If You Take the Enemy Prince as Your Knight Chapter 99

“Don’t cry alone.” At last, he gently brushed his thumb across the corner of my eye, as if wiping away tears.

 

It snapped me back to my senses. Tears over an imaginary older brother? As if a dried-up princess like me would have such a thing. I quickly tried to recover. “I-It’s time for me to rise above the pain now. I’ll go by myself. My resolve is firm, so Regen, please just support me in your heart that day, and honor your own precious person separately.”

 

“If you insist on putting it that way.”

 

Had I been too convincing? Regen backed off cleanly. I had braced myself for a few more rounds of back-and-forth, so I almost felt disappointed.

 

“I’ll be training in the training ground. If you change your mind, please call for me.”

 

“Yes, yes. Let’s do that.” I nodded, suppressing a sigh of relief deep inside.

 

✦

The day of the memorial rite arrived. I wasn’t wearing mourning clothes, but I wore a dark, subdued dress and a headpiece with a veil over my face.

 

“Where is Sir Regen?”

 

“He went to the training grounds early this morning. He’s probably in the middle of training right now.”

 

“I see.”

 

I felt reassured by his predictable routine. With Hamel accompanying me, I headed to the fourth floor of the central hall in the main palace.

 

One side of the dimly lit hallway was lined with portraits of past emperors, numbering over a dozen. The paintings were so large that it felt as though giants were looking down on me. I encountered some nobles along the way, but since it was a solemn occasion, we exchanged only brief nods of acknowledgement before moving on.

 

Starting with the first emperor, I offered a single flower to each portrait in turn. For the fifth through eighth emperors, I placed two flowers instead. This was my way of repaying them for the lessons I had learned from their colorful tales of failed love, which I had recently come across while digging through historical records in the library.

 

When I reached the ninth portrait, I paused for a longer moment. Unusually, this one included not only the emperor but also the portrait of her consort, displayed side by side. It was the portrait of the regent duke, a man who had wielded such immense power that even the imperial family had to bow before him.

 

Hamel spoke quietly. “Every time I see it, I feel he resembles Sir Dominic somewhat.”

 

“Yeah, he was from the Arondit ducal family, after all. Maybe that ruthlessness runs in the family.”

 

“…”

 

“What?”

 

“Forgive me, but isn’t he one of Your Highness’s ancestors…?”

 

“Ah, I forgot.” I felt a little embarrassed.

 

After finishing offering flowers up through the previous emperor, I returned to the annex. I could have simply gone back to my quarters, but on a sudden whim, I spoke. “Let’s stop by the memorial altar in the annex too.”

 

“The annex memorial altar?”

 

“Yes. I still have some flowers left.”

 

It wasn’t strange for Hamel to look puzzled. I had rarely set foot in the annex memorial altar until now. Among my deceased siblings, there was no one I had been close to, and going there reminded me too vividly of my own circumstances.

 

The altar was set up in an underground hallway. As we descended the stairs, a gloomy hallway lined with portraits on both walls stretched out.

 

Before the mad emperor received the oracle, a total of 128 imperial family members, including myself, were born in the harem palace. Out of them, all but eight had died, but only about half of them qualified to have their portraits hung here. Most had died in the harem palace before even reaching the age of ten, without ever being formally recognized.

 

I believe the last time I came here was five years ago. Back then, the sounds of sobbing were often heard, but now it was comparatively quiet. Perhaps only the emotionally barren ones like me had survived. Of course, there were exceptions.

 

I stepped beside Sister Orlette, who had arrived earlier. She was glaring intensely at one princess’s portrait. At a glance, she looked displeased, but the redness around her eyes couldn’t be hidden.

 

“Were you close?”

 

“When we were young.”

 

The face in the portrait was young. At most, she looked like she was in her mid-teens. I quietly shared the flowers I had with me. And on top of that, another flower was added.

 

“I keep saying this, but among us, Sister Lette really has the softest heart.”

 

“Nana.”

 

Even in a dress resembling mourning attire, Nanaen’s dazzling beauty couldn’t be hidden as she smiled with her eyes.

 

“Sisters.”

 

I was worried she might say something strange again, like she did during our last brother’s funeral, like promising to make my tears vanish. Half of my concern was right, and the other half was wrong.

 

“I like roses. Especially the kind with huge, lush blooms, you know? The ones with ‘Queen’ in the name. Please use those.”

 

“What are you suddenly talking about?”

 

“It’s my will. Just letting you know in advance what flowers I want placed at my memorial.”

 

“…Hey.”

 

Sister Orlette and I both shot Nanaen a warning look.

 

Instead of saying, “I was joking,’ Nanaen simply smiled faintly. “By the way, it feels like it’s been a while since I’ve seen Sister Sasha at the annex memorial. Have you gotten over your fear of ghosts?”

 

“Ghosts?”

 

“There’s been a rumor going around that you haven’t been attending for the past few years because you’re scared of ghosts.”

 

“Who started such a ridiculous rumor.. “I chuckled in disbelief, then noticed Sister Orlette subtly averting her gaze. “Was it you, Sister?”

 

“…It was just a joke, but some people actually believed it.”

 

There truly wasn’t a single sister I could trust.

 

Suddenly, I became aware of our surroundings. “Aren’t we chatting a little too comfortably? There are a lot of eyes on us.”

 

Publicly, I often acted as if I were at odds with my sisters. But at my words, Sister Orlette waved her hand dismissively as if she was tired, and Nanaen shrugged as if to say, ‘What does it matter?’

 

“It felt like there was no need to act anymore. During the competition, Sasha, you allied with me once and with Nana once. After that, rumors spread that we’d grown close.”

 

“You should have joined hands with me both times. Then at least I could’ve drawn a line with Sister Lette.”

 

As expected, every choice comes with its consequences. The thought that my sisters might get implicated because of me left me uneasy.

 

“Ah, it’s fine. As long as we don’t cling to each other like we’re inseparable, it’ll be okay.” Nanaen changed her tone to reassure me.

 

Walking down the hallway, I look at the portraits one by one. Someone caught my eye. It was Arendt, the eighteenth prince, who had survived the longest among the princes. He had attempted to drink poison alongside the mad emperor, only to sacrifice his own life.

 

After placing several flowers down, I resumed walking. For the princesses, it wasn’t difficult to recall the appearances of those in the portraits. However, the princes were distant even during their lifetimes, with only their faces and names vaguely known, so their portraits felt unfamiliar.

 

As I examined the paintings and names, something caught my attention. It was a prince named Regen. It was a good name, so I naturally thought there might be someone else with the same name. But it wasn’t enough to serve as an alibi for my lie. The fifty-first prince who died at the age of eleven… He was much younger than me and had died far too early.

 

“Sister, he has the same name as your personal knight, doesn’t he?”

 

“Yeah. That’s why it caught my eye.

 

“Come to think of it, you didn’t come with your personal knight either.”

 

“You didn’t either?”

 

“Yes. I thought it’d be better for the imperial family remembrance to be something we do among ourselves. Even if they’re being imprinted, showing such grief in front of our personal knights would be rather shameless, won’t it? Especially since they’re from an enemy nation.”

 

Hearing it put that way, it made sense. Perhaps it really had been the right choice not to bring Regen along.

 

I placed flowers in front of the prince named Regen and turned away. Having viewed all the portraits and shared my thoughts of remembrance, there was no need to linger any longer in the musty underground hallway. As we climbed the stairs, Nanaen stuck close to my side.

 

“Sister Sasha, do you want to come to my quarters for some tea?”

 

“Sure.”

 

“Wow, I didn’t expect you’d agree right away. I thought you’d turn me down at least twice.”

 

“I just happen to have something to tell you.”