CH 127

Subjugation and Rakain (18)

Rakain’s Palace didn’t seem to have changed that much. She didn’t even know it was natural since it hadn’t been a long time anyway.

But the moment she got out of the carriage, she could somehow feel a strange feeling instead.

The memory of the first day when she had arrived at Seroif’s Palace overlapped with this moment.

A marriage that she chose in order to break free from the Separate Palace that was no different from a prison and to escape from a life of restraint.

And now, she, who wanted to escape even if she had to get married to a man who was rumored to be a monster, had come back to the Palace of Rakain.

“I greet the Empress.”

“……”

Roelin was given a guide and she looked at him for a moment when she saw him bowing down. Then, she gazed at him and began to speak slowly.

“Long time no see, steward.”

He was the closest attendant to the King, Lenoff. She had remembered him. On the day Lenoff called for her, it was this man who took her to Lenoff.

A man who was utterly arrogant as if he was a King himself. Even though he called her ‘Empress’, he did not even try to hide his contempt.

The man who laughed at her for leaving Rakain as a bride of the ‘Monstrous Emperor’.

But funny enough, now he was being all courteous to her with that stiff look on his face.

It would have probably hurt his pride—a lot. Since he had to be polite to the ‘fake Princess’ whom he despised and ignored so much before.

However, Roelin did not feel particularly pleasant or relieved. Maybe it was because she had never felt anything special about him in the first place.

……then, what about the others?

If she were to see her mother or even her brother. If she could get to meet her twin sister once again.

She stepped into the Palace under the guidance of the steward. Duke Bönt and Lucy had been the only ones who were currently guarding Roelin. The rest of them had to wait outside for now.

Still, Roelin’s expression was very calm. Even if there had only been two people, they were very reliable.

No, she didn’t think that she would have been very afraid even if she were to come to Rakain all alone.

Kergel.

All because she had him.

Roelin recalled him and raised her head once again. Lucy was the first to notice that her posture had become a little more upright than before. When Lucy realized Roelin’s change, a smile bloomed around her lips.

As she went up the stairs and walked through the hallway, a familiar scenery came into her eyes.

The King’s office had been located in the Main Palace that was just a few steps away.

The place where the command for her marriage to Kergel had been released.

‘Everything here makes a direct connection to him.’

She smiled as she thought of Kergel without her even realizing it. When she thought of Kergel right here, where there had not been a single good memory at all, she began to feel like she was seriously ill.

‘I miss you.’

Roelin murmured to herself. At that moment, the steward had already announced Roelin’s arrival in the office.

“Come on in.”

The steward stepped aside and bowed his head politely. At the same time, the door of the office gradually opened.

“Please wait over here.”

Roelin spoke to Duke Bönt and Lucy as if she was pleading to them. Then, both the Duke and Lucy bowed their heads and took a step back.

She turned her gaze from them before looking straight ahead and passed by the main hall. Then, she slowly entered the office.

“Welcome, my sister.”

Lenoff smiled brightly and opened his arms as if he had been waiting already. However, Roelin simply raised the hem of her dress slightly while keeping a moderate distance from him in exchange.

“Long time no see, Your Highness.”

“There is no need to give such a firm greeting between siblings. You can just call me ‘older brother’ instead.”

Lenoff continued softly as he pretended to be sweet with those blue eyes of his. But Roelin merely answered while looking at him blankly.

“I don’t wish to call you that now when I’ve never even called you that before.”

“……”

A sharp light flashed over Lenoff’s blue eyes. His authoritative and arrogant nature would have made it difficult to condone her attitude.

“………Whoa. I guess you must have had a lot of regrets about me.”

He sighed with an exaggerated expression and continued.

“Hah, why wouldn’t you do that? It’s not that I can’t understand your mind. Of course, I can’t deny that you had been treated unfairly just because you were a twin.”

Lenoff took a step closer to Roelin with a sad expression on his face.

“But believe me that I wasn’t completely at ease. You are my sister just like Erita, so how could I have been at ease?”

“……I don’t really know why you’re doing this kind of play, but let’s just call it a day.”

Roelin listened quietly to Lenoff and replied in a calm tone. Then, Lenoff’s forehead flinched in return. She opened her mouth again while facing him straight up.

“I’m here to visit you after hearing the fact that our mother is in a critical condition. That’s all I have to do, so can I just go and see mother now?”

“……you! How dare you—such a rude……”

Lenoff rubbed his cheek at Roelin’s words and tried to raise his voice as if he couldn’t hold it any longer. However, he glanced at the door and lowered his voice immediately. Perhaps he was conscious of Duke Bönt and Lucy who were waiting just outside the door.

“After becoming the Empress of Seroif, have you mistaken the world as if it was all yours entirely?”

Lenoff lowered his voice to the utmost and approached her while saying so. The glinting blue eyes were absolutely cold. However, Roelin thought that it was better now than Lenoff’s pretense back a moment ago.

“It’s all thanks to us that you could become who you are right now!”

“I do thank the King for that. Even though I was just a mere stand-in, I was still able to get married—thanks to you.”

Roelin replied as she looked directly into Lenoff’s pair of blue eyes. Surely, that point was utterly undeniable. If it wasn’t for Lenoff’s command, she wouldn’t have been able to go to Seroif and become Kergel’s ‘companion’ in the first place.

But it didn’t mean that she had to grovel in front of Lenoff. No, that was not going to happen at all.

At least, for Kergel himself.

For a man who always respected and loved her more than anyone else in the whole wide world.

< To be continued in Volume 3 >