CH 2

Chapter 2: I Fell in Love with Prince Hernan at First Sight

She didn’t know why, but she became Linzel.

In other words, she had know way of knowing if she would remain as Linzel for the rest of her life.

Before she possessed someone, she had thought that the most necessary thing in life was money. But when she became the weak Linzel, she realized the truth.

The most important thing in life is health.

No matter how much money you have, if you are short-lived due to poor health, you will not be able to spend the money you have properly.

When she read the novel, she focused solely on Letty’s love story, so she didn’t know how weak Linzel really was. Linzel’s physical condition, which she actually experienced now, was incomprehensible.

Despite how it grated in her lungs, she still took a long breath and then exhaled.

‘I can’t believe I’m out of breath just because I walked down the hallway a little bit.’

If it were her original body, she would be fine even after running ten times around the duke’s spacious garden.

At this rate, it was clear that Linzel’s body would also be at its end before she was 30.

The end meant “death”.

She wanted Linzel’s body to be healthy, just as she also hoped that Letty would not be short-lived.

In order to do that, they would need a potion to save the two of them…….

The father, who loved his two daughters dearly, did not just ignore their prognosis.

Her father called upon every medical professional in the empire, and even in the western region, to visit the duke’s residence for Linzel and Letty.

But they all shook their heads.

‘It’s a pity, but there is no cure or potion that will make the two princesses healthy.’

So, their father was almost in a state of giving up.

However, after reading the novel, Linzel believed that a cure did, in fact, exist. This was because a clue about that potion was described at the end of the novel.

After Letty died suddenly of a heart attack, Izekiel only then realized that Letty was seriously ill.

Of course, he knew that Letty was weak, but he didn’t know to what extent. He just didn’t know that it wouldn’t be strange if she died tomorrow.

So, on the day of Letty’s funeral, Izekiel gave a remorseful monologue.

‘Letty, why did you hide the fact that you were terminally ill? There must have been a way to save you in the palace notes…..’

Linzel recalled it was this line.

<Notes from the Imperial Palace>.

She had no doubt that there was something to save her and her sister.

However, only a few people were allowed to enter the imperial palace’s records room.

This is because two conditions had to be met.

First, they had to be a direct descendant of the imperial family, and second, they had to obtain permission from the Silver Dragon, the first emperor of the Kleman Empire.

So, Linzel couldn’t set foot in there because she didn’t fit the two conditions.

But, there were exceptions to this rule.

Others who were not members of the imperial family could also enter the records room if they married a direct descendant and then received permission from the dragon.

Linzel couldn’t say if Hernan, the second prince, had the permission of the dragon. It wasn’t even in the novel.

But once she married Hernan, she would also have a chance to access the Imperial Records. She was going to get in there somehow.

Before Letty’s death. Before Letty’s love ends in sadness again.

Before Linzel got any weaker!

“……. Linzel? Are you not going to answer me?”

She blinked herself back into reality. She had forgotten to answer her father for a moment because her thoughts had run away from her.

She belatedly responded.

The answer to why she had decided to marry Prince Hernan. It wasn’t hard to improvise a reason.

“I fell in love with Prince Hernan at first sight.”

It was a false reason she made up because she couldn’t tell her father anything related to the Imperial Records.

If Linzel were to talk about that, it was clear that her father and Letty would be discouraged, as well as confused about how she knew about them, let alone why she wanted to enter there.

They would regret her situation for marrying a man she didn’t like for the sake of “life”.

She didn’t want her father and Letty to be disappointed. So, she couldn’t tell the truth.

“……. What?” Her father asked back in disbelief.

Then, he glanced at the long curtain next to him.

One wall of the duke’s study was made of glass, and long curtains hung over the glass window.

Her father was ……. acting like someone was hiding behind a curtain.

Linzel’s eyes narrowed. There was no way that someone was hiding there.

That couldn’t be.

Her father’s gaze returned to her face.

Linzel smiled and started making up lies.

“My heart was stolen by the person I saw at the victory ceremony…”

Not long ago, the Kleman Empire had a civil war going on.

Hernan was the general commander of the imperial army who was in charge of ending the civil war. After several months of fierce fighting, he had almost put an end to the brutal conflict.

Thus, a victory ceremony was held a few weeks ago.

Of course, Linzel didn’t see the victory ceremony herself, but the scene remained in the original Linzel’s memory.

As soon as she thought about it, the whole view of the victory ceremony was clearly drawn in her head.

Colorful garlands, a cheering crowd. Soldiers on horseback cutting through that boisterous crowd, and a man at the forefront, Hernan.

Hernan’s large cape was flapping vigorously in the spring breeze.

Letty and Linzel looked at the victory ceremony from the highest point of Duke Valencia’s residence.

Even though it was seen from quite a distance, Hernan’s beauty seemed to be splendid.

To the point where it wouldn’t seem strange that she fell in love at first sight. She suddenly remembered the words of Letty, who loved Izekiel’s fluttering cape.

It was only after Linzel remembered Hernan’s cape on that day that she understood Letty’s story. The words that Izekiel’s cloak looked great.

Linzel slyly copied Letty’s words.

“The cape of Prince Hernan, who was leading the troops at the forefront, was so cool.”

Her father copied his daughter in her morning conversation like a parrot.

“Cape?”

“Yes, I mean, it was cool.”

“……..”

“Don’t you think one of us should marry Prince Hernan, anyway?”

Her father was briefly bewildered by that and said, “Um……”, but eventually nodded.

“Yes.”

“Then I will marry him.”

If she married Hernan, Letty would also be able to love Izekiel with ease.

Then, she suddenly wondered: How long should the marriage with Hernan last?

She wanted to divorce him after she got what she wanted…..

Truthfully, Linzel wanted to marry someone she loved and live happily for a long time.

According to the novel, this political marriage was proposed by Hernan’s father, Emperor Delta Kleman. Delta tried to get Hernan married to a daughter from one family of the second prince’s faction.

It was for Hernan, who had no interest in dating or marriage.

Hernan straight away accepted the arranged marriage. Because he didn’t care who he married.

If Delta hadn’t proposed an arranged marriage, wouldn’t the Valencia sisters have been able to avoid that attack?

Anyway, Linzel wondered if Hernan would divorce her if he became the crown prince and emperor.

Because there will be no love in their marriage.

In the novel, Hernan became the emperor not long after becoming the crown prince, so it seemed that it would not be difficult for her to divorce him.

“Linzel, just know this.”

After saying that, the duke looked restless for some reason.

“What is it?”

Because I support Prince Hernan as the crown prince……it was not for that reason that I intended to marry one of you to him.”

The reason why a father who loved his two daughters had no choice but to arrange a marriage for one of them had to be for political reasons.

It was probably due to external pressure from the imperial family. According to the contents of the novel that Linzel vaguely recalled, it was.

“I thought so,” Linzel said with an understanding nod.

Her father let out a sigh.

“Okay, I understand your opinion, so go back now.”

“Yes, Father.”

Linzel left his study.

As soon as she stepped into the hallway, her temples throbbed with pain.

It was because she used her brain too much.

She thought it would be better to go back to her room and lie down.

***

Meanwhile, in the study of the Duke of Valencia where Linzel left…

The blackout curtains, which the Duke of Valencia had occasionally looked at, began to shake.

It wasn’t because the wind was blowing, it was because the figure behind the curtains was moving.

Eventually, the figure revealed itself.

Glossy black hair and a wrinkle-free uniform…. A man in black, like the pitch-black night sky where not a single star rises.

Perhaps that’s why the man’s white face shone especially luminous.

He had the face of someone who had never seen sunlight. Contrary to the fragile-looking face, the man’s eyes were sharp. The man’s red eyes didn’t budge from the spot for while where Linzel stood earlier.

The man’s legs moved.

He trudged over on his long legs and naturally sat opposite the Duke of Valencia.

“…….as you heard, Linzel, not Letty, wants to become the prince’s bride….will that be alright?”

The identity of the man who hid behind the curtain was Hernan.

He was talking to the duke about marital problems, and then Linzel came to visit.

The Duke of Valencia tried to send Linzel back….

‘I’ll hide for a second. It might be urgent.’

Hernan, who said so, hid behind a curtain.

The duke pondered for a moment but let Linzel into his study.

That’s how Hernan heard Linzel’s bomb declaration.

Hernan replied slowly.

“I think it’s okay to change the bride.”

“That is fortunate.”

In the first place, Hernan didn’t care whether he married Letty or Linzel.

There was no big reason for this political marriage.

However….

In Hernan’s head, Linzel’s bold words that he unintentionally overheard came to mind.

‘I fell in love with Prince Hernan at first sight.’

‘The cape of Prince Hernan, who was leading the troops at the forefront, was so cool.’

Since childhood, Hernan had wandered around national defenses and led several wars. Maybe that was why people called him a war demon and a murder demon.

Most people avoided him because of his terrible nicknames.

No matter how handsome he was.

Women were especially afraid of him.

It was probably because of his intimidating physique and the savage atmosphere he acquired from going through countless battlefields. If he had a friendly personality, he would approach others first to try to talk to them, but Hernan was blunt.

It was embarrassing to say, but Hernan hadn’t even had a proper relationship with a woman.

No, he hadn’t even tried to mix words with one. To say love was a long way off for him would be an understatement. In light of all this, when the time came, he was just thinking of having a political marriage.

In the midst of this, Linzel’s confession was truly shocking. She fell in love with him at first sight?

It was unbelievable.

Hernan’s red lips, which had been closed for a moment, were separated again.

“First of all…..didn’t she say she fell in love with me at first sight?”

Hernan’s steel-like heart beat hard for a moment.

He wanted to meet her alone.

Hernan’s white ears began to turn red.