1. The Abandoned Princess
“Execute the traitor!”
It was the season of greenery, on the most sunny and beautiful day, that The Emperor went crazy.
“What are you doing? Call the Royal Guards right away! This is a summary* execution!”
*[TL:That means ‘execution on spot’.]
“Oh my god.”
Those who lowered their heads whispered in astonishment.
The crime was treason, but no one agreed.
They just thought that the emperor, who had been jealous of Duke Baloch all his life, had gone crazy with jealousy.
But he just had to do such a crazy thing.
The opponent was the Duke of Baloch.
The Baloch family were not oppressed by anyone, whether they had force, power, or wealth.
They were the only ones who could deal with the monsters beyond the northernmost ice wall.
Had The Emperor really forgotten that this empire and the throne were able to survive only because of his strange obedience?
“Palace troops! Palace troops! Bring the sword!”
The Duke of Baloch was the same as always, accepting the berserk of the rampaging emperor, but today something was strange.
The Emperor had crossed the line, and the Duke was crossing it too.
The pendulum of an incomprehensible one-sided relationship was on the verge of destruction.
“Your Majesty, please reconsider.”
The Marquis of Warron, who was no rarely stepped forward , had no better choice .
“Warron, are you now protecting a traitor in front of me?”
“Your Majesty, If not him, who will protect the ice wall… Ugh!”
The Marquis of Warren fell to the ground from the sword swung by the emperor before he could even finish speaking.
“Those who sympathize with the treason should come forward now, and I will execute them together with Duke Baloch.”
Plop. Plop.
The Emperor, who brandishing a red-wet sword and shouting, was consumed by madness.
If things continued like this, it would truly a be catastrophe.
People complained to the duke instead of The Emperor, whom they could not communicate with.
“Duke, please taking refuge for a moment, when His Majesty calms down…..”
However, it was equally difficult to communicate with him.
Lord Baloch looked down at the panicking nobles and put his little finger on his lips.
“…Shsh”
Duke Baloch spurned those who worried about him and gave his head to the emperor.
It was a crazy day.
But the strangest of them all was what The Duke said before his execution.
“at last.”
Duke Baloch was smiling even as he was ‘murdered’ without ever receiving a proper trial!
There was no resentment, anger, or sense of betrayal anywhere on his faintly smiling face.
Rather, it was refreshing and even seemed a little happy.
Therefore, the smile the Duke of Baloch made as he faced death was more beautiful than sad.
The smile on his already beautiful face was very strong.
So much so that even the emperor, who had been jealous of Baloch all his life, looked at the Duke with fascination.
However, the smile suddenly disappeared like midsummer snow, and the emperor, who came to his senses, executed the Duke of Baloch, who had been unconditionally loyal to the imperial family.
***
“it’s crazy. It’s crazy. I was crazy!”
The Emperor, who was screaming wildly while pulling out his hair, suddenly raised his head and looked for Bianca.
“Bianca!”
“yes.”
“Is this possible?”
Instead of answering, Bianca lowered her eyes and looked away.
“There’s no way I did that.”
The woman who was born to devour the beloved empress was never allowed to answer.
“There’s no way I could have done it in my right mind, right huh? It’s clear that someone put a hex on me. What kind of guy would do that?”
He was just feeling extremely anxious right now and was constantly looking for a place to vent his frustration.
“Ah, and guess what else? It’s almost Harvest Festival. Once the harvest is over, winter will come!”
Even more so.
After the execution of Duke Baloch, the emperor remained in this state. When winter comes, scary things that have been hiding come over the ice wall.
People called them monsters, and the only one who could deal with the monster was Baloch, as he was called the Dragon of Termina.
“If this continues, the Termina Empire will end!”
The Emperor, who had been crazy, had finally come to his senses.
It had to be now when there was no turning back.
It was when Bianca let out a soft sigh that the growling Emperor could not hear.
That The Crown Prince, who had been silent like Bianca since being summoned, opened his mouth.
“I think this is enough, just calm down.”
“Calm down! How is it possible to calm down?”
The crown prince did not even blink an eye at the emperor’s shouts.
“I have a solution, so please calm down.”
Instead, he broke his upright posture and even laughed, leaning laxly on his chair.
“It is said that the current Duke of Baloch does not have a fiancée yet.”
“……what?”
“And others call that the best of the empire.”
The crown prince’s finger pointed at Bianca.
“How about giving it a chance to atone for its sins?”
This is how I pay for the sin of being born by devouring my mother. Father.
Bianca closed her eyes tightly as the soft words she added were colder than the cold wind.
The emperor said nothing.
***
The next day, a messenger carrying the imperial marriage proposal departed for the duchy.
One month later.
“Wow, something big has happened!”
With a crying sound, Deborah rolled over and stood in front of Bianca.
“You can’t run around, Deborah.”
“That’s not important right now.”
“It’s important, Deborah. When are you going to enter the palace? Are you still running around? Then something big might happen.”
Deborah, who had been mesmerized by the calm voice, seemed to come to her senses and screamed when she added softly, ‘I don’t even get you anymore.’
“You highness!”
If that wasn’t enough, Deborah even dragged Princess Bianca away.
“The duke has arrived! it’s still not too late now. You can run away and I can take your place…., huh?”
“No.”
“sister!”
When she didn’t even pretend to listen to her, Deborah shouted that she was not a maid but a ‘cross-cousin’ and that she was her older sister.
Bianca sighed softly and spoke sternly towards Deborah.
“I have to do it, Deborah.”
“I don’t believe that! Come with me quickly.”
“You know it’s impossible.”
“It’s not impossible! I heard dad prepared everything. All you have to do is pretend not to know and get on the boat. huh?”
“Deborah Elien, I believe I declined that offer?”
“Why! Why are you rejecting me? Why did I even become a maid!”
Despite her harsh voice, Deborah’s eyes turned red and she was crying.
“I’m not going. If I disappear, Marquis Illion will definitely be pointed out as the one who took me away.”
“How can he punish our marquis when there is no evidence!”
At Deborah’s innocent words, Bianca felt like she couldn’t breathe.
‘I can’t believe you still don’t know this much about the imperial family.’
“Was there any evidence of treason?”
“what?”
Deborah’s watery eyes tremble.
“Was the Dragon of Termina, who voluntarily wore a leash since the founding of the country, guilty?”
“That…that.”
“He could take down the dragon of Termina, and this is just about the Marquis. Calm down, Deborah Elien.”
Deborah eventually shed tears at Bianca’s cold warning.
“Okay then, I know you are clearly going to die, so are you telling me to just sit around and watch?”
“Deborah, Be careful about what you say. This is my last piece of advice.”
Bianca bent her waist slightly and made eye contact with Deborah, who was shorter than her.
The solemn blue eyes looking at Deborah had a dark and stubborn glow like the deep sea.
“His Majesty will arrange a marriage between me and the Duke. It means forgetting the misunderstandings and concerns of the past and strengthening harmony.”
Although the tip of her tongue was bitter and stiff, Bianca was able to finish speaking in a calm tone.
“With this marriage, the Empire will be cleansed of unpleasant events. The companion of the dragon that protects Termina. What an honor this is.”
“You liar! liar!”
Deborah cried loudly.
“you are a sacrificial lamb. What glory is this? Doesn’t sister feel unfair? Aren’t you scared?”
Thick tears fall like raindrops.
Bianca, who was looking at Deborah, who was crying so much that her face was soaked for a moment, slowly opened her arms.
Deborah seemed foolish, struggling over something that couldn’t be done, but she was so adorable that it was impossible to ignore the sight of her crying for herself.
“Come on, hug me. That’s enough.”
“Don’t go, Sister Bianca. don’t go.”
Deborah, who was in her arms, whimpered and begged, but Bianca only tightened her grip on Deborah and said nothing more.
Until a servant came to get her, saying it was His Majesty’s call.
With out saying a word.
“Sister! Sister! Don’t go!”
Bianca, who left Deborah, who was crying loudly, and followed the attendant, did not feel at ease at all.
But, she couldn’t help it.
What she said to Deborah was not just a verbal threat.
It was a vivid threat heard from The Emperor last night.
‘It looks like Marquis Ilion has a new hobby these days, right? They said they launched a ship in the Burial Sea.’
‘You have to be careful with the boat. The sea is so fickle that it swallows the ship the moment you make a mistake.’
Deborah was confident that they had prepared a way to escape, but The Emperor already knew everything.
It was something that should not have spilled over to her uncle, the Marquis Illion, who had embraced her like a daughter.
There was no way to get relief.
If l had to die, just myself was enough.
So, Bianca was definitely planning to marry the Duke today.
Regardless of means or methods.
Bianca calmed down her agitated heart and gestured with her chin to the servant with a neat face.
“Go ahead and open the door.”
In the reception room visible through the wide open door, there was a man shining so bright who caught everyone’s attention at first sight.
Not only was he so tall that I had to crane my neck to look up, but he was also incredibly beautiful.
Golden eyes shining with intelligence, a straight nose and sharp jawline.
Even his silver hair flowing gently over his forehead.
He looked more beautiful than a statue that had been carefully sculpted.
But was it because of the long eye corners that extend slightly to the sky, or perhaps because of the lowered eyebrows?
The posture was upright, but it had a strangely decadent feel.
A man with golden eyes shining like the sun and an ambivalent vibe.
There was no need to ask who it was.
Bianca previously knew someone who had this exact same vibe.
“Duke Baloch?”
“I meet your highness, The Princess.”
However, after exchanging greetings, I saw that there was no one in the reception room except him and myself.
Could it be that he came too soon?
“if…….”
Before I could ask where the Emperor was, the thick door closed.
thud.
For a moment, Deborah’s shout rang in my head, along with a heavy sound echoing behind me.
‘I’m a scapegoat, what glory is this?’
“……!”
At that moment, Bianca realized.
It was a sacrifice.
It’s not a metaphor, it’s really a sacrifice that will take the Termina Dragon’s wrath.
“Princess Bianca?”
Bianca raised her head and moaned softly.
“…ah”
The smile of a man who smiled even though he might end tearing me apart was crazy sweet.
It made me lose my mind, even if just for a moment.
***
TL:
Hello my friends,
This is the first chapter for those who want to know if it is going to be their cup of tea or not.
The regular updates will start from next week.
