The following year, before the spring flowers bloomed, Rosenta’s second queen passed away during childbirth. It was neither a rare nor common occurrence.
The child born was a girl who closely resembled the deceased queen. Driene gazed down at the baby, who had the characteristic black hair and green eyes of the Rosenta royal family.
Despite having the traditional traits of the royal lineage, the baby was strangely not boring.
Perhaps it was because she resembled her mother. Unlike Ignacia, who often smiled, the baby cried and fussed most of the time, but Driene still thought that way. No matter what anyone said, she was clearly Ignacia’s daughter.
The young princess was given the nickname Yellen. It was a name that had been used by princesses for generations. The child would receive a proper name only after she turned seven, as per royal custom.
The king saw his daughter three times: once at her birth, once at her mother’s funeral, and once when he designated her palace.
The child’s palace was the same one that had been used by princesses over the years. Driene refurbished that palace with the royal treasures, making it neither extravagant nor shabby. It was a place that did not suit Ignacia’s daughter, unlike the other princesses.
Even as the king heard reports about the prince, who had now become the crown prince, he said nothing. Driene also paid no mind to his father’s silence. He had never intended to seek permission in the first place.
When the frail child had grown somewhat, Driene took the princess in his arms and went to see the king.
The king’s eyes, which had aged considerably over the past few years, resembled a deserted ruin.
With lifeless eyes, he looked down at his son standing beneath him.
Driene did not avoid the dark green eyes. He had become a young man and no longer had any reason to fear his father. Unlike in the past, when there were only two green eyes in the world, he now had a new family.
He would not let this child fail. Driene thought as he adjusted the warmth in his embrace. Ignacia’s child was his only sister, and he was now of an age where he could protect himself.
It was the younger one who spoke first.
“Father.”
It was a title he had long since discarded, but saying it was not difficult at all. In fact, it was easier because he had once let it go. There was no lingering attachment, so there was nothing to hold him back.
The king nodded as if urging him to speak further. Driene hated that arrogance. It was a feeling closer to physiological discomfort than sorrow.
Driene spoke.
“I know that you never loved me.”
It was a statement devoid of any sense of loss. He had nothing to lose in the first place. It was natural since he had received nothing.
However, Driene remembered his childhood. Those times were filled with sadness, resentment, and longing.
The lessons learned from the past were certainly clear, but only one person needed to know such things. There was no need for Ignacia’s daughter to witness and learn the same thing.
That was the reason he stood before a father he did not love.
“Of course, I’m not disappointed. You know how worthless those things are.”
The prince scoffed, and the king did not deny it.
It was the reaction he had expected. Driene twisted his lips.
“But I want to give this child everything, no matter how trivial it may be.”
“…She’s not even your child.”
The words that came after a silence were ultimately like that. Driene looked up at his senile father. Once, his face had seemed higher and colder than the snowy mountains, but today it appeared utterly dull.
Though he was not Ignacia’s son, she loved him as if he were her own.
He knew that much.
But that man, who had lived so long, didn’t know even that.
“Do you think that matters?”
The prince retorted, and the king fell silent again. Driene laughed at him freely.
He, who had been mocking his aged father, spoke up.
“I want you to love this child.”
Give her a precious name, lay down rubies and gold beneath her feet, and proclaim her as the beloved princess throughout the country. Act as if you would give your heart for your daughter.
“If you do that, this country, which you hold dear, will receive the same treatment.”
Driene looked down at the child sleeping in his arms. She was still young, but she bore a striking resemblance to her mother. At least, that’s how it appeared to him.
“However, if you mistreat my mother’s daughter, you will have to watch from your coffin how I repay that coldness.”
That was a threat. Driene was fully aware of what he was saying.
It wasn’t something someone destined to sit at the pinnacle of the kingdom should say, but he didn’t care. Driene hated everything his father loved. That feeling remained unchanged, even if it included innocent people and the land itself.
So it was a threat and an opportunity given to a king who only knew his country.
The young prince raised his head.
“I am telling you now that I will gladly love everything you hate.”
The king looked down at his arrogant son. The two cold green eyes crossed.
“How amusing. The one who will become a ruler, belittling everything I hold dear.”
The king muttered that, but the outcome of the conversation was already decided.
Driene knew that even after death, his father would not let go of the kingdom. Just as he loved Ignacia’s daughter, the king would do anything for the sake of the country.
After a long silence, the king gestured. Leave. His voice was tinged with fatigue.
Driene, who could hardly bear to look at his father’s face, turned without hesitation. As he strode out of the audience chamber, a quiet warning pierced the air behind him.
“It is foolish to hold onto someone who will leave early. Do you not understand that even after learning so much?”
Driene responded to the king, who continued to act foolishly until the end, as if he were bestowing charity.
“Isn’t it better to be foolish than cowardly?”
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The king kept his promise.
The princess received a precious name, walked along a path lined with rubies and gold, and grew up believing her father was a kind man.
Driene got married, received foreign envoys on behalf of the nation, and occasionally went on inspections. The crown princess was from Bargeton. The people also believed that the crown prince would become a wise ruler.
When they were with the princess, they were truly an ideal family. The father was warm-hearted, the son was suitably obedient, and the daughter radiated the love she received.
Every day was peaceful and beautiful. Driene would kiss the forehead of the smiling child more often as time passed, whispering many times, “My sister, I would do anything for you.”
Each time, the princess burst into a flower-like smile. The child’s laughter was so reminiscent of her mother’s that Driene couldn’t help but stroke her cheek every time.
It wasn’t that he didn’t have anyone he loved after that. The woman from Ignacia’s country was more assertive than her but equally kind. Their son, born to them, resembled his mother closely, and though he was sometimes a handful, he was a healthy child.
Driene loved them as well. The king pretended to be harmonious in front of them. Peace was maintained that way.
Still, a part of Driene’s heart held onto the vow from that day. The promise made in his youth, while holding the only family he had, that he would do anything for her.
After briefly reminiscing about those days, he kissed his sleeping sister’s forehead.
He could still do anything.
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Enoch looked at the man sitting before him.
The man with long black hair and green eyes resembled his sister exactly. His ivory-like skin, cold expression, and calm gaze were all the same.
He resembled her in every way that shared blood could allow. The crown prince of Rosenta was staring at him.
Silence settled between the two. Enoch did not avoid the shadowed green eyes. Even if the man glared at him as if to kill him, he felt obliged to endure it all.
In Driene’s eyes, he was a traitor who betrayed his trust, a plunderer who took away his beloved sister, and ultimately, a murderer who would cause her death.
If he were not a prince of a kingdom, there would have been several murders by now.
The cold stillness was broken by the other party.
“Grand Duke. I regret bringing your brother in Rosenta.”
It was a calm statement, but the content was anything but. Enoch thought of the reinforcements that had been sent from Rosenta four years ago.
Kinas had made a deal with Driene to stage a coup. However, considering the difference between what the rebels had and what the heir to a nation possessed, it would be more fitting to call it an act of goodwill from Driene rather than a mere transaction.
How had he repaid that? Just thinking about it left Enoch at a loss for words. It was a separate issue from his natural lack of eloquence. If one were human, if one knew loyalty.
Before he fell into deeper thoughts, Driene continued speaking.
“Perhaps I will feel that way for a lifetime.”
What was he supposed to say now? Enoch swallowed hard. Should he apologize? Should he kneel? Would such an act erase all of this?
For someone who would never have to bow their head again, such actions were humiliating to imagine, but he could truly do them. In fact, he should do anything for Juliet and her brother.
However, nothing could be changed with mere actions or words like that. Enoch now understands this fact.
No matter what he did, there could be no change between them. He realized this only after facing the woman’s contemptuous gaze.
All his actions would ultimately be bound to deception.
What’s the point of kneeling when he knew it wouldn’t change anything? So Enoch remained silent. In fact, keeping his mouth shut was one of the few things he was good at.
Driene’s words continued.
“Yet if I could go back to the past, I might make the same choice. Do you know why?”
The cold green eyes stared at him. It was a question he didn’t know the answer to, so Enoch said nothing.
It was perhaps for the best. Juliet disliked it when he spoke, and the siblings truly resembled each other. So, Driene was likely to feel the same way.
Driene did not demand an answer from him, who had kept his mouth shut.
