Chapter 4. On the inevitable night, in front of his bedroom
***
Patrick had always seen Ihedia as a virtuous swan who lived only by clear water.
Her unassuming demeanor, which somehow seemed to look down from above, struck a chord with Patrick's twisted sense of entitlement.
It was no different now.
It made him cringe when he recognized the contempt and disgust in Ihedia's eyes for him.
It reminded him of the late King, who had always looked down on him pathetically.
[Do you really want to brag about something like that in front of me? Your younger sister has already begun studying herbalism and medicine, hoping to help the poor. You're pathetic. I don't even want to look at you.]
The late King was openly cold to Patrick.
The reason for this was the new Queen.
It was a forced marriage with an enemy family, so it was no wonder they were estranged.
Less than a week after his mother's death, the king crowned the woman he loved as queen.
The children born to her were Ihedia and Evan.
Patrick did everything in his power to get back into his father's good graces, but all he got in return were harsh rebukes and colorful accusations.
The late King's heartfelt affection was always reserved for those two children.
Patrick gnashed his teeth that one day, when he ascended the throne, he would crush them.
And when he was finally crowned, he destroyed Iheda's fair face and Evan's gunmetal eyes.
All of which the late king used to smile and praise whenever he saw them.
The man he didn't even want to call his father had secretly erased his presence from the royal lineage, claiming that his mother had failed to honor him.
As if that weren't bad enough, he was preparing to crown Evan, who still hadn't dried the blood in his hair (*meaning very young), as crown prince.
If he (Patrick) hadn't taken Lena's advice and planned ahead, he would have been the first to be removed by the late King.
The moment he confirmed that he was indeed the illegitimate child of his mother's affair made his blood run cold, but no matter.
Elmir was all his now.
He decided to savor his victory very slowly, looking at the blood of the late King who was now his puppet.
***
"In the name of the king."
The king’s name.
The brutal words seemed to cut off Ihedia's tenuous hold on life.
An attendant from the royal palace had brought a royal decree to attend to Kayan Bayate tonight.
"Ha."
Ihedia felt her world fall apart again.
There were still surprises left.
Patrick's increasingly vicious harassment was enough to send her over the edge.
After her father, the late King, abruptly left her, she was forced to endure a life of shame and misery that belied her royal status.
Everyone knew it was the royal couple's prank that had turned her beautiful face into such a disfigured mess.
The late king's outrageous favoritism had turned Patrick into a ferocious monster.
But why....?
Why her?
There were plenty of fine women worthy of Kayan Bayate.
Forcing her into his bedchamber when she had an ugly face and no ability to win his favor would have been rather rude.
This, too, was a new kind of insult of Patrick's own devising.
Ihedia decided against such futile speculation.
Whatever the command of the king, she would have to follow it.
"I suppose I won't have a choice anyway."
Her voice, painted with resignation, cracked in the air.
Gathering her thoughts, she confidently demanded the palace attendant.
"I need to see Evan right now."
"It's......."
Bewilderment was evident on the attendant's face.
Then Ihedia shot him a fierce glare.
"For a princess about to be sacrificed to the barbarians, surely you can do that much for her?"
At that moment, the attendant shook his head, unable to look Ihedia in the face as he saw the coldness in her eyes.
He had thought he was looking at the late King, commanding his ministers from his dignified throne.
Such a resemblance would not escape King Patrick's relentless persecution.
Ihedia was always like a dry petal, but at the mere mention of her brother Prince Evan, her eyes would light up with intensity.
The attendant answered reluctantly.
"...With His Majesty's permission, princess."
Shortly thereafter, as soon as the king's permission was granted, Ihedia hurried down the cellar.
Every time she smelled the stench of blood that had lingered for so long, her heart beat faster than she could control.
The cellar, with its five heavy iron doors, had originally been used to brutally torture felons for rebellion.
‘Please, don't let anything happen.’
Ihedia prayed in her mind, remembering her dead father and mother.
It had been a month since she had seen Evan's face.
In her hands were water, food, and herbs to restore his strength, ointments for his wounds, and a thick blanket.
No one had cared for Evan except for the occasional meal to keep him from dying.
If she didn't look out for him, something terrible would have happened to him in there already.
"Ah!"
She stumbled, losing her footing.
Ihedia's faint groans echoed through the lightless space.
Even as she fell, she clutched the basket of Evan's needs tightly in her arms.
She scrambled to her feet and resumed her path.
‘I hope something hasn't happened to him.’
She ran and ran down the long hallway with no end in sight.
Every time she passed through this place, she was plagued by a terrible anguish.
The thought of Evan languishing in his cold cell.
To the outside world, Evan was known to be terminally ill, but he had been locked up here ever since their father died.
Patrick and Lena had taken control of Evan's life and bent Ihedia to their will.
They took great pleasure in seeing him swallow his pride and endure their abuse.
It was for such a bizarre hobby that Patrick hadn't bothered to kill his thorny half siblings.
Perhaps it was because they were so much like their father, she thought.
"Evan!"
When she reached the cell where her brother was being held, she saw Evan lying there, unmoving, and her heart felt like it was falling off a cliff.
Slowly, Evan opened his mouth to speak.
"Ah, sis..."
Ihedia hurriedly fed him water and medicine.
After a few moments, Ihedia breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that Evan had regained some of his vitality.
"Oh, it's been a long time."
"Sorry, sorry, Evan, I should have come sooner."
"Hey, it's okay."
Ihedia gently removed Evan's eye patch, revealing an eye stained with blood and ooze.
She sniffed and deftly applied antiseptic and healing ointment to the wound.
When she was done, she covered Evan's eyes again with a clean cloth.
Not long after their father's death, Evan's eyes became this way overnight.
The pain of losing his eye was so overwhelming that Evan became a stutterer from the shock.
She could still see Patrick's face as he laughed maniacally at the sight.
Evan forced a smile, as if to comfort his somber sister.
“I-I’m really fine, so don’t come now.”
"I told you not to say that."
"Well, then go, come by sometimes. Oh, just once in a while."
Evan didn't know what it cost her to come to the basement.
He hated to see his sister upset, being ten years younger than her, so he tried to play it off like it was nothing.
"What is that? Wow, it smells like pea soup. Mmm, that sounds delicious."
"Oh, yeah. You must be hungry."
Ihedia said, scooping soup for her brother.
"I think I can stay long today."
"Why, why?"
"Because I've been pestering him, and he did me a favor for once."
Ihedia smiled and stroked Evan's hair.
But Evan's face darkened rapidly.
"Are you, are you lying, are you, is there something going on?"
"No, there isn't."
"Ha, really?"
"Yes. Really."
"..."
Evan still looked pensive, but there was no way to tell.
Ihedia wrapped the blanket she had brought around Evan and spoke in a voice that could not have been more calm.
"Sometimes you just get lucky like this."
Evan's hand fumbled for the hem of his sister's skirt, as if he had an ominous premonition.
Ihedia wrapped her arms around him, reassuring him not to worry.
****
That night, as promised, Ihedia stood outside Kayan Bayate's bedroom.
On the tray in her hands was fragrant liquor and light snacks.
Ihedia looked very different from her usual self, having been tended to by her maids.
She wore flashy accessories and a revealing dress, and to top it all off, her face was half distorted and painstakingly painted.
Even the smell of her sweet perfume on her body was repulsive.
‘You're so disgusting.’
Ihedia snorted softly at the sight of herself.
But the night was inevitable.
She knocked on the door, feeling like she was being led to the slaughter.
There was no sign of life.
Ihedia knocked again, harder this time.
He must be inside.
The tray in her hands vibrated faintly with the rising tension.
She was about to knock again when the door swung open.
The cold gaze of Kayan Bayate greeted her.
***
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