IWBQ 16

~Chapter 16~

. Two Daughters
2023.08.16.

Unlike Karan, Ellis was calm.

“People are sneaking glances.”

“And?”

“They’ll insult Your Highness.”

“I’m used to that. Anything else?”

“Nothing else.”

“Good. Then that means I don’t have to get used to this kind of face of yours.”

Watching Karan breathe in relief, Ellis tilted her head.

“If I had told you to get used to your scar…”

Karan scrunched his face as if imagining something dreadful.

“I… no, never mind.”

He shook his head, then brushed his thumb across the scar on Ellis’s cheek.

Though his touch was careful, Ellis flinched instinctively.

“Your Highness, really, you don’t need to worry about it…”

“If I don’t care, then you shouldn’t either.”

“…Pardon?”

It was a cryptic remark. Just a simple line in the sand, yet it carried a foreboding sense. Ellis asked again, but Karan merely shrugged.

Whatever he was thinking to himself, his expression seemed far more at ease than before.

Then Karan grasped Ellis’s hand, which had been resting lightly on his arm.

“If you’re going to show them, then let’s show them properly.”

He guided Ellis to the inside of the street. Perhaps that was his intention—Ellis was now out of the sight of those who had been pointing fingers.

Karan intertwined his fingers with hers and strode forward confidently.

Throughout the walk, Ellis kept turning over in her mind the words Karan had muttered to himself:

“Don’t mind it—whatever I do.”

Two days later, a letter arrived from the royal palace, summoning the viscount.

Frazer came storming into Ellis’s room.

“Because of you I’m being humiliated in every which way! Stirring up disgrace in this household, and yet you can still swallow food down your throat?”

His tone was fierce. But unlike before, he did not strike Ellis. Or rather, he could not.

His right hand was wrapped tightly in bandages. Perhaps he’d fallen on the street? Whatever the reason, Ellis found it satisfying.

“Stay locked up in your room and don’t step outside. This is the last warning! If things go wrong, you won’t have a single hair left on your head intact!”

He even went so far as to threaten her before storming out.

He was nothing more than an old rooster, raising his voice but powerless.

Ellis shook her head and closed the book she had been reading.

“Regina, if you have something to say, then speak.”

For days now, she had noticed Regina watching her anxiously.

“It’s nothing, milady.”

“I’ll ask only once more. Do you have something to say?”

Regina hesitated before finally opening her mouth.

“What do you plan to do from now on?”

Though she seemed to be asking about Ellis’s plans, her voice was mostly filled with worry.

What would become of her mistress, standing against Viscount Frazer, entangled with a barbarian prince?

“Regina, I’m going to live very well.”

“Barb—sorry. Do you mean to go with Prince Karan to Tetris?”

Regina’s eyes brimmed with unease.

‘It should be fine to tell her. I need to ask her will too.’

Ellis nodded firmly.

“I will marry Prince Karan. Naturally, I’ll go to Tetris. That’s why—Regina, would you come with me?”

“Eh? Of course! Of course I will!”

“Regina, I’ll give you a few days to think. Tetris is nothing like Bedroca. I’ve never been, but they say it’s bitterly cold and barren. You won’t even be able to receive your Alleycat Times on time. You won’t see your family, either.”

“My family is only you, milady.”

Ellis stiffened. She had said something terribly careless.

Two years ago, Regina’s family had stepped foot into the land of Ragnarok—the Centris region—and lost their lives.

Though Ragnarok slumbered, the continent’s people called that land Centris. Even dormant, his influence made human life there impossible.

The weather was fickle, the soil rotten, the air hard to breathe. And from the gate that connected to Ragnarok’s nest, monsters occasionally spilled forth.

Because of that, humans often suffered casualties.

‘And it’ll only worsen. Ragnarok’s awakening draws near.’

As Ellis remembered it, ten years from now, Ragnarok would awaken.

“I’m sorry, Regina.”

“No, milady. If your heart is firm and your decision made, I won’t worry further. I’ll follow you.”

Past and present, Regina was always the same.

For that unwavering loyalty, Ellis had to live her life better this time around.

“Oh dear, your teacup is empty. I’ll bring more tea, milady. Shall I also prepare some sweets?”

She wasn’t particularly hungry, but Ellis wanted some time alone. She nodded and sent Regina out.

Then she picked up her book—A Journey to Tetris, written by a Bedrocan.

Every page was filled with complaints about Tetris, but better to read a little than to go knowing nothing at all.

“From the desolate fields, smoke rises. We called it the Devil’s Breath. Hot, smelling of boiled eggs, nothing grows there. …The Tetrisians are arrogant. They don’t understand cooperation. When a log blocked the road, they would never clear it together. Instead, they bet on who could move it alone. Because of this, our travel schedule was constantly delayed…”

“Devil’s Breath, is it… That’s what they think. How foolish.”

Ellis scoffed at the author’s ignorance and kept reading.

“You look carefree.”

“What brings you here?” Ellis asked.

“I came to see if you were reflecting on the enormous trouble you’ve caused. But instead of repenting, you’re plotting your next mischief.”

Iris sneered, arms folded.

“You must be disappointed I’m not crying.”

Ellis smirked.

“Disappointment is for those you have expectations of. I’ve none for you. You’re a lowborn, talentless, and even your looks…”

Iris grabbed Ellis’s chin, shaking her face side to side before flinging it away.

“Cheap-looking.”

By Bedroca’s standards of beauty, Iris wasn’t wrong.

Catlike features weren’t welcomed there.

One was praised as beautiful only if she had puppy-like innocent eyes and the aura of a gentle deer.

‘Iris is the textbook beauty.’

Once, Ellis had envied Iris deeply. She had tried to be like her—drawing her eyebrows in a round arch, keeping her eyes slightly lowered.

But now, Ellis felt no envy, nor did she find Iris beautiful.

‘When you know there’s a snake inside, beauty turns into revulsion. At best, it’s creepy.’

Without meaning to, Ellis sneered at her.

“What’s with that face?”

As expected, Iris pounced on it.

“Are you really picking fights over facial expressions now? If you’ve nothing to say, leave.”

“I’m not the one who needs to talk. You are. I want to know what that tiny head of yours is thinking. What’s your plan?”

She could have just accepted things as they were, yet she kept coming to pester her.

Ellis was getting annoyed.

“What do you think will happen?”

“What else? You’ll marry Prince Chase. But this incident will shackle you for life. You’ll never be able to raise your head before him. And what will high society say? ‘Poor Prince Chase’—oh, wait. Did you perhaps orchestrate this whole thing to win his sympathy? If so, what a grand love story indeed.”

Iris, satisfied with the play she’d just staged, smiled smugly.

And Ellis realized something—her image was already that of someone who’d throw away her dignity for Chase’s sake.

Her mood plummeted instantly.

Every time she confronted her foolish past self, her mouth tasted bitter.

Ellis glared at Iris sideways.

Their gazes clashed, taut.

Ellis looked away first, picked up her book again. There was no stronger dismissal.

She felt Iris’s sharp gaze boring into the back of her head.

Then, after a while, the sound of the door closing. Ellis slowly set the book down.

“Me, marry Chase?”

A dry laugh slipped from her lips.

“We’ll see, won’t we?”

“I’m very disappointed in you, Viscount Wharton.”

“Your Majesty, forgive me. But what the gossip papers printed is not true. As you know, my second daughter’s love for Prince Chase runs very deep.”

Frazer couldn’t even sit; he stood sweating profusely before Rangie, king of Bedroca.

“Truth or falsehood doesn’t matter. Because of your daughter, the honor of the Bedroca royal family has been dragged through the mud!”

At the roar, Frazer flinched.

Rangie, born and raised in peaceful times, was famous for his even temper and for overlooking the minor mistakes of his vassals—a merciful king, they said.

Though as a father and husband, he was hardly exemplary.

But there was one thing even Rangie could not abide: disgrace to the royal family’s honor.

Perhaps because he had no special talent and had inherited the throne solely by blood, his obsession with royal dignity was unnervingly strong.

“I will mend this, no matter what.”

“How? The whole world now knows your second daughter mocked Chase. The bond between your house and mine ends here.”

“Your Majesty, please, those words are too cruel.”

Frazer clung, but Rangie’s face was unmoved.

Cold disdain emanated from him as he gestured to the royal guards.

The king’s knights swelled their chests and stepped up beside Frazer.

“Will you only leave when dragged out?”

At the icy words, Frazer dropped to his knees.

He had received massive investments from those eager for ties with the royal family. If they pulled out, House Wharton would be ruined.

He had to secure the bond with the royals—only then could he protect both business and family.

His mind raced furiously, spinning through and discarding idea after idea.

Nothing was quite enough to win back Rangie’s favor.

Then one thought froze his expression.

‘Is this the only way?’

He detested it, but there was no better move now.

If he wanted to survive to fight another day, he first had to soothe Rangie’s wrath.

“Your Majesty, I have two daughters, do I not?”

“…What do you mean by that?”

For the first time, Rangie’s interest stirred at Frazer’s words.