"The wound is not as deep as it seems. Although there might be some scarring, it is not life-threatening."
"But why isn’t she waking up?”
"It seems she must be quite shocked after experiencing such an incident."
"Is that all?"
The beast-like eyes merely stared, yet they sent a chill down the physician’s spine.
The physician, pale as a sheet, stammered as he continued.
"She should wake up soon. If you are very anxious, I can stay by her side all night—"
"Since you're done, you can leave now."
"Ah, yes! I understand.”
At Cabelenus's gesture, the physician hastily grabbed his medical bag and left the room.
Cabelenus's notoriety was well-known.
The physician did not want to linger around him any longer and risk incurring his wrath.
"Haa..."
Cabelenus let out a short sigh, rubbing his forehead.
The woman had always gotten on his nerves, but seeing her pale, lifeless face as she lay there bothered him even more.
Moreover…
"I want to live."
Even while showing her condition to the physician, Alicia did not let go of the arms she had around Cabelenus.
Even in the moment of losing consciousness, the clasped hands that did not let go were so earnest that it was pitiful.
Cabelenus's gaze fell on Alicia's hand, wrapped in a bandage.
Seeing wounds was a familiar sight, so he didn’t feel any particular emotion.
Or rather, that should have been the case, but every time he saw Alicia, a surge of anger welled up inside him.
‘I should have kept them alive.’
To infiltrate this deeply into the palace was no mere accident.
It was highly likely that there was an organised force behind it.
Rather than killing the intruders right away, it would have been more effective to capture them alive and make them confess.
But there hadn’t been time for such thoughts.
By the time he smelled the faint scent of blood in the eerily silent hallway, he could not think of anything.
Cabelenus cautiously reached out his hand towards Alicia.
Keeping a slight distance, he slowly traced her features — starting from her forehead, down to her nose, lips, and chin, as if drawing.
Just as she had once done to him.
Cabelenus's tightly closed lips trembled.
Suddenly, the first night he had spent with Alicia came to mind.
In the pre-dawn hours, when the sky had yet to brighten, Cabelenus was roused from sleep by her movements.
His body, honed by years of war, was sensitive to even the faintest sound or slightest motion.
Yet, he pretended to remain asleep.
The gaze that watched him, the clumsy hand gestures, and...
“Cabelenus von Schwarhan Blanche.”
…The sound of his name on her lips was strangely pleasing.
Gulp.
Cabelenus's Adam’s apple bobbed.
It had happened only once.
But he remembered with startling clarity the moment his name fell from her lips.
Her voice had been so faint, as though it might fade at any moment, and yet it had been captivating.
Captivating enough to make him hope she might call his name again.
"...Did you know that?"
There was no response.
Even so, Cabelenus kept moving his lips, speaking softly.
"I hate being pathetic. Being weak is even worse, and I truly think that letting emotions cloud your judgment is incredibly foolish. Honestly, it feels like you’re made up of everything I detest.”
"..."
"And yet, strangely, your existence doesn’t bother me."
She was bound to become a blemish in his life.
Instinctively, Cabelenus had always known that. He just didn’t want to confront his feelings for Alicia, much less define them.
But now, he couldn’t hold back any longer.
Reaching out, Cabelenus cupped Alicia’s face.
While being covered in blood, the moment he saw those ash-coloured eyes staring at him, he realised something.
That it was too late to stop now.
Perhaps, he had never intended to stop from the beginning.
"Don’t forget. You started this. You said with your own lips that you want to live."
Cabelenus’s fingertips brushed against Alicia’s lips.
The woman's shallow breaths, so faint they seemed on the verge of stopping, only intensified his anxiety.
She was far too fragile.
Upon realising that fact anew, all the worries he had until then vanished like melting snow.
The solution to the problem was surprisingly simple.
Either discard her or claim her entirely.
But discarding her was no longer an option.
That left only one choice.
"I swear. From today onwards, I will make sure that no one can lay a finger on you; even death won't dare to target you. However, you will have to pay a hefty price for that."
He had tried to fill her empty self with gifts — forcing material things into her grasp — but the more he did, the clearer it became that none of it meant anything.
Flowers wilted too quickly, and jewels broke too easily.
To completely claim this precarious woman who seemed as if she might disappear at any moment, a more certain method was needed.
"Get a good rest for now.”
Once she woke up, many things would have changed.
Cabelenus closed his eyes slowly and then reopened them.
Even in the darkness, his vivid golden eyes glimmered, brighter and more resolute than ever before.
・・・・・
「It's rare for you to contact me first. What’s the occasion?」
"I’m contacting you because I have something to say."
「If that's the case, I'm in the same situation. I've been losing sleep lately over the news that my dear younger brother is having fun with Princess Neustein.」
Zerpenus smirked and leaned further towards the mirror.
Cabelenus stared at his half-brother without a change in his expression.
"I will get married."
「Married?」
"Yes."
Zerpenus’s eyes slowly examined Cabelenus's expression.
If it were someone else, he would have thought it was a joke, but the person in question was his younger brother, who was as dull as a block of wood and had no sense of humour.
His unwavering, straightforward eyes were sincere.
「The sudden remark is surprising, but I don't think that's a bad idea either. It's time for you to stop wandering and settle down. However, finding a woman worthy of being the Duchess of Schwarhan will take quite some time—」
"There is no need to find another woman."
Cabelenus responded with a face still devoid of expression.
After all, he already knew how Zerpenus would react to his words, but it didn’t matter.
Once Cabelenus made a decision, he never went back on it.
「Are you saying you’ve already chosen someone?」
Zerpenus’s brow furrowed.
The sharp-witted emperor quickly pieced the situation together but pretended otherwise.
Understanding something in theory and accepting it were two very different things.
"I am going to marry Princess Neustein."
Of course, his indifferent younger brother paid no heed to Zerpenus’s feigned ignorance.
Zerpenus openly frowned, tilting his head to the side.
「...What did my dear younger brother just say to me?」
"I said I am going to marry Princess Neustein."
「Princess Neustein? That slave woman?」
Zerpenus let out a dry laugh.
It wasn’t inherently a bad thing for his stoic brother to take an interest in a woman.
After all, his younger sibling, despite being in the prime of life, had an excessively indifferent nature. He needed to learn how to enjoy life's pleasures.
But that was as far as it should have gone.
Turning a blind eye to Princess Neustein had been a calculated allowance, meant as a fleeting indulgence, not something to be declared as marriage material.
"After all, this is a problem that needs to be solved sooner or later, isn't it?"
「You’re the only one in the world who would refer to marriage as a problem.」
"It doesn’t matter."
「Of course, that might be the case for you. But not for me, younger brother.」
Zerpenus put down the teacup he had been drinking from.
He was no longer smiling.
"I have fought for Your Majesty all my life. I believe this is a request I am justified in making."
「Of course, considering everything you’ve done, granting any wish wouldn’t be unreasonable. But there are exceptions to everything.」
"It will be fine if this is treated as an exception."
「No. It can't be. What crazy member of the imperial family would marry a mere slave?」
Even if the Kingdom of Neustein were still standing, she wouldn’t have been an ideal match.
Let alone, they could not accept a woman who had lost everything and fallen to the status of a slave as a wife for a member of the imperial family.
Especially not for someone like Cabelenus.
For Zerpenus, Cabelenus was more special than anyone else.
He couldn't just stand by and watch his younger sibling voluntarily step into the mud.
「You, more than anyone else, should know that’s not the issue.」
"It doesn’t matter."
「Are you speaking sincerely?」
Zerpenus, who had been glaring at Cabelenus, finally let out a groan and pressed his hand to his forehead.
Having watched his younger brother since birth, he knew Cabelenus’s unyielding nature all too well.
When Cabelenus wore that look, it meant there would be no compromise.
If this was how things would turn out, he should have ordered Cabelenus to kill the Princess of Neustein instead of making such a bet.
But there was no point in regrets now.
Zerpenus massaged his throbbing temples, letting out a deep sigh.
"This is the conclusion I reached after much thought. If I had intended to change my mind, I would not have brought it up in the first place."
「Yeah, that's the way you are. But no matter how much I think about it, this isn't right. Many things will get tangled up, and you'll end up getting involved in unnecessary troubles.」
"I’ve already made my decision."
Gold and green eyes — so different in colour, yet eerily similar — collided mid-air in the tension-filled room.
Cabelenus had made up his mind, and Zerpenus had no intention of withdrawing his opposition.
「Haaah… Younger brother, it seems like you're having a misconception because this is the first time you're getting to know a woman.」
In the tense war of nerves, it was Zerpenus who opened his mouth first.
He tried to regain his composure by sipping the remaining tea.
“It’s not a misconception.”
「No. It is a misconception. Even if it isn’t, it has to be that way.」
"..."
「You are not a child, but a grown adult. So, I think it's not my place to interfere with whatever fun you have with any woman. But marriage is different. Marriage is also for the sake of an heir.」
“I’ll have an heir with her.”
Cabelenus answered matter-of-factly.
He had no intention of taking another woman, nor did he find it necessary.
Cabelenus originally had little interest in women, but after embracing Alicia, his interest in other women waned even more.
「That’s precisely the problem.」
In the end, Zerpenus was unable to finish his tea and put the cup down.
Maintaining composure was, after all, impossible.
For the young emperor, imagining his brother standing at the altar with the unknown Princess Neustein in his arms was far more horrifying than dealing with the mountain of paperwork or the incomprehensible ministers.
「According to imperial customs, a man can only marry one woman. If you take that woman as your wife, you will never be able to have a flawless heir, no matter how hard you try. You will only end up with an inferior heir born from a slave mother, or an illegitimate heir not born from the legal wife.」
"It does not matter. I do not consider such things as flaws."
「Of course, you wouldn't understand.」
Zerpenus’s expression darkened.
He wanted to dismiss bloodlines as trivial, but no one knew better than him that he couldn’t.
"Your Majesty."
「An inferior bloodline is indeed a flaw. For nobles, the bloodline is what truly represents the symbol of power passed down through generations. Bloodline is something that cannot be changed with any effort.」
"..."
「I believe you, who have watched me closely more than anyone, would understand what I mean.」
Even though considerable time had passed since Zerpenus became the emperor, people still wished for Cabelenus to sit on the throne.
Cabelenus did not mind giving up his position as crown prince, becoming the lord of Schwarhan, and bearing all sorts of notoriety.
The son of a dancer who was offered as tribute to the previous emperor. That stigma has haunted Zerpenus from the moment he was born, throughout his entire life.
「I won't object if you keep that woman by your side because you're fond of her. But nothing more.」
Zerpenus spoke firmly.
“I am not asking for Your Majesty’s opinion.”
「Even if you are not asking for my opinion, you will need my consent. No noble in the empire can marry without my approval. That's why you bothered to contact me.」
“I had to mention it at least once to secure your approval.”
「Do you honestly think I’ll approve it?」
Zerpenus sneered and tilted his head.
"I have never failed to achieve what I set out to do."
Cabelenus’s lips curled into an arrogant smile.
「Good. Perhaps this will be a chance for you to learn what failure feels like.」
"Wasn't it Your Majesty who said that such a thing is not befitting of a Blanche?"
Once again, the gazes of the two men clashed fiercely.
「...」
"..."
「...I wonder who you take after to be so stubborn.」
“That’s what I would like to say to you.”
「Haa...」
Zerpenus scowled, narrowing his eyes as he scrutinised Cabelenus.
He had no intention of permitting the marriage to a slave but provoking Cabelenus like this was problematic.
People tended to become more determined when told not to do something.
A more gentle approach was necessary.
「Fine. Then go ahead and get married. If that's what you want, then do it.」
"What are you scheming?"
Suspicion appeared on Cabelenus's face.
Just as Zerpenus did, Cabelenus also knew his brother well.
Zerpenus was not a man to back down easily.
「Scheming? That's hurtful.」
"That’s because whenever Your Majesty makes that expression, you always have something up your sleeve."
「But what can I do? If there's something I want, I have to go for it, even if it's in a dragon's lair.」
"Please stop beating around the bush and just tell me directly."
「Do you remember the bet we made back then? The one about whether you would fall for the Princess of Neustein or not. Let's make another bet, continuing from that one.」
Zerpenus’s lips curved into a sly grin.
After all, what Cabelenus showed towards the Princess of Neustein was nothing more than a fleeting interest.
Once that fleeting interest faded, the talk of marrying a slave would never be mentioned again.
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