Chapter 99
After their disastrous meeting, Canaria gave no reply at all to Arendo’s letters.
“I trusted you, and that’s why I got careless.
I regret trusting you—no, I regret relying on that trust.
We both threw that already struggling girl into the pit.”
As Belia’s face twisted in anger, so did Arendo’s.
A short silence passed.
“Come with me. This isn’t the place to talk.”
Hearing the approaching footsteps of Barun, who had noticed the commotion, Belia grabbed Arendo and pulled him away.
“Let’s go to the greenhouse.”
* * *
“I’ve been busy.”
After dismissing everyone who had followed, Arendo let out a quiet sigh.
“I’m sure you were.”
“I mean it. I was wondering why Father suddenly sent me to work at the border… Turns out, he wanted to keep me from knowing what was happening in the capital.”
At Belia’s cold remark, Arendo quickly tried to defend himself.
“Don’t you have informants?”
Couldn’t he have found out if he’d wanted to?
Arendo lowered his head.
“…You’re right. It’s an excuse.”
Belia clicked her tongue softly at his hushed admission.
“Obviously. You were busy, sure, but mostly you didn’t want to hear it. Because it didn’t end well.”
Exactly right.
Arendo recalled how he had buried himself in work, running away.
The truth was—he’d been afraid.
“It wasn’t even an official engagement, so I wasn’t hurt or anything.
Your Highness, please don’t worry about it.”
That was the last time he saw Canaria—
she had firmly rejected him and put up a wall.
Those eyes… kept haunting him.
He told himself he needed time.
He was afraid that if he kept sending letters that went unanswered, he’d seem obsessed.
He was afraid that, like in their last meeting, his actions would only look like more tricks to her.
He was afraid that once he acknowledged his feelings, they’d spiral out of control.
And so, Arendo convinced himself he just needed more time—
and kept putting it off.
Then, seeing the quiet, simmering resentment in Belia’s eyes, he finally realized the obvious thing he had missed.
“You met Canaria.”
“Yeah. Ack—!”
“Are you okay? What happened? Are you hurt—”
“Let go of me first!”
Belia shoved Arendo’s hands off her arms and shook her head.
“You should’ve treated her better when you had the chance.”
“Ah, sorry. So… what did she say about me? That it didn’t end well—did she say that?”
“Not in so many words.”
“Then…?”
“But it was obvious. I could tell—Canaria’s done with you.”
“I see…”
Arendo’s face fell like a drenched puppy, and Belia pursed her lips.
He annoyed her, yet she couldn’t help but pity him a little.
As a friend who knew both sides fairly well, she sighed.
There were too many real problems to solve to meddle in something as messy as their emotions.
“So what are you going to do?”
“What do you mean?”
“About Canaria. She says she’s done—so are you just going to be done too?”
“No.”
“Then?”
“I’ll apologize first.”
His expression was complicated, but there was a hint of resolve there.
Belia decided not to press further.
“Fine. Then let’s talk about the practical side. What about Canaria’s engagement?”
“I’ll fix it.”
“How?”
“First, let’s cancel ours.”
A gust of wind blew between them.
Belia’s lips curled slowly as she looked at his serious face.
“Good. And then?”
“Then I’ll announce an engagement—at least a fake one.”
“Not with me, I hope? With Canaria?”
“Yeah.”
“You really haven’t come to your senses, have you?”
“Huh?”
Arendo blinked at Belia’s reaction.
“Do you think Canaria would agree?”
“There’s no other way—”
“No other way?”
“You know this isn’t just some broken promise.
Even if it wasn’t her will, she still carries the Doltan name. There’s no way to avoid responsibility.
And this is tied up with diplomatic issues now—both countries are watching.”
“There is a way.”
“What kind?”
“A way to divert both nations’ attention and solve the diplomatic problem at once.
But you’ll have to cooperate completely.”
“What is it? Of course I’ll—”
“Have you ever been sick?”
“What?”
“Not just sick—so ill that the entire country talks about it?”
As Arendo stared at her in confusion, Belia smiled brightly.
“I’ll take care of the rest. You just need to be very sick—so much that everyone’s watching you and the banquets get postponed.
While that happens, I’ll prepare our move.”
“You think that’ll work…?”
Seeing his golden eyes waver despite his attempt to look confident, Belia thumped her chest.
“Trust me!”
* * *
Rustle, rustle.
The quiet, papery sound of old parchment turning echoed through the cave.
The pale, slender fingers that turned the pages were so fine it was hard to tell if they belonged to a man or a woman.
As the pages turned in a steady rhythm, the hand suddenly stopped.
“Holy Scripture, Chapter 50, Verse 8:
‘The Lord saves all.’”
The clear, resonant voice echoed through the cave—so pure that anyone hearing it might feel faith stir within them.
The moment the man finished speaking, the orb before him gave off a faint light.
For an instant, his face appeared—so beautiful one might mistake him for a being devoted by the gods themselves.
“Salvation…”
Tear—
After quietly contemplating the verse for a while, the man ripped the parchment.
“Salvation is the arrogance of the gods.”
His expression chilled as he placed his hand over the glowing orb.
As white light flared from his palm, the swirling energy within the orb turned black.
“Not much time left now.”
Blood trickled from the corner of his lips.
“Soon… you’ll remember your name too.”
As he raised his hand again, the energy imprisoned inside the orb surged outward, following his movement.
Where the magic reached—lay a woman.
The black aura wrapped around her, then seeped into her body.
Moments later, her eyes opened—gleaming with an icy silver light.
“Father?”
The woman sat up and looked at him.
The man’s face twisted in anguish.
“Why…?”
His gaze fell to her right eye—
her right brown eye.
* * *
“I’ll be back. My lady, please don’t leave the carriage!”
“Alright.”
At Lude’s warning, Belia nodded and crouched down.
The rickety door of the carriage creaked open—it was nothing like the fine carriages she usually rode.
The moment Lude stepped out to ask for directions, the door shut again.
Belia cautiously peeked through the window.
Having left the capital in a hurry for the outskirts on her way to Revlon, she found the area completely unfamiliar.
Compared to the commoners here, the capital’s commoners might as well be nobles—the difference in clothing alone revealed the gap in wealth.
Since the streets were unsafe, Belia ducked below the windowline, sneaking glances outside.
“Ugh, my back…”
She had chosen this shabby carriage to avoid notice, but it was terribly uncomfortable.
She sighed at the thought that she might have to endure this pain for quite some time.
“I just hope everything’s going smoothly.”
<The Attempted Assassination of the Crown Prince>
The Empire was paralyzed by an unprecedented event.
“Sigh—”
Belia had asked Arendo to feign illness to buy her time for operations behind the scenes.
While the world’s eyes and rumors were all focused on him, she intended to set her plans in motion and hide Canaria.
But Arendo had taken his act much further than she expected.
<The Crown Prince drank poisoned tea.>
That single line shook the Empire within two days.
That day, Arendo had met with Canaria for a brief conversation.
No one knew what they said, but the intensity on their faces proved it had been powerful and deep.
“Was it because of that day…?”
The news of the attempted assassination spread quickly to House Arpedi.
Canaria had been startled at first—but soon, she smiled faintly.
Within mere hours, the Crown Prince’s men surrounded the Arpedi estate, claiming it was to “protect the prince’s fiancée.”
Thus, Canaria became safe from House Doltan—at least for now.
And Belia had gained a way to control the unpredictable Barun.
“Noisy, but not a bad outcome.”
Arendo was far more skilled in politics than she was, so surely he had a plan of his own.
He, too, was fighting his own battle as the Crown Prince.
Belia pushed those thoughts aside and slapped her cheeks lightly.
“Focus. If I don’t find the Saint here, we’re all in trouble.”
The Saint.
Yes—
Belia had come here to find the Saint.
