Chapter 24
The two of them soon stood side by side at the balcony railing.
The night sky, filled with countless stars, looked exactly like Dmitri’s eyes.
As the surroundings quieted, the commotion from moments earlier felt like nothing more than a lie.
“I’m worried about how we’ll walk out of here.”
“Don’t worry about that.
Now that you have an even chest, you can step out with confidence.”
When Ariella glared at him, he gave another faint smile.
Had the eighteen-year-old Dmitri always been so quick to laugh?
A heavier wind than the night before brushed past, thick with summer’s approach.
Her eyes lingered on the beautiful night garden, but habit soon pulled her thoughts toward the trials ahead.
That was when a hand slid close and gently brushed a strand of hair from her cheek.
“What are you thinking about so hard?”
She startled, but no urge came to turn her face away.
“War.”
“I told you, I’ll be back before long.”
“How can you predict a war?
No one knows how it will go.
I still don’t think every battle should require the crown prince’s presence.”
“That may be true.
But this time, I have no choice.”
“I know.
Of course, His Majesty’s command can’t be ignored.”
“That’s part of it, but…”
She looked at Dmitri as his words trailed off.
He toyed with her hair between his fingers.
There shouldn’t have been any sensation in her hair, yet her whole body tingled down to her toes.
“When I return victorious this time…”
He lifted the strand of hair to his lips.
The moonlight cast long shadows from his lashes.
His head bowed, he slowly raised his eyelids.
Eyes dark as night gazed deeply into hers.
“I’ll petition to have our marriage annulled.”
Her lips sealed tight on their own.
Was he destined to risk his life every time just to grant her wish?
“Once that’s done, you can return to your homeland.
You’ll be safe there.”
*Fool.
You won’t come back within three years.*
“I said clearly that I would go back in five years.”
“Yes, of course.
Because you adore me so much, my sweet little Visini.
But only for five years.”
Ariella nodded with shameless resolve.
When the true heat began, Dmitri would leave.
He had survived once before, so surely he would again.
Whatever his heart endured, at least his body would remain unscathed.
Then why did this suffocating dread weigh on her chest?
She sneaked a glance at him.
The brightest star in the sky seemed etched in his eyes.
How had those eyes, once shining so brilliantly, ever become so hollow?
At that moment, someone approached the balcony.
When Dmitri opened the door, a servant stood with her shoes in hand.
Taking them, Dmitri led her to a bench at the corner of the balcony and helped her sit.
Then he dropped to one knee before her.
“What… what are you doing?”
Who could have imagined it?
That the merciless, brutal tyrant would one day kneel before her.
“What else?
Putting on your shoes.”
She wanted to ask, even knowing he couldn’t possibly answer.
Why, back then, had you done that to me?
Why destroy my country, lock me in that tower, and finally send me to the guillotine?
Dmitri’s hand closed around her ankle.
Her slender ankle vanished into his large palm.
And just like that, the tormenting thoughts dissolved into white nothingness.
He held her ankle, but her breath caught as though he’d seized her throat.
He slid her foot into the shoe and set it gently down.
Then he reached for the other.
“Your Highness…”
Dmitri raised his gaze.
Their eyes met, and all sound fell away.
“You’re not a monster.”
His hand around her ankle gave a faint start.
He lowered his head.
She had no way of knowing what expression he wore.
“Did you hear me?
You’re not a monster.”
“Why say that all of a sudden?”
“It’s not sudden.
Just as you once told me I wasn’t ugly, I want to tell you this.
From the very day you called yourself a monster, I’ve wanted to say it.”
Dmitri gave no answer.
Instead, he brushed her sole clean and slid her foot into its shoe.
His movements were calm, precise, without waste.
She had no idea what he felt, but she wanted courage.
If not now, she might never find the chance to say it.
“In truth, I wanted to tell you one thing each day.”
“One thing?”
“Your good points.”
She couldn’t banish all the shadows fated to fall upon him, but at the very least, she wanted him to know.
That he had never been all bad from the start.
“…Do I really have such things?”
“Of course you do.”
She wished she could tell him one each day.
She couldn’t heal every scar of the lash or every humiliation, but maybe she could help him keep hold of his humanity.
So that he would never become a tyrant.
In the distance, summer’s insects sang.
The garden’s sounds pressed louder than the music from the hall.
Moonlight shimmered over golden hair that swayed in the breeze.
The sight dazzled her so much she closed her eyes.
“So what is it?
My good point, I mean.”
His voice came suddenly, still bowed, catching her unprepared.
She bit her lip.
Moonlight bathed his hair, soft and glowing.
The faint breeze scattered the golden strands like threads of silk.
Her hand reached toward him without her realizing, even as the answer spilled from her lips.
“The first thing I thought of was… you’re really handsome.
Especially when you smile.”
“That’s a good point?”
“Of course.
I nearly became a criminal for being ugly, after all.”
Her fingers brushed his hair.
Startled, she drew her hand back at once.
The feel of it lingered in her palm, softer than she had imagined.
Dmitri slowly lifted his head.
His eyes had cooled into something unreadable—whether displeasure or indifference, she couldn’t tell.
Then he stood and offered her his hand.
She took it.
It no longer felt awkward to hold his.
“I’ll write them all down.
If even one repeats, you’ll have to start over from the beginning.”
“What… do you mean?”
“You said you wanted to tell me one good point each day.”
“Oh…”
“Wait and see.
Let’s find out how long you can keep naming them.
When I return, I’ll check.
So keep your list ready.”
At the door, Dmitri bent his arm toward her.
It was time to go back inside.
She straightened her back and walked at his side.
Then he suddenly leaned close.
“And you don’t need to apologize.”
His voice pierced her ear so suddenly that she turned her head in shock.
He was right there, close enough their faces nearly touched.
“Now I almost believe it.
Why not?”
“Believe… what?”
“That you really like me.
So feel free to touch me.”
Caught between dismay and confusion, she had no time to answer.
The doors swung wide.
A wave of music crashed over them, and Dmitri’s hearty laughter shook through her body.
***
The morning of the jousting tournament dawned.
The competition would last for three days.
Three more days after that, Dmitri would depart for the battlefield.
Already, the imperial city buzzed with news of war.
People believed the tournament would lift the army’s morale sky-high.
No one dared to predict defeat for the great empire of Triphina.
Summer felt as if it had burst in uninvited.
Ariella walked through a palace busier than ever.
After the royal banquet, she had tried to recall the past.
She spread paper and attempted to arrange events in order, but it brought little result.
Of course, she hadn’t failed completely.
According to what the swallows had relayed, the allied forces were far larger than expected.
They sparked battles here and there, small and large.
The fiercest clash would be where Dmitri fought, yet the emperor still had to fend off raids from all sides.
It was the last desperate struggle of nations stripped of their lands.
The problem was that the emperor would lose again and again.
It was the natural result of a man content with empty debates.
How had he once led such ferocious conquests to victory?
She almost wanted to know.
Irritated, Ariella kicked a pebble from her path.
With each battle, Dmitri’s renown among the people grew stronger.
Surely, that would only fuel the emperor’s envy.
“Haa…”
“Is it very hot, My Lady?”
Reina, shading her with a parasol, asked softly.
Ever since learning Dmitri would march to war, she had kept watch on Ariella’s mood.
No matter how many times Ariella said she was fine
, Reina never believed her.
“Yes, it feels suffocating.”
“That much?
They say summer hasn’t even begun yet.
Truly, Triphina’s heat must be merciless.”
Ariella nodded.
The palace would know no peace for some time.
The chamberlain had whispered that the emperor was still pressing the temple.
All to prepare for the empress’s coronation.
