Chapter 2. You're insulting me
***
Even a child knew the story. Eunice shuddered involuntarily as she remembered the rumors that were common in the South.
"......nice. Eunice."
That was when the stern voice hit her eardrums. As she barely recovered from her daze, the image of Rockford's cold glare flashed across her retinas.
"His Majesty expects your answer."
"What? Oh, yes..................."
Oh, my God, she hadn't heard him at all.
She shook her head in bewilderment, and Wilhelm II had the kindness to hold out his hand as if to say it was all right.
"I asked if you needed anything before going to the North."
It was a courtesy question.
When the marriage alliance was talked about, when Eunice was mentioned as a possible candidate, and when the arrangement was finalized, she knew nothing.
Her opinion mattered not at all. And now, as always, the answer to this question was fixed.
"There is no ......."
It felt like a thorn in her throat.
If the storytellers and bards in the streets were to be believed, she was being sold to a cruel man, a monster.
She wanted to ask.
Why her?Ah................... Oh, yes, the damned Crown Prince Kalian.
She couldn't help but notice Richena as she stared back at her with cold eyes. Princess Richena and the Duke of Dale had gotten their hands on her, and her father would have taken it as a non-response.
Her heart throbbed with pain. A lifetime of silence, of ignoring his daughter's existence, and now this.
She thought that if she did a good job, if she took good care of the estate, she would not be abandoned. She thought she could never be a beloved daughter, but she could be a needed daughter.
Eunice closed her eyes tightly, trying to compose herself.
It's okay, life is supposed to be bitter, it's okay, you've made it this far, it's okay, you'll make it through this one, it's okay, it's okay..................
"How dare you cut in front of someone! Get out of the way now!"
It was then that there was a sudden commotion outside. Everyone in the parlor turned their heads toward the door. Eunice's face contorted as if she were about to cry when she recognized the source of the voice.
"Let them know I’m here!"
"I beg your pardon, Your Highness, but His Majesty is in the midst of a lengthy conversation with Lady Pavlone................"
"What does he have to say to Eunice! Father, father!"
Wilhelm II groaned harshly as he clutched his forehead at the sound of the shouting. He had never been so humiliated.
He'd been too careless with his barely forty-year-old heir. He'd been trying to get his head around it, but it wasn't easy.
Bam!
"Eunice! If you were in Melbourne, you should have come straight to see me............... not................"
Having fought off the guards with a flurry of bravado, Kalian roughly threw open the door. His excited voice quickly died down.
His indigo-blue eyes darted around the parlor. Everyone waited with bated breath to see how he would handle the situation.
"Hmph.................. Richena, there you are."
"Your Royal Highness is so fond of Lady Eunice, I'm afraid I must go to the North in her stead."
There was no warmth in Richena's voice. Her icy gaze could have stabbed anyone to death.
Eunice realized that the way Richena glared at her was on the fleshier end of the spectrum. Then Kalian spoke up, his voice low and unreadable.
"Where are you going, Eunice, where are you going?"
"...."
Eunice was stunned.
A tidal wave of fear washed over her at the thought of marrying such a cruel and ferocious creature, and suddenly she felt like she could do anything if she could just avoid looking at Kalian’s face.
Eunice's voice was grim.
"It has been decided that I am to marry the king of the north. I’m leaving soon.”
"..................What, marry?"
The blood drained from Kalian’s face. Wilhelm II spoke up, his voice thick with anger.
"For the sake of the alliance between our two nations."
He realized the gravity of the matter and told him to shut up. But the flowery-haired Kalian did not live up to his expectations.
"Nonsense!"
"Ah...............!"
A scream burst from Eunice's mouth as her wrists were roughly grabbed. Soon, the onlookers, Wilhelm II, Richena and Duke Dale, and even Rockford, who usually paid no attention to Eunice, widened their eyes in horror.
But it was Eunice who was most alarmed.
"Let go of me, Your Highness!"
She struggled, but that was all she could do, though behind her she could hear Wilhelm II shouting at the top of his lungs, "That son of a bitch..................!
Undaunted by the king's anger, Kalian dragged Eunice out of the parlor.
***
"Wait! Stop, Your Highness!"
Eunice cried out, fighting to keep from stepping on her dress. Unfortunately, Kalian was a blunt man, incapable of comprehending a delicate lady's struggles.
"Ahhh!"
He finally stopped after stepping on the hem of her dress and Eunice falling.
"Eunice!"
Turning quickly, he rushed over to the fallen Eunice and pulled her dress up to her knees.
"Your Highness!"
Eunice exclaimed, blushing with shame. What an unmanly thing to do in the middle of the palace in broad daylight!
But Kalian had always been this way. Only his feelings mattered, only his ideas counted.
"Oh no, you hurt your pretty knee."
"It's fine, it's fine, stop..................."
"Eunice, a beautiful woman like you should take care of her body."
"I fell because of Your Highness."
At the sound of the accusation, Kalian tore his gaze away from her knees to study Eunice's face, but not her mind.
‘I like the way you frown.’
Kalian liked it when she gave in to him.
Flushed with shame, angry, perplexed, or barely controlling her emotions with a face that looked like it might cry. He liked that she responded to him.
It amused him to think that he could dominate such a prim and proper-looking woman.
And now she’s marrying................
"You're marrying the King of the North? Does that reflect your wishes?"
"My wishes are not important, I follow the royal command."
Pulling down the hem of her dress, Eunice rose to her feet. Kalian rose with her.
"What is it, then? You're going to be forced to go to that barren land, to cross the Land of the Dead."
"It's a dead land, but it's been settled."
"Bullshit. There must be thousands of people who died trying to cross over there and get south."
"That's all old news. The Nordic lands were unified and the Death Children disappeared."
Eunice knew a hundred times better than Kalian when it came to the Nordic. The northern border of the Duchy of Pavlone bordered the Land of the Dead.
In fact, Eunice had even met some northern children who had succeeded in crossing the Land of the Dead, the so-called Children of the Dead. There was even a workhouse for them in Saint-Laurent.
"Haven't you heard the rumors about him?"
Kalian asked, the part that worried her the most.
"A vicious, cruel monster. I don't know what he'll do to you."
"Stop it................"
"He'll beat you and treat you badly. You should be my woman rather than marry someone like that."
"You're insulting me."
Eunice’s voice trembled with anger and shame.
"What's insulting? I'm telling you I hold you dear. Do you doubt my sincerity? I mean it, I'll sleep with you more often than Richena."
"Your Highness, how could you say such a thing...............!"
"I'm the crown prince, I care about you, so what's your problem?"
"Do you really not see what's wrong?"
Eunice looked at him with frustrated eyes. Unfortunately, Kalian looked like he really didn't know what the problem was.
"Let’s throw away all the complicated stuff!”
He shouted, grabbing Eunice's shoulders with both hands. She was immobilized by his strong grip. She felt scared, humiliated, and angry as he pressed his face close to hers.
Kalian hissed in a menacing voice.
"If you go to Nordic, I'll never see you again, and that's a problem for me. If I go to St. Laurent and you're not there, it doesn't make sense. So tell me you can't go right now, and stay with me."
"...."
"No, no, if you're afraid to tell the king, I'll tell him for you. Eunice, you stay here. I'll keep you from going to that rough land..................."
"That will not do."
It was then that a new voice interrupted.
Angry and startled, Kalian pulled away from Eunice and turned his head. Eunice looked in the direction of the sound.
Richena was leaning against a marble pillar at an angle. Slowly, as if she'd had enough of the ugly skit, she straightened up and stalked toward them, her shoes clicking on the ground.
With a glare that could have stabbed anyone in the heart.
***
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