Chapter 3
“Aira!”
Luna, dressed in a calm gray dress, approached the carriage with a bright smile that reached her eyes. As she came closer to Aira, she extended her hand and held Aira’s hand warmly.
“Oh my, Aira! You’re so stunning; you’re making even a woman like me nervous!”
It wasn’t easy to accept a half-sister as a friend. But Luna was like a ray of light, she was friendly to everyone she met. Even Aira, who was guarded toward her at first, couldn’t reject her friendly nature.
“Yes, Luna.”
Aira’s lips curved faintly as she looked at Luna.
What made Luna truly evil was her ability to hide her inner thoughts so thoroughly until the very last moment. Even though Aira had already experienced the ugliness of her hidden desires, but Luna appeared so genuine and kind that it made those experiences seem like lies.
If Aira hadn’t been betrayed, she might never have known the truth.
“……”
Aira suddenly thrust her hand toward Luna. Startled, Luna flinched and instinctively pulled her shoulders back.
A flustered expression appeared in Luna’s pink eyes.
The corners of Aira’s mouth lifted slightly.
“What are you so surprised about? Your corsage is crooked.”
Aira said without even raising an eyebrow.
“Oh, I see.”
Luna forced a smile, her embarrassment evident, as Aira deftly adjusted the direction of the brooch on Luna’s corsage.
“Thank you…”
Luna finally murmured, but Aira, having finished, had already turned on her heel.
As if flustered, Luna quickly followed behind her, calling out.
“Aira, just now I…”
“On a day as important as this, your flaw is also my flaw, Luna,” Aira interrupted.
At those words, Luna’s fingertips twitched slightly.
“So, please, don’t make any mistakes. Understood?”
“Y-Yes…”
With an air of composure, Aira turned back to Luna and then took the knight’s hand to step into the carriage. Luna, left staring after Aira’s back, had a subtle tremble in her eyes.
Something felt different about Aira today compared to her usual self.
Even in awkward situations, Luna would smile and show off her kindness, but today, Aira seemed as though she had thorns in her mouth, looking down at Luna as if she were already a princess, ready to judge her.
‘That can’t be. Aira is still Aira.’
Luna shook off her unsettling thoughts, gave a quick smile to the knight, and delicately took his hand to step into the carriage. But when she saw Aira again, she froze in surprise.
“A-Aira. Oh… is that where you want to sit?”
Aira always gave up the front seat in the carriage for Luna, knowing that Luna would get motion sickness during the long trip to the palace, which would take over an hour.
“Yes. Why?”
Aira looked at Luna with an impassive expression.
Luna felt her words catch in her throat.
Though they were half-sisters, it was natural for Aira, of higher status, to take the seat of honor. Still, every time they’d traveled together, Aira had graciously given up that seat for her.
“Well, I get motion sickness, and… well, you know. Aira, you always liked sitting backward, haven’t you? You used to say it was fun watching the scenery go by in reverse…”
“We’re not children anymore, Luna. We need to follow proper etiquette.”
Aira’s words landed like cold water, dousing the mood entirely.
Luna’s eyes were filled with deep embarrassment.
Though they were half-sisters, Luna had always praised Aira, acting as if she were the one lacking, but when viewed coldly, Luna was always above Aira.
Any act of kindness that Aira showed was always an ongoing gesture meant for Luna’s benefit.
Luna, who had always manipulated Aira with bright smiles and affection, for her own interests.
“I-I see… Haha.”
Luna forced a smile on her face and took the backward-facing seat.
“……”
Though Luna forced a smile in the backward seat, her eyes were twisted in discomfort.
She didn’t know how she was going to endure the motion sickness and bumps during the journey to the palace. Her expression was full of helplessness.
She considered speaking to Aira again but bit her lip when she saw Aira already sitting and adjusting her dress.
Seeing the look in Aira’s eyes as if she had taken her seat made Aira quietly smile inside. ‘
We haven’t even begun yet, Luna.’
Aira thought about the events that had happened in her past life.
Luna, with her fabricated good reputation, would have easily sat next to Xavier.
Unlike Aira, who had been clumsy like a bear, Luna would sweet-talk her way into Julienne’s favor.
‘It would be so boring if I died like that.’
The carriage began to move.
The empress, Julienne, was likely enjoying tea time with the noble ladies at this hour. Luna, her mood soured, held a handkerchief to her lips and stared at the backward-moving scenery outside the window.
Aira, meanwhile, turned her attention to the leisurely passing scenery outside her own window, her crimson eyes glimmering more vividly than ever before.
The carriage arrived at the Julienne Palace within the imperial grounds.
The emperor had two wives: Empress Marlene, who bore the crown prince, and Empress Julienne, who bore the second prince, Xavier.
The imperial palace was a vast complex of dozens of ivory-colored buildings, and Julienne’s palace was a building created by the emperor to celebrate Empress Julienne’s pregnancy.
“Lady Marceline has arrived!”
Outside the carriage window, knights in white uniforms saluted Aira when the carriage came to a stop and the door was opened.
Luna, who had been suffering from motion sickness from the long trip, had lips that had turned almost blue.
She had wondered if Luna always insisted on that seat out of pure greed or if she genuinely had motion sickness—but it seemed she really had motion sickness.
With a composed expression, Aira spoke to Luna.
“They’re all waiting for us, Luna.”
“Y-Yes… Ugh…”
Luna, holding a handkerchief to her mouth, stumbled and barely managed to move.
There was no room for her to feel guilty or put on a polite smile as she looked at Aira with sad eyes—she was completely in a miserable state.
One of the knights extended a hand to escort Luna as she dismounted the carriage. Luna weakly accepted his help, her every movement shows how frail she was.
Aira, hiding her amusement, gracefully stepped toward the carriage’s edge, her demeanor was calm and composed.
Soon, a man’s hand appeared in her sight. He was wearing black gloves.
Thinking it was the knight escorting her, Aira took his hand and slowly descended from the carriage. When her feet touched the ground, she slowly raised her gaze to him.
She intended to give a brief greeting.
“…!”
But the moment she saw his face, Aira’s crimson eyes trembled.
His white uniform was different from the other knights’, adorned with several medals and royal decorations.
He was as tall as Xavier, or perhaps even taller, with broad shoulders, jet-black hair resembling the current Emperor’s, and cool, ash-gray eyes.
His nose was sculpted high, his jawline was smooth, and his skin, as rumored, was pale and flawless from having spent his youth in the North.
“…Welcome.”
His crimson lips moved slightly, and his low voice flowed softly into Aira’s ears.
Aira knew immediately who the man holding her hand and escorting her was.
Baltas von Amileus.
The Crown Prince of the great Kalanta Empire.
The rightful heir to the throne.
But in her past life, she had tried to steal his throne by standing on her husband’s side…
“Lady Aira Marceline.”
This man was—her husband’s half-brother, and thus her brother-in-law.
Baltas called out to her.
