His emotionless voice made it sound even more eerie. Hari tried to respond calmly.

“I won’t run away. I don’t have that ability anyway.”

Though she knew she should be cautious, she couldn’t help but ask.

“But can Your Highness trust me? There’s no way to tell if my prophecies are nonsense or truth.”

“Would lying benefit you?”

“Who knows. If the Second Prince you’re wary of approaches me with conditions…”

Achilleon, who had been staring at her with a rolled cigarette paper between his lips, burst into fierce laughter.

“Done analyzing the situation? Is that why you’re making such half-baked threats?”

A slow sigh seeped into the suffocating silence.

“You must think you have ten lives.”

Hari gathered her courage to the bottom while hiding her fear.

“You want the throne. Conflict with the Second Prince is inevitable. So let’s do this. In exchange for helping you get what you want, give me freedom…”

Before she could finish, caustic laughter shot into the air. Achilleon laughed while looking at Hari as if she were a strange animal.

“Why should I? Let you go? Look here, Princess. You still seem to be under a misunderstanding… There are many ways to make truth spill from your mouth. But you probably don’t want to repeat what happened in the tower. Right? You don’t want me to do exactly what your father did.”

The mere thought made her blood run cold. Hari bit her pale lips to swallow her trembling, but couldn’t hide the reflexive rejection that shot through her body.

“Even if I were to stake everything on your existence alone, I’m neither that careless nor that desperate. It’s just a means to shed less blood – I’ll become king of Hitais with or without your prophecies.”

A strong hand gripped Hari’s chin.

“If it’s my destiny to become king, things will flow that way, and even if it’s not, I’ll make it happen. I have to have whatever I want. Remember that your existence can’t be any variable in my life.”

A cool moss scent emanated from the hand with its prominent veins. That hand slowly traced Hari’s lips before gripping her throat. As pressure was gradually applied, forgotten terror revived. Achilleon stroked Hari’s neck, alternating between applying and releasing pressure, as he lifted one corner of his mouth. As if breaking her neck would be nothing.

By the time tears welled up in her eyes, Achilleon released her. After tidying his disheveled appearance, he left without hesitation. Hari blankly watched his retreating back before bursting into the cough she had been holding back.

Before Hitais took control, Galate had ignored them. Weren’t they originally called the country of beasts?

To be tamed? Or to become prey?

There seemed to be no other choices.

* * *

The next day, Huliya, a lady-in-waiting of the White Jade Palace, came to visit.

“Please tell me if you need anything at all.”

Huliya, who was said to have served the princes for many years, was an elderly lady. Unlike the immature young maids, she treated Hari with proper courtesy. Her dignified manner, precise speech, and gaze mixed with appropriate indifference helped ease Hari’s tension.

“You must focus on recovering your health. The master hopes that Lady Hari will regain her strength soon and be faithful to her duties.”

Breakfast was placed on the table in neat dishes. Though simple, it was a balanced meal containing all necessary nutrients. Unlike the previous night spent in tension, the room filled with morning sunlight was warm and comfortable. The clinking sound of dishes cut through the quiet air. When she had eaten about half of the rye bread that was toasted golden brown and spread with fig jam, Hari carefully broached the subject.

“Lady Huliya, I heard His Highness has a fiancée. May I ask what kind of person she is?”

To Hari’s question, asked because having someone quietly standing beside her while eating was uncomfortable, Huliya frowned.

“…Yes. If you can call a wanton woman who commits lewd acts in what should be a virtuous inner chamber a betrothed.”

Unlike the lavish praise expected, surprisingly, the response was cold.

“She is the daughter of Council Elder Duke Karnos. Even rumors of more than ten secret lovers coming and going to Dawn Palace have been covered up with power.”

Hari recalled the beautiful woman she had glimpsed while passing Dawn Palace. Selina Karnos. Navy blue hair shining like the night sea and skin soft like the dawn moon. She was a beauty with distinctively long-slanted eyes and full lips.

“It would be wise not to mention Miss Karnos in front of the Third Prince.”

While signaling to the maids who had come to clear the dishes, Huliya added a heavy piece of advice.

“And try not to get involved with Miss Karnos if possible. She stops at nothing when it comes to matters concerning Prince Achilleon.”

Fiancée and concubine. Hari also hoped to avoid meeting in such an awkward relationship. However, unfortunately, the encounter came early.

The next day, Hari met Selina on the walking path leading to the main palace’s back garden. Having apparently just finished a social gathering, the women walking leisurely with Selina in the lead were dressed as splendidly as peacocks. Among them, Selina with her long straight navy blue hair was exceptionally beautiful.

This time they didn’t just pass by. Selina stared at Hari before breaking into a smile.

“So you’re the woman the Third Prince brought from Galate. You’re truly beautiful as rumored. I heard there are many beauties in Galate…”

Selina’s smile deepened as she looked Hari up and down while Hari gave a polite greeting.

“What’s your secret? They say it’s a land blessed by the gods – I guess it’s true.”

The smile with unclear intentions was somehow unsettling.

“I was very curious about you since this is the first time I’ve seen His Highness bring a woman. I’m glad to meet you.”

“Thank you for your warm welcome. Lady Selina, you are indeed as beautiful as the rumors say.”

“Well, that’s only natural. Let’s get along well from now on. We can help each other without burden, like family. How about that, isn’t that nice?”

“Thank you for saying so.”

“Ah, losing one’s homeland must be such a sad thing. I can’t even imagine the magnitude of that loss and sorrow. Has Galate been erased from maps now? Where did all the people there go? The slave markets must be booming.”

Selina sent a sympathetic look while blinking her eyes like an innocent child ignorant of the world. Though the noble ladies who had been waiting to interject added contempt disguised as sympathy, Hari responded with calm indifference. She had learned that silence was better for questions with unclear intentions. The noble ladies who had been examining Hari’s every aspect as if looking at a monkey in a cage soon lost interest in her composed reaction.

“Tell me if you need anything. I’ll get it for you. I want to help when I see pitiful people. Those who have should give. That’s the noble virtue I was taught.”

Selina smiled brightly. Her white teeth flashed like sharp diamonds in her widely opened mouth.

“Well then, we’ll be going now. See you again, Miss Hari. I think we’ll be running into each other often from now on.”

With a slight eye-smile, Selina gracefully disappeared leading her companions. A cool breeze that cooled sweat stirred the peplos hems of the women as splendid as bouquets. Chattering voices and elegant laughter intertwined with the heavy summer humidity. Until their shadows disappeared beyond the corner of the walking path.

* * *

The busy week preparing for the Star Festival at Hitais’s central temple ‘Cradle’ passed quickly. Hari endured steady and diligent harassment. The main perpetrators were inexperienced young nobles who had just entered society and noblewomen of ambiguous social standing. Outright insults and dismissal were common occurrences. Childish actions like “accidentally” spilling wine on her skirt or pouring water bottles from the balcony on Hari while she was walking. Whether these were voluntary actions or directed by Selina was unclear.

Receiving water showers from unknown assailants every other day for two weeks, Hari shivered while dripping water. Cough cough, her coughs burst out along with water droplets. Hari frowned at the musty smell rising from her body. Even the court physician who had said her condition would improve with proper self-care and regular walks probably hadn’t anticipated this situation. Hari wrung out her wet clothes and walked to the hunting ground keeper’s cabin in the annex palace. She washed herself routinely at the nearby well.

‘At least it’s summer so clothes dry quickly.’

Hitais’s social circles would not accept a foreigner who suddenly secured a place by the prince’s side. Hari understood their contempt. She began collecting items that could be sold – copper coins received from Achilleon, cheap mother-of-pearl hair ornaments that noble ladies threw at her like alms out of pity – and storing them in a box under her bed.