370. Reriana Ep – The Queen

“Please take me to the House of Tatian.”

I climbed into the carriage and leaned back. Shortly after, Sir Wendy followed in, and the carriage driven by Sir Neil began to move at a slow pace.

The seat wasn’t too comfortable. It was borrowed from the Rauno Family, after all. It could technically be called the boss’s.

“It’s cold today.”

“That’s alright. Just a little bit of fresh air.”

I opened the window to look around outside, and a sigh escaped me. Sir Wendy seemed to catch on and started a conversation.

“Is it that you don’t like that boy, Santian Rauno?”

I didn’t respond. Well, I intended not to, but words slipped out.

Maybe living with commoners for a few days made me a bit impulsive.

“It’s just… alright.”

I thought I had given Santian Rauno enough opportunities.

I dedicated three whole days to him, and I went along with whatever he wanted, something I had never done for any noble in our country.

But perhaps my expectations were too high. Honestly, I was disappointed. He taught me the game called ‘cat’s cradle’ yesterday.

A silly hand game involving passing string back and forth on our fingers. Goodness. At first, I thought he was finally going to open his heart to me.

He brought a game where a boy and girl get to touch each other’s hands closely, so I thought it was only natural.

But Santian Rauno dared to play only the cat’s cradle game with me. Of course, it didn’t last long.

– “Uh. This isn’t how you play it…”

– “What do you mean ‘isn’t’? When the opponent holds it, it should unspool, right? It’s a series of patterns: wheel, tray, chopsticks, scissors, cushion, fish. It keeps repeating, and even if it flips, it’s obvious.”

– “That’s true, but…”

– “Just put it away already. By the way, don’t you have anything to say to me?”

Santian said nothing. Frustration grew inside me, and I snapped back to reality.

Dreams, after all, seem to be just dreams.

At that moment, Sir Wendy spoke.

“Just alright… that’s a surprisingly generous evaluation. That boy could barely speak because of me. So what are you planning to do with him from here on out?”

“What? I didn’t hear you. Could you say that again?”

“It seems you have a soft spot for Santian Rauno. I’m curious about what you plan to do with him moving forward.”

“No, no. Before that.”

“Before what did I say?”

“Didn’t someone just say he couldn’t speak? What does that mean?”

“Oh. That boy is rather cautious around me. Commoners aren’t used to having guards escorting them.”

“…”

“We’ve arrived. I’ll ask you that question again later. Let’s get out.”

I cleared my scattered thoughts.

Santian. I’d think about him later; for now, I need to focus on my tasks.

After waiting for the carriage to come to a complete stop, I stepped down with Sir Wendy’s escort.

When I looked up, the mansion of Marquis Tatian was right in front of me.

I carefully observed the mansion’s exterior. I wanted to analyze the tendencies of this person named Benard Tatian more closely.

‘…There are way too many windows that ruin the mansion’s facade. Even a peeping Tom wouldn’t stick this many windows on a place. Why is the wall like this?’

The wall of the Tatian mansion was surrounded by iron bars that towered far over two people’s height.

They poured so much iron into building a mere wall that it could’ve armed a whole legion.

But what could be the reason for this?

There are plenty of better ways to flaunt wealth apart from this.

There’s no need to do it this way…

‘Could it be that they did this to have a clear view? Is it an extension of putting on all those windows?’

If so, the homeowner, Marquis Tatian, must be suffering from a severe mental disorder.

I heard absurd rumors about his wife going mad and dying; maybe there’s some truth to that.

Living with someone who likes to spy from every angle could hardly be easy.

Anyway, he’s a peculiar person.

Satisfied with my insight into Marquis Tatian’s odd character, I walked toward the main entrance.

But there was something different there too. Instead of guards, a knight stood at the gate, keeping watch.

“Who are you? Please state your purpose for visiting.”

While Sir Wendy showed the emblem, I looked the knight up and down.

She looked oddly gloomy.

She didn’t show it outright, but her subdued voice and eyes revealed a hollow emptiness. That emptiness showed in her work as well.

“You have an emblem. I’ll notify the Grand Officer.”

She immediately called for the Grand Officer after seeing only the emblem without waiting for Sir Wendy to say anything. She acted as if she didn’t care who we were.

We had no choice but to stand there awkwardly, waiting for the Grand Officer. Soon, he came out and spoke.

“Welcome. The Marquis is waiting for you. Please, come in.”

He seemed to recognize who I was. The way he adopted suitable manners for a princess confirmed it.

So I spoke casually.

“Alright. But first, I’d appreciate it if someone could take care of the carriage quickly. Sir Neil has been working hard.”

“Oh. You brought the carriage, did you? Irène, please call someone. And as for the carriage, Sir Irène will take care of it.”

I followed the Grand Officer inside.

As I did, I turned around to check if Sir Neil and Sir Wendy were keeping up. That’s when I noticed.

The female knight, called Irène, was staring at the carriage with a strangely pained expression on her face.

“Watch your step.”

She quickly vanished behind the door. Just as I was about to ask the Grand Officer about her, I held back.

After a brief walk, we arrived at the reception room.

Marquis Benard Tatian was waiting for me by the door of the reception room.

“Princess Reriana. It’s a pleasure to see you again. Please, come inside.”

The Marquis personally opened the door for me.

Without hesitation, I walked in and took a seat, while the Marquis told the Grand Officer and the knights to keep their distance.

What we were about to discuss wouldn’t be overheard by them.

The Marquis took his seat.

As the handmaidens brought out refreshments, he gazed at me with his icy blue eyes glinting. I matched his gaze.

“It’s been a while.”

“It’s been over half a year. Have you been well?”

“Thanks to you. Where is my older brother? When will he be arriving?”

“He won’t be coming.”

“?”

I questioned him with my eyes. The Marquis made a dismissive gesture, as if feeling awkward, and spoke.

“He left without revealing his destination. Irène should have asked you, but she didn’t.”

I decided to stay silent for a while and picked up a cookie placed on the table.

Not because I wanted to eat it, but to buy myself some time. Just now, the Marquis had slipped a piece of information to test me.

There are several ways I could respond to this. In context, questioning why my brother acted that way would be the most common and safest first response.

If I pretended to be indifferent to the information tossed me, that would be the most fitting approach.

The second option would be to take a joke about how the knight Irène didn’t do anything.

For example,

– “Did the knight say that? But didn’t she just not do it, not that she couldn’t?”

─ would mix laughter into my inquiry, but if I wanted to play dumb, this would be the best choice.

Because I…

‘I don’t even know who Irène is. This means he’s pointing out that I just found out her name at the main gate.’

In other words, he was looking down on me. Through the window. I felt slightly offended.

The Marquis clearly had a motive for bringing this up.

He was indirectly expressing that he was keeping an eye on me since my arrival in Oberg. He was making it known that he was aware of all my actions since I got here.

I tossed back the third reaction I thought he desired.

“Surely, the Marquis knows exactly where my brother has gone.”

Of course, I didn’t return it straightforwardly.

To figure out if this was my first response or not would require some thinking on your part too.

The Marquis smiled brightly.

“Yes. I do know. The prince graciously chose my mansion as his residence while he’s here, and I mustn’t be negligent in serving him. Currently, he is meeting with some commoners.”

– “I have people by his side for this reason, but that’s an excuse. Princess, what are you doing?”

The Marquis’s words sounded like they were saying this to me.

The emphasis on the ‘commoners’ and the strange word ‘meeting’ had a meaning behind it.

Commoners. It seems like this is referring to the Rauno Family, but what does ‘meeting’ mean?

Could it be that he knows I’m with Santian Rauno?

It might be speculation since I genuinely don’t know what my brother is doing, but it was certainly clear we weren’t talking about my brother right now.

I greatly admired his mental prowess.

“Indeed. The Marquis is very thorough and knows everything.”

And I added.

“But you wouldn’t know the reason behind my brother’s actions. His thoughts run very deep.”

“Yes. I don’t understand.”

The Marquis nodded in agreement and continued.

“After all, tomorrow the Prince will meet with Princess Chloe de Tatalia. With utmost respect, no matter how things bloom there, it wouldn’t hold any meaning.”

…It became certain. This guy knows I’m meeting Santian.

I immediately retorted, my voice a bit heated.

“You’re right; it’s indeed disrespectful. Don’t jump to conclusions about the meaning my brother brings. He will gain both love and people.”

“I support that. But will he truly be able to do so?”

The Marquis leaned forward. This is why I dislike nobles.

Liars.

People who mix their hidden thoughts with the truth at will.

And I am no different from them.

“I have already told the prince this, but the marriage between him and Princess Chloe de Tatalia is unlikely to be realized. They just are too different. Princess Chloe has… how shall I put it, some mental issues.”

The one with mental issues is you, you peeping Tom!

Even while discussing my brother, the Marquis continuously weaved in that ‘they are too different’ remark aimed directly at me.

Why is he doing this?

Now, I was getting curious, and my anger was igniting the fuse.

“Oh dear. I bet my brother was quite upset about that. But what will happen to him then? I fear we might end up fighting the House of Tatalia like Aisel Kingdom did. I’ve heard it caused massive damage…”

– What business do you have regarding whom I meet? Go ahead and keep talking. If this goes wrong, you’ll be fighting a war against our Yriel Kingdom!!

Even if the Kingdom of Belita is a great power, do they still have the capacity for war?

At least, the nobles of the Swordmaster faction have exhausted their strength in the war with Aisel Kingdom.

So if war breaks out, it would be up to the Marquis Tatian to rally the royalist nobles to lead the war.

Let’s see just how much money the Tatian Family has; I’m curious.

Our own side isn’t to be trifled with, and the contract made with you six months ago is nullified!

Mentioning the war that the Kingdom of Belita lost was both a rudeness and a threat. A smile vanished from the Marquis’s face.

But it didn’t seem like he was angry; he looked like he was trying to get to the point. He spoke with a serious expression.

“Prince Lean was not upset at all. Not even a little. He seemed to have known that there was an issue with Princess Chloe. It’s a matter of public interest, which is quite fascinating, isn’t it?”

“…”

“But the prince came nonetheless. If something went wrong with Princess Chloe, an unsavory situation would arise just like in Aisel Kingdom. What could that reason be?”

“…”

I didn’t answer the unanswerable question. This was a secret shared between my brother and me.

My brother said he also has dreams like me.

And just as I came to meet Santian, my brother came here to meet the woman he would fall in love with.

Even though our dreams couldn’t possibly be identical, it was clear that Princess Chloe de Tatalia seemed to be the person my brother was meeting.

So that’s why he probably knows there’s something wrong with that princess.

No, she might not be mentally ill at all; she could just be feigning to reject the prince of the Aisel Kingdom who came to visit her last year.

My brother wouldn’t seriously choose someone who isn’t of sound mind! Not at all.

I reaffirmed the certainty I couldn’t express. The Marquis, who had no idea what I was thinking, continued speaking.

“Prince Lean stands to gain no disadvantages in whatever he does. So I pondered what he might be trying to achieve. He did something unusual, and by doing so, he left a hint.”

“What might that be?”

“Princess Reriana, that would be you. Prince Lean has gone out of his way to smuggle you in here.”

“…!”

The Marquis’s words shocked me, leaving me momentarily speechless.

But I couldn’t just shout “nonsense!” and instead went blank for a moment, as there was enough validity in his words upon reflection.

If I were to think realistically, putting aside that absurd shared dream.

“Prince Lean did not come to marry but rather to marry you off, Princess Reriana, to Prince Klian de Tatalia. That makes everything fit.”

My older brother is destined for the throne.

Power isn’t something you share even a bean over, which is why my brother sent Eric off to the Aisel Kingdom.

On the surface, it was to consider a brother with no chance of royalty.

“For our kingdom, a marriage between Princess Reriana and Prince Klian would be most welcome. Having fallen out with the Aisel Kingdom, we need alliances. The growth of the Asran Kingdom is also alarming.”

Then what about me? A trickle of cold sweat ran down my back.

Come to think of it, Sir Wendy and Sir Neil, along with Sir Barin escorting me, were incredibly loyal to my brother.

Knights who would throw away their lives and turn their backs on our kingdom just to follow my brother blindly.

While that was reassuring, a seed of doubt began to sprout, filling me with fear.

I didn’t bring even a single knight who serves me due to my older brother’s words. That was because if the movement of our knights was discovered, it could expose my smuggling. If that truly happened… if that were to happen…

‘That can’t be. Not at all.’

I dismissed the sudden sprouting political suspicion.

I could trust my brother; I had to. My faith must not waver…

But the cold sweat trickling down my spine was just an uncontrollable physiological response.

I hadn’t imagined I was stepping into a dead-end without any means of protection.

It seemed the Marquis caught on to my turmoil. He rose from his seat.

“I personally find this to be very exciting. The fact that you, Princess, are coming to our country.”

Stay calm.

Right now, the Marquis can’t touch me.

Where can I turn to for help in this country?

I’m acquainted with Count Peter.

I saw him when I met Marquis Tatian six months ago. Marquis Tatian wanted me to help him facilitate smuggling across that border, which I arranged.

In exchange for secretly granting him permission from Mother and Father to invest in the new port being built in our kingdom.

Now that I think about it, that was all beneficial for my brother. That port would be used by the navy of Marquis Arne, who supports my brother.

Who else might be there?

That Gilbert Forte guy once sent a sketchy letter back in the day. No, he wouldn’t be any help, and right, what about the Southern Duke? He belonged to the swordmaster faction, but he had a neutral stance. The South! The South!

My head was turning endlessly complicated.

Marquis Benard Tatian, casting a shadow over me, approached… bowing deeply, showing an absolutely unnecessary mannerism.

A salute reserved only for a king.

“I wish for you to become the queen of this country, Princess.”