The man took his leave promptly. Whether it was his tall, imposing frame and broad shoulders, or the jet-black hair and eyes — the dark formal uniform suited him remarkably well.

“You are young, so you may not know this, Annabella…… but the current Emperor originally seized the throne by taking it from his own elder brother.”

“……What? Is that truly so?”

This was something she had never known even during her years as Crown Princess. Small wonder — who would say such a thing to a woman about to become Crown Princess, or to one who already was?

“So when word of your betrothal reached us, we were beside ourselves with distress. It was plain as day that the Duke intended to use your beauty to get his hands on power.”

“That’s right — he knew full well they were usurpers, and still he sought to make you Crown Princess so he could secure an even stronger grip on influence.”

The Duke of Lates had kept a great deal hidden from Annabella. Even the revelation that he had sold her into marriage no longer surprised her.

If he had truly thought of her wellbeing at all, how could he have sent a dolled-up Delilah to seduce the Crown Prince in front of a pregnant Annabella? He could hardly have been ignorant of the Crown Prince’s appetite for women and indulgence.

“In any case, had things gone as they should have, it would have been Cedric’s father on the throne — and Cedric who was Crown Prince.”

Whoever the Crown Prince might have been, it seemed Annabella had been destined to become Crown Princess. And yet it had not turned out that way. To think that their usurpation had made her life what it became — an unbidden resentment stirred in her at the thought.

“Don’t worry yourself over it. There is nothing for you to trouble about. I will send the envoy tomorrow.”

“That’s right. How could anyone expect a girl with smallpox to make such a long journey? We draw it out that way, then say the scarring has set in.”

The royal couple, as though by prior agreement, said nothing of the consolation money. They had thought it through — that if Annabella learned her own father had taken payment and washed his hands of her, it would only wound her. It was, in every sense, the heart of true parents.

***

The following day, a carrier pigeon went out in the name of the King of Elaise, bound for the estate of House Lates. Shortly after, an envoy set out toward the imperial capital.

The carrier pigeon arrived far sooner, as was only natural, and in the dead of night a messenger from the pigeon post came to the ducal estate with word of an urgent matter.

“The red ribbon marked it as urgent, so I have brought only the letter.”

“You’ve done well.”

The Duke drew a few silver coins from his pocket and pressed them into the messenger’s hand. Then he unfolded the letter at once — and the further he read, the deeper his brow furrowed.

“Of all the——blasted——!”

Miranda, who had sensed that something was wrong from the shift in the air, came out to the entrance hall and took her place at the Duke’s side.

“My dear, what is it? Come inside, it’s cold. Won’t you?”

“Annabella has contracted smallpox. I’ve just received word by carrier pigeon from the Kingdom of Elaise. An envoy is on their way, apparently.”

“Good heavens…… smallpox……!”

The Duchess possessed acting talent that surpassed any performer Annabella had ever seen. She could have made her debut at the opera house that very night and no one would have found her lacking.

“But that leaves dreadful scarring, doesn’t it?”

“Why did she have to insist on making that trip! And right before the state marriage, of all times!”

The Duke crumpled the letter in his fury. He had only permitted the short journey because he had known she would whine endlessly otherwise — who could have predicted she would contract smallpox in the meantime.

“There is a limit to how sickly a person can be! Her mother spent every day lying in bed after giving birth, and now the daughter turns out the same!”

The Duke’s anger was laced with irritation — as though he couldn’t understand why, when everyone else got on perfectly well, she alone had to be so extraordinarily troublesome.

“I never should have allowed it! You should have talked me out of it!”

The Duke was, on top of everything else, a man who blamed others readily. That he had managed to conceal all of this and successfully marry into a good family made him, in a certain light, an even finer actor than Miranda.

“Blast it all…… Miranda! Bring me something to drink!”

“Yes…….”

The Duke slammed the front door shut. From here, the task of absorbing his fury would fall to Miranda. In her own way, Miranda was no true victor either.

Word spread rapidly that the young lady of House Lates — soon to be Crown Princess — had contracted smallpox while traveling. The rumor carried far too many irresistible elements to be contained, and it raced from one place to another in no time at all.

“They say it wasn’t ordinary smallpox either — the rash spread across nearly her entire body.”

“From what I heard, the scarring on her face is so severe it’s difficult to look at.”

“Good heavens…… She was supposed to be a great beauty, too. I don’t think I could go on living if that happened to me.”

Wherever one went, there were plenty of people relishing the misfortune of the stricken young noblewoman. Cedric, hood pulled low over his face, was making his way through a crowd when the rumors reached his ears, and the corner of his mouth curved upward.

‘Just as expected.’

People delighted in rumors and had a way of spreading even falsehoods as though they were truth, faster than anything else in the world. At this rate, the story would reach every corner of the continent sooner than he had anticipated.

Just then, Cedric came to a brief halt.

‘Following me again, are they.’

Having sensed someone watching him from a distance, he moved swiftly and melted into the shadows of a narrow alley.

Since leaving the barren north behind, Cedric had acquired those who trailed his steps. Most were small-time men who couldn’t conceal their killing intent — but among them were a handful of genuine talents, and they had left him with deep wounds more than once.

The current Emperor viewed Cedric as a dangerous element, and intended to have him killed in advance — clearing the way for his son’s reign before it had even begun.

‘I have no intention of giving up my life so easily.’

The Emperor’s instincts were correct. Cedric had no intention of surrendering not only his life, but the throne.

By the time Cedric’s father, Kal, had uncovered who had poisoned the late Emperor, he himself was already in the grip of the poison. The current Emperor had not stopped at poisoning his own father — he had poisoned his own brother as well, and taken everything for himself.

His father was gone — but the wish to one day lay the Emperor’s crown upon his grave had never once wavered. For that, Cedric was prepared to do whatever it took.

“Two beers.”

Cedric stepped into the dining room of a run-down inn and placed his order. The beer arrived shortly, and before long a heavily built man in arms settled into the seat across from him.

“I regret that I cannot offer a proper greeting in a place such as this.”

“Never mind that.”

The brown-haired man was one of Cedric’s most devoted retainers — a descendant of those who had served the true imperial line across generations.

“What I asked you to look into.”

“You mean the young lady who fell ill with smallpox?”

“Yes.”

Cedric took a long pull of his beer.

“Everyone is saying what a pity it is, what a shame — though they seem to be enjoying her misfortune well enough.”

“Leave out your personal observations.”

“It’s a success. Everyone believes it without question. The ducal estate and the imperial family will likely believe it just the same.”

At that, one corner of Cedric’s mouth lifted.

“Even if someone were to say otherwise now, no one would believe them. That is what makes rumors so fearsome.”

“Indeed. Rumors can kill a person without making a sound.”

Cedric raised his beer and drank in silence.

“It’s good to think that I could be of even a little help to the royal house of Elaise.”

For the first time, he felt as though he had repaid at least a fragment of the debt he owed. And yet, by rights, his reach should have extended far beyond something like this.

“I want to reclaim my identity and my rightful standing — and soon.”

“Yes. Only then will the true order of the Empire stand as it should.”

At Cedric’s words, the man across from him closed his fist and spoke with quiet resolve.

“How goes the north?”

“Everything is proceeding smoothly.”

The north was barren and bitterly cold — no place for people to live. It had naturally become an abandoned stretch of land with nothing that could rightly be called a settlement.

But now, those who had revered Cedric’s father had begun to gather there, along with soldiers who had nowhere else to go, and out of that gathering a community had taken shape — a base of sorts, where those of shared conviction trained and built their strength.

All of it had been made possible because Cedric stood at the center, of course — but in another sense, it had been made possible by the current Emperor himself, who had accumulated no shortage of bitter enemies.

“Press the preparations forward. The day of reckoning draws near.”

“Yes.”

Cedric issued the order with a cool, sharp gaze, and the heavily built man dropped to one knee and bowed his head.

Cedric drank in silence, his eyes burning with a quiet, fierce light.