Chapter 1
“Romian.”
Sihab called out to the woman lying inside the glass coffin, his voice trembling. The woman lying in the glass chamber filled with transparent preservation fluid did not look dead. She looked as though she were merely asleep.
That’s what makes me feel even more insane.
She had been placed inside the glass chamber exactly as she had looked when she breathed her last, so everything about her was just as he remembered Romian. The loose, wide-sleeved nightgown that fluttered around her, the blue necklace she had cherished, even her beautiful, wavy golden hair.
It felt as though she could open her eyes and look at him at any moment, yet her eyes remained firmly shut. That fact always plunged Sihab into despair.
Once, while drunk out of his mind, he had tried to smash the coffin. But in the end, he could not bring himself to do it. Without even this, he would never be able to see Romian again.
“I was wrong. I was wrong. So, Romian…”
His useless apologies and desperate pleas for her to open her eyes scattered into the empty air without anyone to hear them. Sihab pressed his face against the cold glass.
How much time had passed like that?
Footsteps echoed through the space where only he and Romian existed. Sihab slowly turned his head.
“Your Highness.”
Standing there was a tall, slender young man with black hair. His blue eyes were as beautiful as jewels, but one of them was covered by an eyepatch.
Sihab gave a bitter smile.
He was the one who had taken that eye from him.
“You finally made it here, Duke Linhardt.”
Alfredo Linhardt.
He was King Sihab’s cousin. Sihab did not need to ask why he had come here. Anyone, no matter how slow-witted, would have understood the moment they saw the bright blue blade in his hand.
Seeing Sihab smile as though he had already resigned himself to his fate, Alfredo asked him in a sorrowful voice,
“…Why aren’t you even resisting?”
“How am I supposed to resist?”
“There are plenty of ways, are there not? You could have me restrained, imprison Prince Edel, or flee.”
Sihab realized that his softhearted cousin was wavering until the very last moment.
At the same time, he felt relieved.
A good man like his cousin would surely take excellent care of young Edel. Now that Sihab had confirmed that his son would have a capable guardian, he smiled freely.
“Romian is here. Where would I run to? In fact, this is exactly what I wanted. To breathe my last beside Romian.”
In the end, Alfredo’s face twisted horribly as his hand tightened around the heavy sword hilt.
In a trembling voice, he said,
“You did not love Her Majesty the Queen that much, did you? I simply cannot understand why Your Highness suddenly became such a different person.”
“I do not expect you to understand.”
Sihab’s voice was as empty as if he were grasping at air.
Cannot understand?
Sihab understood that feeling himself.
Until the very moment Romian’s breath faded away, Sihab had not realized that he loved her.
The last conversation he had shared with Romian that day was still vivid in his mind.
—Live your entire life regretting it, Sihab.
Twenty-year-old Sihab Napolinus lost his wife after that conversation.
Everything had happened exactly as she wished.
After losing her, Sihab had not known a single moment of peace. Every year that followed had been filled with agonizing regret.
Now, all he wanted was to rest beside her.
Leaning against the glass coffin, Sihab spoke in a sighing voice.
“Now, do what you came here to do. I will not resist.”
He closed his eyes.
He could hear Alfredo quietly sobbing, but Sihab stubbornly refused to open his eyes.
At that moment, there was only one thought in his mind.
If only I could turn back time…
If he could meet Romian again, if he could return to the time when she was still alive…
If only I could be given one more chance…
Could it be that God had heard his wish?
When Sihab opened his eyes, he had become eighteen-year-old Sihab Napolinus.
Romian Veldegart was nineteen years old that year.
Her hair was a warm golden color, like ripe rice stalks swaying in waves across a field whenever the wind blew. Her dark brown eyes were round in shape, with slightly drooping outer corners, making her look gentle and mild.
Yet her tightly pressed lips revealed her strong and patient nature.
She loved reading.
She was curious and had an insatiable desire to learn. She was also exceptionally skilled at embroidery and recited poetry beautifully.
Surprisingly, however, Romian was also athletic. If she had learned horseback riding from a young age, she might have become the finest equestrian in the kingdom.
But no one knew that side of Romian.
Everyone called her this:
—The luckiest woman in the kingdom.
—The crown prince’s fiancée, nothing more than an empty shell.
There was a reason people called Romian that.
“You’ve shown your face again without ever getting tired of it.”
A young man with black curly hair and blue eyes spoke to Romian in a voice so cold it seemed to drip with ice. His handsome appearance was so breathtaking that he looked as though Apollo himself had descended to earth.
Anger surged in one corner of Romian’s heart, but she politely lowered her head and paid her respects.
His name was Sihab Napolinus.
He was the Crown Prince of this country—and Romian’s fiancé.
They had been engaged at the age of nine, which meant it had already been ten years.
Despite having seen each other for so long, Sihab still hated Romian.
But what could she do about it if he hated her?
Just as their engagement had not been their choice, this meeting had not been Romian’s choice either.
Romian lowered her eyes and answered demurely.
“What power could this young lady possibly possess that she could refuse His Majesty the King’s solemn command to enter the palace?”
My coming to the royal palace was entirely His Majesty’s will.
She was indirectly making it clear that this was something she could never dare refuse.
Sihab’s response, however, was astonishing.
“It would have been better for both of us if you had fallen from the terrace and broken your legs. What a shame.”
“…”
His tone was polite, but what he really meant was:
Why didn’t you jump?
Romian had nothing to say and tightly pressed her lips together.
Why on earth does he hate me this much?
Romian silently recalled the black-haired boy she had first met ten years ago at their engagement ceremony.
She had been overwhelmed that day, surrounded by so many people for the first time in her life, but she still remembered Sihab clearly.
He didn’t hate me this much back then. If anything…
—I heard you’re a year older than me. Should I call you Noona?
Despite his stiff manner of speaking, the boy’s soft white cheeks had flushed red like freshly baked bread.
Yet it had not taken long for Sihab to change his attitude.
—If it weren’t for Father’s command, there would have been no reason for our paths to cross in the first place.
Whether or not there were people watching, Sihab never hesitated to reject Romian.
Whenever the King arranged a meeting like this one, he never once sat down with her.
Even now, he stood there, looking down at Romian with an arrogant expression.
Yes. I’m used to this kind of cold treatment.
Romian’s parents had repeatedly told her that accepting even such behavior and embracing him despite everything was a queen’s virtue.
Following their teachings, Romian politely bowed her head and answered, doing her best not to provoke him.
“I have only come today to give Your Highness a ribbon embroidered with your name, wishing for your victory in the hunting festival. Please do not be angry. You do not have to attach it to your sword. I only ask that you accept it.”
When Romian finished speaking, Emma, the nursemaid who had accompanied her into the palace, placed the blue ribbon on a red cushion and presented it to Sihab.
But Sihab did not even spare it a glance. Instead, he coldly rebuked Romian.
“Why would I accept something you made?”
The corner of his mouth twisted mockingly.
Romian lowered her head deeply to hide her crumpled expression.
I knew he would answer like that.
Sihab had never once worn a handkerchief or ribbon embroidered by Romian at either the hunting festival or the equestrian competitions.
Whenever people saw the Crown Prince’s sword without a single ornament on it, they would always gossip like this:
“My goodness! There isn’t even a ribbon on His Highness the Crown Prince’s sword!”
“Anyone would think he still hasn’t chosen a partner.”
“Well, isn’t that basically the case? ‘She’ is practically nonexistent.”
“His Majesty the King is still in good health, which is the only reason the engagement remains intact. But who knows what will happen in the future?”
Romian had heard those words so many times that they no longer hurt.
They did not even tickle anymore.
But that did not mean she felt nothing.
I hate myself even more for imagining what they’re going to say.
It was not only the words she actually heard. There were also all the noisy voices echoing inside Romian’s own head.
People who had been criticized too often sometimes began imagining the criticism they would receive even before anyone said anything, causing themselves tremendous stress.
That was exactly what Romian was experiencing.
My stomach hurts.
Perhaps because of the stress, a dull ache throbbed around her ribs.
As Romian’s face twisted with pain, Sihab’s cold voice continued.
“Stop manipulating Father into arranging these meetings. Haven’t you given up yet, even after being humiliated like this?”
He spoke as though Romian had deliberately sought out these meetings by flattering the King.
For Romian, who had absolutely no such intention, it was deeply unjust.
With an expressionless face, she opened her mouth.
“This was personally ordered by His Majesty the King, entirely unrelated to my own wishes…”
But Sihab did not believe her words. He did not even wait for her to finish.
“Even if it were truly not your decision, that too would be your fault. Do you dare blame the supreme ruler of this country?”
“…”
Romian could not bring herself to answer.
His words made no sense, but they had achieved their purpose perfectly: they left her no room to argue.
Sihab glared at Romian’s golden hair as she merely lowered her face, unable to meet his eyes.
Then he abruptly turned around and said,
“I think this much time is already more than you deserve. Leave.”
“Yes.”
The escort knights immediately answered Sihab and followed behind him.
Romian bowed her head once more to show her respect as he left.
But even as he walked away, Sihab could not leave without delivering one final insult.
“I hope we never have to face each other like this again.”
He had said his cold treatment was something she was used to.
But being accustomed to something did not mean it no longer hurt.
More than anything, what exhausted Romian was that this situation had continued for years.
How much longer do I have to endure being humiliated like this?
Because she could see no end, she felt helpless and drained.
For a moment, Romian could not lift her head because of the humiliation and shame.
Then she let out a sigh and straightened her back again.
Emma, who had witnessed everything, called out to Romian with tears of pity in her eyes.
“My lady…”
“I’m all right, Emma.”
—A queen must never thoughtlessly reveal her emotions to those beneath her!
The shrill voice of the Countess, who had shouted those words while beating her, seemed to ring in her ears even now.
Following that teaching, Romian forced herself to smile gently as though nothing had happened.
Even so, she could not hide the bitterness inside her, and the corners of her lips trembled faintly.
This is so miserable.
What had she done to deserve being treated like this?
A sigh escaped her.
But what good would it do to be upset?
From the beginning, her opinion had not been considered even in the slightest when this engagement was arranged.
I suppose I’ll just have to endure it from now on, too.
It was only a thought, yet it felt as though the ground beneath her feet had vanished and her entire body were sinking into icy water.
How much longer would she have to live such a suffocating life?
“…Let’s go back, Emma.”
Her voice came out as though her throat were being strangled.
Realizing this, Romian immediately closed her mouth again.
Just as the two of them were about to leave the reception room with the ribbon that had never made it into its owner’s hands, someone called out to them.
“My lady.”
An elderly woman was waiting for them.
Her body was as thin as a wooden stick, and her stern face was unmistakable.
She was none other than Lady Victoria, the King’s chief lady-in-waiting.
“His Majesty the King wishes to see you. He has ordered you to show your face before leaving the palace.”
The moment she heard those words, Romian’s body stiffened.
Looking at the young woman’s face, where emotions seemed to seep through like water through cracked glass, Lady Victoria spoke in a rigid tone.
“Change your clothes.”
King Henri IV.
He was the man who could be called the root cause of all this trouble.
