Chapter 19
“I heard that in the old days, before a great war, they would hold jousting tournaments.”
“For what… reason?”
“As part of training, of course, and to raise the army’s morale.”
Austin’s voice was consistently gentle.
His words flowed like a melody, so even talk of war sounded almost like music.
“Last year, at your first attendance, my elder brother took the victory.”
A gust of wind scattered his red hair.
He smiled like the spring breeze itself a smile that seemed close enough to touch.
But Dmitri’s smile always felt like it would vanish the instant you reached for it…
Just then, his gaze shifted into the air.
Where Austin’s eyes lingered, flower petals swirled.
He opened his palm wide to catch a pink petal.
When their eyes met again, he smiled as delicately as the blossom.
What if someone like him became emperor?
Wouldn’t wars cease altogether?
Then perhaps my homeland too could remain forever peaceful…
Ariella froze mid-thought, startled by herself.
What on earth am I thinking right now?
“How leisurely.”
It was then that Dmitri’s voice reached her.
He stood behind her.
The garden, which only moments ago brimmed with the essence of spring, now seemed tainted by an eerie chill.
She could feel him approaching slowly from behind.
She ought to greet him at once, but her body refused to move.
Her fingers clutched her skirts without her realising.
She felt Austin’s blatant gaze on her.
For an instant, his face held a strange expression, one hard to read.
But just as quickly, it vanished.
Again, he smiled with his eyes before his lips.
“Brother, you’ve come out.”
Ariella shut her eyes, silently counted to three, then forced a smile.
Dmitri couldn’t actually read minds, so why did she feel like she was caught in some wrongdoing?
“I greet His Highness the Crown Prince.”
Dmitri halted close enough for his shadow to brush against her.
His sharp gaze studied her face.
“Were you having an amusing chat with my brother?”
What was she supposed to say to that?
“Or perhaps amusing thoughts I shouldn’t know about?”
“Wh-what are you saying?”
“Just that you look like a child caught sneaking sweets.”
The suspicion grew stronger, Dmitri truly must have mastered mind-reading.
Her lips trembled with an awkward smile.
It felt like he had struck right at her guilty conscience.
What she had been sneaking wasn’t candy at all, but the Trifina Empire itself.
“Of course not.”
Noticing her fluster, Austin stepped forward.
Dmitri’s eyes shifted from her to his brother.
“I told her about the upcoming joust.”
“And why would you?”
Even from just a few words, it wasn’t hard to guess that the two brothers weren’t on the best of terms.
“I only mentioned it because I happened to meet Her Highness in the garden.”
As Dmitri and Austin exchanged words, Ariella’s eyes dropped to Dmitri’s arm.
Is it fully healed?
The physician said he’d be running a high fever for several days…
“I’m fine.”
Ariella’s head jerked up.
He was still looking at Austin.
Her suspicion hardened into certainty.
That wretched man could indeed read minds.
“I… see.”
Feeling unreasonably cornered, Ariella looked away.
But when her gaze met Austin’s again, his face was marred with an expression difficult to name something that was certainly not positive.
Suddenly Dmitri strode forward and seized Ariella’s arm, pulling her behind him.
It wasn’t so much placing her at his side as hiding her behind his back.
The fleeting emotion on Austin’s face deepened, though he swiftly schooled his features.
“Are you injured?”
“That’s none of your concern.”
Austin merely nodded.
Though said to be Ariella’s age, his expression gave no clue to his youth.
“If you’ve finished your business, you should leave quickly.
The Marquis of the Borderlands mustn’t appear reluctant to part from the palace.”
“Since I met my sister-in-law, it was only proper to pay respects.”
“From now on, if you happen upon her, pass by without a word.
I won’t tolerate my consort meeting with anyone without my permission.”
Ariella’s face crumpled in dismay.
Honestly, was that really necessary?
“Because my consort…”
Dmitri tilted his head, and when their eyes met, he smiled faintly.
“…values love above loyalty.”
Her face flushed hot.
Dmitri’s mischievous grin was unlike anything she’d ever imagined on him.
“She never does anything she dislikes.
She only wants to stay by my side.”
“…”
“Isn’t that right?
You yourself said it.
That you fell for me at first sight.”
Ariella’s mouth opened and closed soundlessly before clamping shut.
It’s true, I did say that, but did he really have to repeat it in front of someone else?
Suppressing the urge to clamp her hand over his mouth, she turned her head only to meet Austin’s gaze again.
This time his mask was gone.
No, more accurately, he no longer had the strength to hide behind one.
On his face flickered shock, then swiftly, raw resentment.
Furious, unfiltered resentment.
He bowed with the barest courtesy and left.
Though his emotions were erased, his hurried departure betrayed him.
Soon only two remained in the garden.
Dmitri stared off into the distance in silence, yet his hand still gripped hers tightly.
Just then the fountain spurted high into the air.
Ariella felt her breath loosen, as if space had suddenly opened inside her chest.
She looked at Dmitri.
His face was gaunt, as though illness had hollowed him in mere days.
She wanted to ask if he was truly well?
Would he attend the joust again even with such wounds?
As her eyes wandered, Dmitri finally released her hand.
Facing her, he folded his arms and looked down at her askance.
“Do you have something to say?”
His scornful gaze muddled her words.
“If not, then I’ll just…”
“Your wound.”
“…Pardon?”
“Is it healed?”
The cut from the arrowhead?
She hadn’t even shown that to the physician.
It had healed quickly, leaving hardly a mark.
Suddenly, he thrust out his hand, palm open, as though demanding something owed.
His meaning was obvious show me the wound.
Ariella instinctively hid her arm behind her back.
If you want to see mine, then show me yours first.
“Thanks to your concern, it’s healed well.
And you, Your Highness?”
He raised his arm slightly.
“I’m still in pain.
A beast’s bite heals slowly.”
She had expected him to say he was fine.
Instead, his words struck quite differently.
Then Dmitri stepped in closer.
Like a cloud blotting out the sun, his presence cast a sudden shadow over her.
“While your husband was at death’s door, you were strolling idly with a strange man?”
“…What?”
“It’s true.
The physician said another moment’s delay and I might have lost the use of my arm forever.”
Where was the man who’d told her it would heal quickly, as though nothing?
“I don’t even know where to begin refuting that.”
Dmitri smiled faintly.
Somehow, it gave her courage.
“Will you compete in the joust?”
He tilted his head, as if baffled she’d even ask.
His expression all but said: Where do I start correcting you?
“You yourself said the wound might leave your arm useless, and yet you’d still compete?
Does that make sense?”
He gave no answer.
The silence was suffocating, like when she’d been locked away in the tower.
Ariella pressed on.
“Most people who suffer such serious wounds avoid reckless activity for a time.”
“That’s for me to decide.
More importantly…”
With a short command, Dmitri again stepped in.
She stopped breathing.
“From now on, don’t acknowledge Austin, even if you meet him.”
Though less frightening than before, Dmitri still intimidated her.
She forced her chin up to keep from shrinking under his fierce stare.
“But he’s still a prince.
Is that even possible?”
“It doesn’t matter.
Just do as I say.”
How could it not matter?
She bit back the urge to tell him to stop spouting nonsense like a tyrant.
“Why must I?
Don’t tell me it’s because I like you that makes no sense at all.”
He glared at her, then sighed long and heavy.
The sharpness in hi
s presence made her fingertips tremble.
She was about to yield when—
“All the Hakriteris are monsters.
Not a single one of that bloodline is sane.”
“What an outrageous thing to say—”
“Even if he looks fragile enough to shatter at a touch, Austin is still a Hakriteri.”
“…He didn’t look that fragile to me, actually.”
