IPWDP 13

Episode 13

Fate belongs to the realm of the gods.
Therefore, when the mark of destiny appeared on one’s body, it was entrusted to the temple. If someone with the same mark appeared, the temple would recognize the two as destined partners.

The Ducal family also submitted a copy of the mark that had appeared on Ephelia’s body to the temple. The temple replied that no one bearing the same mark had yet appeared, but that they would notify the family immediately when such a person did. Whoever shared that same mark would be Ephelia’s destined one.

“Ugh, disgusting!”

Seluna shouted, her voice thick with irritation. Her anger was only natural — to have a fated partner was considered a divine blessing, proof of being chosen by the gods themselves.

Her cousin had always been lucky. With noble parents of ducal rank and two kind older brothers, Seluna had always envied her. And now that cousin had lost everything — her parents, her family, her status — leaving behind only an empty shell. To Seluna, it felt good. At last, she had taken her cousin’s place.
But now this? A fated partner?

How could someone as cursed as that wretched cousin of hers have such fortune?

The thought infuriated her. Why did that detestable girl always end up with the good things?

“Her destined partner must be some ugly, penniless man,” said Lady Yuria, now the Duchess, gently consoling her daughter.

After all, fate did not discriminate by status — the most noble could be bound to the most wretched.

“Right, Mother? There’s no way it’s a noble! She can’t be that lucky.”

If Ephelia had ever been truly blessed, her entire family wouldn’t have perished so tragically all at once. Dying with them back then might have been kinder — at least then, Seluna would have been the sole young lady of the Ducal House.

Someone so unlucky could only have an equally miserable fate. Her destined partner was probably a beggar off the streets, or perhaps a lunatic. That’s what Seluna believed.

No one could predict when fate would appear. Some were born with their marks, while others received them in the twilight of their lives. Ephelia assumed she would simply wait — however long it took.
But the temple’s message came far sooner than anyone expected.

And it was nothing like what Seluna had hoped.

When the mark had first appeared, Ephelia had felt both joy and sorrow. Her entire family was gone. Yet even in her loneliness, she felt joy knowing that somewhere, there existed someone destined to be with her forever.
Still, she grieved that her fated one could not possibly be Regios. The odds of such a thing were close to impossible.

Even so, she found herself waiting — believing that whoever he was, he would be kind to her. She longed to meet the one person who would forever be on her side.

“The High Priest from the temple has arrived.”

Not an ordinary priest — a High Priest. At that, Yuria felt a shiver of unease. There were only ten High Priests in the entire Empire, each esteemed enough to meet the Pontiff himself in private audience.

“Welcome, Your Eminence,” Yuria greeted him, playing her role as the new Duchess, elevated from Countess by the tragedy of the former Duke’s fall.

The aging High Priest smiled warmly. “I hope I am not an unwelcome guest.”

“How could anyone consider you that, Your Eminence? But if you have come in person, does that mean…?”

“Yes. The young lady’s fated partner has been found.”

“Oh my, of course! Forgive my manners—please, come inside.”

Flustered by excitement and nerves, Yuria quickly led him in.

“Thank you.”

Only after they had provided him with a lavish meal, tea, and even an offering befitting a ducal household did the High Priest finally speak.

“His Highness Regios is the one.”

At first, no one understood what he meant. Regios? Could he mean some other person with that name? Even Yuria, eyes wide in disbelief, asked,

“Who did you say?”

“His Imperial Highness, the Crown Prince.”

Ephelia’s destined partner was — by some cruel joke of fate — none other than Regios himself.

Even hearing it repeated, Ephelia could not believe it.

“Could it really be true? Regios… is my fated one?”

Seluna’s face went completely pale.

“That’s impossible! You expect us to believe that, conveniently, the Crown Prince’s fated mark appeared now?”

Yuria was so shocked she didn’t even realize how rude she sounded.

“That’s not quite it,” the High Priest replied.

“What do you mean?”

“His Highness’s mark appeared years ago.”

“Years ago…?”

Indeed, Regios’s mark had manifested long ago. Yet because countless women had tried to forge matching symbols to claim the title of Crown Princess, the Imperial Family had never revealed what the mark looked like. Only the temple knew — and they kept it secret, sharing the information only when a true match appeared.

And now, that match was Ephelia.

“May the blessings of the gods be upon you,” said the High Priest, bowing to her before leaving — after dropping a divine bomb upon the household.

“No! No! How can someone like you be His Highness’s destiny?”

Seluna screamed and struggled against the truth, but nothing could change it.
Ephelia stood in a daze, repeating the priest’s words in her mind.

Regios is my fate.

Even before she knew it, she had loved him. From the very first moment they met, she had felt it — his warmth, his kindness.
And now to hear that he truly was her destined one… it felt like the gods themselves were smiling upon her.

When the Crown Prince’s mark had appeared years ago, its form had been kept hidden — to prevent anyone from imitating it with a false tattoo.

When Ephelia’s mark emerged, she had simply been happy. For someone who had lost everything, the idea that the gods had chosen someone to bring her lifelong happiness was enough to fill her heart again.

She didn’t know when he would appear, but the mere thought that he would someday was enough to sustain her.

Now, that person — her destiny — was Regios. The man she loved, her last remaining ally. To spend a lifetime with him — it was almost too much to believe.

“My lady, His Highness the Crown Prince has arrived.”

The maid’s voice was unusually careful and respectful. Ephelia was no longer the unwanted daughter of a fallen Duke — she was now the Crown Prince’s fated one, destined to become Crown Princess, perhaps even Empress one day. The servants could only pray she’d forget every cruel word they had once said.

“Truly? I’ll go see him right away! Where is he?”

“In the reception room, my lady, but you should—wait, please change your—!”

Before the maid could finish, Ephelia ran out — still in her nightgown.
They had shared afternoons of play, snacking until they were sleepy, dozing hand-in-hand on her bed.

She didn’t care about her appearance. She only wanted to see him — her fate, her beloved.

Several servants frowned as the young lady of the house dashed through the halls in her sleepwear.

Her heart pounded so hard she couldn’t tell if it was from running or from the thought of seeing him again.

And when she did — the moment she saw him — she knew.
She knew instantly that he was the one.

It was a strange feeling — like suddenly realizing a part of herself had always been missing, and now, finally, she held the piece that completed her. That fullness, that certainty.

But above all, there was joy — the joy of knowing that the man she loved was truly her fate, the one meant to be by her side forever.

“Regios!”

Ephelia threw herself into his arms. Regios caught her.

“Regios, I’m your—”

Excitedly, she looked up at him while still in his embrace.
And then… she froze.

Why that expression?

His face was cold, his eyes distant.

“Why did it have to be you?”

That voice — stripped of all warmth — she had never heard him sound like that before.

“Why you of all people? Why are you my fate?”

In that moment, Ephelia understood.
Regios was rejecting it — rejecting her as his destined one.

That day, her heart fell from the height of joy to the depths of despair.
Even with fate itself revealed, Ephelia remained utterly alone.