Chapter 01
Unlike the past few days that had been drizzling rain on and off, that day was exceptionally fine after a long time. The sky was clear, the clouds were pretty with their fluffy shapes, and a westerly wind was blowing.
“Please board now.”
On such a day, Nadia had to set out on a voyage departing from her homeland.
Gazing at the last sky of her homeland, she turned her head weakly at the voice urging her from behind. There was a stern-faced nursemaid.
“No matter how much you drag this out, nothing will change.”
Cold as it was, the nursemaid was right.
Nadia nodded weakly and moved her feet again. Each step she took felt heavy, as if someone were grabbing her ankles.
Once she sailed twelve hours on this ship, married, and settled, returning to her homeland of Arbat would be a distant prospect.
For her motherāwho would soon become the mother of the crown princeāwould never call back the daughter she had borne with her first husband.
“A duke’s wife in a country is not a bad position, is it? Farewell.”
Her mother, who had shown no interest in her throughout her life, made her goodbye very brief. Nadia was freshly shocked, and of course, she had no right to refuse.
It wasn’t that she couldn’t understand her mother’s feelings.
If one were to become queen, it was obvious that Nadiaānot the king’s childāwould be an eyesore. She had just come of age this year, so sending her far away under the pretext of marriage was convenient.
But that was only her mother’s perspective.
It was when Nadia, with her reluctant steps, finally came aboard the ship. From afar, the sound of several horses’ hooves could be heard. Everyone’s attention turned in that direction.
“Halt!”
The man at the head dismounted and spoke to the flustered nursemaid.
“There is a solemn command from His Majesty the King to bring Lady Nadia Turik.”
“From His Majesty the King?”
Both the nursemaid and Nadia were bewildered. King Ivan had shown little interest in Nadia, who was his mistress’s daughter.
This was because Nadia’s mother, Agnes, had kept her daughter tightly hidden, wary of any mishap in which the daughter might catch the king’s eye.
Despite her incomparably beautiful features, the fact that she had never once appeared in social circles before marrying was largely due to this reason as well.
“I will take the lady to the royal palace.”
At the word of the king’s command, the nursemaid didn’t know what to do. In the meantime, Nadia saw this situation as an opportunity.
‘Maybe I can continue living here.’
Perhaps the king had learned of his stepdaughter’s pitiful circumstances and shown compassion. Hope sparked in Nadia, and she promptly followed those who had come for her.
However, when she arrived by carriage after galloping for several hours and stepped out, the situation looked completely different from what she had imagined.
The royal palace was in disarray, as if a storm had just passed through. People kept their mouths shut, heads bowed to the ground, seeming to make themselves as small as possible.
At the strange sight in many ways, Nadia felt a subtle unease creeping in. But she didn’t dare ask, so she kept her mouth shutāthat was when it happened.
“This way, please. His Majesty the King is waiting.”
Amid her questions, Nadia first went to the central palace. Having kept her head bowed the entire time with her gaze fixed on her toes, she relied on her sense of smell to perceive the situation.
When she had met the king sometime before, all she had sensed from himāa heavy smokerāwas the pungent smell of cigars.
But now, even though she had entered the king’s chamber, there was no trace of smoke whatsoever; instead, a heavy scent of wood hung in the air.
Could such a fragrance be added to expensive cigars? As Nadia wondered curiouslyā
“Nadia Turik?”
A man’s voice reached her ears. Far younger, lower, and more beautiful than the king’s voice she remembered.
Nadia unknowingly raised her head. And then an impossible sight came into view.
Beneath not-short, slightly wavy black hair were sharp, dark green eyes.
His nose was as keen as that gaze, and his firmly closed lips, conveying a sense of strength, made the man’s overall impression seem cold and heartless.
But was it truly merely a matter of impression?
They say the eyes are the windows to the soul, and the heart she glimpsed beyond his was cold as the wind blowing from the north and the snow.
Perhaps because of that, though the man’s face was exceedingly handsome and elegant, with even a sense of refinement, Nadia found herself thinking he was somewhat frightening.
What was certain was that this man was not the kingāher mother’s loverāthat she remembered. It was when Nadia was staring at him with a dazed faceā
“Lady Turik, pay your respects to His Majesty the King.”
At these unexpected words, Nadia’s expression went blank. Where had King Ivan gone, and did this man dare to usurp the title of king?
Just then, the handsome man called king waved his hand. It seemed to mean to stop. Nadia stared at the man with a dazed face.
“Do you know who I am?”
The man asked. Nadia shook her head.
She had rarely attended social gatherings, and even those she attended were only for female nobles, so she knew no male nobles at all… no, there was exactly one.
“I see.”
The man nodded once with a peculiar expression at Nadia’s answer.
“Follow me.”
That one word was all. The man in the red-toned jacket took the lead, and under the pressure of the surrounding gazes, Nadia found herself following him before she knew it.
He soon got into a carriage, and Nadia, after hesitating, got in as well. The carriage departed. She had no way of knowing where they were going.
But since the man had said not a single word after boarding the carriage and only looked out the window, it was difficult to strike up a conversation. So Nadia was continuing to keep silent whenā
“Do you know where we are going now?”
Finally, the man broke the silence. Nadia hurriedly met his eyes. Before those terribly emotionless eyes, Nadia shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
“An execution.”
Just that single word. In that moment, a thunderbolt-like realization struck Nadia. But she simply couldn’t believe it, so she asked.
“…Who is dying?”
“The deposed king, his mistress, and the son born between them.”
The carriage stopped at the same moment as his answer. Nadia stared at the man with a blank face.
“Yes.”
The door opened, and the man rose from his seat. Then he uttered a single sentence, as if stating an insignificant fact.
“We are going to see the death of your mother and your half-brother.”
Nadia gasped and covered her mouth. If that were the case, there was no way she could not know who the man before her was.
Ten years ago, he had been banished to the far north for attempting to kill her mother.
“Lev Arbat.”
The only legitimate eldest son of King Ivan. Fear surged in like a wave at the noble authority that name carried.
At the name Nadia murmured small with trembling lips, interest tinged the man’s eyes.
“You remember me?”
There was no way. She had no memory of ever seeing him. But how could she not know that name?
Lev Arbat gazed quietly at Nadia as she shook her head, then opened his mouth.
“Yes, it was a long time ago.”
He got out of the carriage as if it didn’t matter either way, and gestured for Nadia to hurry out as well.
Nadia barely managed to rise, but her legs were shaking from the shock. Still, it was when she was struggling to extend herself out of the carriageā
“Ah…!”
It was a moment when Nadia, having misstepped, seemed about to collapse. Lev caught her body calmly, as if he had known this would happen.
Nadia turned her head with a dumbfounded face. The man’s emotionless eyes were unchanged even in this situation.
Should she thank him for catching her? To the man who was about to kill her mother and half-brother.
“Put strength in your legs, Nadia. We have a long way to go.”
He spoke in a rather gentle tone, yet his eyes remained cold as ever. Feeling her throat tighten, Nadia got fully out of the carriage.
They soon went to the execution grounds. The countless crowd gathered to witness the execution, and the brilliantly blazing sun reigning above them. A terribly fine day.
It was her mother’s and half-brother’s funeral.
“Sit.”
After Lev Arbat took the king’s seat, he commanded Nadia.
Nadia perched awkwardly in the seat beside him. She could feel the gazes around her looking at her with alien eyes.
As if accusing herāwhy did you not stand on the guillotine alongside your mother and half-brotherāNadia felt suffocated.
“Begin the execution.”
The son spoke of his father’s execution in a voice so chillingly devoid of emotion. Nadia stared at the guillotine with a stunned face.
The deposed King Ivan with bloodshot eyes, his mistress Agnes, and the son between them, frightened and sniffling.
Nadia felt suffocated as if the gazes of those three glaring at the king beside her were her own.
Before long, the three lay down on the guillotine in turn. Nadia couldn’t bear to watch what came next and squeezed her eyes shut.
Amid the crowd’s commotion, the sound of the blade falling came three times, and the ensuing cheers came three times. When Nadia opened her eyes again, only bloodstains remained thick on the groundāthe three figures had vanished without a trace.
“Long live His Majesty the King!”
“Long live His Majesty the King!”
As the people’s acclamations continued, King Lev Arbat rose from his seat. Everyone held their breath and waited for the words to come from the new king’s mouth.
“I, Lev Arbat.”
The king opened his mouth with a solemn and elegant bearing. Then he suddenly turned his gaze to Nadia.
While Nadia was flustered by the unexpected eye contact, Lev uttered words no one had anticipated.
“Take Nadia Turik, daughter of Agnes Turik, as my queen.”
