Illid
Keeping Karina alive had been a great risk for me as well.
The rumor that some beggar-like woman had arrived carrying a note addressed to “my dear cousin” and asked to see Ishtel Regentra had already spread like wildfire among the imperial palace servants.
I explained that a distant relative had gone bankrupt and sent a maid to ask for a loan. I added that she had been attacked by thieves on the way to the palace, the lower half of the letter had been torn off, and she had lost every coin she carried, leaving her dressed in rags. Because the lie was plausible, no one questioned it further.
It had already been three months since Karina began working in the palace.
Sending her to the stables had been deliberate. I wanted her doing exhausting labor. Comfort bred ambition in people, and I still did not trust her. I had no intention of giving her the leisure to look around.
Besides, the stables were one of the few places that escaped the eyes of the nobles who came and went from the palace. No one would recognize Karina there, nor would anyone cast unwanted glances at her beauty. For both her sake and mine, there was no safer place.
“Where are you riding with Eve today, my lady?”
Karina asked as she led out my beloved horse.
“To the forest behind the palace?”
“No. I have somewhere else in mind today.”
I gave the short reply, then swung up onto Eve’s back.
“Hya!”
With a powerful neigh, Eve surged forward.
I loved riding with Eve. When I galloped through the forest, every complicated thought fell away and I could focus solely on the moment.
Today I meant to go farther than the forest. Away from the suffocating palace, to the one place where I could be most honest with myself.
“Hello, Primos.”
I tied Eve to a nearby tree and walked over to greet him.
“I won’t be able to visit for a while. Things are going to get busy, so I came ahead of time.”
He gave no answer.
For three years now, Crown Prince Primos had offered me nothing but silence.
Primos had been like a brother to me since childhood, a friend close enough to share every secret, and the man who would have made a wonderful husband.
If trust could be called love, then I suppose I had loved him. In a palace where I could never let my guard down even for a moment, he had been the one gentle person I could believe in and lean on.
Even after he was gone, I often came to see him.
I would lie beside him and speak of small, everyday things. I confessed secrets I could tell no one else. He was also the only person who knew what had happened between Karina and me.
“I think I’ll be getting married soon. I don’t know who the groom will be yet.”
“……”
“Are you jealous?”
“……”
“Instead of just being jealous, why don’t you give me a hint? Which of your cousins is the better man?”
“……”
“You’re saying none of them compare to you? All right, stop bragging…”
Just then I sensed movement among the distant trees. Startled, I shot to my feet.
“Who’s there?”
I called out sharply. The figure behind the tree stepped into view.
“Forgive me.”
It was a man with hair as black as the night sky. He slowly bowed, deep blue eyes gleaming.
“It has been a long time, Duchess Regentra. I am Illid Tebronia.”
“Illid Tebronia…?”
I repeated the name in a daze.
Ah. Memory returned.
Archduke Illid. The Emperor’s nephew and the Crown Prince’s cousin.
I had met him only twice before.
The first time had been at Her Majesty the Empress’s funeral. The late Empress had cherished me like her own daughter ever since I lost my parents young.
Back then I was still a child who hadn’t learned to restrain her feelings. I had cried loudly all day among the mourners. Illid had approached me then.
Don’t cry.
Those were the first words he spoke to me, dressed in black mourning clothes. Though he was a child himself, he had looked after both me and his cousin Primos with surprising maturity.
I shall see you at the wedding, Lady Regentra.
Before returning to his duchy he had said his farewell. I still remembered thinking how beautiful those blue eyes were.
Yet the second time I met him had also been at a funeral.
At Primos’s funeral I was no longer a child. I had grown somewhat accustomed to handling my emotions.
In place of His Majesty, whose body and mind had utterly collapsed, I had overseen every detail of the Crown Prince’s funeral.
There had been no time to grieve. By the time I came back to myself the ceremony was nearly over. The imperial guards were lowering Primos’s coffin deep into the earth. Only then did the tears finally fall.
The one who silently offered me a handkerchief from behind had been him. At the time I had no idea that we would meet again as the prospective Crown Princess and the candidate for Crown Prince.
“Forgive me for not recognizing you, Archduke Illid.”
I offered an apologetic explanation.
“Every time we have met you were wearing mourning clothes… I didn’t recognize you in ordinary attire. I’m sorry.”
Illid gave a small, understanding nod.
Today he wore a neat teal coat rather than black mourning robes. The color suited the fine weather perfectly.
“Still, I am a little hurt, Duchess.”
Illid’s voice was playfully wounded.
“I recognized you the moment I saw you.”
“The Archduke must have sharp eyes indeed. To remember someone you’ve only met twice, and at a glance.”
Though I said “twice,” the actual time we had spent face-to-face could not have amounted to more than a few hours. That he had recognized me immediately was rather surprising.
“It isn’t that my eyes are sharp.”
He smiled softly at me.
“It is that Duchess Regentra remains as beautiful as ever.”
I felt my cheeks burn. Flustered, I waved my hand quickly.
“You flatter me, Archduke. After His Highness the Crown Prince passed, I have been carrying the imperial affairs alone. I have suffered more than I realized. How could I have remained unchanged?”
From earliest childhood I had been chosen as the Crown Prince’s future wife.
Unlike other noblewomen, I could neither make my debut in society nor accept the courtship of other lords. Compliments from any man other than Primos left me awkward and unsure. Words that ordinary women would have laughed off sent color rushing to my face.
“You are too modest, Duchess.”
He was still smiling at me with those same eyes I had once thought beautiful long ago.
Emperor Hebron had a twin sister and a younger brother. Archduke Illid was the son of that younger brother and three years my senior.
Yet despite being the Emperor’s nephew, he had been strictly forbidden from entering the palace. The same restriction applied to both of the Emperor’s siblings.
The Tebron Empire barred all members of the imperial family except the Emperor’s direct line from participating in central politics.
The man who had established that system was my grandfather, Wilhelm Regentra.
Officially it was to prevent the dilution of imperial power and to strengthen the throne. In truth, it had been to strip the imperial family of authority and divide it among the nobility and the commoners’ council.
When the decree first came down, the Emperor’s two siblings had resisted fiercely. Princess Alensia in particular had been so enraged that she had punched my grandfather—an incident still spoken of to this day.
Unlike her milder brothers, Princess Alensia possessed a truly explosive temper.
She had insisted that barring the imperial family from the palace was treasonous deception. But my grandfather already held every central noble in his grasp.
In the end even Prince Voltero abandoned his opposition, and the imperial family suffered total defeat.
The princess and prince were each granted remote border territories in the North and South as duchies and forced to withdraw from central politics.
After that, they could not set foot in the capital except for the greatest imperial ceremonies. Now those two archducal houses had finally found an opportunity to return to the palace.
“You arrived three days earlier than expected.”
I calculated the dates in my head.
“Since you have reached the capital, why are you here instead of going straight to the palace to see His Majesty…?”
“The truth is, entering the palace alone felt rather daunting.”
Ah. I nodded in understanding.
No matter that they were uncle and nephew, the years separating His Majesty and Illid had been long. It would indeed feel awkward to request an audience alone.
“It is all right, Archduke. His Imperial Majesty cherishes both of his nephew archdukes dearly.”
In recent days His Majesty had often summoned me simply to speak of his nephews. He would deliver lengthy speeches about how adorable and clever his first nephew, Archduke Illid, had been as a child.
“If it would be uncomfortable to face His Majesty alone, allow me to accompany you. I will stay at your side. I can give you a tour of the palace as well.”
“Truly?”
“Of course. It is no great trouble.”
Illid’s eyes widened in genuine surprise. The expression was unexpectedly endearing; I nearly smiled.
“Shall we go at once? On horseback we can reach the palace quickly.”
“No, Duchess. The truth is, I am waiting for someone.”
Illid’s voice carried a note of regret. I felt the same disappointment; I had just lost a chance to learn more about him.
“Waiting for someone?”
He nodded at my question.
“Yes. I am waiting for Hellion.”