Chapter 9
“Ariella.”
The man standing behind her radiated a presence so vivid that her nerves bristled as if she’d been pierced with thorns.
Even without touching, she could feel the rise and fall of his breath against her.
“Why are you so wary of me?”
Ariella swallowed hard.
“Do you think I’d strangle you?”
And then, unbelievably, something hot brushed her shoulder.
Her breath caught.
Only after a moment did she realise it was Dmitri’s forehead.
At once, his voice, low and heavy, pressed into her ear, and his hands, hotter than his brow, gripped both her arms tightly.
Goosebumps erupted across her skin.
“You shiver even when I just call your name… and yet you claim to like me?”
Thump, thump, thump, the pounding in her chest was so fierce she couldn’t tell whether it was his pulse or her own heart.
In that suspended, languid moment, he gave a short laugh.
“See?
Hatred has no reason.”
His words carried a hint of amusement, but the bitterness behind them stung.
“You say you fell for me at first sight?”
“…”
“Even though from the very beginning you glared at me as though I had slaughtered your parents?”
The unexpected accusation struck her like an arrow straight to the chest.
She thought she should say something, anything in her defence, but no words came.
She couldn’t even explain to herself what she was feeling, let alone why she should feel it.
It was infuriating.
For a long time, nothing filled the room except their tangled, uneven breaths.
“Fine.
As you said we’ll be strangers within three years, and you’ll return to your homeland whenever you choose.
Whether His Majesty allows it so easily, that I cannot say.”
Lifting his head, Dmitri slid the door open.
The chill of the hallway rushed in, colder than the room itself.
“So from now on, there’s no need for lies.”
She stepped outside, but it felt as though her mind had been left behind in that room.
Ariella pressed a trembling fist against her racing heart, unsure whether the burning in her chest was fear… or something else.
Her shoulder still throbbed with a lingering heat, as though seared by fire.
Her knees nearly buckled.
“Are you all right, Lady Ariella?”
It was his adjutant, Eric.
“I-I’m fine,” she replied quickly, straightening herself.
Eric, with his brown hair and gentle blue eyes, looked at her with open concern as he approached.
“Allow me to escort you down to the first floor.”
He offered his arm, and Ariella didn’t refuse.
Her legs were too weak she feared she might collapse in the corridor.
Everything had once seemed so simple and flat.
But now, as though dark smudges seen in the night had taken shape in the light, truths rushed at her in unfamiliar, unsettling forms.
The blood-red sunlight poured in through the windows.
Dmitri’s voice echoed in her ears, unsettling her steps.
“His Highness…”
They had just reached the spiral staircase when Eric began carefully.
His hesitation only made her tense further what was he about to say?
“…He is a good man.”
“…What?”
Ariella’s startled voice rang up the stairwell, almost loud enough to echo.
She quickly cleared her throat.
“I-I see.”
“It’s understandable that Your Ladyship reacts so cautiously.
Those who don’t truly know the Crown Prince often misunderstand him.
But in truth, he is someone with a deep heart for people.”
A heart too deep, Ariella thought bitterly.
Deep enough to drown the entire world, not just this continent.
She swallowed her sharp retort and only nodded.
“Since the age of fifteen, he has been thrown into battlefields.
He never had the chance to learn how to express himself properly.”
“…”
“On every battlefield, he always led from the front.
He cared for his soldiers before himself.
That is why we serve him not only as Crown Prince, but as our true Commander.”
Yes… thinking back, it was true.
His coup had succeeded in less than half a day.
With the army already in his grasp, it must have been child’s play.
Eric spoke of Dmitri with pride shining in his eyes.
If he had such loyal men at his side, why then had he turned into such a merciless tyrant?
Her steps grew heavy.
Then suddenly, Gerald’s words returned to her.
“Ever since Sir Timothy’s death…”
Ariella’s eyes widened, snapping to Eric’s pale blue gaze.
His puzzled look was disarmingly harmless.
“…Is something wrong, my lady?”
You’re going to die, she thought.
And not long from now.
But why?
He was so young, so healthy…
And what were Gerald’s exact words?
‘Ever since Sir Timothy’s death…’ What came after that?
“…It’s nothing,” she said quickly.
In her past life, Gerald had begun guarding her tower cell about a year after she was imprisoned.
That meant at the very least, Eric would live another year.
Of course, there could be more than one “Sir Timothy” in this empire.
But still the sinking certainty that the man beside her would be the one to die gnawed at her.
Especially if another war broke out.
Was it his kindness that made the thought so unbearable?
Or was it simply that he felt like the only warmth in this cold place?
Whatever the reason, she found herself pitying him, though they had barely met.
Ariella forced herself to focus on the steps before her.
For now, that was all she could do.
Ariella bit her lip, staring at the hunting clothes laid out before her.
She had only heard about the hunting festival three days ago.
For some unfathomable reason, the Emperor had ordered her attendance.
In a country where war erupted as often as the sun rose, perhaps it was no surprise that even women learned archery as a matter of course.
“When the steward said His Majesty had sent me a message personally, I thought it was about the wedding.
But instead of a wedding dress… It’s hunting attire.”
Reina spoke as though she had conveniently forgotten Ariella’s bold declaration to annul the marriage.
Since her conversation with Dmitri in his office, she hadn’t heard a word from him.
A relief, and yet her thoughts wandered constantly to the palace where he stayed.
“In this empire, women go hunting too?
These clothes look dreadful.”
Reina circled the outfit critically.
Ariella silently agreed.
To her, trousers felt almost indecent, as though she were stepping out in only her underclothes.
She glanced down at her own slight figure, then at Reina, and sighed.
Though they were the same age, Reina was taller, with curves already well-formed.
Next to her, Ariella looked childishly small.
Wearing these clothes would only make the contrast more obvious.
Would she be mocked again for looking plain?
Dragged off to the tower once more?
“Am I… too skinny?”
Reina looked up sharply, scolding her with her eyes.
“You’ve lost weight since coming to Trifina.
I warned you at every meal to eat properly.”
Ariella exhaled in frustration.
As if her body would obey her will.
Still, it wasn’t worth fretting over.
If her memory was right, she would grow another handspan in the next three years.
And her figure would… fill out too.
Assuming she survived that long.
“You’ll have to wear a wedding dress soon enough.
If you keep getting thinner, what then?”
In her past life, the Emperor had cruelly placed her wedding portrait in the tower with her.
Day after day, it only tormented her more.
And yet she hadn’t torn it apart.
Without a mirror, the painting had been her only tether to herself.
The fact that the painted woman barely resembled her had almost been a comfort.
Shaking off her thoughts, Ariella rose and began dressing.
Dawn was breaking.
To her relief, the outfit didn’t look quite as strange once she had it on.
She turned this way and that before the mirror.
Not long after, news arrived that her horse was ready.
She drew a deep breath, summoning her resolve, and stepped outside.
The one holding the reins of the white horse waiting for her was none other than Dmitri.
It was the first time she had seen him in three days.
“Greetings to the empire’s little sun,” she said with a mock curtsey, clutching at an imaginary hem.
He inclined his head slightly in acknowledgement.
The sunlight spilt across his golden hair, dazzling enough to make the morning feel like midday.
At his side stood Grey, nearly trembling with excitement, as though he too knew they were going hunting.
The wolf barked in greeting, tail wagging as he circled Ariella when she approached.
“May I… pet him?”
Dmitri gave no answer, his eyes fixed elsewhere.
That silence was permission enough.
Ariella reached out and strok
ed Grey’s head.
Softer than she expected.
“Take care of me today, Grey.”
Dmitri handed Grey’s leash to Eric before taking the reins of her horse himself.
He did not mount his own horse, but walked at her side instead.
The sound of steady hoofbeats carried gently into the dawn-lit morning.
