Chapter 53….
The Helper
Nothing was going the way she wanted.
It had only been a short while since they returned to the Clarion estate. Without delay, Yudar invited the entire Clarion family to the imperial palace. Count Clarion repeatedly asked Roa—whose complexion had darkened—for her thoughts on the marriage. But Roa gave no answer, like a person without emotions.
She didn’t say she didn’t want to become the Crown Princess, nor did she say she did. She simply moved as if following the natural course of things.
Even when being dressed up before leaving for the imperial palace, it felt as though they were decorating a soulless doll.
She listened to no one’s voice. Roa’s attitude did not change even in front of the Emperor. She merely exchanged greetings with proper etiquette as she had been taught, offering none of her own opinions.
Before the formal dinner began, Yudar summoned Roa to his room.
“At last, we have some time alone.”
He spread his arms wide to welcome her. But Roa’s expression hardened and she stepped back.
“You promised.”
At Roa’s firm voice, Yudar—who had been approaching—stopped.
“You said you would never touch me when we’re alone.”
“That ridiculous condition still hasn’t expired?”
“It never will.”
Roa did not even meet Yudar’s eyes. She even twisted her shoulders away as if rejecting him with her whole body. But rather than angering him, her attitude only intrigued him.
“Fine. I’ll wait until you open your heart.”
Leaving Roa standing there, Yudar walked over and sat comfortably on the sofa.
“You’ll fall for me eventually anyway. You just haven’t tasted the power yet.”
He opened the booklet prepared on the table. It contained various materials for their wedding. The first thing Yudar picked up was the wedding dress sample book.
“What kind of dress would you like to wear at the wedding?”
The word wedding crawling out of his mouth sent chills down her spine. Roa slowly turned her head with a stiff expression.
“Every woman has a fantasy about weddings and wedding dresses, so I’ll grant you the right to choose this much.”
“I don’t.”
Roa cut off his goodwill in a single stroke.
“There’s no such person. Now come here.”
After examining the illustrated dress designs, Yudar turned his gaze toward Roa. His eyes swept over her from head to toe—her shoulders, hips, the proportions of her upper and lower body. His lecherous gaze filled her with unbearable shame.
“Your figure is slender and delicate, but you’ve got the chest and hips for it. A mermaid line would suit you well.”
Roa did not avoid his gaze scanning her body. The blue eyes that once seemed only clear and transparent now trembled with killing intent.
The more Yudar looked at her, the more entertaining she became.
Roa couldn’t stand the sight of Yudar looking pleased.
She had no intention of expressing opinions about a wedding she didn’t even want. But if she said nothing, everything would proceed according to Yudar’s will. If nothing else, she absolutely did not want to wear a wedding dress chosen by him.
“I’ve worn a wedding dress before.”
At the unexpected remark, Yudar’s hand—turning the sample book pages—stopped.
Walking forward confidently, Roa sat across from him.
“Maybe because I already fulfilled that fantasy, I don’t feel anything about it now.”
Roa pulled the sample book toward herself. Flipping through it, she stopped on one page and pointed at a design for Yudar to see.
“I wore something like this back then.”
It was the complete opposite of the mermaid style Yudar had mentioned. The A-line dress flowed richly downward, with a bold design exposing the shoulders and back to emphasize the upper body rather than the lower.
“Ha.”
Yudar let out a hollow laugh.
He rose from his seat, walked around the table, and stopped in front of Roa. Even as his shadow fell over her, she did not lift her head.
“How dare a woman who will become my bride claim she has tried on a wedding dress elsewhere?”
Yudar grabbed Roa’s chin and forced her to look at him.
But Roa met him head-on with murderous eyes.
“I have been married to Grand Duke Trone.”
“What?”
It was a shocking statement. For a moment, Yudar’s mind went blank, as if struck hard on the back of the head.
“I wore a dazzlingly beautiful wedding dress back then. I changed into several in front of him.”
As Roa recalled that time, her guard loosened for just a moment. The dark hostility in her blue eyes vanished, replaced by a wistful gaze as if remembering something blissful.
Yudar couldn’t believe her words.
The two had officially broken off their engagement. After that, Roa would have been too busy dealing with her schedule with Yudar. There had been no point of contact where she could have met the Grand Duke separately.
“You’ve lost yourself in delusions.”
There was no other explanation except that she was drowning in fantasy.
Even knowing it wasn’t true, hearing her say with her own lips that she had married him was deeply unpleasant.
Yudar tightened his grip on Roa’s chin as if refusing to let go.
“Look carefully. The man in front of you is not Aizen Trone.”
No matter how delusional it sounded, it irritated him. Even if it had never come to pass, the fact that Aizen Trone still occupied a place in her heart was far from welcome.
Even under Yudar’s pressure, Roa did not flinch.
Instead, one corner of her lips curled into a faint sneer.
“I’m not stupid enough to confuse Your Highness the Crown Prince with the Grand Duke of Trone.”
Some things shouldn’t even be compared.
She wanted to spit out the rest plainly, but decided to omit it for the sake of royal dignity.
Despite Roa’s provocation, Yudar’s face only hardened briefly before his lips slowly curled upward.
“You’ve got the wrong approach, Roa.”
He released her chin, then let his fingers brush along her cheek.
“The more arrogantly you act, the more I find myself drawn to you.”
It was a clash between an unyielding spear and an unbreakable shield.
“Count Clarion. I knew you had fine sons, but to think you also have such a wise and kind-hearted daughter—I underestimated you.”
The members of the Clarion family sat across from the imperial family at the dining table. Everyone looked tense, unable to relax. They forced smiles while secretly wiping the sweat from their hands beneath the table.
Among them, Roa stared blankly at the food on the table with hollow eyes.
“I have high expectations for your family in the future.”
“You flatter us.”
Count Clarion handled the situation smoothly. However, what concerned them most was Roa’s darkened expression.
No matter what unpleasant things had happened personally, she was not the type of child to show her mood at a gathering like this. To look as if she were at death’s door in a meeting to form ties with the imperial family—it was, in a way, close to rudeness.
Kyleon, seated beside Roa, nudged her foot under the table.
But Roa simply avoided his prompting kicks and made no effort to change her attitude.
“Let us begin by introducing the imperial family.”
Just as the formal introductions were about to begin—
Creaaak.
The banquet hall doors suddenly opened on their own.
Everyone in the room turned toward the entrance. Who would dare interrupt at such a time? Even the servants looked flustered by the intruder.
“My apologies for being late.”
Roa couldn’t take her eyes off his face.
A faint memory struggled to surface.
“Ophelian!”
Only after hearing Yudar’s angry voice call the name did she fully remember.
‘Halt the advance. That’s an order. Halt the advance.’
He was Prince Ophelian—the one who had come to help Aizen during their escape.
Back when they had been surrounded by the imperial knights with nowhere to retreat, Ophelian alone had arrived leading other knights and escorted Aizen.
Because the situation had been so urgent, Roa had never learned why Ophelian came to help Aizen. After Aizen died and time rewound, she had completely forgotten about his existence.
In this hellish situation, he was the only person she might be able to trust.
Hope returned to Roa.
“To be late for such an important occasion!”
“Enough.”
It was the Empress who stopped the furious Yudar.
Without even looking at Yudar, Ophelian took his empty seat.
“This is Princess Titania, and…”
Even during the formal introductions of the imperial family, Roa could not take her eyes off Ophelian.
Sensing her intense gaze, Ophelian turned his head toward her as well.
“And this is Prince Ophelian.”
He would surely be able to help her.
For whatever reason, he was the only imperial who had once sided with Aizen instead of Yudar.
For the first time, life returned to Roa’s face, which had been expressionless like a doll the entire time.
