Chapter 2

The sky on that bright spring day was a clear, spotless blue, with clouds as white as snow.

Pale pink petals fluttered down like feathers from the blossoming trees.

The hall, decorated with every kind of flower and ornament, was filled with people.

Sunlight poured in through the glass ceiling and illuminated a woman.

In that moment, the blankness in her gaze vanished—light flickered back, and her body swayed unsteadily.

“Heila!”

A familiar voice rang out, and someone caught her just as she began to fall.

The sunlight was so dazzling that her brow furrowed instinctively.

At the same time, a piercing headache hit her.

As a familiar scent reached her, Heila slowly opened her eyes.

A man was looking down at her with worry.

Pitch-black hair, skin almost unnaturally pale, those strange gray-green eyes and thin lips.

She found herself staring into the young, strikingly handsome face, and a creeping horror flickered through her gaze.

“Kersian?”

“You almost fainted just now. Are you feeling unwell?”

Her mind was spinning, a high-pitched ringing in her ears making it impossible to think straight.

Even the sound of his familiar voice seemed subtly off, not quite matching her memory.

He wore not the imperial robes of the Emperor, but a pure white ceremonial suit—radiant as snow.

It was a wedding suit.

Heila shook off his arm and collapsed onto the floor.

She promptly retched.

There were short, startled gasps and cries from the crowd.

But the dizziness and the crushing pain in her chest left her unable to care.

Wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, she managed to lift her head and saw the faces of countless people watching her.

And there, in the front row, she spotted a woman.

She wore a dress as white as snow, one that looked as if it had been designed to match Kersian’s own.

It was Uriel.

Seeing the two people she hated most standing together before her, Heila could only assume she had finally arrived in h*ll.

Blinded by love, she had brought death to so many—her father, those who had followed her, even the child she’d carried in her womb.

If this was her punishment, perhaps it was deserved.

And yet, as she looked at the two of them, so whole and untouched compared to her own ruined self, a bitter sense of injustice boiled up inside her.

Curled up in agony, Heila moaned softly, and soon lost consciousness altogether.

Blood stained her dress a deep, shocking red.

With a grimace, Kersian issued a curt order.

“The important part of the ceremony is over. Take Heila to her room and clean up this mess.”

***

In a wide and lavish room, a young girl lay in bed.

Beside her, a middle-aged woman sat, gently wiping her face with a cool, damp cloth.

Whatever dreams the sleeping girl suffered, they brought sweat to her brow and pained groans to her lips.

Her skin was as pale as a sheet, and her pinched face betrayed her misery.

“His Excellency is truly heartless. The princess collapses, and he doesn’t even show his face. How could a man change so completely? My poor lady…”

Gazing down at the girl, the woman’s eyes filled with tears.

Just then, the door flew open without warning, and a figure entered the room.

Startled, the woman hurriedly wiped away her tears and rose to greet him.

“Your Excellency, you’re here?”

With a hard expression, she greeted the man.

When she looked up, she saw a tall, strikingly handsome young man. His boyish face, though still youthful, wore a cold, unapproachable expression.

“How is Heila?”

Kersian did not sit, but stood by the bed, looking down at her.

The once-bright, adorable face had grown wan and hollow in only a few days.

The woman looked at Heila with deep pity in her eyes. Blinking back tears, she spoke at last.

“She struggled with a high fever through the night, and her temperature still hasn’t gone down.”

“I heard from the royal physician she isn’t in any real danger. So why hasn’t she woken up?”

His brow furrowed as he asked.

“I’m not sure. The princess has never been this ill before. I think… she was simply too shocked by everything.”

There was a subtle reproach in the woman’s tone.

A flicker of irritation crossed Kersian’s gaze at that.

“From now on, you’re to call her ‘Madam,’ not ‘princess.’”

His voice was flat and unyielding.

The woman bit her lip, then nodded.

“Yes, Your Excellency. But… what happened that day? Who was that young lady—?”

“Is that really your concern?”

His expression, already sour and weary, sharpened at her question.

His cold eyes made the woman clutch at her skirt in anxiety.

This was no longer the imperial palace, and their difference in status was clear—there were lines she could not cross.

“It’s not something you need concern yourself with. Forget it.”

“Yes, Your Excellency.”

Kersian looked at Heila again.

Just as the woman had said, sweat glistened on her fever-flushed face, her expression troubled by whatever nightmare she was trapped in.

She was sixteen years old—yet, with her small frame and delicate features, it was hard to see her as a grown woman at all.

Watching Heila suffer, looking so much like a child, stirred a pang of pity.

A flicker of sympathy crossed Kersian’s face, only to disappear as quickly as it came—he couldn’t help but recall the humiliation of their wedding day.

Collapsing in front of everyone had made the whole situation all the more difficult to handle.

“Take good care of her. I don’t want to hear that she died right after the wedding.”

With that, Kersian turned to leave.

But the woman caught him before he reached the door, her tone bewildered.

“Madam is so ill, and yet you’re leaving her side already?”

“There’s official business I need to attend to.”

And just like that, he left the room.

Moments later, a middle-aged knight entered.

“Sir Heinrich, you’re here?”

The woman greeted him, recognizing the familiar face.

“I just saw His Excellency leave.”

Heinrich closed the door behind him and approached.

“Don’t even get me started. What kind of husband acts so cold? He’s completely different from the man we saw at the capital. All that time, he acted like he’d do anything for her—our poor, naive lady was fooled.”

Marlene’s voice trembled with frustration.

Seeing her red-rimmed eyes, Heinrich offered her a handkerchief, then glanced toward Heila with a troubled look.

“Has the princess shown any improvement?”

“At least her fever’s gone down. Last night, I honestly worried she might not make it through.”

The mood in the room grew heavier at her words.

“What are we supposed to do now?”

“What else? We just have to hold on. The ceremony’s done—what else can we do?”

“He acted like she was the only one in the world for him, but you saw that woman at the wedding, didn’t you? They say she’s his mistress.”

Heinrich remembered her too—Count Bettia’s daughter, a vassal of the ducal family.

Curls of red hair as lush as a waterfall, eyes as wide and deep as a lake, a perfectly sculpted nose, and full red lips.

Her features were as beautiful and precise as a porcelain doll, and with that bewitching air about her, she was breathtaking.

It was hard to imagine any man turning away a woman like that.

But for all her beauty, her actions were beyond outrageous.

“I couldn’t believe what people were whispering at the wedding. Even the servants said they’d been together for ages. How can things like this happen?”

Marlene tried to steady her growing voice, forcing herself to calm down.

“I think I’ll have to write a letter to His Majesty. If things keep on like this, our lady might waste away.”

“But His Majesty’s health is fragile. Wouldn’t we just be upsetting him? What if it makes him even worse…?”

The emperor, who had fathered a daughter so late in life, treasured her above all else.

If he learned what was happening, it would surely break his heart.

He hadn’t even been able to attend the wedding because of his failing heart.

“You’re right. So what do we do—just stand by and watch?”

“For now, let’s wait until Madam wakes up, and see how things go. We’ll decide then.”

“All right.”

Marlene let out a long sigh.

“Everyone here is so cold. I can’t shake the feeling that even if our lady died, no one would shed a tear. She was loved more than anyone, and now she’s left to endure this indifference in a strange land. If His Majesty ever finds out, I can only imagine how much it would break his heart.”

“I feel the same way. In any case, our lady needs to wake up as soon as possible…”

“I know.”

Marlene and Sir Heinrich exchanged a few more words after that.

When Heinrich finally left the room, Marlene returned to caring for Heila.

She stayed by Heila’s side through the night.

Worn out and drowsy, Marlene eventually began to nod off. That’s when Heila’s eyelids began to flutter.

Her long lashes trembled softly as she slowly opened her eyes.

Sensing movement, Marlene woke up as well, just in time to see Heila blinking hazily up at her.

“My lady?”