Chapter 27
The Pitiful One
Tara han showed clear signs of being annoyed with Mierne, yet he never tried to scare her off.
Anyone could see that Mierne was the one following him around, but the pairing of a strong foreigner with a woman who perfectly embodied the Empire’s ideal of beauty was striking, as if two rare breeds had been placed side by side.
Ninia knew that Mierne’s goal was Tara han himself, but there was nothing she could do.
She might be his wife, yet she had none of the rights that should have come with that title.
Is it because I haven’t fulfilled a wife’s duties?
No. Even if he did take her, it would be nothing more than a whim.
Besides, didn’t he despise her?
He had kissed her, but it felt more like the instinctive act of an animal asserting dominance than an affectionate gesture.
Perhaps to Tara han, Ninia was less a wife and more an animal he had bought and paid for.
Mierne and I are nothing alike.
Hidden in the shadows, Ninia had promised to breathe only when he wished it, and for that she was allowed to remain here—like a servant endlessly waiting for her master’s summons.
Unlike Ninia, Mierne was free.
She could approach Tara han whenever she wished and stay as an honored guest.
The difference between a purchased, pretend wife and a visiting lady was immense.
Perhaps Mierne might even warm his bed.
If he kissed Lady Mierne… at least he wouldn’t call her disgusting.
Tara han was a man who knew how to take a woman.
Ninia had heard, in passing, that a man always needed a woman.
Since he had taken a wife he loathed, maybe he truly did need someone else.
I should go back.
She pulled her back from the wooden pillar to leave before they arrived—but Tara han was quicker.
“What are you doing here?”
Had he known all along?
He called out to Ninia as she tried to slip away.
She had no choice but to step from the shadows and face him and Mierne.
“I was looking at the flowers,” she said.
“Flowers? Where are there flowers here?”
At her words, Mierne widened her eyes and glanced around.
The Empire’s central lands were mild even in winter, so noble gardens bloomed with vibrant flowers year-round, and tilling the soil to plant whatever one desired was routine.
To Mierne, the little wildflowers mixed in with the grass were probably nothing more than weeds.
With a pitying look, Mierne turned to Tara han.
“Her Highness must really miss flowers. I like them too, but not so much that I’d see things. In winter, you can simply visit a glass conservatory—it’s always warm inside. I’m sure Your Highness would love it.”
Mierne kept chattering, but Tara han ignored her completely.
His gaze stayed fixed on Ninia, who felt herself caught once again.
“You roam about as you please. Go back to your room.”
“…Yes.”
As she answered, Ninia thought of their marriage contract.
It even detailed how far she was allowed to wander.
I remember thinking it felt like a prisoner’s yard time.
The garden was barren anyway, but she wasn’t supposed to stay outside for more than half a day.
He had given her a key, and she’d forgotten the limits.
Obediently, she moved to pass between them.
She could not say a single word in reply to the woman who had just treated her like a lunatic in front of her husband.
Mierne’s carefree chatter faded behind her.
If she had truly been Tara han’s wife, maybe things could have been different.
Ninia walked like a well-trained dog.
But her steady steps gradually slowed, though she knew she would be late if she kept on that way.
Why do I feel like this?
Mierne was slowly gnawing through Ninia’s walls and seeping inside.
Her weapon was an endless litany of Tara han’s name.
In the past, Ninia’s master had been the goddess, and the goddess had been shared by all.
Countless followers worshiped the goddess, and Ninia had merely been one of them.
Yet now she felt a strange emotion she had never experienced, even as a saint.
Before she realized it, her slowed pace had stopped altogether.
She didn’t even notice she was standing motionless in the corridor.
“Your Highness?”
The voice broke through her heavy thoughts.
Ninia looked up to see a man in a white doublet watching her with curiosity.
“Count Anterno?”
She spoke his name without thinking, and Raide smiled in confirmation.
She had no idea why the count was on the floor where her rooms were.
“Are you feeling unwell?”
Seeing her dazed eyes, Raide asked first.
Ninia slowly looked around.
It was a similar hallway, but in a different building.
Only then did she realize she had wandered somewhere else entirely.
“No.”
She hurried to deny it.
Even as the lady of the house in name, it was embarrassing to admit she’d gotten lost.
It made sense for a count to be in the annex where guests stayed.
It was probably Raide, not she, who was surprised to see the grand duchess standing there.
“Were you here to meet someone?”
“No… I must have been distracted while walking and ended up here.”
Even at her strange mistake, Raide didn’t look at her as if she were odd.
I’m lucky it was the count I ran into.
His brown eyes looked harmless, and she felt a small comfort in a gaze she hadn’t encountered for a very long time.
She could simply excuse herself and leave—but his next words stopped her.
“That’s a shame.”
“…Pardon?”
“I thought you had come to see me, but I suppose not.”
Her puzzled eyes met his, and Raide gave a helpless smile.
His brown eyes remained warm, but there was a faint heat in them.
“Are you lonely?”
He stepped closer, and Ninia instinctively stepped back.
He stopped, then continued speaking.
“The environment here is so different from the capital, and everyone you meet must be new. I felt the same when I first studied abroad. Even though the country spoke the same language, the customs and people were still unfamiliar.”
At his words, Ninia exhaled the breath she had been holding in wary tension.
So that’s what he meant.
He was only comparing her situation to his own time abroad.
Perhaps his concern was merely that of a fellow traveler.
But her relief came too soon.
“Especially since His Excellency is… a rather distant man, isn’t he?”
Her blue eyes flickered.
Ninia lowered them quickly to hide her reaction.
She had mastered the art of playing the doll, but since the first crack appeared, Tara han had become her weakness.
Anyone pressing that spot would provoke this reaction.
She despised herself for it.
After collecting herself, she finally spoke.
“I’m not sure what you mean.”
Mierne, Raide—everyone seemed intent on using Tara han’s name to wound her.
Ninia wondered if she could even trust her own eyes anymore.
The ability to read others’ feelings, once so natural, now felt like a memory distorted by time.
But she was mistaken again.
“I mean that I can ease Your Highness’s loneliness.”
Before she realized it, his hand had taken hers.
Bowing, Raide pressed his lips to the back of her hand.
Startled, Ninia quickly pulled away.
Her hand came free easily, but the warmth of another’s touch still clung to her skin.
“…I don’t want that.”
Despite her effort, her voice trembled.
She clasped her hand with the other, as if to wipe away the lingering heat.
“It could surely help, in one way or another. How can you be certain it wouldn’t?”
Raide did not retreat easily.
He even questioned whether her refusal was genuine.
“Poor lady. Everyone sometimes misunderstands their own feelings. I do, too. But if you keep ignoring them, it becomes an illness.”
She couldn’t tell what he meant; she only felt confused.
Ninia stepped back slowly until her back touched the cold wall.
Seeing her fear, Raide stopped where he was.
“You don’t need to be so afraid. I wouldn’t dare force Your Highness. Everything would happen only with your permission.”
“And who gives that permission?”
A chilling voice rang through the corridor.
From the opposite darkness, Tara han was standing there.
