OFGBL 13

Chapter 13

Erenia sensed the danger and was about to scream, but the intruder who entered the room moved much faster.

However, contrary to Erenia’s expectations, the intruder dropped to his knees and bowed his head toward her.

There was not even the slightest sign of a weapon in either of his hands.

“Your Highness, the Princess.”

The middle-aged man’s voice trembled softly as he addressed Erenia.

There was something strangely desperate in his voice, as though joy and sorrow existed within it at the same time.

And then—

“You look so much like your mother.”

The words, spoken in a heavily choked voice, were completely unexpected.

Mother…?

Erenia did not know what her mother looked like.

Of course she didn’t.

Her mother had been executed before Erenia’s memories had even begun to take shape, and the Imperial Family had burned every portrait of her because she had been branded a traitor.

Perhaps that was why the rationality she had desperately been holding on to began to waver.

At that moment, the man slowly raised his bowed head and met Erenia’s gaze.

“I am Gallend of House Ulfric, a knight and retainer who served Her Grace… no, Her Highness the Princess’s mother, at House Helias.”

Gallend.

The moment she heard that name, a scene flashed through Erenia’s mind.

Gallend von Ulfric.

The only retainer among the forces of House Helias whom the authorities had never managed to capture.

The loyal retainer who had served Erenia’s mother at the closest distance.

When Erenia had been a child, her nursemaid had shown her a wanted poster depicting him as one of the vicious remnants of the rebellion.

The face in that portrait was almost identical to the intruder before her.

Of course, years of hardship and living on the run had greatly altered his appearance, but there was still no mistaking him.

“For all these long years, I have waited only for the day I could meet Your Highness the Princess.”

“…Can you prove it?”

Erenia deliberately asked in a cold voice.

She could not lower her guard yet.

After everything she had experienced in her previous life, she could not bring herself to trust someone so easily.

But Gallend seemed unconcerned.

He reached inside his clothes and pulled something out.

An old, crumpled envelope.

It was clear from its condition that he had treasured and protected it for many years.

“While Your Highness remained in the Haiyen Empire, Haiyen’s surveillance was so thorough that I dared not approach you. But when I finally heard that Your Highness was leaving Haiyen, I thought this was my opportunity.”

Still kneeling on the floor, Gallend held the envelope out to Erenia.

“These are the final words your mother left behind. She desperately wished for them to reach Your Highness. So I swore upon my life… that no matter what happened, I would deliver them to you.”

Erenia accepted the envelope with trembling hands.

Faded traces of blood remained here and there on the white envelope.

Carefully tearing it open, she found a neatly folded sheet of paper and a small portrait.

She knew who the woman in the painting was without anyone having to tell her.

“…It is a portrait of your mother. I had kept it in my possession… but I thought it was rightfully yours, Your Highness.”

It was the first time Erenia had ever seen her mother’s face.

And Gallend had been telling the truth.

Aside from the color of their eyes and hair, the features of their faces were remarkably similar.

Still, even though they looked alike, Erenia could not know whether the portrait was genuine or whether Gallend’s story was true.

It was something that could have been fabricated.

She still could not trust him.

“The accusation that House Helias had plotted a rebellion was an absurd false charge. It was a conspiracy designed to destroy House Helias.”

Then Erenia carefully unfolded the sheet of paper.

The page was filled from top to bottom with uneven handwriting, the trembling strokes seemingly reflecting the emotions of the person who had written it.

“To my beloved daughter, Erenia.”

For the first time in her life, affectionate words had been placed before her name.

Words of love that she had always believed were meant for other people alone made Erenia’s heart ache unbearably.

“My dear child. By the time you read this letter, your mother will no longer be in this world. That is the sin I regret most and feel most sorry for as your mother. I am sorry that I could not protect you, Erenia. I am sorry that I had to leave you behind.”

Before she realized it, the corners of Erenia’s eyes had grown hot.

She desperately held back her tears and continued reading her mother’s letter.

“Even so, I cannot tell you how relieved I am. The Emperor will at least spare your life.”

At the thought of her mother thinking only of Erenia until her final moment, Erenia felt as though her heart were being torn into a thousand pieces.

“There is nothing I can leave behind for you. But I hid a small locket in the room where I stayed before I was taken to the dungeon. In a crack in the wall behind the bed. I left it there praying that someday it would reach you.”

Locket.

Erenia’s eyes stopped on that single word.

“Turn the lower hinge clockwise three times.”

Erenia immediately pulled the locket from inside her clothes.

Then, following the instructions in the letter, she slowly turned the hinge.

Then—

Click.

The tightly closed locket opened on its own.

And inside—

“I left the seal of House Helias inside.”

There was a ring-shaped seal, the kind traditionally passed down to the heads of the family.

Erenia could no longer doubt the contents of the letter.

“When I think of you growing up alone, burdened by the absurd accusation of treason, my heart breaks into a thousand pieces. But please, live. I love you, my dear child.”

In the end, the tears she had been holding back burst forth at the final sentence.

Perhaps because she had suppressed them for so long, the floodgates holding back the river finally collapsed.

Erenia sank to the floor and sobbed, releasing all the grief she had kept buried inside.

For Erenia, who had always swallowed her tears in silence, this was the first time she had ever cried out loud.

Perhaps because of that—

She failed to notice the other presence outside the window.

Before Gallend slipped into Erenia’s bedroom, Seirn had been sitting in his study.

His eyes remained fixed on the pile of documents before him, but he could not read a single word.

“Damn it.”

In the end, Seirn put down his pen and leaned back against his chair.

Erenia’s image kept appearing in his mind.

“If Your Highness keeps me locked up like that, you will never obtain what you want. It seems I can only be of use to Your Highness’s curse while I am still alive.”

“If it helps the transaction, I’m willing to stake my life.”

Erenia’s voice, speaking so casually of her own death.

And those eyes.

Far too calm for someone her age, to the point that looking into them made his chest ache.

It was strange.

There were plenty of people who treated the safety of others lightly.

But there were few people who could remain so indifferent when their own safety was at stake.

“Is the only reason you take care of yourself for the sake of my ‘research’?”

“Do I need another reason?”

It had been the same when they discussed the terms of their contract on the day before their wedding.

Erenia’s words, spoken as though she did not care what happened to herself, had touched something inside Seirn.

Even Seirn himself still did not understand why those words had affected him so deeply.

Get a hold of yourself. She is the princess of an enemy nation.

Seirn tried to steady his mind.

Even if she may be useful to me for the time being, I still don’t know what she is really after.

No matter how necessary their contract had been, no matter how it had resulted in them becoming husband and wife, he could not completely trust her.

That was why, the moment they arrived at Devlin Castle, Seirn had secretly assigned two elite knights to watch Erenia.

He needed to know her every movement in case something happened.

Just then, the crystal orb sitting on Seirn’s desk began to vibrate.

It was a magical device that allowed him to exchange voices with someone far away.

[Your Highness the Grand Duke, I have a report.]

The moment Seirn activated the communication orb, the knight he had assigned to Erenia reported.

[An unidentified outsider secretly climbed over the walls of Devlin Castle and is heading toward the area containing Her Highness the Grand Duchess’s bedroom. He appears to be quite skilled. If you command it, we will capture him.]

Seirn raised one eyebrow, his eyes turning cold.

Several possibilities flashed through his mind.

“Stand by and protect the Grand Duchess. I will personally determine the intruder’s purpose. Do not let him discover that there are people watching the area.”

[As you command.]

Seirn erased his presence with magic.

Then he concealed himself beneath the balcony of Erenia’s bedroom.

His concealment was so perfect that no one could possibly detect him.

Then—

“The accusation that House Helias had plotted a rebellion was an absurd false charge. It was a conspiracy designed to destroy House Helias.”

Seirn heard the intruder, who had introduced himself as a retainer of House Helias, explaining everything one point at a time.

And then, eventually—

He heard a heart-wrenching voice.

The sound of Erenia crying out.

Erenia had not broken down even in the banquet hall of the Haiyen Imperial Family, surrounded by people who despised her.

Not before Seirn, who had radiated murderous intent toward her.

Not before the Emperor, whose eyes had burned with hostility.

And not even before the retainers and servants of the Devlin Grand Duchy, who remained wary of her.

Yet now—

She was completely falling apart.

Ugh…

For some reason, Erenia’s sobs made Seirn’s own chest tighten.

An unbearable pain he could not explain.

He had felt something like this a very long time ago.

The day his mother, unable to overcome the curse of House Devlin because of her constitution, passed away first.

The day his father followed her and chose to leave this world as well.

That was when Seirn had learned how devastating the emotions of loss and love could be.

And today, he realized something else.

Erenia… You aren’t a spy working for Haiyen, at least.

She was a victim who had been devastated by Haiyen more brutally than anyone.

So much so that Seirn felt almost pathetic for having doubted her intentions, even if only for a moment.

So much so that even the heart of Seirn, a man who had always been indifferent to the suffering of others, ached at the sound of her pain.