[CHAPTER 80]
Rision was sitting on the long chair that Dianu secretly called “His Majesty’s nap chair” in her heart.
He had his chin propped against the armrest at an angle while flipping through documents with one hand, but when Dianu opened the door and entered, he straightened his posture.
“What brings you here?”
“Do I need a reason to come see Your Majesty?”
Dianu smiled softly and added,
“I might just miss you.”
A faint smile surfaced on Rision’s face, which had been clearly marked by fatigue.
Dianu sat down beside him and peeked at the documents in his hand.
“What are you reading?”
He casually held the papers out to her.
“Would you like to read it?”
“Is it really all right for me to read— oh my.”
She did not need long to look.
The words “Marriage Contract” were written at the very top of the page.
Rision explained kindly,
“I was reviewing the draft that Labellan Arasath will take back with him.”
Among the many clauses, the largest portion concerned Elpenlira’s dowry list.
When Dianu saw the amount of her dowry, a gasp slipped out of her without thinking.
Wow. You could build an entire country with this and still have money left.
It was hard to grasp that such an enormous sum of money could change hands over the marriage of an eighteen-year-old girl.
Perhaps noticing Dianu’s reaction, Rision personally turned a page of the contract and pointed to the next section.
“Because of this clause, the scale of the dowry is larger than usual.”
“Ah… it’s the condition that the child relinquishes their right to the Catalos throne.”
Rision had no heir yet, and the Catalos imperial family had few direct descendants.
A child born to Elpenlira and Labellan Arasath could become a strong claimant to the throne in both nations.
History books were filled with rulers who had invaded allied nations using bloodlines as justification.
Moreover, a successor carrying the blood of both the Catalos and Arasas imperial families would be ideally positioned to dream of continental unification.
“In truth, the old Arasas Emperor likely approved this marriage hoping that Labellan would conquer Catalos through his child.”
“What? Isn’t the Arasas Emperor already quite advanced in age? He probably won’t live to see his grandchild grow up.”
“It would be an inheritance.”
“Rulers nearing death tend to obsess over the name and achievements they will leave in history.”
The way he spoke, as a ruler himself yet sounding slightly detached, was oddly amusing.
Dianu, too, found it hard to imagine the white-haired Rision clinging to something like an inheritance.
Building monuments to glorify his deeds or scrambling to leave as much as possible to favored descendants simply did not suit him.
He seemed too… aloof for that.
Sometimes she forgot that he, too, was a man with realistic and worldly worries and desires.
As her thoughts reached that point, a problem she had forgotten for some time naturally surfaced.
The will…
There was no need to wait until his final years.
At this very moment, Dianu’s name was written in Rision’s will.
He had arranged things so that if anything happened to him, Dianu would at least face no financial hardship.
There was an Arasas proverb that said a man’s love was proven first by words, second by actions, and third by a will.
If so, just how deep was Rision’s love?
Dianu was afraid to know the answer.
“Your Majesty, there’s something I’d like to ask.”
Perhaps sensing the gravity in her tone, Rision’s expression grew serious as well.
“On the day I went out because of the check, I heard it from Sir Edric Loisen…”
“Is it true that I’ve been designated as Your Majesty’s heir?”
“Yes.”
It was an answer so clean it felt almost hollow.
The green eyes looking down at Dianu were clear, as if asking what the problem was.
At his calm, almost shameless composure, Dianu felt her words catch in her throat.
“Then… why?”
“Why?”
A crease formed between Rision’s brows.
It was the signature expression of Rision Catalos, the look that said he could not understand the reasoning of an ordinary person.
At times like this, she had learned it was best to explain things very simply, as if describing Catalos customs to a foreigner.
“You’re going to live a long, healthy life anyway, so there’s no reason to do something like that.”
“And with the assets you’ve already given me, I could live comfortably for the rest of my life.”
Rision shook his head.
“The clause regarding the pension I’m leaving you will be deleted soon, so you can consider it nonexistent.”
“What? Why?”
“If you were going to delete it anyway, then why even—”
But Rision seemed to have no intention of explaining further.
He took the hand resting on Dianu’s knee and pressed his lips to the back of it.
At the warmth of his lips, Dianu immediately forgot what she had been about to say.
“More importantly, I’d like to talk tomorrow.”
Was it her imagination, or had his skill at changing the subject improved dramatically?
Still, what awaited tomorrow was undeniably important.
Dianu sighed and nodded.
Holding onto her hand, Rision spoke in a gentle voice.
His tone was so mild that Dianu failed to comprehend the gravity of his words at first.
“I’ve prepared troops to seize the Arasas Ambassador’s residence, just in case things go wrong.”
“What… what?!”
Rision tightened his grip on Dianu’s hand as she reflexively tried to pull away and continued speaking.
His voice was smooth and unhesitating, as if he had been waiting for this moment.
“If the appointed time passes and you don’t walk out safely, I’ll assume you’ve been detained by Nixandor and push in immediately.”
Dianu was so shocked that the back of her neck felt stiff.
Even with her hand held, she shook her head vigorously.
“Are you trying to start a war?!”
“Rira is inside, is she not?”
“We can claim that we received intelligence of a plot to assassinate a princess within the ambassador’s residence.”
“What if that excuse doesn’t work?!”
“Labellan will side with us.”
His voice remained calm throughout.
It was in stark contrast to Dianu, who trembled at the mere thought of such a scenario.
Dianu spoke as if half-begging,
“Your Majesty, even if war doesn’t break out, using that excuse will damage relations with Arasas.”
After claiming that a princess’s life had been threatened at the Arasas Ambassador’s residence, it was doubtful the state marriage could proceed at all.
Not to mention, it would give the anti-Arasas faction the perfect opportunity to raise their voices.
For Rision, it would be no different from overturning a feast he had prepared himself.
And yet, he was saying he was willing to endure all of that, solely for Dianu’s safety.
“I won’t get caught.”
“I really won’t, so please don’t do that.”
“If you don’t get caught, then my plan might as well not exist in the first place.”
“So there’s no reason for you to worry.”
“The problem is that you’re willing to go that far for someone like me!”
“‘Someone like you’?”
Rision’s eyes darkened.
He studied Dianu, who had flinched and fallen silent, as if he were seeing an unfamiliar side of her face.
He approached slowly, as though he were about to kiss her.
Stopping just close enough for their noses to nearly touch, he whispered in a voice only she could hear,
“Do I not have the right to protect you?”
Rision gently brushed Dianu’s cheek as she stared at him wide-eyed.
He always touched her like this.
As if handling a sugar confection that might shatter at the slightest pressure.
Sometimes she found that tenderness endearing, and other times it made her want to scream.
That she was not as fragile or noble as he imagined.
That he did not need to try so hard to protect her.
That she hated the idea of her helplessness becoming a burden to him.
That it was the last shred of pride she could cling to while standing beside him.
But Rision did not hear her silent cries.
He continued in a calm voice,
“Do I not have the right to share what I possess with you…”
“To place your life and honor above all else…”
“And, if necessary, to offer even my life for you?”
Her mind went blank.
None of her usual clever retorts came to her.
She did not even care what expression she was making as she faced him.
The three vows that left Rision’s lips were memorized by every lady of Catalos.
They were words each dreamed of hearing one day from the man she loved.
Before an altar draped in white cloth.
Before the secular world and the divine, the groom vows to the bride.
To share what he possesses with her,
To place her life and honor above all else,
And, if necessary, to offer even his life for her.
They were vows Dianu had long since given up on ever hearing.
And yet, those very words were now flowing from the lips of Rision Catalos.
Rision released her hand, which had been trembling weakly.
“As you promised, if we can finish things without any disturbance, then that will be enough.”
His gaze lingered one last time on the peridot hanging at Dianu’s neck.
Within his eyes, Dianu read the presence of something dangerous and obsessive.
“But if it seems that something has happened to you…”
“Then I will do as I please.”
He added softly, as if soothing a frightened animal,
“After everything is over, there is something I want to say.”
His gentle yet possessive gaze seemed to brush past the ring finger of Dianu’s left hand.
“So please return safely.”
