IMGEA 7

Chapter 7

“I nearly got poisoned recently. Remember?”

“Of course, Anel! Do you have any idea how shocked I was, thinking I’d lost you?”

“Watching you happen to come and handle it for me, I thought something.”

Belita’s eyes wavered faintly. She didn’t quite seem to grasp why this topic was being brought up so suddenly. Anellia continued.

“Ah, I see now—my calamity has grown so severe it threatens my life. And so it must make things even harder on you.”

“Anel, that’s—”

“If ever you end up facing even greater hardship because of me in the future…… I don’t think I could bear it, Bel.”

Tears fell from Anellia’s eyes in a patter. Since Anellia was someone who rarely cried, Belita faltered for a moment and her lips moved soundlessly. It was plainly visible that she was racking her brain over what reaction a benevolent, self-sacrificing older sister ought to show at a time like this. To give Belita no time to think, Anellia wiped her tears and spoke again.

“That’s why I begged His Majesty for your sake. Because the only path for you is for me to step away from your side.”

“That’s not true, Anel! How much I love you!”

“I know. But loving someone doesn’t mean you can always be together. We’re past the age for such childishness, Bel.”

“Wh-what……!”

Belita’s golden eyes blinked rapidly, clouded with bewilderment. If she said anything more here, she would suddenly become the childish princess. She bit her lip slightly, then cried out softly.

“Then who’s going to block your calamity? If I don’t block it for you, everyone might end up suffering because of you!”

Belita, who had poured out the words while clutching her skirt with both hands, momentarily wore an expression of Oh no. Saying something so raw would only work against her. But the words were already out, and Belita tried to recover.

“So what I mean is, Anellia. We need to be together for everyone’s benefit—”

“There’s no benefit in it for you. I’m tired of it being beneficial only to me. And Bel, did you forget? Grand Duke Argenté can be the ‘white thing’ too. He has very beautiful silver hair.”

“Th-that’s…… but I’ve protected you all this while.”

“Now the Grand Duke will block my calamity for me. You know that’s what His Majesty wants as well.”

Well, honestly, it’d be far better for Lady Belita if Lady Anellia weren’t at her side. His Majesty the Emperor said to do it that way too—so why is Lady Belita so against it?

From here and there came the murmuring of maids and tailors alike. Belita must have heard it too, for her face flushed red and her eyelids trembled faintly. She surely knew that saying more here would only be cutting into her own flesh.

‘Now, shall I drive in the final nail?’

Anellia summoned sad thoughts again and squeezed out tears. She tilted her head slightly to the side so the welling tears would be clearly visible.

“Bel, you’ll surely live just fine without me.”

Then she smiled softly. With a look that seemed about to shatter at any moment, and at the same time stirred sympathy.

“Unlike me…… you’re loved by everyone.”

Suddenly, the sound of someone drawing in a breath came from nearby. A few small murmurs of pity for Anellia passed around, and Belita’s eyes flew wide.

“Anel! How can you say such a thing? As if it’s my fault you never received love—!”

That was the moment.

Smack!

Anellia felt a stinging heat on her cheek and slowly opened and closed her eyes. Latvi, who had been watching silently from the side, had raised her hand and struck Anellia outright.

“Mother.”

When Anellia called Latvi lowly, what came back was not an answer but a hand raised again. Anellia reflexively caught Latvi’s wrist. A brief silence. What broke it was Latvi’s voice, thick with rage.

“How dare you—you blocked me?”

“……My wedding is in a few days, Mother.”

“Yes. It seems I’ve been neglecting your education lately.”

Swish. Latvi unfurled the fan she held and waved it gently. At that, the maids of the First Empress’s palace who had followed her all stepped forward at once and gripped Anellia firmly on both sides. Swish again. The fan folded, and Latvi raised the hand holding it.

“You ungrateful wretch! Have you forgotten that Belita has sacrificed her whole life for you?”

Whack!

Smack!

Sharp sounds of friction rang out in succession through the reception room. At the same time, Anellia bit down hard on her lip at the stinging pain on her left cheek.

‘Ah. This one seems to have scratched me.’

She’d done it on purpose, of course. Latvi was a person who had to come by periodically and slap Anellia’s cheeks. When she was relatively less angry, she used her bare hand; when she was very angry, she used a fan whose ribs had worn and grown rough with wood grain.

“Looking at your eyes, I see there’s still no sign of reflection.”

Latvi, apparently not yet satisfied, raised the fan again. Ah, getting hit again on a spot already hit really does hurt. My wedding is soon—if my face gets any more damaged here, it’ll be quite the sight. To shake off the maids gripping her from both sides—well, she could do that. She had learned some self-defense, after all, to survive in the underworld. But it would be a waste to reveal such ability over something as trivial as this.

‘It’s nothing much, so I’ll just endure it…….’

Watching the fan draw near, Anellia squeezed her eyes shut reflexively. But no matter how long she waited, the expected pain did not come. Instead, she felt a cool scent she had smelled very often lately. Refreshing, and reminiscent of the endlessly stretching snowfields of the North. Anellia slowly narrowed one eye open. As expected, before her stood him, blocking Latvi with a face set hard.

‘Luane Argenté.’

Perhaps because his profile, glimpsed in passing, radiated such a menacing aura. Or perhaps because even that menacing expression was needlessly handsome. For some reason, Anellia frowned at a feeling around her heart that was somehow ticklish, or perhaps unpleasant. Luane’s red gaze, which had glanced at Anellia, turned back to Latvi, and a cool voice flowed out.

“What in the world…… is this?”

Was this what the extreme cold said to flow from the underworld felt like? Even though the words were not directed at her, Anellia felt goosebumps rise all over her body. Latvi, too, looked pale as if she had been cowed, but then, perhaps angered by that very fact, she scowled sharply and replied.

“I am educating my daughter as her mother. It is not a matter for the Grand Duke to interfere in.”

Luane’s eyes turned again to Anellia’s red, swollen cheek. His red eyes today truly held a madness like blood. At that gaze, the maids who had been holding Anellia quietly let go and stepped back a pace.

“Educating her as her mother.”

Both arms restrained by maids, handled like a criminal. A cheek not merely swollen but streaming with blood. The moment Luane saw that sight, fury surged up and he felt his head go strange. What angered him even more was Anellia’s resigned eyes, accepting this situation with indifference.

“Ha. This is the first I’ve heard of such a vulgar education.”

Turning his gaze from Anellia again, Luane unknowingly tightened the hand gripping Latvi’s wrist. He wanted to crush it, just like this.

“Ugh…… let go of this hand. This is truly rude.”

Latvi, who had been enduring it because she didn’t want to show signs of pain, could not hold out any longer and let out a groan. Thud—the fan she had been gripping stubbornly fell to the floor. Only then did Luane release the strength in his hand. Pulling her arm from him irritably, Latvi stroked her wrist and let out a rough breath.

“I will formally make an issue of this, Grand Duke. To intrude on the imperial family’s affairs and humiliate me like this!”

It was brazen beyond compare. Luane did not restrain his sneer and pulled Anellia’s hand sharply toward himself.

“You should speak properly, First Empress. I am the one who will formally make an issue of this.”

“Go ahead and try. Just who do you think will take that child’s side? A child of no use whatsoever to the empire!”

“Argenté never abandons its Grand Duchess. Shall I have all of Argenté lodge a protest with His Majesty the Emperor? I’m curious how that would turn out.”

Luane twisted one corner of his mouth up and added one fact.

“Moreover, Anellia is a gift His Majesty the Emperor personally gave to me, and to damage her face like this—this is not merely an insult to Argenté, but ruining His Majesty the Emperor’s gift.”

“……I was educating my child, as her mother.”

“Very well. Then as of today, Argenté shall lodge a formal protest. Since His Majesty’s gift has been ruined as well, let us go speak to His Majesty.”

“Grand Duke! Is this truly how you will behave!”

Latvi’s arm trembled and she ground her teeth. The killing intent in her brown eyes as she glared at Luane deepened, but she had no power to do anything to the Grand Duke. Luane tilted his head crookedly to the side and lightly brushed past Latvi’s gaze.

“Then let us follow the Grand Duchess’s opinion. Anel, how would you like me to handle this matter?”

Luane’s red eyes gazed steadily at Anellia. In that gaze she felt many emotions.

‘It’s as if he’d kill them if I told him to.’

Was it an illusion that he looked that angry—looked that emotional?