“It will be wonderful, sister. If I could meet someone that splendid too……”

It was always she herself who felt the sting of those words.

“But why does he have to be so handsome on top of everything else?”

Heil’s face had gone vague and pink, clearly picturing something specific.

“Pfft.”

“Why, why are you laughing?”

“Heil.”

“Yes?”

“You like Sir Dnie.”

Heil’s face flooded with horror at Pamona’s words. She covered her mouth with her hand and made an expression that looked almost like a scream.

“I do not! What are you saying, sister! He, he is! In the future! Starting next year he’ll be my, my!”

“You do.”

Pamona had once believed that Heil was the one person she would never envy. She had believed Heil was locked away somewhere just like her. She had thought Heil would crumble in some way too. That she would feel and think exactly the way she did.

And the Heil she had come to know over the past few years had forced her to see that this thinking had been arrogance. Now, Pamona genuinely envied Heil.

Heil was different from her. She lay staring at the ceiling every night wondering why and how she could be so different. Heil had grown up in the west without any contact with the other siblings, and so she had no other world to compare it to.

If you live in darkness and have no knowledge that there are people somewhere basking in light. The darkness neither hurt Heil nor frightened her.

Heil’s outlook was bright. She was nothing like Pamona, who had worn herself out grumbling about why the light wouldn’t come in and collapsed from it. Pamona kept longing for light even after she had sunk to the ground, but Heil had learned to see clearly inside a pitch-dark cave. She knew how not to fall.

Yes. So in the end, it’s my own fault.

Pit-a-pat. Drop. The raindrops that had been falling at long intervals picked up speed and began to pour down over them. She could see the sky darkening to match her world.

“Your Highness.”

At the voice calling her, her body rose before her head even turned. In the place where she had expected Sionel to be, there was one more person who had been in the meeting room with him.

The great height and the powerful build of muscles that even a dress uniform could not conceal were the same as ever. A face that was clearly, undeniably handsome to anyone who looked, yet one she could feel no warmth toward, owing to eyes and a mouth that gave off a cold, unfeeling impression.

Ian Dnie. Her betrothed.

“Your Highness.”

“Sir Dnie.”

They bowed their heads to each other in greeting. Having observed the necessary courtesies, Pamona turned her gaze straight to Crown Prince Sionel. Whether Ian Dnie was in the room or not barely registered. Her heart felt pressed down under a great boulder. She wondered to herself what Sionel knew and what he was thinking. He gestured for them to take their seats.

“Join us, Sir.”

Whenever Ian Dnie came to Siyen Castle, Sionel would call Pamona and arrange a gathering for them. Despite the fact that they were so lacking in any real exchange that such occasions could not possibly bring them closer, he kept making them. Perhaps it put his own mind at ease.

Pamona could not leave the castle, and Ian Dnie was not a man with enough leisure to enter the castle just to see Pamona. She had not wanted it, but it was also true that without Sionel deliberately arranging these occasions, they might have gone from the betrothal ceremony to the wedding without seeing each other’s face even once.

Still, right now she had no idea what to say.

Without asking her wishes, he had seated Ian Dnie across from her, and now Sionel was slowly bringing his teacup to his lips, and she could only resent him for it. Even knowing that none of this was Sionel’s fault.

“It’s about Heil.”

She raised the subject and slowly let out one breath.

I can’t breathe……

“His Majesty issued a decree yesterday. To Princess Heil……”

She sat still and tried to continue, but kept feeling short of breath. Pamona had no choice but to take a sip of the tea in front of her.

“Speak slowly.”

“He told Heil to go to Ilion.”

“Yes.”

“Yes?”

Pamona asked back without thinking. A sharpness rose inside her and she looked over at Ian Dnie for no particular reason. He had no interest whatsoever in how her composure was unraveling, and simply took a quiet sip of his tea.

Heil, who must have returned to Heryen Castle yesterday and received the royal decree, had come back to the Twin Castle late that night. The decree she had shown Pamona through her tears stated that Heil was to be dispatched as an envoy to Ilion in the name of fostering friendly relations between the two nations. It was only two weeks away. Naturally, there was no further explanation of any kind.

Ilion, of all places.

To a country they had never once had any dealings with. To that island nation where nothing was known and nothing was understood, she was to go?

She wanted to go to her father the king and ask him herself, but the only children the king set aside time to meet with were Sionel, the Crown Prince, and Reynard, who held the next place in the line of succession. And even that was only when the king summoned them. The only one who held the right to request an audience was Sionel alone.

All other children who had something they wished to say had to go through Sionel. Sionel held, at least in part, even the power to decide.

The night before, she had soothed Heil as she sobbed in fear throughout the night, telling her that when morning came they would go to Sionel together and talk. That had seemed to slow the tears a little. But by morning, Heil had already come to terms with her situation in that short time.

‘What would change even if we saw the Crown Prince? I’ll go back to my castle. I need to prepare…… and go see my mother.’

Pamona was struck speechless once again by that capacity for adaptation. It was clearly a dazzling gift, but it was not meant to be used like this. She had no idea what Ilion was like, why she had to go, or what she would be doing there, and this was not something to accept so easily.

“It seems you already knew.”

At her words, Sionel set down the teacup he had been holding. The gaze he turned steadily downward seemed to say that she needed to observe propriety. It was a reminder not to forget that Ian Dnie was present.

“It seems you knew. Heil didn’t. Heil found out yesterday. That in two weeks she would be in Ilion.”

“She must have been startled.”

She must have been startled?

He was a brother she cherished dearly under ordinary circumstances, but not now.

“That’s a hostage situation.”

Sionel’s gaze on Pamona was the same measured look as always, but she understood it was a warning. It was likely telling her to watch her words, but Pamona, who was never good at watching her words and would sooner fall silent altogether, was not going to manage that at a time like this.

“There’s never been any exchange with Ilion in living memory, and now suddenly there’s friendly relations to foster. Are you trying to marry her off there?”

“It’s nothing like that, calm down.”

How am I supposed to calm down any more than this? The teacup is still in one piece.

“Then what is it? Sionel, have you ever been to Ilion? You haven’t. What about Father? Has Father been there?”

“Your Highness.”

“What kind of place is it? You’re sending Heil to a place no one knows anything about and no one has ever been to. If she goes, can she come back?”

“Your Highness.”

“Stop calling my name. I’m asking whether she can come back.”

Pamona was beside herself with frustration at Sionel sitting there at his ease. She felt like she could not breathe. Sitting still and talking felt as exhausting as running at full speed. She did not even notice that the tension in her entire body had her shoulders trembling faintly.

“She’ll come back.”

“She’ll come back?”

“Yes. It’s not about marrying her off either. It’s exactly what it says, a state exchange for the sake of friendly relations. I guarantee her safety.”

“How can you guarantee she’ll come back.”

Sionel took a slow sip of his tea without answering right away, then set the cup down without a sound.

“Because a distinguished guest from Ilion will be coming here as well.”

Pamona kept staring, so Sionel added more.

“Their side will also be sending a member of the royal family. Both sides have to guarantee each other’s safety.”

Only then did Pamona notice her own hands were trembling. Her throat felt parched and she wanted to drink her tea, but now that she had become aware of her shaking hands, she was afraid to pick up the cup.