Chapter 8. A slightly different past
****
I bumped into him on the balcony.
I saw it as fate.
I had never been attracted to any other man, so I assumed that my excitement for him must have come from fate.
As if I wasn't the only one who thought so, he was attracted to me the first time we met. It was as if he too had fallen in love with me at first sight.
What happened next was one thing after another.
We walked into a deserted room in the ducal residence and embraced each other.
It wasn't until I'd spent the night with the man that he made the belated declaration.
"⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯I apologize for the late introduction. I'm Henderson Graham."
Henderson Graham.
He was the son of the Duke of Graham, a man shunned for his illegitimate birth. I didn't reveal my identity until much later.
"I'm Riley Wale Lopez, or should I say, the Princess."
I ran into Henderson often after that, and that's when I found out I was pregnant with Eddie.
When I confessed, Henderson asked me to marry him in front of a lake rumored to be the most beautiful in the capital.
It was a beautiful summer night with the moonlight reflecting off the water.
"Give me a chance to spend the rest of my life with you."
I loved him so much that I insisted on marrying him despite my family's wishes, believing that our future together would be a happy one.
But what about my words?
I thought back to the disastrous recent events.
"Ha, ha, ha......."
A sound I didn't know whether to laugh or not escaped my lips.
"It's okay, we'll just start over."
I rubbed my stomach, which I hadn't brought up in the slightest.
"With Eddie, I can be happy.”
So, now that I was back in the past, what would I do?
The answer came quickly.
Punish Helena for deceiving me so thoroughly and.............
'I'm going to find out if the oracle involving my father is real.'
If the oracle was real, as the shaman had told me, I would never forgive my father.
***
Seven years ago, I was twenty.
By this time, I was turning down every marriage proposal that came my way.
I didn't want to marry someone I didn't know, and I didn't like the ambition of those who coveted my background as a Princess.
Nevertheless, I didn't want to be the center of attention, so I kept myself beautiful.
To make others want me more. I would make myself beautiful, but no one could take me.
I wrapped myself up like an unbreakable flower on a cliff, hoping to fall in love with my destiny.
To experience the ecstasy of love at first sight.
And if I did, I was prepared to devote my life to that person.
Henderson was the man who fulfilled my unrealistic wish.
Maybe that's why I craved him even more, not realizing that his heart was growing cold⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯.
My deep thoughts were interrupted by Matilda's words.
"Princess, you are ready!"
I summoned Matilda, whom I had dismissed at dawn, and had her assist me with my dressing up throughout the morning.
"What do you think?"
I stared at my reflection in the mirror.
I looked even more beautiful than I had at dawn.
"It looks beautiful. Thank you, Matilda."
Matilda was relieved to see that I wasn't asking her any strange questions.
I wasn't exactly crazy.
The reason for the makeover was to go see my father.
By this time of year, my father was regularly calling on me to get married. Today was no different.
I stood up from where I had been sitting for so long.
***
"Father, it's Riley."
My father, who was in his study, allowed me to visit.
"Come in."
The sound of my father's voice sent chills down my spine, and I took a short, deep breath. I walked into the study and saw him.
He was over fifty, with a regal bearing that belied his age, a naturally intimidating air, golden hair that shone like the sun, and green eyes that looked just like mine.
A tall, middle-aged man lifted his head to meet my gaze.
He had the look of the head of a nation.
My father, Torres, the man who wanted my child to die. The father who might have been Helena's 'backbone'.
I smiled awkwardly at him.
"I heard you called for me, is there a reason?"
"I think you know why."
It seemed he had called me because of the marriage.
"I guess we should talk about the marriage you've been dreading."
He smiled a cold smile that made me freeze. A chill ran through his rust-colored eyes.
"I want you to marry into a legitimate royal bloodline. I want you to know that a bastard, or a noble of dubious birth, will never be your match."
I only nodded.
I had no intention of listening to him, but there was no point in arguing in his presence.
When I nodded, uncharacteristically, without saying anything, my father looked at me in surprise.
In the old days, in the past, I would have replied that I could handle marriage.
"I've thought of that. Even the oracle you were given as a child said you shouldn't be entangled with such half-wits."
"An oracle?"
The word "oracle" from my father's mouth hit me like a ton of bricks.
It was like being hit in the back of the head with a large blunt object.
An ominous sense of foreboding washed over me that everything the shaman had said was true.
He coughed a couple of times.
As if he'd said something he shouldn't have.
"It's nothing."
"But......."
"Rather, the Second Prince of the Remzi Empire will be visiting the Empire, and I would like you to consider an arranged marriage with him."
How little has changed.
The Second Prince of the Remzi Empire. I think his name was Gran, and he was the one who sent me the proposal.
He was also the one my father had predicted for me.
‘Wait. But Gran only sent a proposal, he didn't come to the Lopez Empire himself...'
The truth was a little different than I remembered.
I didn't attach much significance to it.
He was a man I had no connection to anyway, and his coming here would make no difference.
"Riley? Did you hear me?"
I answered dryly, lost in thought.
"Yes..."
"I've said all I have to say, so you may leave."
I walked out of my father's study, already picturing what I was going to do next.
***
The Lopez Empire was a free religious country.
As a result, there were many temples dedicated to different gods, but the religion with the most followers was "solarism," which was dedicated to the sun god.
My father was one of its adherents; he had often received oracles there, and was a devotee.
When I had finished with my father, I summoned Albert, the Archbishop of Solaris, to my court.
This was done quietly, of course, without my father's knowledge.
It was very easy to entice Albert.
He was a man of great faith, but with an equally great appetite for money.
And I was the youngest princess in the palace. I had plenty of money.
"You know the mine on Mount Montaigne," I said, "and if you can answer my question, I will give you ownership of it."
The mine was famous for its gold.
Albert hesitated for a moment, and then, with difficulty, parted his lips.
"My Princess. What on earth do you want to ask me?"
"I understand that you have received an oracle involving the blood of the imperial family, please tell me what it is."
I said as if I were guilty of knowing something I wasn't sure of.
I was trying to play a trick on him, to find out the truth.
"......Well, that's......."
Albert looked a little surprised.
It was at that moment that I was convinced that such an oracle existed.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have been so surprised.
"I won't tell my father," I said, "but you have to tell me, and if you tell me the truth, you will receive the mine, and if you don't, you will be under my persecution from now on."
***
To donate for extra chapters for my series or to tip me visit my personal kofi page
Join my discord to get notifications for updates https://discord.gg/KftaxqanE4
(If the link is expired, message me for a new link)
Write a comment