/
The presence of a thin cloth covered my already dark field of vision. Wilhelm’s eyes were persistent and stubborn that could even pierce through a blackout curtain.
(P/R: Blackout curtain is very thick that could even block light.)
It was strange. His face didn’t contain any emotions. Neither the excitement of meeting the person he had been looking forward to nor the disappointment upon realizing that it wasn’t the one he was expecting. There was no emotion. Even so, Wilhelm was staring into my eyes as if he was unaware of the veil. I felt dizzy.
With a rather rugged breath, I grabbed Richton’s arm. I felt suffocated without even realizing it. Richton obediently entrusted his arm to me. I didn’t know what he was thinking. The momentary silence couldn’t have felt that long.
“Princess.”
Wilhelm’s gaze turned to my arm holding Richton.
“If you don’t mind, can I ask you one more thing?”
“No. You can’t.”
“May I just hold the princess’ hand just once?”
“I don’t want to.”
He reached for my hand even without my permission. It was scary. I was not scared of Wilhelm, but this feeling of unknown fear.
“Richton.”
Tell him to stop now, I don’t want to be here anymore.
I held Richton’s arm and pulled it as if it were my last salvation. The space between my fingers under the glove was damp with cold sweat.
“My lovely Beatrice. His Highness Wilhelm seems to have a lingering feeling that you cannot understand.”
His other hand covered the back of my hand. Beneath the ceiling, the face that was looking down at me contained infinite affection, comforting reassurance, and irresistible pressure coexisting together.
“I don’t like treating you like a pet bird that flew out of a cage
.”
There were no following words, but his eyes were speaking to me. It was as if I could hear orders to do as Wilhelm wished.
‘Why?’
My breaths grew rougher again. But Richton was the only person I could count on, and I had no right to refuse him. I felt like a child who was forced to follow an adult’s words. Nervously, I took off my gloves and stretched it out towards Wilhelm. He looked at the back of my hand. However, it ended with just looking.
“I apologize, Princess.”
Wilhelm, who took a step closer, took the gloves that I had removed as if he wanted to tear it apart.
“Please forgive me. I didn’t expect you to hate it that much.”
The back of a hand, paler than the moonlight, slowly disappeared under his movements. It didn’t take that long for him to put the gloves on my hands perfectly.
“From now on, you don’t have to force yourself and endure your disgust.”
“Did I look like I was disgusted?”
I creased my forehead as if saying to look at me. I didn’t like how everyone like Kean talked as if they could read me clearly. That was what disgusting was.
“I’ve never done that. Thank you for your concern.”
“There’s no need to be wary of anyone.”
I crumpled my creased forehead even more.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Are we talking about the same thing right now?”
Wilhelm grinned. A smile that gives trust to the viewer. It was the exact laugh that was described in a passage in the book.
“I’ll see you soon.”
I’m sorry, but that won’t happen. I’m only going to stay confined in Ingord until I get out of it.
“Ah.”
Wilhelm, who had turned his back without regret, suddenly stopped walking.
“The princess’ friend misses you a lot. Please come visit at least once. I’ll welcome you, too.”
Reina. I felt dazed as if my head were submerged in the water.
Reina, you didn’t betray me.
You didn’t lie to me. You kept your promise to me. You kept your promise

In the end, Wilhelm knew who I was. Was it from the beginning? No, even if Reina informed him of my appearance, I even dyed my hair. Then was it after taking off the veil? Just the one fact that my eyes were green that were even common to see in the streets?
Someone grabbed my arm. I came to my senses and checked Richton’s complexion. He looked so indifferent and insensible that it was unnecessary to do so.
“I have no reason to visit.”
I said those words myself, but it felt endlessly awkward. Did that sound like a lame excuse? It’s not because I was afraid of being thrown away. Because as long as one was by his side, they should be loyal only to his commands. Yeah, that’s why. Because Richton didn’t let traitors live.
“There will never be.”
When I said it again like hitting a nail, Richton, who was only walking quietly, called me in a low voice.
“Susan.”
The end of the hallway was wrapped in the shadows of darkness. The yellow light of the banquet, soaked in joy and happiness, gradually approached.
“I hope you didn’t forget our bet.”
That one word was the starting point. My heart, which had been pounding with unexplained anxiety, sank coldly as if a frost typhoon had hit me.
Ah. What is this strange feeling of wanting to tear my lips in a fit of anger?
‘The bet is whether I can tame you perfectly or not.’
He ordered me to take off my gloves. Then he advised me not to be tamed. A sarcastic voice towards my shame came out of nowhere.
“That’s very kind of you. Thanks to you, I remembered a fact that I had completely forgotten. As expected, you’re a great gentleman that every lady yearns for.”
“Don’t get uselessly worn out and provoked.”
“You’re the one who provoked me!”
Admitting it, I had no reason to be mad at him. Perhaps I was releasing to Richton all the confusion I felt with Wilhelm. Or even that was a shabby excuse. But only this was certain. Richton’s one small comment made me angry.
As they approached the banquet hall, lovers wandering the hallway with privy eyes began to appear one by one. Among them, I and Richton were nothing more than a couple whispering their love.
“Shh.”
Conscious of his surroundings, Richton wrapped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me closer into his arms.
“Is it because of the prince? You’re more agitated than necessary. I’ll keep you company, so calm down your anger.”
At a volume as if soothing his beloved lover, a sweet and calm voice lingered in my ears. His facial expression, attitude, walk, gaze, atmosphere while staring at me were all perfect. The man in front of me right now was a man who was perfectly in love with me. Really perfectly.
“Richton.”
“Say it.”
“You’re really good at acting. I thought I was also quite talented with it, but compared to you, I’m just like a drop in the ocean.”
Who would try to put themself in the same category as the man who tried to scoop out Cain’s eyeballs? Who would try to think he was the same man who led the destruction of Triviache? At this point, he was like a different person. Yes, there was no slightest error in Reina’s description that he was a lunatic.
“Both of them are me, Beatrice.”
That time when he brought me back after chasing a stray dog. Richton back then was just like now. He acted like he’d never let me go, but sometimes even that felt like acting. So whenever I would deal with him for a long time, I would get the illusion that all the blood in my body was draining out.
“If you think of both of them as someone who loves you, you’ll feel more at ease.”
Madness. As I stepped under the dazzling chandelier, I brought out a memory not too long ago to the surface.
‘I don’t know what His Excellency wants from me.’
I was in the middle of something. I couldn’t remember clearly, but I couldn’t fall asleep like any other night. I ran into Berkne by chance as I was wandering around the mansion like a ghost and confided in him. Because it was dawn, my true heart that had been hidden under the pit of my stomach crawled out.
‘I’ve been thinking about it for a long time, but I still don’t know. The glare in his eyes that I often see is so frightening that my legs tremble. Sometimes he’s as sweet as a noble gentleman, sometimes as cruel as a man who you shouldn’t associate yourself with. It’s hard and tiring to please him.’
‘You’ve become very good at that.’
‘I’ve adapted. This is where I live now.’
‘You’re talking as if you’re going to leave for a faraway place soon.’
Berkne treated my thoughts insignificantly. It didn’t mean he treated it like a child’s whining. It just meant that anyone would naturally think the same.
‘Master is crazy.’
At my seriousness, Berkne blinked slowly.
‘The madness of Ingord is God’s blessing.’
As he slowly closed and opened his eyes, he was admitting that their master was indeed crazy.
‘
That’s what was being passed around the empire. Do you know why? Because the world recognizes that the Empire and Ingord have prospered indefinitely through that madness.’
God’s blessing, and the Empire’s prosperity.
‘What nonsense are you talking about all of a sudden?’
‘But Susan, His Excellency’s madness has calmed down a lot ever since you came. I don’t know why, but I’m grateful for that, too.’
After saying that, Berkne went back to his bedroom. It was me who wanted to take a load off my mind, but he had a more relieved face. It was still funny whenever I recalled that conversation. Was it God’s blessing when a person went crazy? That’s not what a man like Berkne would say. Rather, it would be more natural to accept it as a limit of the worldview in the book.
“Your Excellency.”
It was then. A large man shoved his way among the nobles, who began to gather with the smell of alcohol and perfume. The man was none other than Kean.
“Marquis Crohertz
”
What was it that made him run in such a hurry? I shook off my trivial thoughts and focused on the shape of Kean’s mouth.
This was what Kean said. The host of this banquet, Marquis Crohertz, is dead.