Seren 1
✦ ✦ ✦
The Drab Princess Decides to Break Off Her Engagement
JUST as I was about to push open the doors of the palace’s salon, I heard raucous laughter coming from within, and my hand froze. Mixed in with the sound of men laughing, there was one, higher, sweeter laugh that I could hear.
Mm-hm. So Marietta is here today. No wonder everyone seems to be enjoying themselves so much… Nodding to myself, I was just about to open the door when a remark from inside made me gasp with shock, staying my hand.
“Look, what I’m saying is that you’d better make your intentions clear, Prince Helios. Just announce that it’d be better for you to marry Marietta.”
“Right, right! Both Marietta and Seren are the duke’s daughters, so what’s the problem?”
“Totally! It’s best just to come right out and say it. I mean, if it were me, I’d choose Marietta over Princess Drab any day of the week.”
Princess Drab.
Those words drove a dagger right into my heart.
I wonder when I’d first realized that people were using that cruel nickname to mock me behind my back.
Compared to my younger sister Marietta, with her waves of golden hair, porcelain skin, rosy cheeks, and big, jade green eyes, it was true that my features were somewhat plain. In fact, we barely looked like sisters. I had nondescript light brown hair, and my eyes were brown too, but very small and narrow compared to my sister’s. Even my eyelashes were only half as long as Marietta’s.
“There’s no way I can just come out and say it…”
I stiffened up even further as I heard my fiancé’s voice—Prince Helios, the crown prince. From the conversation so far, he was evidently present. But the sound of his voice confirmed it.
“Our engagement has been set since birth. And Seren has been raised as a future queen, taking it all very seriously. My father and the cabinet ministers all have enormous faith in her. If I so much as began saying anything like that, they’d shut me down instantly. I can just see it.”
“Hmm… It’s true she has a flawless reputation.”
“Right. So if I so much as even suggest otherwise, I could end up being totally disinherited.” Prince Helios chuckled as he spoke.
“Yeah, but…even if she’s the best choice to keep the country stable, there’s much more than that involved in being a good wife to a prince.”
“Right! Right! One smile from Marietta or even a simple ‘You can do it!’ and I could move mountains.”
“Oh my! Is that so?”
“Totally! And it wouldn’t just be me, either. If the people saw you waving and smiling down at them, boy, they’d be motivated to make the most of themselves, too! That’s what I think, anyway…”
“You’re not wrong. Marietta’s beauty is the talk of the town.”
“When she rides through town in a carriage, the people flock just to catch a glimpse of her.”
As the conversation continued, the things they said made me feel like all the blood was draining from me. All this time, I thought all I had to do was question nothing, apply myself fully to my royal studies, and assist Prince Helios as princess consort in every way.
But even I’d noticed how the people increasingly clamored for Marietta, flocking for a glimpse of her in town. Perhaps the subjects would prefer Marietta as their princess consort, as well.
“The same goes for you too, right, Prince Helios? Wouldn’t you be the best man you could be, if you had a woman like Marietta cheering you on?”
“Hmm… How could I fail to be inspired with beauty like that at my side?”
“Ooh, really? That’s so sweet!” Marietta exclaimed sweetly.
“See, just like I’ve been saying.”
There was a long silence, then I heard Prince Helios heave a huge sigh. “Still…talking about it won’t change reality. Besides, Seren should be arriving soon. Let’s wrap this up.”
“Pah! We’re only thinking of what’s best for you, Your Highness.”
“Just because you can’t marry Marietta for real, don’t go locking her up in the women’s wing of the palace, you hear? She’s the sun around which we all revolve.”
“I wouldn’t do that.”
I trembled to hear Prince Helios speak in such a loathsome way.
I’d no idea about any of this.
I’d no idea that he was so dissatisfied at the prospect of marrying me. But because of his position, he couldn’t speak his mind, so he’d just gone along with it.
I tried to hold back my tears, but they spilled over and splashed onto the floor.
Ever since my father first told me that he was my fiancé, I’d adored Prince Helios. He was born about six months after me, so he was a year behind me at school. He was a generous sort who remained open-minded toward everyone, regardless of their status or position.
I really admired everything about him. His unprejudiced worldview, his skills as a swordsman and huntsman, which he honed in addition to his rigorous royal training, and the earnest and serious approach he took toward all his public duties.
I loved his short, blond hair that shone beautifully like the sun and his purple eyes, so striking and intense against the rest of his handsome face. He had a strong, muscular frame, perhaps as a result of all his training, which I also thought was just marvelous.
He treated everyone the same way, no matter who they were. Come to think of it, he never treated me any differently from anyone else, even though I was his fiancée. Still, I swooned over the decorous and polite way he spoke to me.
But Prince Helios wasn’t what I thought at all.
It was Marietta he loved. He found being engaged to me most unpleasant. It was clear that he planned to keep up appearances in front of me, pasting on a fake smile as long as we were together. Telling himself that he’d no other choice but to get on with the hand life had dealt him.
What an unhappy life that would be for both of us…
I wished the prince nothing but happiness. I wanted him to live a life filled with only genuine smiles and laughter. But I was the very thing keeping him from that.
The tears kept on flowing.
No one must see me like this. Carefully, silently, I tiptoed away from the door. But where can I go? Where to hide this tear-stained face?
Anywhere in close proximity to the salon, where everyone was gathered, came with a high risk of bumping into someone. Hiding my face behind my folding fan, I hurried down the corridor and ran outside.
Several buildings were located just outside the palace. First came the knight barracks and a blacksmithing forge. A little farther down the way from there were the mage quarters and the herb garden. Then just past that was a landscaped garden.
The landscaped garden and herb garden would both be teeming with people. And knights were always coming and going from the barracks and the forge. All raised to be perfect gentlemen, they’d never be able to turn a blind eye to a sobbing maiden. In fact, there was no riskier place.
Mopping my tears with a handkerchief and raising my eyes heavenward, I spotted the mage quarters out of the corner of my eye. I should be safe over there.
My feet made their way there. The mage quarters were full of scholarly types, engrossed in their laboratories, working on their research. I’d heard that they barely even interacted with each other. That they were wholly unconcerned with the doings of others.