodes was approaching soon.
“Your Highness, I’ll give you the medicine first.”
Aselin quickly took out the medicine from her bag and packed it into a velvet pouch.
“You need to take this medicine every day for a week. It will help reduce the pain and hallucinations from your seizures.”
Since he was suffering from mana addiction, it was impossible to eliminate the seizures.
For now, the best she could do was ease them.
At a gesture from Claude, a servant approached and took the pouch of medicine from Aselin.
The sound of the pouch rattling faded into the distance.
“Um… Your Highness, I’ve given you the medicine. If there’s nothing else, may I leave now?”
As Aselin spoke, her voice seemed to strike Claude’s chest with a painful thud.
She was clutching her bag and fidgeting, looking as though she wanted to leave as quickly as possible.
Claude’s gaze darkened like a sky filled with clouds.
“Do as you wish.”
“Thank you, Your Highness. I’ll see you next week!”
She bowed and turned away, almost skipping with excitement.
Behind her, Claude’s intense gaze pierced through her.
“If I truly am mad… Aselin, what should I do with you?”
For better or worse, Aselin didn’t hear his words as she continued to walk farther away.
His red eyes, like flickering lanterns, gradually captured her image as she disappeared into the distance.
***
Time flew by so quickly. Summer had returned, and now autumn was approaching.
The mountains and fields still retained their green color, but they were slowly turning into shades of red and yellow.
As the soft white clouds drifted across the clear sky, and the falling leaves seemed like a painting,
The speeding carriage began to slow down.
I turned my head from the window to look straight ahead.
In front of the massive castle courtyard, many people had gathered, waving flags and banners.
The grand entrance to the Imperial Palace was overflowing with four-wheeled carriages, their brilliance dazzling.
“Miss, please get off. We’ve arrived at the Imperial Palace.”
The coachman’s voice called out, and I grabbed the hem of my dress and stepped down.
I noticed the excited faces of the other noblewomen who had arrived.
They were all dressed up with beaming faces.
It was no surprise because the Founding Festival was also a place for unmarried men and women to meet.
It was even more popular than debutante balls and was only open to high-ranking nobles.
Additionally, following the coronation ceremony, one could take the banquet stage and publicly pledge or vow to the gods.
Public proposals were common, but there were also…
[“I, Alex Wade, Guardian of Heaven and Earth, swear to the god of Bertha, that I will love my wife Aselin forever, and nothing will come before her! From this moment on, my life belongs solely to Aselin. If she tells me to die, I will immediately bite my tongue and die here!”]
Such vows…
People like Alex might say such absurd things.
Of course, I knew well that it was all a lie to gain favor and climb to the top.
In my past life, I believed those words and was completely blissful.
But after experiencing it, I realized that there are all kinds of people in the world.
He hurriedly took vows that no one had requested because he was guilty.
It would be easy to interpret Alex’s vow in the other direction.
Naturally, money and power were the things he valued most, and he never loved me alone.
Because of that lie, he became the ideal husband for the public, and his image improved, leading to nobles lining up to invest in his business.
Thanks to that, Alex became wealthy and became the right hand of the second prince.
I swallowed my bitterness as I checked my reflection in the large mirror at the entrance.
I wore a simple but elegant pure white dress with silver beads and lace, crafted by Dana’s craftsmanship.
Originally, I would have worn a tiara with beautiful jewels, but I had left it in the carriage.
I had only one reason for attending the Founding Festival.
Following the nobles, I stood in line, and soon the loud sound of trumpets echoed through the air, and the heavy palace gates opened.
The names of noble families were called out, and the nobles began entering the ballroom.
“Lady Rondinella, please enter.”
At the call of the herald, I entered the Imperial Palace.
The chandeliers shimmered in the high ceiling, and thousands of candles glowed in the golden light.
The sound of my heels echoed across the marble floors.
As I reached the large stage in the center…
“Prince Brefni, the second prince, enters!”
Prince Brefni, dressed in a pristine white uniform, entered, followed by at least fifty attendants.
