Episode 2. I Don’t Want to Call You Raphiana
Last night, confused and overwhelmed, Karsian had left the fake crown princess alone in the bridal chamber. When morning came, he suddenly worried that people would notice they hadn’t even spent their first night together. If he wanted Raphiana back, this marriage absolutely couldn’t be annulled.
Thinking of how to explain things, he left the training grounds and walked toward the Crown Prince’s quarters. After washing his messy body and changing into full formal uniform, he finally headed toward the couple’s bedroom. His steps were heavy.
He opened the door and walked in. The red-haired maid the fake princess had brought with her flinched in surprise at the sight of him, then bowed politely.
“I greet the small sun of the Empire.”
“Where is the Crown Princess?”
He looked around the room. Two maids were already cleaning the bed. The sheet they were holding had bloodstains on it. Karsian frowned at the sight.
“Her Highness is bathing right now.”
“Alone?”
“She said she was embarrassed to show her body…”
A short silence filled the room, and the maids’ faces turned red again.
“So she pretended we spent the night. Impressive woman,” he thought.
“Leave us. I need to speak with Her Highness alone. Bring breakfast here when I call for it.”
Before becoming crown princess, Lanael had listened carefully to the townhouse maids who told her how to fake the traces of the wedding night. She messed up the bed and left bloodstains. Embarrassing as the topic was, she was glad she had paid attention.
The water marks from throwing the Crown Prince last night were erased with spirit power. The marks on her neck she explained as the Crown Prince’s preferences. She even claimed he had worn her out so badly that he went straight to training grounds at dawn. Even the red-haired maid, Brea—who was always stern—ended up blushing at the story.
After washing and feeling refreshed, Lanael stepped out of the bath wearing a robe, only to see her fake husband dressed neatly in uniform, sitting in a chair. She offered a bright smile.
“Oh my, you’re here. You must’ve thought a lot last night. Since the knights didn’t barge in this morning, I guess you decided to accept me.”
She no longer bothered with the polite tone she used before. Wearing a bathrobe, the fake crown princess sat boldly in front of Karsian.
With a small gesture, the water in her hair vanished instantly.
“Using spirit power for something this trivial… for a fake?” Karsian thought irritably.
Watching her sit across the table annoyed him. He clenched his fist without realizing it.
“So, Raphiana is alive? She’s not in danger, right? Tell me that first.”
The desperation in his eyes amused Lanael. She had begged with eyes like that too, so many times, and nothing had ever changed. Now she realized desperation only exposed weakness.
“She’s probably fine. I don’t plan on pretending to be this fake princess forever anyway.”
“And then?”
“I’ll make you Emperor. You can borrow the Irbeth name and my spirit power. I’m not a Spirit King’s contractor, but as a direct Irbeth descendant, I can be useful.”
The difference between a Spirit King contractor and a normal Irbeth spirit user was huge.
A contractor could use spirit power without a spirit stone and could even summon the Spirit King’s real form. But no one would dare request something that sacred. And since there wasn’t a crisis like a world-threatening evil dragon, all the usual needs like rainmaking or flood control could be done by anyone born with Irbeth blood.
That was probably why the Irbeths sent a fake to the palace.
Everyone had been fooled by how naturally the fake used water power without a spirit stone. The tiny blue jewel on her ear was so small no one suspected it was a spirit stone. She had fooled the imperial family and the citizens completely.
Lanael leaned sideways in her seat and looked at the Crown Prince. She felt certain he couldn’t refuse her offer.
“And what do you get from this?”
“When you become Emperor and when Raphiana returns, grant me one wish. That’s all. I don’t want to be Empress or anything like that.”
“What wish?”
“I’ll tell you once I can trust you.”
She couldn’t trust a man who loved Raphiana. Even if she told him everything right now, she couldn’t be sure he’d believe her. And even if he did, would he go against the Irbeth family for the fake crown princess? Of course not.
Karsian stared at the fake crown princess. She was smiling, yet somehow didn’t look happy at all.
He remembered the bright smile of the girl who once looked at him. Thinking of it made his chest tighten. He didn’t want to be in the same room with this fake for even a moment.
“…Fine. But if it turns out Irbeth had other plans, you will die immediately.”
His red eyes were bright, but the gaze in them was cold—Lanael found it strangely fascinating. Death was something she wanted more than anything. She almost laughed.
But she thought of Erna’s face and quietly shook her head, pushing away the dark emotions.
“Looks like we’re on the same boat now. Let’s work well together, fake husband.”
Lanael forced another fake smile. Every time Karsian saw that smile, nausea stirred in him. The resemblance to Raphiana made it worse. Struggling, he finally spoke.
“What is your real identity? Your real name?”
“Isn’t it obvious? I’m the Irbeth family’s illegitimate daughter. Why bother with my name? Just call me Raphiana.”
She revealed the truth—something that would get her killed instantly—like it was nothing.
“I don’t want to call you Raphiana.”
He turned his head away, unable to look at her anymore. The sun was already high in the sky, sunlight falling gently on his face. The sky was blue.
“What a pure, loyal fool,” Lanael mocked silently.
She found his devotion laughable. Raphiana would never return. Yet he would continue being led around by that hopeless love.
She felt satisfied. She wanted nothing more than to drag the man who loved Raphiana into a pit of despair.
“When it’s just the two of us, call me El.”
Her nickname was Lana, but Raphiana’s nickname was also Lana. She hated the similarity. Whether he called her Raphiana or Lana, both felt unbearable to her.
She turned her head toward the window he was staring at. She saw nothing. Slowly, she closed her eyes.
She was miserable.
“Well well, look who we have here. Aren’t you the Empire’s mighty lover boy and vigorous groom? I thought you’d be too busy with your new bride to even come near the office today.”
After agreeing to continue the marriage with the fake princess, Karsian returned to the office in the afternoon. The moment he opened the door, Derrick greeted him with a sly grin.
“What are you talking about now?”
Karsian frowned, confused.
Gossip among maids spread through the palace in seconds. By the time the head maid caught on and tried to stop the rumors, it was already too late. It didn’t help that Crown Prince Karsian had never had a single rumor involving women before.
He was more handsome than any man. His quiet nature made him seem cold, so whenever he showed a gentle smile, it felt even more charming.
He easily stole the hearts of noble ladies at balls and even the palace maids.
But he always kept a strict boundary. That boundary only drove them crazier.
He would dance with ladies but never stayed long enough for deep conversation. He never had casual relationships before marriage. People even started rumors that maybe he preferred men.
So of course everyone was curious about what happened on the Crown Prince couple’s wedding night.
“The whole palace knows already. They say you kept your bride up all night. Hahaha! It was so wild you even strangled her a little, they say! Hahaha!”
Derrick doubled over laughing. If left alone, he would probably roll across the office floor. Karsian’s perfect forehead tightened as wrinkles appeared.
“What?”
“Do you know how many eyes and ears this palace has? Hah! If even I heard it, it means everyone knows.”
Wiping tears of laughter from his eyes, Derrick grinned widely. Karsian remembered the fake princess’s neck when they talked in the bedroom. Slightly red and swollen.
Her thin white neck—small enough to fit easily in one hand. That deceitful woman must have spun her own story to cover up everything.
It took less than half a day for news of the Crown Prince couple’s scandalous wedding night to spread across the whole palace. Karsian’s head throbbed. He let out a short breath and rubbed his forehead.
“Enough. Stop talking.”
“…Understood, Your Highness.”
Derrick immediately straightened up, dropping the jokes. He returned to his role as aide rather than friend and picked up documents from the desk.
They didn’t speak. Karsian fixed his eyes on the paperwork he had to finish. Yet even after a long time, he hadn’t turned a single page. Derrick kept watching him carefully.
He had no choice but to work with the fake princess El. His mind was chaotic, his body exhausted from not sleeping.
He remembered Raphiana’s beautiful face at the engagement. She had smiled happily when he put the ring on her finger. That moment now felt like a fading dream.
He missed her bright smile—not the fake one Lanael had shown him last night.
