“A secret?”
“Yes. To be honest, it’s a bit of a selfish desire.”
As she spoke, Blueny covered her mouth and chuckled, as if she were excited.
“It’s always been my dream to tell my daughter the story of how her mom and dad met.”
“Huh? Then, the secret story is…?”
“That’s right. Don’t you want to know how I ended up marrying Delight?”
“I’m super curious! Absolutely!”
This was a 100% pure, selfish wish.
“It’s a little different from the picture I had in my head, but at least I get to tell my daughter now.”
With a proud smile on her face, Blueny began her story.
***
“I will never get married.”
Back in those days, Blueny lived with that resolve, repeating it like a mantra.
She never expected romantic love. She firmly believed that love, dating, and marriage were all meaningless facades.
“The king is already looking for a marriage partner.”
“He’s just trying to figure out where it would be most profitable to sell me off.”
She was sick of it.
The people who only thought of using her never felt like family.
“If it comes to that, I’ll just grab someone random and run away.”
Her family was relentlessly driven by profit. They only showed her kindness when she followed their will.
“So, is that why you ran away and came all the way here?”
It was a time of turmoil caused by war.
Blueny attended a diplomatic event as an envoy, bringing gifts on behalf of her kingdom. It was a gathering where the Promian Empire invited neighboring countries to promote friendship.
The king, wary of Ilnord’s scrutiny, avoided attending himself and sent her in his place. Ignoring Promian’s rapidly growing influence wasn’t an option.
“I just thought it’d be nice to get some fresh air. Without an excuse like this, I’d never get to travel this far.”
Even though it was just a bothersome task pushed onto her, the atmosphere wasn’t as bad as she had expected. It wasn’t too unpleasant.
Thanks to that, she was living as if on vacation.
“You must not act recklessly here.”
Monia, concerned about Blueny’s unpredictable nature, warned her.
“Don’t worry. I’m not planning to cause any trouble here.”
Blueny reassured Monia with a light tone.
After all, once she met with the emperor and exchanged greetings, her business here would be done. Then, she would have to start preparing to return home.
It would be hard for anything to happen in the short time that remained.
“Now that it’s almost time to go back, it feels a little regretful.”
“Don’t you just not want to return to the kingdom?”
“Haha, you’re right. Ugh, I really don’t want to go back!”
During the precious free time she had, she wandered outside for walks whenever possible, unwilling to stay cooped up in her room.
“Shall we go for one more walk?”
“My legs are so sore, though.”
To be fair, they had already been walking for three hours, so it made sense that Monia was tired.
“Do you want to rest here for a bit? I’ll take one more lap and come back.”
“I’m supposed to go with you, though…”
“We’ve already walked several laps together, so what are you so worried about? Just rest.”
With that, Blueny continued her walk alone.
Having walked in the same direction the whole time, she decided to switch it up since there was no Monia to nag her.
“Who is it this time?”
A cold voice echoed from a short distance away.
There was a man standing by the lakeside.
“Me?”
Blueny asked, caught off guard.
“I’m sure I warned that if anyone came back here one more time, they’d be regarded as a spy.”
The icy threat came flying at her.
He continued to gaze at the lake, his back still turned to her.
“Is there something so special here?”
She had been told she could walk along any trail she wanted.
Annoyed by the man’s threatening tone without even looking at her, Blueny retorted,
“I am.”
The moment he turned around—
Blueny felt as if the whole world had stopped.
Her heart began to pound wildly the instant she saw his face.
Her heart throbbed so intensely that she wondered if it might just explode.
The overwhelming emotions she felt were all things she had never experienced before.
Blueny’s mind went blank, and she couldn’t utter a single word. She spun around and ran away.
“Why are you just now coming back? I was worried, thinking you might have gotten lost, so I couldn’t even go look for you!”
As soon as Monia spotted Blueny, she hurried over, her words flowing in a rush of concern.
“Well, I… met someone…”
“Met someone? Who? Don’t tell me you caused trouble again!”
Seeing Blueny spaced out with a dazed expression, Monia’s anxiety grew.
But Blueny was lost in her own world.
‘That man was definitely the emperor of Promian.’
It was her first time seeing him, but the moment she saw his face—
She knew at once.
Those deep green eyes.
Only after locking eyes with him did she notice his silver hair.
And once she realized it, everything about him—his commanding presence, the way he acted as if he owned the place—seemed completely natural.
‘But what shocked me even more than him being the emperor was…’
Blueny placed her hand over her heart.
Her heart was still pounding like crazy.
“I think… I fell in love at first sight.”
It was a moment of realization.
There was no other explanation for what she was feeling.
“Huh?”
“It must be fate.”
At the very moment she swore she would never get married, the person she wanted to marry had appeared.
That changed everything.
“No matter how I think about it, this is a chance.”
Blueny immediately sprinted back the way she had come.
“Huff, huff… Thank goodness he’s still here.”
Out of breath from running so hard, she finally arrived—and he was still standing there.
“What is it this time?”
With an annoyed look on his face, Delight gazed at Blueny.
“Are you married?”
The Emperor of Promian was still unmarried.
Only after the question left her lips did Blueny realize this fact.
“What kind of scheme are you up to this time?”
“I’m from the Kingdom of Soren. Right now, my kingdom is searching for a marriage partner for me. But I really don’t want to get married. So, I was thinking of ways to ruin it.”
“And what does that have to do with me…?”
“Do you need someone to marry?”
“Did you hit your head? If that’s the case, I should call a doctor.”
“Your Majesty, will you marry me?”
A political marriage for the sake of an alliance.
It was widely known that their marriage was a contract for mutual benefit.
But in truth, it all started with her confession.
She fell in love with him at first sight.
***
“…So, the Empress was the one who fell in love first?”
Then why was their relationship such a mess?
…She almost blurted that out.
The more she listened to Blueny’s story, the more frustrated she became with Delight. It felt like her insides were being flipped upside down.
What on earth did you do to create such misunderstandings between you two?!
It was clear that Delight also had feelings for Blueny.
But to think Blueny was the one who fell for him first!
‘You both like each other, so how did this mess of misunderstandings even happen?!’
And to this day, it was clear that neither of them understood the other’s feelings.
Huff, huff.
Alright, let’s calm down and focus on the story.
“Of course, that confession was immediately rejected.”
Blueny laughed as she recalled how Delight had looked at her like she was insane and avoided her.
“But I didn’t give up. I wanted to marry him no matter what.”
So her next confession took the form of a negotiation.
***
The Promian Empire needed an abundance of magic stones for the war, while the Kingdom of Soren needed protection from those who coveted their mines.
And so, the political marriage between the two countries was established.
Although it was a marriage for an alliance, Blueny didn’t mind.
In fact, she was glad that the kingdom she had wanted so desperately to escape could be useful to Delight.
She took pride in being a source of support for him.
That’s why, even when she realized that Delight had no interest in their marriage and found it tiresome, she endured.
“It’s okay. It’s a marriage I chose to have.”
“It’s enough for me to love him on my own.”
She resolved not to cling to hollow expectations.
But that didn’t mean she planned to live under his gaze like a timid, helpless woman.
Even if they were like strangers, she and Delight were still husband and wife.
So she made sure to fulfill her duties as Empress, letting him know that she was by his side.
But then—
“Your Majesty, the alliance with the Kingdom of Soren has been broken.”
“What? So suddenly?”
“Additionally, the Kingdom of Soren has formed an alliance with the Ilnord Empire.”
“………!”
The moment the alliance between the two kingdoms crumbled—
Blueny realized that her marriage was like a sandcastle built on a beach.
As an empress with no political value left, she no longer had a reason to remain in Promian.
It would be better for him if she wasn’t there.
Right after the alliance fell apart, Blueny requested a divorce from Delight.
And without looking back, she left.
She returned to the kingdom she had once so desperately wanted to leave behind.
