Despite saying it several times, Driene only believed Juliet’s claim that she was eating more than half after observing her during the entire meal.
Seeing his still discontented expression, Juliet felt relieved that her stomach was comfortable today.
On a normal day, she wouldn’t have been able to finish even half, and if that had been discovered, the nagging would have started again.
After the meal, she walked a couple of laps around the room with Driene’s support. He seemed quite shocked that she couldn’t go out to the garden, but this was a relatively good situation.
Moreover, she wasn’t in pain today. As she lay back down on the bed at his urging, she thought about how if it had been an unlucky day, her whole body would have ached, preventing her from taking even a few steps. Today, though, she was only slightly short of breath; the rest was fine.
Perhaps it was because of her brother. Juliet glanced at Driene, who was sitting casually in the chair next to the bed. He picked up a book from the nightstand and examined it. Juliet recognized the book well.
“Are you still listening to the stories of Urgas?”
Driene asked, running his fingers over the leather cover of the book.
“Sometimes.”
“I feel like I used to read it to you often when you were little.”
“Yes, that’s why I listen.”
Those moments Driene mentioned were the biggest reason Juliet had grown to love the stories of Urgas.
Separate from the tragic endings, the memories of those joyful days made her happy.
Except for the few recent occasions.
Juliet recalled the times she had tried to read the book since the day she told her maid to close it. Each time, she had tried to listen with patience but had failed repeatedly. It felt strangely uncomfortable.
But now, Driene is here. So maybe it would be different.
Juliet asked in a small voice, “Will you read it to me?”
“Should I?”
“Yes.”
“Alright. It must bring back good memories.”
“Where should I start reading?”Driene asked as he opened the book. After a moment of hesitation, Juliet replied.
“Please skip the preface and start reading.”
It was a suggestion to cut out a part she once loved the most, but Driene didn’t ask further and slowly turned the pages to find the starting point.
As she heard the familiar voice begin to resonate, Juliet closed her eyes.
Everything was perfect.
✩‧₊˚༺☆༻*ੈ✩‧₊˚
Driene looked down at his sleeping younger sister with a calm expression.
Her once rosy cheeks were now pale like wax, and the bones of her face and wrists were prominent. It was clear to anyone that she was seriously ill.
He had expected her to be weaker than before. Like all the heirs to the throne, he was aware of the hereditary illness in the royal family.
This illness, which slowly drained life until it led to death, had no known cause or solution.
It was a disease that only princesses get.
The illness that only the king’s daughters could contract had plagued numerous princesses even before Juliet. The lack of records about princesses in the Rosenta royal family was due to this. Except for those fortunate enough to escape it, most were buried in the royal tombs around the age of twenty.
When he first learned about this history, Driene felt little emotion. He had always been somewhat dry in spirit, unable to invest much concern in matters that didn’t directly involve him.
He thought to himself that he would only look into such history if he married and had a daughter.
However, no one can predict the future.
Driene’s future was no different.
His future changed after the new queen gave birth to a princess.
ੈ✩‧₊˚༺☆༻*ੈ✩‧₊˚
Despite not being particularly fond of his father, Driene had liked his stepmother very much.
She was from the island kingdom of Bargeton and cherished the prince, who was not her biological child, as if he were her own. She did so even knowing that the throne would eventually go to that prince.
It must be because she didn’t have any children yet. The boy, who was in the midst of his twisted feelings, thought so too. For now, she was pretending to be kind since she had no children; once she bore her own son, her attitude would surely change.
And it made sense; the new queen was still young and beautiful. She was closer in age to the prince than to the king and was in her first marriage.
A woman like her who was still young and had a good figure would not have married a king with a grown son unless she had some kind of ambition.
For this reason, at first Driene did not welcome his stepmother’s kindness. To him, parents had always been selfish figures. His biological mother had left for her homeland when he was too young to remember, and his father was a man who would push his only son to the limit for the sake of the kingdom.
His Majesty the King cherished the prince. Some people said so.
But Driene knew the truth. The king was merely preparing for the possibility of leaving this world early.
Only for the sake of the nation. That was simply the kind of person his father was.
If his biological parents were like that, how much more so would a stepmother be? The boy, who viewed everything with suspicion, twisted his stepmother’s kindness into something negative.
However, Ignacia, the queen and his stepmother, was a person of deep patience, despite her delicate appearance, and the unruly boy acted as if she were nothing to him. Even though he usually didn’t act so unpleasantly, he did then.
Ultimately, it was Driene who fell first. After acknowledging that there are kind people in the world for no reason, he made an effort to treat his stepmother kindly.
Fortunately, Ignacia treated him as if she had completely forgotten his earlier rudeness. After becoming close to the young queen, who could be described more as a sister than a mother, Driene often had to suppress questions that wanted to spring forth.
“Why did you marry my father?” He already knew the answer to that question. There must have been something nationalistic involved. Marriages among royalty were usually like that.
Even knowing this, when Ignacia became pregnant with her first child, Driene couldn’t help but ask.
“Why did you choose my father?”
It was a surprising question for the queen, who had simply invited her stepson for tea on a sunny day.
Yet Driene felt he had to ask. At that time, he was just learning how to read international affairs. What he learned was that she didn’t necessarily have to come to Rosenta.
Rosenta was the strongest country among those with which her homeland, Baregton, could form a marital alliance, but the heir position was already filled. Therefore, it would have been better to choose a king with less power, even if it was a first marriage.
It wasn’t that there were no such countries around, so what exactly did she see in his father that made her marry him?
The young Driene, who was sipping his tea with a somewhat disloyal thought, received an answer from the queen.
“Rosenta is a strong kingdom, so I thought forming an alliance would help my homeland.”
“But there’s already an heir.”
“Well, that’s true.”
Seeing his stepmother nod as if she were unaware, Driene shook his head. She really should take a step back.
“Don’t you regret it?”
“Regret what?”
“Marriage. My father is an old and boring man.”
Moreover, if it were another country, that child would have become the heir. Driene looked at her noticeably pregnant belly and spoke. In fact, that was his true feeling.
However, the queen only smiled upon hearing his words. It was a smile that sparkled like spring sunshine yet was fleeting.
“You’re so considerate, worrying about your little sibling.”
“I’m not worried.”
It’s just that, well, that’s how it is. But Driene could feel his ears burning at the queen’s words. Ignacia smiled again at his reaction.
Driene observed the queen, who laughed so frequently that he wondered how she could do that. Is having a lot of laughter hereditary?
It was then that Ignacia spoke.
“That doesn’t matter, Your Highness.”
What good would the throne be when you have such a kind brother?
The queen’s face, devoid of any pretense as she said this, made Driene let out a sigh.
He looked at his overly gentle stepmother with a bewildered expression. How could a person see only the good in the world like that?
“Listen well, the royal family isn’t that kind.”
“Oh? But you’re kind, Your Highness!”
No, that’s not the issue. Frustrated, Driene gulped down his tea and spoke up.
“But others aren’t like that. Power is about watching each other with sharp eyes, ready to tear each other apart.”
And I’m not kind. The quick addition of that last remark felt incredibly childish once it was out. Driene turned his head with a frown.
The queen, noticing her stepson’s clear embarrassment, asked, “Still, you’ll take good care of the child, won’t you?”
“Well, that’s true, but…”
If it were another child, it might be different, but a child resembling Ignacia would surely be adorable, so he felt confident he could be a good brother.
A warm gaze touched his cheek as he pretended to be gruff.
“That’s all that matters.”
Her voice melted like spring snow. Driene considered telling his naive stepmother about reality once more, but he hesitated, feeling sorry for his future sibling. He thought it wouldn’t be right to keep saying such things as an older brother.
