Chapter 38
It’s the Duke’s Position, and Mine Is
That candy—made in the traditional way of Roneis—had a rough appearance, but a sweet flavor and a fun, chewy texture.
Ever since the day I had fallen asleep in Cedric’s lounge and left the Prichtiri there, I had gone to his lounge several times just to eat it.
I felt like I was inconveniencing Cedric, so after I finished the last of it, I restrained myself and didn’t buy more even when I wanted to. And yet, here the candy was now.
“Was there any Prichtiri left in your lounge, Duke? I checked two or three times to make sure there was none.”
I clearly remembered eating the final piece, reluctant to let it go.
“Yes. I also remember that Your Highness ate the very last one cleanly.”
“Then what is this?”
“You seemed to enjoy it, so I had a servant go and buy some.”
Ah—so this was his way of visiting a sick person: bringing something they liked. I picked one up, unwrapped it, and put it into my mouth. The plum-flavored Prichtiri filled my cheeks.
“It’s delicious! Thank you so much, Duke.”
“I’ll place whatever remains in the freezer in the lounge.”
“Is that really all right? I was worried that I might disturb your rest by visiting the lounge so often.”
Cedric turned his gaze away, thought quietly for a moment, then met my eyes again.
“Have my visits to see you lately made you uncomfortable, Princess?”
“Not at all. Having you with me when I was sick really helped.”
“Then I am not uncomfortable at all either.”
I smiled and said thank you.
“I feel uneasy because I think I’ve shown you my sickly side too often.”
“I hope you won’t be ill.”
“No, no. I’m worried I might seem too weak.”
“I don’t think you are weak. This time, you were exposed to too much rain while under the influence of magic.”
After thinking briefly, Cedric asked,
“What would put Your Highness’s mind at ease?”
“Please think of me as someone sturdy.”
My body wasn’t particularly frail, and as Cedric said, the magic had played a greater role in my catching a cold. I simply wanted to leave him with the impression that I wasn’t weak.
“I will do so.”
It was a clean answer with no embellishment—his usual manner.
“Duke, how did you know I was at the lake?”
“Lady Lintzhug and Young Lord Laren were standing in front of the ducal estate. They said they were waiting for the Princess and Prince, who had gone to the artificial lake.”
“And then?”
“It rained. When it rains, one should not go to the shelter by the artificial lake, so I went to you.”
“You shouldn’t go to the shelter when it rains?”
Cedric let out a deep breath.
“It was fortunate. That capricious lake sometimes sends currents crashing over the shelter when it rains.”
“So it’s not that the rain itself is fickle, but that the currents sometimes surge when it rains, making the lake capricious?”
“That is correct.”
A chill ran through me, and I wrapped my arms around myself.
“Duke, thank you for coming to get me at the lake.”
“It was only natural.”
“That’s natural from the duke’s position as the master of the estate—but from my position, I’m grateful.”
“That is—”
Cedric continued,
“Regardless of whether Your Highness is staying at the ducal estate, it was something natural for me to do.”
Unless he had official duties, Daymond tried to visit me whenever he could.
I was spending time with him in the reception room. For a while now, Daymond had been slowly inhaling and exhaling, over and over.
He seemed hesitant to say what he wanted, so even as he circled around the topic, I waited patiently.
“Daisy, there’s something I still haven’t told you.”
“Mm.”
“I was going to say it after your cold fully healed, but about the day we went to the lake—”
Daymond, who had opened his mouth with difficulty, couldn’t finish his sentence. A maid came to tell us that Rachel had arrived.
It was a sudden visit without prior notice, but there was no clear reason to refuse the imperial princess of Owen. With a mix of surprise, confusion, and anger on his face, Daymond said it was fine for Rachel to join us.
“Daymond’s here too? Hi.”
“I greet Her Imperial Highness Rachel Widness, Princess of the strongest land.”
Daymond stood to welcome her. As he offered a Lundran-style greeting, I followed suit behind him.
Rachel stepped into the small sitting room with light, brisk steps.
“Why is everyone being so formal? It’s just us.”
She said this as she sat down on the sofa. Quick to catch on, Daymond spoke.
“Rachel, did you meet Daisy often when you were in Owen?”
“Us? We were pretty close in Owen, right? Isn’t that so, Daisy?”
Rachel looked at me. She had the face of a playful prankster, always full of laughter.
“How could you do that?”
Daymond lowered his head deeply.
“What do you mean?”
Rachel replied innocently. I had the feeling she was deliberately pretending not to understand him.
“You betrayed me—betrayed us. The only reason we stayed silent even after being betrayed was because Daisy said she would go to Owen in place of your demand.”
The smile vanished from Rachel’s face.
“Because we had already sent my sister to Owen, we didn’t want to further offend the Owen imperial family!”
“Daymond, I didn’t betray you. I knew it would look like a threat to the Kingdom of Lundra, but that—”
Rachel’s face stiffened. Her voice, insisting that she hadn’t betrayed them, was slow and heavy.
“You didn’t betray us? You knew it would look like a threat? What kind of nonsense is that? Why did you even attend the academy with us?”
“At first, I enrolled because I liked Lundra. But later, I truly enjoyed the time I spent with all of you.”
“If this was how it was going to be, you shouldn’t have saved me back then.”
Daymond seemed unable to hear Rachel’s words anymore. I placed a hand on his back.
“Brother.”
“We were friends. Rachel betrayed that. Daisy—there’s no guarantee she won’t do the same to you. I can’t understand her. She didn’t even respond to our messages, and now I don’t know why she’s suddenly approaching you.”
It was hard to fathom the depth of Daymond’s sense of betrayal. I had watched him build bonds and friendships at the academy, and Rachel had been one of those friends.
“Rachel, I thought you were a good friend.”
Daymond spoke, pressing his voice tight in his throat.
“I still think of you as a good friend.”
“Rachel, please stop with that hypocritical talk! You did it at the park, you’re doing it now—always!”
Rachel cut him off.
“It’s true that I needed the Dragon’s Tear. But that was something I needed personally. The Emperor doesn’t even know what I did in your kingdom.”
She continued speaking rapidly.
What was Rachel saying right now? I couldn’t understand it.
Rachel was saying that she had lied to the kingdom—that she had committed fraud.
I thought of the day I first met the Emperor of Owen. He had shown no ulterior intentions at all, and I had thought him seasoned and composed.
It had been uncomfortable not knowing how he viewed relations with the Kingdom of Lundra, or what he thought about me coming to Owen instead of handing over a treasure.
I had assumed that Rachel, or the Emperor, or Owen itself had something they wished to achieve on the international stage through the Dragon’s Tear.
And that since the Kingdom of Lundra had cleverly avoided that, they might take other actions to get what they wanted.
Rachel was saying that the reason the Emperor had remained silent for an entire season—and half of the next—was because none of that had existed in the first place.
An imperial princess had entered a foreign nation, made a secret agreement in the name of her country without the Emperor’s knowledge. From both Owen’s and Lundra’s perspectives, this was a major incident—a grave blunder.
Was it the heat, or the lingering cold? Sweat broke out, and I pressed a handkerchief to my forehead.
“Rachel, do you know what you’re saying right now?”
“Why would I say something I don’t understand?”
Rachel looked remarkably confident. I couldn’t comprehend how that was possible.
Daymond let out a short breath.
“I don’t believe you. Not a single word you say anymore. Who knows when you’ll stab us in the back again.”
He clenched his fist, then loosened it, exhaled, and spoke slowly in a low voice.
“Rachel, you were strange even when we attended the academy together. But I never imagined you were this utterly shameless.”
Rachel sat upright, perfectly straight.
I thought about the things Rachel had said to me, the stories I’d heard about her, the thoughts I’d had about her, and the conversations we’d shared.
It was true that Rachel had attended the academy under a false identity.
It was true that she’d gone through difficult times in Owen back then.
It was true that she had become friends with Daymond.
It was true that she’d disappeared, only to reappear suddenly as an imperial princess and issue what amounted to a threat disguised as a deal to the Kingdom of Lundra.
It was true that, since then, she had treated me with continued closeness.
And now—she was saying that all of it had been done by her alone.
