Chapter 2
Aristocrats called Henri IV the greatest lover of the century.
The reason was Nella, the late Queen Consort, who had died in childbirth while giving birth to Sihab.
Queen Nella was said to have had beautiful, flowing golden hair and gentle-looking dark brown eyes.
She had exactly the same face as Romian.
—Nella! How can you be here?!
Romian had been only nine years old when her resemblance to Queen Nella caught Henri IV’s attention.
The king, seeing a young girl who looked exactly like his late wife, had burst into tears and embraced her from the very first moment they met.
—This time, I will not lose you!
That was the only reason the daughter of a poor, nearly ruined baronial family in the countryside had been able to become the Crown Prince’s fiancée.
I wish I had never caught his attention back then.
With that sighing thought, Romian entered the room Lady Victoria had led her to.
Before meeting Henri IV, she always had to dress up anew.
“Get yourself ready and come out. We cannot stay long.”
“Yes.”
After answering, Romian entered the room and immediately noticed the dress hanging in the center.
Emma clapped her hands excitedly.
“Once again, His Majesty the King has sent you an outfit! His Majesty really seems to care about you, my lady!”
“Does he?”
Whenever he had an opportunity to see Romian, Henri IV always made sure to provide her with clothes.
Dresses painstakingly created by the finest tailor, who worked exclusively for the royal family, were carefully selected and delivered to Romian.
Does he really?
Romian thought so rather cynically.
Perhaps dissatisfied with her indifferent reaction, Emma hurried over to the dress and gently lifted its skirt.
“Of course! Just look at how magnificent this one is! He must cherish you very much. His Majesty is such a busy ruler, after all. It cannot be easy for him to personally select your clothes every time.”
As Emma said, it was indeed a magnificent dress.
The deep green fabric was decorated with gold embroidery, giving it an antique yet extraordinarily splendid appearance.
But…
Romian’s slightly narrowed eyes naturally turned cold.
With the weather recently becoming warmer, the young ladies’ dresses had gradually begun shifting toward lighter styles, such as chemise dresses and Empire dresses.
But this dress was a bustle dress with an enormous amount of volume around the hips.
“Come on, let’s get you changed.”
Reluctant though she was, Romian eventually gave in to Emma’s urging and changed her clothes.
After tightening her waist with a corset, slipping her feet into thick-heeled, loafer-style shoes, and putting on the heavy bustle, she immediately felt as though the breath had been knocked out of her.
Just as uncomfortable as I expected.
“Oh my! You look beautiful!”
Emma clapped her hands.
She was not lying.
Although the dress felt somewhat heavy for prolonged wear, it possessed an elegance perfectly suited to the Crown Prince’s fiancée.
Romian completed her appearance by putting on the pointed hat that matched the dress and lowering a delicate veil of lace over part of her face.
“Your Majesty, the young lady of House Veldegart has arrived.”
“Let her in.”
Only Romian, who had been granted permission to enter, stepped into Henri IV’s chamber.
The King, Henri IV, had been sitting at a table in the center of the room. He even rose from his chair himself to welcome her.
“Romian, it has been a long time.”
“I humbly greet Your Majesty.”
Romian gathered the hem of her skirt and curtsied.
The King smiled with satisfaction and nodded.
“You need not be so formal. You may even call me Father.”
Everyone in the kingdom knew that Henri IV became exceptionally soft-hearted whenever it came to Romian.
But even if the King was being kind at this moment, he was not someone who could be treated casually.
After all, he was a ruthless man who had slaughtered several of his own brothers before claiming the throne.
That was why Romian maintained a respectful distance despite receiving the King’s unconditional support.
Even though she knew it disappointed him, she had never once called him Father, not even when they were alone.
“I am deeply honored.”
At Romian’s response, the King’s smile grew even wider.
“Hehehe. Even that upright attitude of yours is so much like hers.”
“……”
How long was the King going to keep seeing Queen Nella whenever he looked at Romian?
It had already been nearly twenty years since Nella had passed away.
Does the Queen Nella he remembers still look exactly as she did when she first died?
Romian was curious, but she did not ask.
She was perceptive enough to know instinctively where the boundaries lay—almost as though she could see the lines she must never cross.
Instead, she studied the King’s face.
She still vividly remembered the face of the man who had personally brought her to the palace when she was nine and made her Sihab’s fiancée.
Yet now, the same man was an old, dying figure smiling at her.
Romian lowered her eyes slightly.
“You seem to have lost a great deal of weight.”
“Even so, I feel much lighter now that the medicine has been changed. I have also been sleeping well thanks to the tea you blended for me.”
Romian did not answer his praise.
Anyone could tell from the King’s face alone that he was suffering from a serious illness.
It was true that Romian was knowledgeable about tea, but the blend she had prepared could do little more than lift the King’s spirits. It was not something capable of actually improving his illness.
He needs to live for a long time.
In the past, Romian had thought that because the King was the only person on her side, she wanted him to live a long life.
But after realizing that this engagement could never have existed in the first place without the King, that thought had taken on a slightly different meaning.
As long as the King remained healthy, Romian could simply remain Sihab’s fiancée.
If the King’s health deteriorated even slightly, public opinion would rapidly shift toward demanding that Sihab marry as soon as possible.
How suffocating would it be if we actually got married?
Just imagining it made her feel as though someone were tightening a noose around her neck.
Unaware of Romian’s thoughts, the King smiled warmly and asked,
“Has Sihab been treating you well?”
“Pardon?”
Romian blinked rapidly at the unexpected question.
The King spoke casually, unaware of how her previous meeting with Sihab had ended.
“I specifically ordered him to treat you kindly.”
I see. So that was why.
Now Romian understood why Sihab had suddenly accused her of flattering the King.
There must have been circumstances behind it after all.
Romian barely managed to swallow her sigh.
I wish you would just leave things alone. Please don’t say anything at all.
But she was not foolish enough to say that aloud.
Instead, she merely offered him a faint smile, as hazy as mist.
No one in the world ever looked directly at Romian.
That included Henri IV, despite the reputation he had among the aristocracy for doting on her for no apparent reason.
He patted Romian on the shoulder, completely unaware of what emotions lay behind her smile.
“Sihab is somewhat cold, but he is not a bad child. I was unable to give that child much love, but you should embrace him in my place and give him the love I could not. I ask this of you.”
“……”
“Yes.”
What else could Romian say?
She answered in a tiny voice, like that of a cat being strangled.
That was the end of their conversation.
The King stared at Romian for a long time as though she were a living photograph before finally dismissing her with a wave of his hand.
“You may return now. Come visit the palace often.”
“Yes.”
As Romian stood up after answering, a thought suddenly occurred to her.
Perhaps he needs me because he can no longer remember Queen Nella’s face.
Perhaps he could not bear both loving Nella so deeply and gradually forgetting her.
That was why he needed Romian.
Someone dressed exactly like Nella, someone who could make him relive the memories of those happier days.
Either way, it leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
Romian quietly sighed as she closed the King’s door behind her.
For the ten years she had been the Crown Prince’s fiancée, she had heard the same things so often that her ears practically ached.
—Under normal circumstances, a girl from such an insignificant family would not even have been considered as a candidate for Crown Princess. You should be grateful that you were chosen.
—Isn’t it truly an honor?
—Do your very best for His Majesty the King and His Highness the Crown Prince. That is the only way you can repay them.
Why? I am not grateful at all.
Romian even felt guilty for thinking that way.
She had heard those words from so many people that she began to feel as though she were the strange one.
I have to do better. I cannot bring shame upon my family, and I have to do my best for the royal family. Everyone keeps telling me that…
She had spent years soothing herself and suppressing her own feelings that way.
But now, she was slowly reaching her limit.
“Let’s really go home now, Emma.”
“Yes, my lady.”
Still wearing the clothes the King had given her, Romian slowly walked through the palace.
Even on the way to the carriage that would take her home, she encountered several young noblewomen who had come to the palace.
They glanced at her and whispered loudly enough for her to hear.
“Isn’t His Highness Sihab so handsome? He has completely grown into such a fine young man!”
“But what does it matter? He already has a fiancée.”
“And his fiancée is the daughter of such an insignificant family. A daughter who would be better off not existing at all.”
“I wish she would step aside on her own.”
The last remark reached Romian’s ears clearly.
I wish I could do that too.
Romian muttered the words she could never bring herself to say aloud inside her heart.
But even stepping aside isn’t something I can decide for myself. Because, just as you said, I am the daughter of an insignificant family.
Romian was the one who had been made the Crown Prince’s fiancée while House Veldegart, a rural baronial family, was elevated all the way to the rank of count.
How could she refuse the marriage when her family had received so much?
If she did, she might instead incur the King’s wrath.
—I took such a liking to you that I granted you this special favor, yet you have grown so arrogant!
The King might cherish her now, but the moment that relationship changed, he could easily become someone who would have been better off never knowing her at all.
The Count and Countess of Veldegart mistakenly believed that the fortune that had fallen into their laps belonged entirely to them.
But Romian, the person at the center of it all, understood her situation objectively.
Unlike the Count and Countess of Veldegart, who merely enjoyed the wealth and power that had come to them because of Romian, she had to perform a deadly dance on a sheet of ice just to preserve it.
—Queen Nella must have been truly blessed. Nearly twenty years have passed since her death, yet His Majesty still longs for her like that.
—But the young lady of House Veldegart isn’t Queen Nella, is she? She’s merely a substitute who can be replaced whenever necessary.
—I wonder if she can really become Crown Princess instead of remaining merely his fiancée.
Romian knew that, to Henri IV, she was nothing more than a medium through which he could remember and never forget Queen Nella.
If he truly cherished Romian, he would not force her to wear dresses that did not suit her and were terribly uncomfortable simply because he wanted to give them to her.
Nor would he ask her to love the son he himself had been unable to love.
Even if I die, he’ll just find another substitute.
Henri IV was merely placing a son who looked exactly like himself beside a girl who looked exactly like his wife, using them to relive the happiest days of his life.
But I can’t let go of Sihab simply because this is painful.
If the abuse she received as his fiancée was worth one, the ridicule that would pour down upon her after breaking off the engagement would be worth a hundred.
People would chatter about it everywhere as casually as though they were reading a fairy tale—about how the lucky Cinderella had ultimately shattered the glass slipper that had never fit her in the first place.
So I have no choice but to endure it.
As long as she held her breath and remained quiet, everyone else could be happy.
So what else could she do?
Romian closed her eyes and held her breath.
Slowly, she imagined herself becoming a plant.
If she imagined that she had become a tree that knew neither sorrow nor joy, a tree that simply remained rooted in the same place, then perhaps she could somehow endure these moments.
