The Princess’ Bedroom Doll · 19. December 2023

Doll 144

Chapter 144

***

Raha gently grasped both of Shed’s cheeks in her tear-stained palms and lifted them up. Eye to eye, they met.

One was an ashen color, a deep blue expanse, the other a vivid sky blue with a hint of mist. His eyes were a clear sky blue when his divine power was fully cleared. How could he be so different from her, when she, too, had the eyes of the heir? His sky was more formal, incomparably raw, and far more expansive. Raha was lost in thought.

What did it feel like to look up at the sky?

When was the last time she looked up at the sky?

Why did she think she wanted to look at the sky?

She had never done that before in her life....... Raha muttered through wet eyes.

"Why did you love me?”

"Because I wanted you to love me."

"......Since when?"

Shed wrapped his blood-dried hand around the back of Raha's hand.

"Since ....I gave you the flower."

"That's a long time ago......."

She smiled through her tears, warm tears falling down her cheeks and smearing on his chest.

"I threw the flower away."

"It doesn't matter."

"..."

"If you want, I'll decorate your entire place with the same rose."

"..."

"I will offer you flowers every day of the week, and you can just......."

Shed smiled faintly with wet eyes.

"All you have to do is accept what you like, Raha."

Raha bit her bloodless lower lip.

Shed Hildes had come to the palace to seek a long-overdue revenge, but in the end, his love for Raha Delharsa had kept him from killing her.

The same was true for Raha, who eventually fell in love with him and lost her way.

She leaned her forehead against Shed’s shoulder. She exhaled slowly. The insignia’s power was still taking her pain away, and her breath was coming very slowly.

Raha realized a beat later that he was closing her puncture wound with his hand. As a war hero, he should know better that this was useless. He didn't move his hand even though he knew it. It looked like he wouldn’t want to move it.

What a pathetic, desperate thing to make an otherwise healthy person....... It's the kind of thing that makes even the brokenest of broken people come to their senses for once.......

And so, in the end, it was love.

It could only be described in those commonplace words. It was horribly, horribly love.

Slowly, Raha Delharsa realized the truth that had been dormant for so long.

She did not want to die and leave him behind.

***

Karzen Delharsa was dead.

It had been revealed that he had been secretly conducting research to damage the insignia. In accordance with the blood oaths made by the founding fathers and sages of the Delo Empire, Karzen Delharsa had been stripped of all his privileges and rights as Emperor.

The former Emperor, who died with him, was also found to have secretly assisted in the experimentation.

As such, he, too, would be stripped of his title as Emperor and listed as a member of the Dark Army.

Duk Esther asked if there might be some who would be convinced by the former, but doubtful about the latter.

Raha's decision remained unchanged.

Silk thrown into the mud. The golden throne peeling off its lacquer. Crows would peck at their skulls, and their bodies would be torn to shreds, and no one would dare to reap them....... Side by side, the former emperor and Karzen would go down in history as the greatest dishonors of all time.

That was their fate as decreed by Raha.

***

When she opened her eyes again, she realized she was still in the patronage.

Just not in the rose vines she'd crawled through to escape Shed.

She was lying under the shade of a large tree.

There were thirty-eight people, to be exact, bustling about in the vast backyard. Raha recognized them without turning her head.

The wise men and servants. The wise men had repaired the insignia. She could tell by the fact that the clusters of light no longer stretched out as they had before.

She was thirsty.

Lukewarm water trickled through her parched lips. Raha was relieved to realize she could see Shed’s face right away. A faint smile tugged at his lips.

"Raha."

Watching her carefully, Shed reached out a hand. He tucked a stray strand of blue hair behind her ear. Returning the touch, she spoke.

"I’m going to die if I leave this place."

"Yeah."

Shed said, brushing his fingertips across Raha's cheek.

"Until yesterday."

"Until yesterday? ...... How many days have I slept?"

"You slept two days straight."

Raha looked down at her stomach, which was completely unclothed. The abdominal wound that Blake inflicted was bandaged tightly. Still numbed by the power of the insignia, Raha couldn't quite grasp how much she was hurting.

She slept for two days, but Raha wasn't too worried.

She should have been dead two days ago.

Even who would take over was neatly organized. So even now, Duke Esther would be in charge of all the arrangements.

The plan had been twisted, and she wasn't dead. What must be done must be done.

Raha stretched out her arms to Shed.

"Help me up."

Shed let out a low chuckle that made Raha blink, but he didn’t answer when she asked what's wrong. Shed only laughed because, for a moment, she looked like a child asking for a hug.

He leaned down and wrapped his arms around Raha's back, but he didn't move for a moment.

"Shed."

"You'll be sick if you get out of here. Who do you need? I'll get him."

"Duke Esther. Oliver. And......."

"There are too many. I'll bring only those two."

"Okay, then."

Raha nodded obediently. Shed pulled her up when….

"Princess."

"Duke Esther."

Duke Esther was walking toward them. Raha tried to study her complexion, but quickly gave up. Duke Esther was as stoic as ever.

"Would you like to be briefed on the situation?"

"Of course."

The Marquis of Duke was dead. The Duke's Knights Templar and Deputy Knights Templar had been killed, and the knights in lower ranks had laid down their arms and surrendered.

The bodies of the guards had been recovered.

The military power of Karzen passed to Raha without much opposition. It was expected. Raha was now the sole imperial heir to the Eye of the Expanse.

In the Delo Empire, the Eye of the Expanse was a symbol of royalty of the highest priority. She had despised the Eye of the Expanse her entire life, but there was no denying that it had given her a powerful advantage.

Having heard enough, Raha opened her mouth.

"What is the color of my eyes?"

"The eyes of the expanse have returned to the Princess in full color."

"Okay......"

"Do you still want to remove it?"

"No, thanks, I'm good now......."

Raha asked after dabbing at her eyelids once.

"Did you get Lescis alive?"

"We captured him alive."

"Good."

Lescis, Karzen’s wizard.

The man who he branded countless slaves and eventually created the spell that blinded Raha.

He was naturally as dreary as a sewer, and she had no intention of ending his life like the former emperor or Karzen. They would not endure such a lowly, shabby death, but not Lescis. Raha pushed the subject of Lescis aside and asked another question.

"Lady Jamela Winston."

"She's alive. She suffered abrasions, but thanks to the doctors we dispatched, she is recovering nicely."

"Yes...."

Raha thought about the hand she was supposed to give Jamela instead of taking it. She would have walked right into Jamela Winston.

The second empress and second prince.

They'd be so happy.

The thought of the second Empress hugging her child and crying tears of relief made her uncomfortable. She wanted to be angry, but she couldn't bring herself to execute the Second Prince now.

Things were finally falling into place.

"Count the damage done to the Holy Land, down to the Hildes, and report it to me."

I'll compensate them for everything....... Raha asked, suddenly remembering.

"Are the wise men faithfully carrying out my orders?"

It was then that Duke Esther's expression changed for the first time. Oh, yes. Raha's plan to divide Delo into three inheritances was a plan that no one but her knew about.

"The Holy Land refused to accept the inheritance."

"Rejecting this huge piece of land, I see they’re full. Good, then tell them I’ll compensate them with something else."

"The same goes for the Princess’s fiancé."

Raha furrowed her brow. But she didn't want to be bruised.

"They don't realize how precious Delo is. So, then, Duke Esther, it shall be yours alone."

"Esther will decline the inheritance as well."

"Are you examining your conscience now, Duke, or are you just being polite because others have declined? Either way, enough is enough."

"It is the will of the Countess of Borbon."

"...."

Raha's eyes widened. Duke Esther removed the monocle he had been wearing. There was a hesitation in his touch, a hesitation that was uncharacteristic of him.

There was a deep, brief pause. A silence so deep, so brief, that for a moment, one might have thought one had stepped off a cliff. The Duke of Esther spoke slowly.

"My sister....... In a letter to me just before she died, she asked me not to accuse you of any wrongdoing."

"..."

"As you know, I ......did not honor her wishes."

The dried flowers he used to bring to Raha, every Wednesday in winter. The scent that used to remind her of the death of the Countess of Borbon.

"I didn't want my sister to think of a royal in a dangerous position like you as her daughter."

"...."

"I hated that my sister ended up dying because she chose you over me......."

"..."

A moment of silence. Duke Esther slowly opened his mouth.

"Do you know why the former Empress died so early?"

Duke Esther laughed like a sigh. Raha's jaw set, showing no sign of moving. The first Empress, who hated Raha at every turn, had died early, and Raha had been able to escape the depths of hell a little faster.

Duke Esther recalled the astronomical amount of money it had cost to have the Empress killed. With the Emperor's acquiescence, the Empress had been poisoned without his knowledge. She must have known before she died. Unable to utter a single scream in the agony of her burning body.......

"Esther took revenge on all the royalty of Delharsa who deserved revenge."

"..."

“The princess has never been the target of revenge. This is the will of the Countess of Borbon.”

For the first time, the Duke of Esther, who had always seemed stoic, looked like a dry old tree.

"Therefore, Esther will decline to inherit the empire."

"..."

"Esther's position is that we have done nothing to deserve compensation, so we have no reason to accept any reward."

Duke Esther knelt down and held out the jade scepter that had belonged to Karzen. Along with it was the miniature insignia that the former Emperor had kept.

"Esther is a faithful servant of Delharsa, and will accept the Princess of the Eye of the Expanse as our new lord."

***

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