Translator – YueIgnoring the echo of the voice behind him, Ivan bit his lips and walked away, his fist tightly clenched.There was no need to worry about his mother. The plan to kicked her out of power was advancing smoothly, anyways. Perhaps she felt confident now, but soon, she’d lose all she’d protected up to now.However…“I’ll invite my sister to the next ball”.When Ivan reunited with his wife after not speaKing to each other for a while, those were the words she’d said.“Perhaps… could you also dance with her that day? It’s hard to find an appropriate dance partner and…”. She lowered her gaze and folded her hands.When those words left her tender lips, Ivan felt a deep sense of disenchantment. His beating heart kept doing summersaults sporadically.“Have you spoken about this with your family?”Alicia nodded in a low voice and said “yes… my father… straight up asked me… about my sister…”His own wife was speaKing in the same tune as his mother, and he couldn’t help but think t
Translator – Yue“I’ll make sure to look after Her Majesty the Queen… so please rest assured and don’t worry, Your Majesty”. Mrs Cessly said in a respectful tone.“It seems like I’m in debt with you and Basil”. Ivan said with a bitter smile.“All I’ve done was to follow after the Grand Chamberlain, Your Majesty. It was thanks to his efforts that Her Majesty the Queen changed her mind. In the end, truth makes everyone change their mind. Please, don’t be impatient and give Her Majesty some time”.Hearing Mrs. Cessly genuine worry and subtle warning, Ivan smiled softly. He was relieved to know that she’d be in Alicia’s side. He knew Mrs. Cessly would take care of Alicia’s deep wounds.***Mrs. Cessly knew about the current tense situation. In the following days, she didn’t mention Alicia Ivan’s name, ignoring the King and paying all her mind to Alicia’s wellbeing.Alicia wondered if her own mother would have taken care of her like Mrs. Cessly did during this difficult times.“Thank God”
Translator – Yue Upon looking at him, Patricia thought he was a foreigner. The man stepped aside, bowed his head and let her pass through. “Go in, lady” Patricia let out a loud “Hmmmph!” and started walKing. There was no need to worry about a man as trivial and average as him. When she stepped foot within the office, the man closed the door behind her. Then, the butler who’d been waiting for him approached him and guided him out the door. “This way please, sir”. Following the butler, the men heard the maids’ complains about the woman with red hair. “Did you see that? Did you see her conceited glare? She believes herself the owner of this place!” “My heart is boiling with fury. Our poor mistress… how awful!” “…so that woman… is she the Count’s lover?” the man asked the butler. He had an elegant accent, quite characteristic of northern people. “Yes, that’s right” the butler answered, turning his head. “She looks strangely familiar to me…” said the man. “That’s because Viscou
Translator – YueAlicia’s complex thoughts naturally looked into what was soon to happen.In a month, there would be an incident in Coulson. A highly contagious virus would spread among the people. She knew that would happen, but she didn’t do anything since she knew Dimitri and her uncle would rise victorious.But, what would Ivan do with this information?If it’d been him, he would have stopped the death of many members of the nobility. That was the most effective method.Alicia had changed many letters with Dimitri in her past life, and knew the angst he felt. His heart was torn after spilling so much blood in his path to acquire the throne. He’d seen the deaths of many close friends because of that. And… he’d never wanted the crown. He’d wanted his freedom, but it seemed as though some invisible force was constantly pushing him towards the throne.She knew that, but didn’t lift a finger. She was going to let the same events to happen all over again. But now, she’d realized her sel
Translator – YueMemoirs from the past…“Your Majesty, we have a big problem!”The incident started with Basil’s urgent calls.Alicia spent her days dreaming of the baby inside her womb. Right then, she heard some terrible news from Coulson. Many members of the royal family who were carrying out a ceremony at the sanctuary suddenly fell ill to some incurable disease.The King, the Crown Prince and many heirs from the direct bloodline fell on the table, one after the other, their lives hovering close to death’s doors.If it had been a natural phenomenon, people would have considered it an unfortunate event and prayed for their health.However, it all changed when the truth was revealed. The Queen Mother had frustrated that plan, along with many other Coulson nobles who were against the tyranny of the ruling royal family.Ivan, enraged upon the terrible massacre she’d carried out, roared at her. “Are you crazy? How could you do that? There’s something wrong with your head!”For the firs
Translator – YueAlicia felt scared upon hearing Ivan’s confession.Ivan looked at her carefully, searching into account any detail, just in case the news made Alicia faint.“Since a long time ago my mother’s had great interest in creating a huge nation capable of fighting against the Toulouse Empire. To achieve that, she wanted to unite Coulson and Ehrlich under the same banner. That’s why she committed that terrible crime…”“But… those were also the Queen Mother’s relatives. How could she…?”“I’ve told you before, have I not? My mother is someone capable of extreme cruelty… even to the people close to her”.Alicia remembered the words he’d said to her in the carriage, after returning from the Queen Mother’s Palace. She felt breathless. She realized Ivan hadn’t just said those words to keep her away from the Queen Mother.“Then… that time… since she was already like that…”“This time, she can’t do anything. She’s lost her will and the power to commit that crime. I’ve also made sure s
Translator – YueHowever, there was no stopping Alicia’s weeping with just those words. While Alicia kept crying, Basil quickly reached inside his pockets and took something out.“I heard that when you are in a bad mood, you’ll feel better if you eat something sweet. Your Majesty, at least have some of this…”He had a piece of candy in his hands. When Alicia looked at the candy with tears still in her eyes, surprised, Basil clumsily attempted to hide his hands. He felt ashamed.As a kid she’d have happily taken it. I guess it’s too much of me to think that you’d do that now…“My apologies. I shouldn’t have…”“Why are you so kind to me, Basil?”At her sudden question, Basil’s eyes widened.“What?”“You’ve always been like this. In the past and even now. Even though I treated you terribly last time, you are still kind to me”.Hearing her trembling, crying voice, Basil felt as though he was listening to his own youngest daughter, and had to stop himself from unconsciously laughing.“Well
Translator – YueThat promise was a pact made discreetly after the two tragedies that shook Ehrlich.The first tragedy took place when the Queen Mother rebelled against the new King, causing a bloodshed, and the second tragedy happened when some nobles chose Count Clovis over their King and tried to usurp the throne from the young monarch. The coup d’état failed, but much violence happened. Therefore, after these two bloody episodes, a promise was made among both parties for the sake of Ehrlich.“The Queen Mother and I promised never to cause discord again, but Your Majesty, you, who reaped the most benefits from this pact, are you trying to break the promise that your predecessors agreed on after so much pain?”Due to the civil war and the conflicts caused by the Queen Mother, Count Clovis, son of the King, had to step aside and be replaced by Ivan, who took the throne. That’s what Count Clovis was referring about.Ivan laughed. “If you knew that promise so well, you shouldn’t have a
Epilogue (1) – DimitriTranslator – YueYears later.“…and Elheim truly loved his human woman. But he was a God, pure and divine, so he could not remain too much longer on earth. If he stayed in the human world for too long, he’d lose all his divine powers…”The man who was reading the book out loud paused for a while and looked at a particular direction in his audience. There, there was a little girl with the same hair color as him. He saw her yawning while little eyes narrowed with displeasure, as though wondering why he’d stopped. The man resumed reading the book.“In the end, Eiheim had no choice but to leave the woman he loved and to go back on earth. However, he wept for the love he had to leave behind on the human world and those tears turned into rain. At the same time, a baby was growing inside his woman’s womb, a baby created from their union. This baby was born strong and healthy, and she had an incredible power. She had the power to turn himself into a bird. In the human w
Translator – YueT/N: This is the end, so extra-long chapter for today?Ivan irrupted into the room, sword in hand and a murderous look in his eye… to see Alicia licking her fingers. In front of her there was a huge plate filled with food. There was an abundance of seafood. Next to her was a worker who looked at Ivan with widened eyes.“Ivan?”Alicia quickly took her finger out of her mouth and looked at him. She asked again, nervous.“What’s wrong? Did something happen?”The inn worker looked alternated glances between Ivan and the sword in his hand, his legs shaking.“Oh… it’s just… it looked like your wife was pregnant, so I was only asking if there was anything she disliked so I could bring something else…”Since Alicia had taken her robe and coat off, she was wearing a light dress that showed her bulging belly clearly. It seemed that the inn boy had noticed it and was only asking whether she liked the food.Ivan felt ridiculous for getting angry over something like this.No, more
Translator – Yue“Salerno Inn”Alicia read the old sign that was hanging atop a building. It was an inn, so it definitely offered food and shelter to travelers.“It would take us around two hours to reach your mother’s mansion. It might be faster if we rode my horse together, but you can’t while pregnant… if you don’t want to spend the night in a place like this, then I’ll find another way…”Ivan murmured while trying to assess Alicia’s reaction. He knew that the inn was old and gloomy. He’d spent some nights here before himself but he knew that it was different for Alicia, who’d only lived in mansions and palaces. She might even find this place repulsive.He did not want the news of them here to spread too much, which was why he’d chosen this place as he could keep their identities hidden. But… perhaps he should have thought of Alicia more. Maybe it would be best to go to someone else’s house and reveal their identity so they could spend the night somewhere more comfortable.As he ke
Translator – YueAfter listening to Mrs. Cessly’s words, Ivan immediately hopped on a horse and sprang to port. This time there was no Basil by his side, it was just him. While he galloped top speed, the events from these past six years came to his mind.When he arrived, the ship had already sailed. He was too late, again.He felt an empty space in his heart. He got down his exhausted horse and slowly walked to the edge of the beach. He had a desperate expression on his face.He stood there looking at the horizon when he felt something hot. There were hot tears trailing down his face. All the tears he’d held back all this time suddenly broke free.Despair and desolation surged from inside him. He sobbed and cried.Six years ago, when he’d missed her just like this, he’d managed to hold back his tears since there was still hope of seeing her again in the future. Instead of desolation, he turned his back to this very sea with the hopes of seeing her again soon.However, this time it was
Translator – YueThe Port of Salerno remained unchanged. Tall, imposing walls surrounded the beach. There were numerous houses with scarlet-colored rooftops everywhere. A seemingly endless turquois-colored. Everything was as calm and beautiful as before.There was only one ship resting on the shores. A white, modern, elegant ship.When the Queen’s carriage arrived to port, the usually hectic port city suddenly turned tranquil. The carriage’s door opened and the Queen descended from her vehicle surrounded by her guards. She was wearing a thick coat, hat and gloves all made of silver fox fur, as though she was planning on going somewhere far colder than Ehrlich. A little while later, the ship’s captain approached her.He took out his cap and bowed to the Queen of Ehrlich.“Greetings to the most honorable woman in Ehrlich, Your Majesty the Queen. May Elheim’s light always shine upon you.”A smile came up to Alicia’s lips.“Greetings, captain. I’ll be under your care.”The captain pointed
Translator – YueT/N: The chapter we’ve been waiting for?Mrs. Cessly wailed and started savagely criticizing Ivan.“This is all Your Majesty’s fault. It’s because you allowed the Queen leave for Coulson. Why did you do that?”“All I did was give her a choice.”“A choice?”“I told her to choose. To stay here, or to leave with the baby.”“Why on earth did you tell her that?!”“There’s a reason behind my marriage to Alicia. I lied to her and forced her to come here.”“Ah, I remember the Queen told me something like that. That Your Majesty did not wish to marry her, but Princess Helen. Is it related to that?”Ivan nodded.“Yes. I had no choice. If I had proposed to Alicia, she would have run away from as fast as she could.”Mrs. Cessly looked at Ivan intently with a complex look in her eyes. Seeing that Mrs. Cessly’s head was spinning top speed to find out what could possibly make Alicia want to run away from Ivan, he added in a slow voice.“She definitely didn’t owe me money nor anythin
“Alright. Go ahead, do it. Call me if you need any help as well.”“I will.”When their conversation came to an end, Ivan slowly rose from his seat. Alicia got up as well. Just when he was about to turn around, Alicia spoke.“I wish for you to stop feeling guilty of all that’s happened to me.”Ivan’s eyes focused intently on Alicia. For some reason, she found it hard to look him back in the eye, so she averted her gaze.“I don’t dislike you anymore, Ivan. I’m grateful to you for letting me live my life again and leave this place with my baby.”“Grateful…uh.”While he bitterly mumbled to himself, Alicia nodded her head.“After all, you did put in a lot of effort in saving my life. I’ll make sure I do everything in my power to live a happy life from now on. I’m not completely alone anymore, after all.”Alicia placed a hand on her belly.“Once this baby is born, I’ll only let him see and listen to the most wonderful things. I know I can’t stop the darkness of this world to reach him, but
Translator – YueAlicia’s jaw slowly opened.“When you say, ‘a chance to end this marriage’…”“You never wanted to marry me in the first place. You were forced into it because the Crown Prince threatened to kill your cousin if you didn’t.”“But why are you giving me this? This marriage will automatically end in a year, anyways.”Their contractual marriage had a time period clearly stipulated. Alicia couldn’t understand why he was giving her a choice right now.“If you want to end this marriage, then you don’t need to wait for the time to be up to do so. I’ll make sure you leave this country safely first thing tomorrow if you so wish it.”“Then… what will happen to the baby I’m carrying…?”Alicia’s voice faded. Her eyes darted to the contract clauses. There, she herself agreed on leaving all rights concerning the child to Ivan if she were to get pregnant. With the opportunity he was giving her, she’d be able to flee and hide somewhere far, far away, and he’d never be able to claim his
Translator – YuePatricia’s execution took place the following morning.In spite of being very early, many people gathered around the execution place. People gathered there to insult her for killing her own father, her benefactor and even trying to assassinate her own sister and Queen. She was seen as a true villain, an evil rarely seen before.Patricia listeTed to their insults and taunts until her very last moment.Even though Alicia had said that she’d no longer show any consideration towards Patricia, she did make sure that the most skilled executioner was selected to carry out her punishment. She’d heard of previous rare cases in which the neck was not cleanly cut off in one single strike, forcing the executioner to hack at the neck, which caused lots of pain and anguish before dying.After Patricia’s death, Alicia passed her days in a state of continuous astonishment. She rarely went outside and spent most of her time in her room. However, she did make sure of eating and resting