The carriage bearing the crest of the Kingdom of Lil drew eyes at every turn along the road. Today was the day the kingdom’s one and only princess, Elénoa, set off to wed the crown prince of the empire in a royal marriage.

“How far have we come?”

Elénoa stirred from a light doze, lifted the curtain slightly, and peered out the carriage window.

“We’ll arrive in a few hours.”

“Only…… this far.”

A soft sigh escaped Elénoa’s pink lips.

No matter how fine a carriage pulled by six horses, travel was exhausting.

“Since we’re only a few hours from the border now…… there is something important I must tell you.”

Masa, the head lady-in-waiting who accompanied Elénoa, wore a solemn expression.

“A daughter of the Lil royal family, no matter whom she marries or where, must respect her elders without fail, be devoted without want, and be a companion who stands by her husband’s side.”

“You’ve already said that a hundred times.”

“No, today I have something special to add.”

The blue eyes of the nineteen-year-old girl went wide and round. Seeing her like this, Masa felt a pang of tenderness, thinking she still looked every bit a girl.

“Your Highness. There is an unspoken rule in the imperial household of the Cartos Empire that must never be spoken of. It concerns the elder brother of Crown Prince Felix.”

“……I’ve never heard of this.”

“I only learned of it myself after the royal marriage was decided, when I received a letter telling me to inform you.”

If Felix was not the firstborn, why had he become crown prince, and where had this elder brother gone?

“He is said to have been cursed from birth. So you must never speak of him. He is the shame and secret of the current imperial family.”

“Mm…… understood.”

Something left her vaguely unsettled, but Elénoa nodded without protest. Just a little further now and they would reach the imperial palace where the royal marriage would take place. For now, all she could think of was the union that would decide her fate.

Looking back…… this was the last time in Elénoa’s life when she could hold excitement and an innocent heart.

***

The royal marriage was celebrated grandly over five days and became a festival for both the empire and the kingdom alike. The relationship between its two principals, Felix and Elénoa, was also progressing little by little. The two would steal glances at each other and flush faintly.

On one occasion, as they waltzed hand in hand, Felix drew the handkerchief pinned to his chest and offered it to Elénoa, drawing cheers from all the imperial nobles present.

And…… time passed easily enough, and the first night of consummation for the crown prince and his bride was now just tomorrow. It was a night of the full moon, carefully chosen by the imperial household.

“You handle a horse remarkably well.”

Perhaps to ease the tension ahead of tomorrow’s consummation, Felix was the one to suggest a riding outing. Unlike most women of the empire, Elénoa wore a riding outfit and sat in the same saddle as the men.

“I’ve loved riding since I was young. Could it be…… that imperial etiquette frowns on a woman riding this way?”

Elénoa’s blue eyes, watching Felix with a trace of worry, were as calm as a lake and yet held something in them that could pull a person in completely.

“No, it doesn’t matter what others say as long as I approve. I’m tired of the imperial ladies who shriek and put on airs at the mere sight of a pony.”

Elénoa nodded at that. The two soon set off, riding side by side through the imperial hunting grounds, and at Felix’s suggestion they made a wager.

“To that tree with the red berries. What do you say?”

“I’ll be giving it my all.”

“Of course.”

Three, two, one.

They took off at the same time, and Felix seized the lead. Elénoa was nearly keeping pace with him when she spotted a pile of wet fallen leaves.

“Your Highness, watch out for the leaf pile!”

A pile of wet leaves was as slippery as ice, and without slowing down there was a real risk of being thrown from the horse.

But Felix, already fired up by the race, showed no sign of hearing her and drove his horse even harder. Elénoa had no choice but to push her own horse faster and draw it up alongside his.

“Whoa, whoa!”

Then it happened. Felix’s horse suddenly showed signs of distress. Bloodshot eyes, forelegs rearing up, refusing its rider’s reins, wild and agitated.

“Your Highness!”

Elénoa managed to press her horse flush against Felix’s and took hold of his reins in his place.

“The horse…… something is wrong.”

Felix himself, still mounted, was frozen with a pale face, seemingly deaf to everything around him.

“I’ll tie the horse. Hold on tight.”

Elénoa, disturbing the horse as little as possible, barely managed to tie the reins to a nearby tree trunk. But when the horse reared its forelegs and tried to throw Felix off, he reflexively kicked the horse in the flank.

“Ah……!”

The price for Felix’s reckless action was Elénoa’s fall. Because she was still holding his horse’s reins, she was thrown to the ground when the horse bolted.

This was the incident that would later become known throughout the empire as the crown princess’s fall from horseback, never left out whenever Elénoa’s name came up.

***

Elénoa was carried to her quarters and examined by the imperial physician, who found nothing wrong with her. He told her to rest and left her with an ointment for the scrape on her face.

“Ma……sa?”

“Your Highness, you’re awake? The physician says thankfully everything is fine.”

Elénoa breathed out in relief. If something went wrong on the eve of the consummation, the legitimacy of this marriage could crumble.

“However…….”

“What?”

Masa held out a small hand mirror, and Elénoa saw a thin, crescent-shaped scrape just beside her left eye. It looked like a branch caught her when she fell.

“Something like this will heal quickly, and it’s not that noticeable.”

“Yes. I’ll apply the ointment the physician left.”

“Mm.”

Though she was born and raised a princess, Elénoa had an exceptionally easygoing and positive nature. She fell off a horse and came away with nothing worse than this, so she felt grateful rather than troubled.

“Oh, and His Highness?”

“There’s been no sign of him since he returned to his quarters. I’ll let you know if I hear anything.”

“Mm. He must be tired as well.”

Elénoa nodded lightly, with no idea at all, not yet.

That Felix was, unlike her, a cowardly and petty man.

“Here, they say rubbing the ointment in gently makes it more effective.”

“Mm…… tomorrow is the last day of the wedding rites, isn’t it? I feel relieved, but it’s a strange feeling too.”

Elénoa was already invested as crown princess of the Cartos Empire, but she could only be recognized as a proper member of the imperial family after the formal consummation.

“Don’t worry too much and get a good rest tonight. Understood?”

“Mm.”

Masa and Elénoa exchanged a warm look.

Neither of them knew at all how things were unfolding for Elénoa within the imperial palace. Even less did they know that somewhere in this palace, there was a woman standing at a window with thick curtains drawn, smiling with red lips.

***

The striking beauty, her full lips painted in a bewitching shade of red, turned from the window and approached Felix, who sat on the bed with a sullen expression.

“Are you sure you’ll be all right? It is the first consummation night, after all.”

“Forget it. I can’t even stand the sight of her, let alone share a bed.”

Felix was a man of towering pride and a narrow heart. Bianca, who knew her way around men, read him the moment she did and secured her place as his mistress by playing exactly to his vanity.

“Truly…… I was so shocked when I heard.”

Bianca’s soft hand slowly traced down Felix’s back.

“Whatever possessed the crown princess to ride up to Your Highness while you were galloping along perfectly fine and snatch away your reins like that. It nearly caused a terrible accident.”

That was the complete opposite of the truth. Elénoa threw herself into danger to save Felix from a horse that suddenly went wild and a treacherous pile of wet leaves.

“That’s right. It was all the crown princess’s fault.”

A subsequent investigation revealed that someone administered a drug to the horse, and Felix came away without a scratch, yet the thought that a mere woman saved him made rage boil up inside him. Elénoa herself had come to feel like his own shame made flesh.

“You’re safe now, so cheer up. I’ve already had a word with the servants so none of them get any strange ideas.”

“Bianca…… truly, you’re the only one who could ever be my companion.”

Felix leaned into Bianca’s arms without hesitation, and the warmth of him made her red lips curve into an even more bewitching smile.