CH 15

Chapter 15: Is it Abuse?

“Eh?”

Izekiel replied, and Anette spilled more details.

“His Majesty Hernan’s arranged marriage was originally to Letty, but it was changed to Linzel.”

“…….”

“Maybe it’s because of Linzel that His Highness Hernan became interested in fashion?”

“Do you know why the bride changed?”

“I presume Linzel mentioned changing it first.”

Izekiel repeated in disbelief.

” Linzel?”

“Yes.” Annette said firmly.

“How do you know that?”

“Letty told me about it.”

“…… I see.”

Izekiel rubbed his well-shaped chin in thought.

As it so often happened, unmarried noblewomen were reluctant to marry Hernan, a war demon.

And yet, Linzel had taken the initiative to offer to change the marriage…….

It made no sense to Izekiel.

He remembered her lying in the garden of his palace, tears streaming down her face.

Linzel wiped her eyes with the handkerchief he had offered her, and her sleeve slipped naturally down.

At that moment, Izekiel made a discovery. A faint bruise on her wrist.

Izekiel frowned and muttered to himself.

“Abuse……?”

Linzel Valencia.

Was she being abused by her family?

Was that why she was forcing herself to marry Hernan, the man everyone hated?

(E/N: oof. This misunderstanding )

A dark shadow began to take over Izekiel’s face.

“……Mhh? Your Highness Izekiel. What did you say a moment ago?”

Anette tilted her head.

“Nothing, but thank you for telling me.”

“No, it wasn’t a big secret, actually. It’s pretty much common knowledge among the servants of the Duchy.”

“I see.”

Everybody knows…….

To Izekiel’s ears, it sounded like everyone in the Duchy knew that Linzel was being abused. 

“Anette. I need you to deliver today’s purchases to the palace.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“I’ll be off now.”

“Take care.”

Izekiel waved goodbye and left the shop.

He climbed into the carriage that had stopped in front of the shop. The destination had to be the palace, of course.

Back to the palace, to discuss boring politics with the ministers, to study the tax laws that were currently being reformed, to try on the clothes Annette had sent him…… and then to call it a day.

That was Izekiel’s daily routine.

And yet. Izekiel was not willing to start the carriage. He sighed and blinked lazily.

In his thoughts, Linzel appeared again.

She was falling hard. She was crying in pain.

Her white fingers wiping away tears. Her long eyelashes, barely brushing away the tears.

Her eyes were pretty, shimmering with moisture. He considered almost all women to be pretty, but Linzel was looking very pretty.

Her vulnerability triggered a protective instinct in him, so much so that he unconsciously handed her a handkerchief.

And when Izekiel saw her in person, he realized that she was not the woman he had been seeing from time to time in unexpected places.

The woman who had always shyly greeted him. It must be Letty, Linzel’s twin sister.

“She……. She looked healthy.”

Despite being a twin, there was no sense of frailty in Letty. There was nothing but youthful, fresh energy about her. Bright, energetic, and…….

Of course, Linzel was also bright, but she sometimes had a lifeless look on her face.

Like someone with a negative story in their mind.

“……Is it really abuse?”

Abuse was a word that was never far from his mind. The words reminded him of a painful past.

The angry voice of a grown man echoed in Izekiel’s ears.

‘Is that all you can do?’

‘The fact that you are a prince is a disgrace to the Empire.’

……Stop. Please.

Izekiel covered his ears with his hands and shivered.

The skin on his back grew hot, and beads of sweat trickled down the nape of his neck.

It was hard to shake off the anxiety that had overtaken him.

He couldn’t believe that the mere thought of ‘the man’s’ voice had caused him to feel fear.

Izekiel shivered for a long time.

The thought that there would be no one who could truly soothe him lingered in the back of his mind.

Not his father, not his mother, not his brothers – they wouldn’t understand him for being stuck in the past.

Why dwell on childhood memories when childhood was already over?

That “the man” had been punished, that he should forget about it, that he would never become a crown prince because of his weakness.

It was clear that they would say something like that.

As he thought about it, there was a scene that came to mind.

His father was laughing happily, discussing the resemblance between himself and Hernan.

While everyone else was laughing, Izekiel was unable to smile.

‘I don’t…… look like my father, mother, or anyone else.’

‘The man’ would often remind Izekiel of that fact.

‘You really don’t look like the King. In fact, isn’t your father someone else?’

“Heuk……!”

He took a deep breath, as his breath caught in his throat for no reason. He wondered when he would ever be able to escape his unfortunate past.

“……Your Highness Izekiel, where should we go?”

The coachman questioned Izekiel, who hadn’t told him where he was going for a considerable time.

Izekiel cleared his throat and ran the tip of his tongue across his parched lips.

When he opened his closed eyes, his silver pupils were cold.

He gave him a hasty destination.

“To the Duke of Valencia.”

***

“Mi, Mi, Mini! Let everyone know of my death…….”

Linzel stretched her hands out in the air, unable to raise herself from the bed.

Mini rushed over and grabbed Linzel’s hand.

“Miss Linzel, you can’t go on like this, please don’t leave me alone…….”

Linzel frowned, her words almost sounding like she scratched her throat as she said, “Half of my inheritance is for you, Mini. And the other half goes to Letty.”

“Don’t even say that……. heuuh…”

What? Was she actually crying?

Linzel was determined not to lose to Mini, so she forcefully squeezed the tears out of her eyes.

“Mini…… there’s an inevitable reason for you to receive the inheritance.”

“Huh? Is there such a thing?”

“Yeah. I have a confession to make. You’re actually my youngest sister.”

“…….”

“The illegitimate daughter of a duke!”

“Pfft.”

Linzel could hear Mini laughing through her forced sobs. Linzel pressed her face into a forced frown as she wiped away the tears.

So much for the skit.

“Your dialogue was a little too much for me, Miss.”

“A little too much?”

Mini nodded.

It was a sunny afternoon and Linzel was still not out of bed at 3pm. Not from laziness, though.

Yesterday’s overexertion at the palace had left her with no energy. Even breathing was a struggle.

Not to mention the leg she fell on yesterday.

Not only was it bruised badly, but the slightest step sent a sharp pain through her body.

She knew she was going to be in bed for the rest of the day.

It’s not that she didn’t like her bed, it was the boredom that was the problem.

She couldn’t resist the temptation to play another skit with Mini.

This time, the skit was called “Your Birth, I Want You to Know Before I Die” or something like that.

It was one hell of a title.

Mini, who had been a great match for Linzel since they first started doing skits, was getting better and better at acting.

Maybe she could play an actress in a big theater one day.

Linzel giggled and turned to Mini.

“Mini. But what a cliffhanger! A duke’s hidden secret! A birth secret! This is so thrilling, but a cliffhanger is too much.”

“Then how about a sister’s secret next?”

Mini brewed up some more, like she was expecting some kind of audience.

“A sister’s secret……. What do you think?”

At the mention of sisters, Linzel inevitably thought of Letty.

If there’s a secret between her and Letty, it’s that…… she wasn’t really Linzel.

‘But wait. Does Letty have a secret, too?’ Linzel suddenly wondered.

Her conversation with Mini was interrupted by a call from the maid outside the room.

“Miss Linzel, you have a visitor.”

Were there any outsiders who would come to see her?

……Ah, there was only one person. Linzel was reminded of the attractive man with his charming flaws.

The guy who looked as cold as an iceberg when he was not doing anything but was actually quite cute when he struck up a conversation.

“Mini. Is His Highness Hernan here?”

“Oh, my gosh. I guess so.”

Mini was more embarrassed than her mistress was.

Linzel felt satisfied. She wanted anyone who saw her to think she was his bride. 

Linzel said aloud to the maid at the door, “Who has come to see me?”

“His Highness Izekiel has come to see you,” The maid answered promptly.

……?

Izekiel, not Hernan, came to visit her?

What an unexpected visitor.

“Tell him to come in.”

It was indeed an unexpected visitor.

Linzel’s anticipation turned to disappointment when she realized it wasn’t Hernan. Unbeknownst to her, she was sincerely hoping it was Hernan.

The closed door began to open.

Linzel asked Mini to help raise her upper body. As Linzel leaned her back against the head of the bed, she let out a whimper.

“Ouch, my back.”

How weak was this silly body?

Linzel groaned.

She looked towards the doorway and saw Izekiel.

Izekiel was indeed the fashionista of the Empire.

He was wearing a white shirt with golden embroidery and black trousers, with modest bracelets and a thin threaded ring that didn’t look out of place.

Ornate earrings dangled from his earlobes, sparkling beautifully.

It was a great outfit, not overdone, but tasteful.

They say that the face completes the outfit, and it was his face that made his outfit stand out.

Izekiel’s face was the opposite of Hernan’s, more like a beautiful doll.

Honestly, …… Linzel thought he would be prettier than her if he were to cross-dress.

She spent a long time looking at him, admiring his beauty before she made a belated bow.

“Your Highness Izekiel, I beg your pardon for sitting down to greet you, as I am not feeling well. I hope you will understand.”

“…….”

Izekiel didn’t reply; he simply walked towards the bed without bowing.

As the distance closed, she could see his face more clearly.

He was eerily expressionless.

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