Chapter 14

He must have left for the territory without looking back, Elise pondered. She knew that he didn’t value her at all, and that he wouldn’t save her even if he showed her small kindness. She opted not to inform him about her intentions in the palace, waiting until she met the emperor on purpose. Once she met him, she revealed, “There is a seed of a dragon in my belly.” It didn’t matter if it was true or not at the moment. What mattered was that she instilled the expectation of ‘maybe’ in the emperor.

The emperor of Van Yela desperately wants Rezette’s successor, and until she can prove her claim, the emperor cannot execute Elise. Elise had to convince the stubborn man in front of her, and for those brief moments, she had to make him believe. She said in a quivering voice, “I will give birth to your child.” 

“I don’t think it’s a bad idea,” she continued desperately. “I know how annoying it is to be continuously plagued with such demands.” Andrei often received such requests from the nobility. On days when he was particularly troubled, he would seek her out and vent his frustrations to her.

The duke repeated her words, “You will give birth to my successor?” Fear and hope oscillated in Elise’s golden eyes like a blooming flower. Rezette burst into a short, hollow laugh while observing her. “Do you know what you’re saying now?” he inquired.

“If my words were hard to understand…” Elise began.

“You just said you wanted to die miserably right now, Your Highness,” he interrupted unkindly. Elise bit her lower lip at his cruel reaction, and Rezette couldn’t even hold back his sneer. Elise had been foolish to see hope in him. Now that he thought about it, she was a naive woman.

“I’m really sorry for damaging your honor, but…” Elise stammered.

“Honor?” Rezette scoffed. “That’s not what’s important. I’m saying that even if you choose a method, you’ve chosen it incorrectly.” He shot back before Elise could respond. “Do you know why His Majesty wants a successor from me so badly?”

“Perhaps because you’re his brother….” Elise muttered.

“Then do you know why I haven’t succeeded yet?” Rezette asked.

“…That’s probably the same reason.”

“I guess you don’t know for sure. If you did, you wouldn’t have proposed such a ridiculous offer in the first place,” Rezette repeated sarcastically, openly looking over the princess’s body. Elise had lost weight since entering the imperial palace, and her fragile frame looked as if it could break easily. Rezette’s lips twisted in disgust.

“Did I seem quite easy to handle in your eyes? Or are you currently having a big misunderstanding?” Rezette sneered. It was clear that the princess had mistaken him for an upright and chaste knight who had never laid a hand on her. If she knew what he was thinking every time he saw her since the incident by the lake, she wouldn’t provoke him by saying that she would give birth to a child with him with those innocent eyes.

“I clearly stated that I didn’t want to spill blood even in bed. It seems like you didn’t take that as a warning,” he said. Elise’s proposal was one that he had never heard before, and it was a desperate attempt to save her own life.

Rezette did not know how the princess found out about Van Yela’s desire for a successor from the Grand Duke, but it was a fact that the emperor was eyeing his successor. Buying a few more days might have been a good idea, but it was too late. Imperial officials were coming and going, and her lies would soon be exposed.

To Rezette, Elise’s thinking was in the realm of desperation from beginning to end, and there was no point in lying for just a day or two.

Elise’s spine stiffened as a voice, cold as ice, sliced through her hunched shoulders like a razor-sharp knife. “I knew you were ignorant of the ways of the world, but this is beyond comprehension,” Rezette Kyrstan spat.

Elise’s grip on his sleeve weakened, and she hung her head, resigned to the duke’s ire. “I never said I wouldn’t help you save your life, but I would have risked everything and petitioned Your Majesty, revealing the secret of Argan, the treasure, the mythology surrounding the dragon—anything to keep you alive.” The duke’s condescending tone became increasingly threatening, and Elise shuddered in fear.

“Even if I were to sell my dignity and self-respect, I cannot sell my country,” she whispered, her voice trembling. “My younger brother and our people died to protect Argan. I cannot betray their sacrifice for one life. Even if that life is mine.”

“Then have you considered that it would be more honorable for Argan to die with pride?” Rezette sneered.

Perhaps it would have been better for her to accept her fate and perish with dignity, Elise thought. She had no power to change the world, and there was no hope of restoring the fallen kingdom or gathering her scattered people.

But as long as she lived, Argan remained a symbol of hope. And so she fought for it. Besides, there was no point in dwelling on spilled words. When she revealed that she carried Rezette’s child, she saw the emperor’s greed. 

Elise’s voice was barely audible as she spoke, her throat clogged with emotion. “Remember that I am Argan’s direct descendant, Your Majesty,” she said, her eyes steady on the duke’s face. “And remember the kind of people Argan’s nobility are. Though I am not a magician like my brothers, I have not said that I cannot use magic. I am different from ordinary women.”

Rezette’s eyes narrowed, and Elise braced herself for his response. “If you could handle even a little magic, you wouldn’t have come to Van Yela so willingly,” he said, his tone icy. “I have no desire to embrace a woman who has no control over herself.”

Elise’s lips parted to respond, but she stopped herself. She realized how unkempt and disheveled she looked, her clothes tattered and her face streaked with sweat and tears. Her neck burned with shame.

“I will give you time to reconsider,” Rezette said. “But know this: even if you buy a few days or months, you will eventually regret not dying quickly and cleanly.”

Elise remained silent, knowing that there was nothing left to say. “I have no regrets,” she said softly. “There is no other way for me besides you.”

Rezette said nothing, and the attendants appeared to escort Elise away. Rezette realized they were there on Noyer’s orders and bit his tongue in anger. He turned to leave without a word, and Elise watched his retreating figure with a heavy heart.

As the attendants led her away, she swallowed in despair. There was nothing left to do now but wait for her fate to be decided.

* * *

“Is it true, Rezette?” The emperor’s question was sharp as a sword when Rezette entered the audience chamber. Noyer’s eyes bore into him, convinced of his own assumptions.

Rezette wanted to deny it vehemently, to swear on his honor that he had never touched the princess, not even with a fingertip. But memories of shared moments flooded his mind, making him hesitate.

He had indeed shared a bed with her, but nothing more. He couldn’t deny it without risking the princess’s reputation. Rezette missed his chance to speak, and Noyer’s accusation hit him like a slap.

“You did it!”

“It’s not what you think,” Rezette tried to explain.

But Noyer interrupted him, “You would have denied it without hesitation if it wasn’t true. Your hesitation confirms my suspicion. You two were alone together from Van Yela.”

Rezette’s head whipped around to face Ruben, who jumped up in surprise, his nervousness palpable.