Us… Did that mean that it includes her? She didn’t know why he said that here. Why didn’t they have Mikhail by their side when they already knew the truth? By any chance, did he mean the people of the Grand Duke’s family? The moment she reached that point, she realized one truth that did not appear in the original work. Polygamy was allowed in this world, and the right of inheritance was recognized even for illegitimate children. That’s why Sorel was also recognized as a princess. And that meant that Mikhail also had the right to inherit the Grand Duchy. Because the previous Grand Duke had eliminated other relatives, there was no one in the Grand Duke’s family except for Terence and Rott. If Terrence were to die right now, though, the title of Grand Duke would go to his younger brother, Rott.
‘If even Rott dies…’
The only person who would inherit the title was Mikhail. In the meantime, Mikhail was in the Imperial Knights serving the Emperor.
‘It’s no wonder that this man feels uncomfortable.’
If his blood relationship was revealed, there was a high possibility that Mikhail would be used by the Emperor. At this point, Terrence’s personality made it possible to get rid of Mikhail a long time ago. Since he had no one worthy of succession, she wondered if he was left alive for that reason.
‘Maybe I left it in the calculation that I could use it if I had to.’
In fact, in the original work, he later revealed his blood relationship and received help from Mikhail. Again, she thought the original did not contain everything. There were also truths that could only be seen after entering this world.
“Yes, got it.”
She sympathized with Terrence’s position.
“Do not worry. I’ll follow Terrence’s will. After all, I am now the Grand Duchess.”
If it was a matter involving the succession of the family, she had to completely follow Terence’s opinion. Besides, she intended to leave the Grand Duke’s family soon.
‘Did not unnecessarily cause trouble in the family.’
Terrence watched her in silence for a moment. He seemed a little surprised when she readily agreed.
“…I’m glad you understand.”
He turned his gaze to the window, avoiding her gaze. The conversation with Mikhail ended with that. He probably didn’t want to talk deeper with her.
Knock, knock.
A sudden knocking sound interrupted her thoughts. Nell opened the door and came inside, weeping at the visitor.
“Princess. A priest came from the main building. He said he has something to report.”
“Okay. Tell him to come in.”
A young priest came inside with thick papers.
“Princess. I have brought the documents sent by the high priest.”
“Documents?”
“It is about preparing for the ceremony of the temple.”
The young priest bowed his head deeply while holding the papers.
“The high priest said he deeply apologized for the delay in the report.”
“Okay?”
The priest was taken aback by her indifferent reaction and bent down deeply once more.
“I’m sorry, Princess. The high priest said he would come back tomorrow to apologize…”
“Tell me you don’t have to come because I’m fine.”
Whether or not the preparations for the ceremony at the temple were delayed, where could she afford to care about such a thing right now? Of course, if it was real Eve, she would have tried to decide every little detail of the wedding herself. She must have harassed the High Priest by catching all sorts of faults. She could understand why the elderly high priest sent the priest instead of coming personally. Without thinking, she reached out her hand. The priest hurriedly handed her the papers. The priest’s hand lightly brushed her hand as she received the documents. At that moment, her vision distorted and another scene passed before her eyes.
* * *
It was a dark night. Hot flames shot up in the night sky. She saw a roaring flame in front of her eyes. The fire that spread out of control was devouring the white temple. Various kinds of lanterns were placed here and there around the temple. The flames burning the temple engulf even the colorful lanterns. The petals adorning the lantern turned into ashes in an instant. The heat she felt on her skin… Acrid smell of ash and smoke…
Gray smoke rose into the night sky. Suddenly, on the other side of the temple, she saw a building locked in darkness. She immediately recognized where it was. This building was where she was now. At that moment, the flames raged and blocked the view.
* * *
She was startled and hurriedly withdrew her hand. The illusion that appeared for an instant disappeared like a mirage in an instant.
‘This…’
As she looked at it in silence, a look of uneasiness began to appear on the priest’s face.
“Why is that, Princess?”
“No, nothing.”
She handed over the papers with a nonchalant face.
“Are these the wedding documents prepared by the temple?”
“Yes that’s right. The order of the ceremony and the procedure of the event…”
The priest gave detailed explanations, but she skipped over what he was saying and was lost in thought.
‘The garden that appeared in the illusion now is definitely…’
She turned her gaze to the window. Through the window, she could see the temple covered in white snow. She realized where the building she just saw was. The temple of Rastana, the goddess of love. It was where her wedding was scheduled.
“Are the preparations for the wedding hall going well?”
“Of course. We are preparing without fail.”
The burning building that appeared in the vision was obviously the temple of Rastana next to the inn. Since she came here, she was familiar with the structure and form because she had seen it through the window. She asked casually, as if in passing.
“The Rastana Shrine also looks like a wooden building, just like this inn, right?”
“Yes, that’s right. The Rastana Temple was built with white Lucian trees resembling sacred trees.”
Although the priest explained calmly, he had a puzzled look. It was a gaze that could not understand why the princess was curious about such a thing.
“Hmm…”
Yes. If it had been made of stone like other buildings, it wouldn’t have burned so roaringly.
“I think we can do it this way. Tell them to prepare themselves.”
“Yes, I understand. Princess.”
The priest politely bowed his back, closed the door, and went out.
“Why is that?”
As soon as the door closed, Terrence, reading her strange mood, asked immediately. She turned her gaze back to the window. She could see the temple of Rastana through the glass window.
“I just saw a prophecy.”
After seeing the scene involving the drugged car, she didn’t see any special foreknowledge, but after quite a while, the proper scene appeared. And it had its own important content.
“What kind of foreknowledge was it?”
She explained to Terrence the scene she had just seen. A view of the burning temple. It was definitely a night with lanterns everywhere. So, was it Rastana’s feast day? Could it be the foreknowledge that the temple would be on fire on the night of the festival? A little while ago, she was thinking about the wedding while looking at the documents for the number of guests invited. So, was this also related to the wedding?
‘Can’t they stop the wedding, so now they set the temple on fire?’
There was no way the temple that was fine would suddenly catch fire. Some time ago the Empress tried to delay her wedding and she tried to drug her. Could this be the same intention?
‘No matter how crazy you are…’
The captain of the knights using such a radical method? Burning the temple to stop the wedding was a little funny. It was childish.
‘It’s a wedding, so I could do it somewhere else.’
It was not necessary to have a wedding ceremony in a temple. Eve wanted a splendid and grand wedding, so we decided to do it here. Other princesses held weddings in the chapel or garden of the imperial palace.
‘Or maybe… Do they have other purposes?’
After hearing her story, Terrence kept a worried silence.
“If it’s clear that the Emperor’s side is doing it, it’s not just trying to stop the marriage.”
“I think so.”
It’s too much to do simply to prevent a wedding. She wouldn’t be able to stop marriage like that, so the front and back don’t match.
“Actually, I’m still not quite sure what. It could have been a simple accident.”
On Rastana’s feast day, it was said to place lanterns all over the garden. It was not unusual for a lantern to cause a fire.
“There were occasional fire accidents on holidays. Most of them were suppressed without spreading to the temple.”
“Is it so?”
Well, in the middle of winter when the garden was dry, the lanterns were hung out, so it was easy to start a fire. But by chance, in an accident, her wedding hall was set on fire? It’s too coincidental to be a coincidence.
“First of all, we’ll have to be careful until we find out more details.”
She also agreed with him. It was now difficult to tell whether this was an accident or a deliberate conspiracy. With those words, Terrence rose from his seat.
“I will contact you again after returning to Jedo Island.”
* * *
For the next two days nothing happened. Because she couldn’t sleep the night before, she took a nap all day and the whole day passed. The next morning, she headed to Rastana’s temple early. When she said that she wanted to see her wedding hall, they guided her inside her, not suspecting the bride at all.
—————————————————————
Translator Note:
Hello there! This is RJR. I hope you liked it <3
If you like my work please support me with Ko-fi or Patreon. Next post will be released on August, 22.
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