“No disgrace could be greater than this.”
In the central hall of the Ainel royal palace, surrounded by close relatives and members of the royal family, the King of Ainel rubbed his forehead and clicked his tongue.
“It’s bad enough that our kingdom has fallen under the Empire’s rule, but to have the hostage suffer such humiliation…”
The news of the Imperial Crown Prince’s new engagement had just reached the kingdom today.
Naturally, this news also conveyed that Leah had been unceremoniously jilted.
“Leah might have harbored resentment against the kingdom and concocted this plan. She intentionally seduced the Crown Prince, got engaged, and then caused trouble at the decisive moment.”
Derek, whose face twisted in a scowl, spouted nonsensical accusations. Yet the other royals eagerly joined in his baseless speculation.
“Just when she seemed to find a purpose, that temptress is trying to bring ruin upon the kingdom.”
“This is a disgrace to our kingdom’s honor. Even sending an envoy now would be a laughingstock.”
Jade, attending in place of Duke Richter, stared darkly at his seat. Familiar disgust welled up from his feet and quickly climbed to his neck.
Despite being born from a concubine, Leah was still his cousin and a child of royal descent. Yet the royals treated her worse than a stranger.
They had sent her to the Empire for years to prevent greater losses, and now their hypocrisy sickened him.
Feeling revulsion at the chaotic scene, Jade turned his head away.
“We will send only a few attendants with the envoy. No matter how desperate Ainel’s position is, we cannot stoop to sending a full ambassador.”
“Indeed, Your Majesty.”
The meeting, filled from beginning to end with slander against Leah, concluded with a few resolutions.
Suppressing his nausea, Jade left the hall without any lingering attachment.
As he stepped outside and climbed into the waiting carriage, snowflakes began to fall gently.
Jade watched the scene quietly, recalling the last day he left the Empire.
Then, the image that had tormented him for so long began to cloud his mind again.
Leah kissing the Crown Prince who had hurt him.
Unable to move after witnessing that, Jade had eventually fled the palace in haste.
The despair he felt on the journey back to Ainel still lingered in his heart.
Jade slowly closed his eyes, trying to calm his mind. But this turmoil was not because he felt betrayed by Leah.
He was not so arrogant as to resent her just because he had harbored unreciprocated feelings.
It was simply hard to understand her choice of the Crown Prince despite the clear hardships.
Did she love the Crown Prince that much? Or did she not trust him?
These two questions had weighed heavily on Jade’s mind since his return to the kingdom.
On the way back to the Duke’s mansion from the palace, the snow had started to accumulate.
As the carriage passed through the square, people in the streets reveled in the falling snow, laughing and chatting merrily.
Watching the scene without much thought, Jade’s pale green eyes momentarily reflected a tender light.
The first time Jade had seen Leah smile was on a snowy winter day like today.
The girl, who was always alone, had hidden in a corner of the banquet hall that day as well.
Unable to stand watching her any longer, Jade had headed to the terrace, and the little girl had followed him closely, as if waiting for him.
Just as always, Leah had hovered near him, and he had pretended not to notice, as was their usual routine.
The only difference was that it had started snowing for the first time that winter.
Leah, sitting cautiously on one side of the terrace, sighed as the snow began to fall and stood up.
For a moment, her usually sorrowful face lit up with a radiant glow.
Jade had to stare at Leah with dazed eyes, seeing such a bright smile for the first time.
He realized then that she could smile so beautifully.
“Do you like snow?”
When Jade unknowingly asked this, Leah flinched, but then nodded cautiously.
Her cheeks turned rosy as she hesitated and explained, uncharacteristically for her.
“Because… snow covers the whole world in white. It’s like it hides all the bad things.”
Her sparkling violet eyes seemed to hold all the light in the world.
At that moment, Jade held his breath and memorized that smile.
Anyone who saw that lovely face, as he did, couldn’t help but be enchanted.
Jade sighed softly and took in the snow-covered world again.
The Empire and the kingdom shared the same seasons, so it might be snowing there as well.
He wondered if Leah was smiling as beautifully as she did back then while watching the snow.
Caught in meaningless thoughts, Jade turned his gaze away from the window.
Now, all he wished for was for her not to be too hurt. Watching the man she loved get engaged to someone else would surely be painful.
If Leah, unable to bear it, decided to change her mind and return here, he would gladly help her.
Jade hoped to be a safe haven for her.
Someone she could reach out to without hesitation whenever she wanted to come back.
* * *
Leah stared blankly at the invitation in front of her.
Caius’s engagement ceremony was just a few days away.
Perhaps busy with preparations, he had not appeared for a long time, but had the invitation delivered to her through a servant.
Leah pushed the invitation aside, curled up on the bed, and buried her head. She had no intention of attending his engagement ceremony.
She wasn’t foolish enough to obediently follow his command to attend.
She didn’t want to go there and show her tears, giving him the satisfaction of seeing her hurt.
Whenever she cried, he would smile with a look of satisfaction. She no longer wanted to be his plaything.
“…”
Leah closed her eyes, her face buried in her knees. For now, being alone was more comforting. She wished she could sleep for a long time.
Even though she would surely dream of happier days and wake up feeling even more miserable, she couldn’t help it.
She just wanted to forget her immediate loneliness.
“Um, Lady Leah.”
Leah opened her eyes when someone gently shook her shoulder.
A maid stood before her.
“It’s about the letter you asked me to send a few days ago. It seems I can’t send it.”
Leah, lifting her drowsy face, finally understood the maid’s words and quietly asked.
“Why not?”
A few days ago, Leah had asked the maid of Seobyeolgung to send a letter. It was addressed to Ainel, specifically to Jade.
After several attempts, she realized that persuading Caius was futile. So, swallowing her pride, she sought Jade’s help.
Jade, she was sure, would find a way to end her hostage agreement.
“For some reason, there’s an order to collect and destroy all mail sent to Ainel. I went to the post office to retrieve your letter, but they had already burned everything…”
Even that attempt had been thwarted so easily.
Leah lowered her gaze helplessly but nodded calmly. It wasn’t hard to guess whose orders these were.
Only Caius would give such an order.
He was determined to keep her as his possession.
After the maid left the room, Leah murmured quietly to herself.
“To go this far…”
A man who, despite being engaged to another woman, sought her out at his whim, holding her only when it suited him, and then turning away as if she had no other use.
How much more did Caius intend to make her suffer?
Leah slowly closed her eyes and pressed her palms against them. Though her tears had dried, it felt as though they were there, causing pain.
Finally lowering her hands to her lap, Leah stared at the ring on her fourth finger.
“…”
Impulsively, she gripped the ring, trying to pull it off, but her trembling fingers couldn’t bring themselves to remove something that felt like a part of her.
With a heavy sigh, Leah let her hands fall back down. Instead, she reached for the invitation on the table.
Grasping the envelope with her name on it tightly, Leah approached the fireplace. She threw the envelope into the roaring flames and turned away.
At this moment, this was the only resentment she could show Caius.
“No disgrace could be greater than this.”
In the central hall of the Ainel royal palace, surrounded by close relatives and members of the royal family, the King of Ainel rubbed his forehead and clicked his tongue.
“It’s bad enough that our kingdom has fallen under the Empire’s rule, but to have the hostage suffer such humiliation…”
The news of the Imperial Crown Prince’s new engagement had just reached the kingdom today.
Naturally, this news also conveyed that Leah had been unceremoniously jilted.
“Leah might have harbored resentment against the kingdom and concocted this plan. She intentionally seduced the Crown Prince, got engaged, and then caused trouble at the decisive moment.”
Derek, whose face twisted in a scowl, spouted nonsensical accusations. Yet the other royals eagerly joined in his baseless speculation.
“Just when she seemed to find a purpose, that temptress is trying to bring ruin upon the kingdom.”
“This is a disgrace to our kingdom’s honor. Even sending an envoy now would be a laughingstock.”
Jade, attending in place of Duke Richter, stared darkly at his seat. Familiar disgust welled up from his feet and quickly climbed to his neck.
Despite being born from a concubine, Leah was still his cousin and a child of royal descent. Yet the royals treated her worse than a stranger.
They had sent her to the Empire for years to prevent greater losses, and now their hypocrisy sickened him.
Feeling revulsion at the chaotic scene, Jade turned his head away.
“We will send only a few attendants with the envoy. No matter how desperate Ainel’s position is, we cannot stoop to sending a full ambassador.”
“Indeed, Your Majesty.”
The meeting, filled from beginning to end with slander against Leah, concluded with a few resolutions.
Suppressing his nausea, Jade left the hall without any lingering attachment.
As he stepped outside and climbed into the waiting carriage, snowflakes began to fall gently.
Jade watched the scene quietly, recalling the last day he left the Empire.
Then, the image that had tormented him for so long began to cloud his mind again.
Leah kissing the Crown Prince who had hurt him.
Unable to move after witnessing that, Jade had eventually fled the palace in haste.
The despair he felt on the journey back to Ainel still lingered in his heart.
Jade slowly closed his eyes, trying to calm his mind. But this turmoil was not because he felt betrayed by Leah.
He was not so arrogant as to resent her just because he had harbored unreciprocated feelings.
It was simply hard to understand her choice of the Crown Prince despite the clear hardships.
Did she love the Crown Prince that much? Or did she not trust him?
These two questions had weighed heavily on Jade’s mind since his return to the kingdom.
On the way back to the Duke’s mansion from the palace, the snow had started to accumulate.
As the carriage passed through the square, people in the streets reveled in the falling snow, laughing and chatting merrily.
Watching the scene without much thought, Jade’s pale green eyes momentarily reflected a tender light.
The first time Jade had seen Leah smile was on a snowy winter day like today.
The girl, who was always alone, had hidden in a corner of the banquet hall that day as well.
Unable to stand watching her any longer, Jade had headed to the terrace, and the little girl had followed him closely, as if waiting for him.
Just as always, Leah had hovered near him, and he had pretended not to notice, as was their usual routine.
The only difference was that it had started snowing for the first time that winter.
Leah, sitting cautiously on one side of the terrace, sighed as the snow began to fall and stood up.
For a moment, her usually sorrowful face lit up with a radiant glow.
Jade had to stare at Leah with dazed eyes, seeing such a bright smile for the first time.
He realized then that she could smile so beautifully.
“Do you like snow?”
When Jade unknowingly asked this, Leah flinched, but then nodded cautiously.
Her cheeks turned rosy as she hesitated and explained, uncharacteristically for her.
“Because… snow covers the whole world in white. It’s like it hides all the bad things.”
Her sparkling violet eyes seemed to hold all the light in the world.
At that moment, Jade held his breath and memorized that smile.
Anyone who saw that lovely face, as he did, couldn’t help but be enchanted.
Jade sighed softly and took in the snow-covered world again.
The Empire and the kingdom shared the same seasons, so it might be snowing there as well.
He wondered if Leah was smiling as beautifully as she did back then while watching the snow.
Caught in meaningless thoughts, Jade turned his gaze away from the window.
Now, all he wished for was for her not to be too hurt. Watching the man she loved get engaged to someone else would surely be painful.
If Leah, unable to bear it, decided to change her mind and return here, he would gladly help her.
Jade hoped to be a safe haven for her.
Someone she could reach out to without hesitation whenever she wanted to come back.
* * *
Leah stared blankly at the invitation in front of her.
Caius’s engagement ceremony was just a few days away.
Perhaps busy with preparations, he had not appeared for a long time, but had the invitation delivered to her through a servant.
Leah pushed the invitation aside, curled up on the bed, and buried her head. She had no intention of attending his engagement ceremony.
She wasn’t foolish enough to obediently follow his command to attend.
She didn’t want to go there and show her tears, giving him the satisfaction of seeing her hurt.
Whenever she cried, he would smile with a look of satisfaction. She no longer wanted to be his plaything.
“…”
Leah closed her eyes, her face buried in her knees. For now, being alone was more comforting. She wished she could sleep for a long time.
Even though she would surely dream of happier days and wake up feeling even more miserable, she couldn’t help it.
She just wanted to forget her immediate loneliness.
“Um, Lady Leah.”
Leah opened her eyes when someone gently shook her shoulder.
A maid stood before her.
“It’s about the letter you asked me to send a few days ago. It seems I can’t send it.”
Leah, lifting her drowsy face, finally understood the maid’s words and quietly asked.
“Why not?”
A few days ago, Leah had asked the maid of Seobyeolgung to send a letter. It was addressed to Ainel, specifically to Jade.
After several attempts, she realized that persuading Caius was futile. So, swallowing her pride, she sought Jade’s help.
Jade, she was sure, would find a way to end her hostage agreement.
“For some reason, there’s an order to collect and destroy all mail sent to Ainel. I went to the post office to retrieve your letter, but they had already burned everything…”
Even that attempt had been thwarted so easily.
Leah lowered her gaze helplessly but nodded calmly. It wasn’t hard to guess whose orders these were.
Only Caius would give such an order.
He was determined to keep her as his possession.
After the maid left the room, Leah murmured quietly to herself.
“To go this far…”
A man who, despite being engaged to another woman, sought her out at his whim, holding her only when it suited him, and then turning away as if she had no other use.
How much more did Caius intend to make her suffer?
Leah slowly closed her eyes and pressed her palms against them. Though her tears had dried, it felt as though they were there, causing pain.
Finally lowering her hands to her lap, Leah stared at the ring on her fourth finger.
“…”
Impulsively, she gripped the ring, trying to pull it off, but her trembling fingers couldn’t bring themselves to remove something that felt like a part of her.
With a heavy sigh, Leah let her hands fall back down. Instead, she reached for the invitation on the table.
Grasping the envelope with her name on it tightly, Leah approached the fireplace. She threw the envelope into the roaring flames and turned away.
At this moment, this was the only resentment she could show Caius.
