When Princess Titania and Lord Raymon first saw each other as fiancés, they were only five years old.
‘Don’t show weakness,’ Duke Castraine, who rarely set foot in the palace, said as he escorted his eldest son by the hand. ‘She’s only a child, so things are subject to change, but…’
Instead of continuing, Duke Castraine had looked down at his son, who, even at his young age, had more maturity than most adults.
‘This is the Imperial Family, and they forced us into this union in hopes of tying themselves to us. You’ll have to keep her in line until she comes of age. Better than to give any of those ruffians an excuse to try and get back at you.’
Raymon had merely nodded at the words of his father and Head of House. The Imperial Family was the political enemy of House Castraine, it was impossible not to know that.
Five-year-old Titania was beautiful when he first met her at the palace. With her long platinum hair hanging free and her piercing green eyes twinkling, the little girl was almost like a doll.
The first time he laid eyes on her, he was frozen in place.
She was still a child, and the cumbersome jewelry dangling from her neck, wrists, and head should have made her look like a ridiculous mannequin. Titania, who glanced over with rosy cheeks, looked more like an angel, wearing them like a halo.
With eyes as bright as the sun, her gaze seemed to linger on Raymon alone. If she had remained the way she had been when they first met, perhaps Raymon would have kept that image of his fiancée in his mind.
As it was, however, Princess Titania was obsessed with Raymon.
House of Castraine’s immediate bloodline rarely stayed in the capital. They spent no less than three-quarters of the year at their estates in the north, returning only for the New Year’s banquet at the palace and the summer social season. Moreover, Raymon was the next duke, and he had much to do and many duties to fulfill. Along with learning family secrets that should never be revealed to outsiders.
He was a fiancé she would never get to see more than a few times a year, and that was that. Even so, Titania had always clung to Raymon. When he didn’t return the favor, she became even more insistent. Still, Raymon never gave her the response she wanted.
Because she always wanted something from Raymon that she couldn’t have.
‘…Why doesn’t Raymon like me the most?
‘…’
‘Why doesn’t Raymon…’
I, like, Raymon, the most…
Only once, did Princess Titania break down and cry in front of Raymon.
It was at the birthday banquet of Count Orland’s daughter, a faithful vassal of Duke Castraine, after he had given Lady Orland the first dance of the night.
The words were spat out in a childlike sob, not caring whether her makeup smudged or not, in a fit of rage, as she sat there, all dressed up to perfection, looking like a doll. He was used to her getting angry. He was used to her lashing out and saying she was going to ‘kill that bitch’. Used to getting yelled at to behave more like a fiancé.
But crying like this, like she’d given up on everything, was unfamiliar.
Raymon remained silent, unable to reach out.
The reason was simple. Raymon was the next in line for the Duke of Castraine position. The duke was strong, but he was already declining past the peak of his power, and his younger siblings were still immature.
Raymon tolerated his fiancée’s behavior because the engagement was a contract between the Imperial Family and the Duke’s House. Feelings between them were not important.
And Titania could never be Raymon’s first choice. He bore the weight of his castle, the safety of his family, his fiefdom, and the northern border.
He could not comfort her when she cried, nor could he lie to her.
When they first met, the girl had smiled as brightly as if she were holding a piece of the sun in her eyes, but over time her eyes grew dark with poison. There were times when she was blatantly dismissive or vicious as if she wanted to see Raymon embarrassed or angry.
Raymon had gotten used to it. He preferred it that way.
“She’s probably faking it anyway.”
Raymon strode on, ignoring the complaints of his second-in-command, Cassian.
“When you’re royalty, are your bodies made out of glass? How could falling off a second-floor balcony put you into a coma?”
“If you’re a civilian, a fall like that could be enough.”
“This is the Imperial Palace! I’m sure they’ve been bending over backward to get you, Lord Raymon, to come for a visit, and such lies are nothing new.”
Raymon was silent at Cassian’s words, but he agreed in his heart.
The princess had few, if any, allies within the palace. She was old enough to make her social debut, but her circumstances had kept her from doing so. As a result, while her fiancé, Raymon, traveled the social scene and attended other people’s parties, all she could do was call him back to the palace to express her anger.
This time will be no different. She’d said she was injured, which would turn out to be an excuse, and then she’d show up, fully dolled up, and throw a temper tantrum in front of him and the tea set.
And to keep Raymon for just a little longer…
“Welcome, Lord Raymon.”
…He expected all sorts of tricks.
Raymon stopped in his tracks for a moment and Cassian, who had been trudging along right behind him, let out a groan of surprise.
Princess Titania greeted Raymon with a bright smile. No, there was nothing wrong with that fact.
If there was a problem…
It was Princess Titania’s appearance.
The injuries and coma she’d been in and out of weren’t lies, and the bandages and splints on her head, nape of her neck, slender cuffs, and legs were clear. Even her cheeks were gauzed.
Her hair, always shining like the sun, was matted and unruly, and her clothes were…
Goodness. She wore a raggedy white dress that she wouldn’t have normally shown even among her own family, and a shawl that looked like a scrap of cloth. She was looking sickly, with hollow cheeks and pallid skin, and it was hard not to believe that she had almost died.
The most surprising thing was, that it was all there for Raymon to see.
Titania took great pride in her beauty. In fact, it was the only thing she was sure of. Being the most beautiful woman in the empire was her pride. She would not greet Raymon unless she was perfectly groomed. Even Raymon recognized the beauty of her appearance.
“…I hear you’ve been very ill, so forgive me for coming to see you so late.”
“It is an embarrassing sight to show in front of Lord Raymon.”
Titania gave him a straightforward answer, not one of those ‘why did you wait until now’ or ‘did your fiancée have to die for you to come’ or ‘I’ve been sick and it’s been so painful’ kind of answers, before inviting him to take a chair.
Cassian, who had been Raymon’s aide and had seen Titania’s behavior more closely than anyone else, gave him a shaken look as if to say, ‘She did almost die, maybe she had gone completely mad.’
Raymon, however, felt strangely uncomfortable.
“Lord Raymon. I have something important to say to you, so could you please dismiss your aide?”
…Since when did Titania talk to him like that?
Forcing Cassian out the door despite the look in his eyes that said, ‘You can’t do that, you don’t know what she’ll do if she’s truly insane,’ Raymon sat down alone with Titania at the table.
With unparalleled grace, even in her ragged attire, she lifted the teacup to moisten her lips before setting it back down. Then she spoke, her piercing green eyes shining.
“I’d like to propose a deal to my Lord.”
“…What kind of deal are you talking about?”
The awkwardness grew with each word.
Titania was not the kind of person who could act so stoic in front of Raymon. She would ask him to recognize her pain, make him apologize for her embarrassment, and insist that if she wanted something, ‘this was the duty of a fiancé toward his fiancée.’
She would get angry that he hadn’t even said he missed her after not seeing her for so long. Worst of all, there was always a pitiful longing in her eyes when she looked at Raymon.
“Count Bradley’s Estate… There is an iron mine on Mount Haylon, northwest of Wheaton. It was awarded to me as a reward for the sacrifice of my mother to the Emperor but, it was closed when the iron ore was depleted. It’s far from the main estate and is now unproductive and almost abandoned, so it’s rarely visited. In fact, it’s rumored to be haunted, so much so that few people venture near it.”
But Titania only laughed softly now, like an old merchant, as she stirred her teacup. Her wounds were still healing, and she was still wrapped in gauze, but she didn’t seem to mind. Her clear green eyes were almost nonchalant.
“Hidden at the bottom of the Iron Mine’s shaft is <Gloriana’s Insignia>.”
“…!”
This was the last thing he expected to hear. Raymon’s face went rigid.
