Edited by Sid
ICBV Chapter 04
Aira couldn’t hide her startled expression as she looked at Baltas. She hadn’t expected to see him again today. In her previous life, the man who had reached out to help her off the carriage at this exact moment wasn’t the crown prince.
The first time Aira met Baltas von Amileus was on the day of her wedding to Xavier—three months from now.
“Is this truly the choice you’ve made?”
As the rightful heir to the throne, he had said those cryptic words to Aira, who had been nervously awaiting the ceremony.
Under normal circumstances, Baltas should have been in the north waging war against the barbarians. His mother, Empress Marlene, was the eldest daughter of the Duke of Kashimir, a northern duchy. As the crown prince of Kalanta and a direct descendant of the ducal family, Baltas had often joined campaigns against the barbarians since he was a child.
‘But why is he here…?’
“Y-Your Highness, the Crown Prince!”
Meanwhile, Luna, who had stepped unsteadily from the carriage and asked the nearby knight about his identity, quickly stood beside Aira, exclaiming in surprise. Her face was still pale, but she mustered the prettiest smile she could manage and greeted the crown prince.
“It is an honor to meet Your Highness, the Crown Prince. I am Luna, Aira’s half-sister. I accompanied her today to pay my respects—”
“I do not recall granting you permission to speak.”
His cold voice cut her off, and the atmosphere chilled instantly. Luna’s eyes wavered in shock.
“And to call her the future crown princess—how presumptuous.”
Luna, who had always basked in the favor of men, had never been so bluntly rejected. She had certainly never been subjected to such disdainful eyes, as if she were nothing more than an insignificant object.
‘That was rash, Luna.’
Aira clicked her tongue inwardly. The court’s etiquette was strict; speaking out without a royal’s prompt was a breach of decorum. Furthermore, referencing an unconfirmed marriage in connection with the royal family was a grave affront.
Though Aira, with her memories of life as a crown princess, was well-versed in courtly manners, Luna, who had entered their father’s household at age ten as the illegitimate daughter of a count and had never attended court events, could not have known such things.
“I-I’m so sorry… I, I just… urk!”
Overwhelmed with nerves, Luna suddenly clutched her mouth and turned away, doubling over to retch onto the ground.
Splat.
Everyone frowned, and the crown prince’s eyes darkened with contemptuous disdain. The maids who had been watching quickly rushed over to support Luna and moved her as far away from the crown prince as possible.
“I sincerely apologize for my half-sister’s discourtesy. She must have been disoriented due to severe motion sickness…”
She spoke calmly, lowering her gaze. Baltas’s eyebrows twitched slightly at her words, but Aira didn’t notice as she wasn’t looking at him.
A long silence hung between them before he spoke again.
“Last night…”
He stepped closer to Aira, his solid figure uncomfortably near. Her heart pounded, but she couldn’t step back recklessly.
“…I had a very strange dream.”
His low, rough voice was barely audible, meant only for her ears. She flinched and looked up, meeting his gaze. Her reflection was captured in his gray eyes.
She vaguely recalled hearing once about his inherited ability from his mother’s lineage—an occasional foresight of brief events through dreams.
‘Surely… it can’t be.’
Aira fervently hoped his dream wasn’t about her. But unease coursed through her as she felt the holy artifact’s energy stirring within her. Though it wasn’t as destructive as it had been in her previous life, this foreign power undoubtedly stemmed from the incident in her past life.
She didn’t know how to wield this power, but someone like Baltas, with his extraordinary abilities and heightened senses, might detect it. Her heart pounded as if she were a guilty criminal.
“…You, as you are now…”
Baltas began to speak again but hesitated, his lips closing as if reconsidering his words. His slightly furrowed brows cast shadows over his face, and his gaze lingered on Aira for a long time.
The silence stretched until Luna, having composed herself after retching, looked back at them with a haggard expression.
Aira stubbornly kept her lips sealed, and Baltas’s faintly twisted smile deepened as he observed her resolute demeanor.
“Lady Marceline, Her Majesty the Queen is expecting you.”
A voice interrupted them—a maid, accompanied by several attendants, approached from a distance and bowed slightly.
Baltas turned his cold gaze to the group. For a mere maid to interrupt a conversation with the crown prince and his guest was improper. However, this was the domain of Queen Julienne, who was in opposition to Queen Marlene, and the guests here were not the crown prince’s but the queen’s.
The maid felt her hands tremble as the oppressive weight of his gaze bore down on her, and a chill ran down her spine.
Aira, too, felt a shiver as the icy aura radiating from Baltas washed over her.
‘Could the stories of his ruthless cruelty be true?’
During her seven years as crown princess, Aira had rarely encountered her brother-in-law, the crown prince. This was because he frequently volunteered for military campaigns. Baltas enjoyed driving back enemies and expanding territories from the northern wall, earning him the nickname “White Reaper,” as his enemies’ blood stained the snow-covered castles red.
‘Come to think of it, I barely exchanged words with him in my previous life.’
In truth, she understood that his presence was essential to her plans for revenge in this life. However, she had never expected to meet him this early and under these circumstances.
“Do visit the crown prince’s palace soon. …Since we’re to become family, I’d like to have a word with you.”
At his words, the maids exchanged startled glances. The crown prince inviting a guest from Queen Julienne’s palace—particularly the Lady Marceline, the prospective crown princess—was entirely unexpected.
Aira’s heart raced as if it might burst. She couldn’t discern his intentions. Was it curiosity or malice?
“Let us go.”
Baltas’s low voice prompted his knights to straighten their shoulders. He cast one last, intense look at Aira before walking away.
Only after his entourage disappeared did Aira let out a small sigh.
“…Hah…”
Luna’s shallow, labored breathing was also audible. Her complexion was ghastly pale and her face a mask of misery.
An older maid glanced at Baltas’s retreating figure before turning to Aira with a stern expression.
“Follow me.”
—
‘Marceline, huh…’
Queen Julienne, with her bright sky-blue hair and teal eyes, was a stunning woman in her early forties who could easily pass for her late twenties.
Her morning had been spent entertaining her adoptive parents from the Duchy of Emrich and listening to their concerns. Early in the afternoon, she hosted tea for the noblewomen allied with Emrich. Now, slightly fatigued, it was time to receive the girl from Marceline.
“Marceline will secure Xavier’s future. This benefits Emrich as well.”
“But Father, that’s just a legend. Even if there’s truly power in Marceline’s blood, there’s no guarantee she can absorb the artifact…”
“Do you think that madman of a crown prince, if he becomes emperor, will spare Xavier or our Emrich family? Julienne, we must think long-term.”
“Oh, my head…”
She sighed lightly and rubbed her forehead. Her distinguished and charming son deserved a bride from a more illustrious family, yet here they were, considering a girl from the remote Marceline.
“My lady, the young lady of Marceline has arrived,” a maid announced from outside the door.
Julienne straightened her furrowed brow and shook her head briefly. Yes, for the sake of greater ambitions, certain sacrifices were inevitable. Nothing inspired more devotion in a naïve young woman than a love that appeared genuine, even if fleeting.
“Let her in.”
The door opened, and two women in dresses stepped into the room. The one in front walked with poise and dignity, her appearance radiant. The woman behind her, with short brown hair, seemed unwell but was still strikingly beautiful.
The two shared a resemblance, likely sisters, though the blonde girl leading them had crimson-tinted eyes that were more pronounced.
‘Is that the symbol of Marceline?’
A human body capable of absorbing the artifact’s power. Without it, as her parents said, Xavier’s chances of ascending the throne were nearly impossible. The crown prince’s position and influence were far too formidable to overcome otherwise.
“Welcome, my dear.”
Resolute after seeing those jewel-like eyes, Queen Julienne smiled warmly and extended a cordial greeting to her future daughter-in-law.
