Chapter 5
She begged for mercy in a voice that sounded as though it might break at any moment. The nobles, unaware of the true relationship between the two, merely thought the magnanimous queen was looking after the fourth princess and praised her generosity. The attention that had been focused on them quickly faded away.
Everyone gathered here clinked glasses in the heated atmosphere and grew indulgent. Only here did dark shadows linger. One must not even extend a finger into the beams of light.
“Go back. Go back and wait there, slapping your own cheeks until I come looking for you. If your cheeks aren’t swollen… I’ll take up the whip.”
She nodded her head vigorously when suddenly a fragment of memory stabbed at her ears.
‘Wait here just a little.’
The words left behind by a man who had passed by. Ezra, glancing sideways at the man shining at the center of the hall, lowered her head deeply. Had she hoped he might come back to her? Even though she knew all too well that would never happen.
As Ezra killed time by picking at her nails, Mines glared at her with a terrifying gaze.
“Answer me.”
“Yes, yes. I will. I will, Your Majesty.”
As if nothing had happened, Mines led Ezra as though handling a precious jewel. Being quietly dragged away by Mines, Ezra could no longer look at Hippolytus.
“Princess Ezra.”
It was just as Mines and Ezra stood before the door. At the voice from behind them, the soldiers who were about to open it froze.
“Princess Ezra.”
Was it a hallucination? As Ezra tilted her head, the clear call sounded again. In her place, frozen stiff, Mines slowly turned around to face him.
At the anxiety reflected in the queen’s eyes, a sneer slipped out.
Even while dancing with Glosa, Hippolytus had been watching Ezra. He was well aware of how the queen had threatened Ezra as though she might tear her apart. Mines was contemptible, but thanks to that, hadn’t this opportunity arisen? To behave so foolishly before such a filthy woman. He felt disgust toward Ezra, who had shrunk like an insect.
“Your Majesty, where are you taking Princess Ezra?”
The red eyes now fixed on Mines somehow looked black. Feeling the ominous air, Mines answered with difficulty.
“The princess was not invited here today.”
Maintaining her elegant demeanor, Mines continued.
“So, Your Highness, please do not concern yourself and enjoy the banquet as you were.”
“Your Majesty. Princess Ezra came here today at my invitation. So it would be troublesome if you treated her carelessly. She trusted me and followed me here.”
His firm words blocked Mines’s steps once more. Unable to maintain her composure any longer, Mines’s cheek twitched.
“I have not treated her carelessly. She said she was unwell, so I merely intended to escort her personally.”
“Then I will escort her. This way, please.”
After shaking off Mines’s hand as though brushing away something filthy, he took hold of Ezra’s arm and pulled her along. Seeing Ezra holding her breath and watching the queen’s reaction until the very end, Hippolytus’s gaze narrowed.
“Let’s go.”
The host of the banquet leaving his seat over a foolish princess. Moreover, his easygoing manner toward Ezra made everyone there widen their eyes.
Ezra took his hand instead of the queen’s. With her vision wavering, it seemed she was stupidly on the verge of tears again. Unaware of the frozen chaos around them—or perhaps unconcerned—he smiled brightly and spoke sweetly.
“You know you’re incredibly beautiful tonight?”
“P-pardon?”
He bent down, once again boldly invading her personal space.
“It was more boring than I expected anyway. This works out well.”
He was more blunt than she’d thought. Was the banquet boring? Ezra, who had been happy just watching him, couldn’t understand. More than that, he was the main figure of today’s event.
“Prince Hippolytus, you’re today’s guest of honor. I-I’m fine.”
Even though her legs were trembling as if she might collapse at any moment. What exactly was she fine about? He replied a bit curtly.
“If I’m the guest of honor, doesn’t that mean I can do whatever I want? Let’s go, then.”
“B-but still…”
A small tussle broke out at the door. The worry on his troubled face was surely for her.
“Is there anyone you want to take with you?”
There was no way. When she shook her head vigorously, he pulled her along without hesitation.
Feeling the stares boring into him, Hippolytus twisted his lips into a crooked smile. It was obvious who the remaining princesses’ anger and jealousy would be directed toward. And the queen, as expected, seemed to hate this woman beyond reason.
“Where are we going?”
There was no answer to her cautious question, but since fear did not rise within her, Ezra followed him without complaint.
Leaving behind the cloying, unpleasant atmosphere, their steps grew lighter. The two passed through a long corridor filled with cool night air and entered a narrow, ant-nest-like passage of the palace. At its end was a small door that might have gone unnoticed.
Hand in hand, they crossed the threshold. The garden, created for royalty who rarely left the palace, was well tended and open, making it one of the best places to see the night sky.
Though meant for royalty, had she really not known this place existed? The woman who had followed without imagining what might happen ahead was entranced by the sky, marveling in awe.
He looked down at Ezra as she traced the stars with her finger. Noticing his gaze a moment late, she turned her head to look at him.
“Thank you for coming to see me today.”
“Ah, um, th-that is…”
It had been due to the maids’ prank, but it wasn’t wrong to say she had come to see him. Before she could fumble further, a large, warm hand rested on her head, freezing her like a statue. The indifferent man lifted his head to gaze at the sky.
“Isn’t the night sky beautiful here? The moment I saw it, your face was the first thing that came to mind.”
It felt as though she could touch the deep blue sky if she reached out. The dense stars seemed as though they might brush against her hand. She hadn’t known the sky was so vast. Nor that the earth was so wide. And yes—she hadn’t known you existed in this world.
“So I wanted to show it to you first. So even if you knew already, please pretend you don’t for now.”
As Ezra smiled faintly, he beamed and pressed his lips firmly to the back of her hand. He had done the same to Glosa, yet somehow it felt deeper, more suggestive—was that just her imagination? Ezra snapped her head aside and blurted out words she didn’t truly mean.
“Y-your Highness, someone as beautiful and noble as you shouldn’t even speak with someone like me.”
A man who refused to ignore someone who lived as though she didn’t exist. It was hard to accept his casual kindness at face value, yet her hidden sincerity did not let go of his hand.
“Why is that?”
“Someone like me would only be a burden to you. So it’s right… to treat me as though I don’t exist.”
“Do you mean that?”
Because he asked about sincerity—the sincerity she had never once been able to show—Ezra looked into her own heart for the first time.
The truth was, she had waited because he told her to. Hoping he wouldn’t forget her and would come looking for her once more.
Having already come to know you, I don’t think I can return to the time when I didn’t… If I said I was a little more afraid of the future now, what expression would you make? You’d probably recoil and think I didn’t know my place.
Shrinking back, Ezra murmured so softly it was almost inaudible.
“If you keep being kind to me like today, I… I might misunderstand.”
“Oh my, that would be completely welcome.”
With a teasing tone, he stepped closer, eyes smiling. Unable to answer, she clenched her fists out of habit, and he covered them with his large hand.
“Please dance with me, Princess.”
Kneeling on the dirt ground, he asked her to dance with impeccable courtesy. When she stepped back, he tightened his grip on her hand and pulled her forward.
“I’m not getting up until you accept.”
So he could make that face too. With him stubbornly refusing to budge, she had no choice. Turning her head, surely red-faced, she nodded stiffly. He sprang up at once, wearing a satisfied smile as though he’d known she would.
When his firm arm wrapped around her waist, she ended up buried against his chest, nose pressed into him. Squirming in embarrassment, she whispered,
“I… I actually don’t know how to dance.”
“It’s fine. Dancing is just an excuse—I just wanted to hold you.”
She had mustered courage to confess, yet his answer was absurd. A hollow laugh escaped her.
“Oh, you just laughed out loud.”
“M-me? No way…”
She shook her head, but he only laughed brightly.
Under the noble moonlight, beneath stars that looked ready to pour down, the shadows of the two bodies slowly moved as one.
“Keep smiling like that.”
The low breath brushing her ear was sweet. Pulling back slightly, the man facing her was still vivid in the darkness, like the only light.
“It’s okay.”
The man who had allowed her to smile for the first time in her life. His gentle gesture of brushing down her long hair felt like comfort. Treated as though she were a child, Ezra clutched his collar tightly.
Her thin, desperate hand trembled pitifully. Hiding his bored expression, the man tilted his head slightly. They said there was nothing easier than a woman starved for love—but this was too easy.
Losing interest, he let out a low sigh. As he held the fragile shoulders of the woman in his arms, he pressed his cheek against her dark crown, deceiving her while pretending comfort.
After the storm-like banquet passed, peaceful days followed in the royal palace. In the languid atmosphere, tension lingered only in Labyrinthos, where Hippolytus and his warriors stayed.
On a night when even the wind held its breath, a pitch-black bird flew through the wide-open window. Clouds obscured the stars entirely. Tied to the bird’s leg was a rolled piece of parchment.
As he extended his hand, the bird fluttered down onto his arm. Casually untying the parchment, Hippolytus read its contents.
“A messenger from Thermos?”
“Yes.”
Crushing the parchment in his hand, he stole the flame from a burning candle. It turned to ash and scattered onto the floor.
“Is that all that’s written?”
“Yes. They asked about the number of trained soldiers in Thermos.”
Zenon stepped forward to answer. Unhappy with the response, Hippolytus stared straight into Zenon’s black eyes and snapped coldly,
“I believe I clearly asked about the maximum force.”
“It’s difficult to estimate the troops that will gather later, so they likely selected only those who could immediately enter battle,” explained Kakkos, the strategist.
With a cold face, Hippolytus issued his belated order.
“Keep gathering soldiers. Kill without mercy those who can’t properly perform. Why waste rations on vermin?”
As he casually ordered death, the man’s eyes curved softly. Crossing his long legs and tilting his head slightly back, the prince was incomparably beautiful—especially the silver hair falling at his nape and the red eyes soaked in moonlight.
“What are you staring at?”
Revealing his true self after so long, the onlookers who had been entranced by his overwhelming beauty struggled to avert their eyes, stammering. A man cruel and merciless by birth—if you reached out, deceived by his beauty, you’d lose your life in an instant.
As Kakkos rubbed his goosebumped arms, Hippolytus sneered. The ash-gray walls stretching far away—how satisfying it would be to smash them and burn this place down.
Everything was truly tiresome and bothersome. He wanted to conquer Titen as soon as possible and return to his homeland, grasping the empire in his hands.
Wasn’t that why he even whispered false love to a detestable woman?
Love—and women.
‘Someone like me would only be a burden to you. So it’s right… to treat me as though I don’t exist.’
Despite saying that, she had clutched his collar as though she’d never let go. Recalling her desperate, slender grip, Hippolytus’s eyes snapped open. Uncrossing his legs, he slowly walked to the window.
“…Lord Hippolytus?”
A boring woman from head to toe. No matter how he thought about it, she was too easy to be interesting.
“Kakkos, has there been any word from that maid?”
“No, not yet…”
“That’s strange. I thought she’d come running to slap her cheeks by now.”
As he rubbed his chin, recalling the queen and Ezra, footsteps sounded outside the door, as if on cue.
“She’s finally here.”
