“The guest list? All right, I’ll have a look at it.”
One day, after yet another altercation with the margrave in Eric’s study, I was handed a guest list for our wedding. The dozen-or-so papers were filled with names—the names of everyone who hoped to attend our wedding.
“Hmm? What’s this?!”
Oh dear…
The Count and Countess Westoria, my parents, were on the list.
Under normal circumstances, they wouldn’t have needed to submit a request to attend. A bride’s parents would have been invited regardless.
But not these parents.
Especially my stepmother Catherine, who had antagonized us in more ways than one. The worst of it, of course, being that she refused to take any responsibility for what happened with Jill, feigned ignorance, and forced me to pick up the pieces. That was just too much.
To be honest, the very idea of being near her makes me sick. But I can’t leave things like this.
“What’s wrong, Leia? Something wrong with the list?”
Eric’s worried eyes pulled me out of my thought spiral.
“Oh! I’m sorry. Yes, well, you see…”
I proceeded to explain my dilemma. After all, stripping my family of their title was part of Linboldt’s demands. If they attended our wedding, that would only stir up needless drama.
“I see. Yes, your parents are quite the troublemakers.”
“You’re telling me. And there’s no telling what Margrave Linboldt and his supporters will say if we invite them…”
“Well, I’m going to change their minds by our wedding day, so it won’t be an issue if your parents are there when the day comes. Then again…if you really don’t want them there, we don’t have to invite them.”
Eric was sensitive to my needs. We certainly would need to change the minds of Linboldt and his supporters before the wedding if my parents were to attend.
Still, if we wanted a drama-free wedding, it might be best if we didn’t invite them.
No, Leia. Don’t take the easy way out.
This was a test of character that would follow me for the rest of my days. I had to face it directly.
“No, I think we should invite them. No matter the circumstances, it would look bad to not invite the family of the crown princess to her wedding. Besides, I want them to sit there and watch me on my happy day.”
Eric looked startled for a moment. Then his eyes softened, and he said, “Hmm…all right. I understand. We’ll invite the Count and Countess Westoria.”
“Thank you.”
After that, we went over the rest of the guest list together. Aside from the Westorias, nobody else on the list was problematic.
“All right, I think this should do. What do you say, Leia?”
“Yes, I say we return the guest list with our seal of approv—”
There was a knock at the door.
“Prince Eric, may I have a moment of your time?”
It was the minister of foreign affairs. He was the one who gave us the guest list.
Did he anticipate when we would finish?
“Sure, come on in. We just finished going over the guest list.”
“Very good, Your Highness. Thank you so much for taking the time to look over it. And, well…Prince Eric, do you have a moment? There’s another matter I wish to discuss.”
“What other matter?”
He didn’t come here just for the guest list. When Eric saw the grave look on the minister’s face, Eric’s voice lowered several semitones.
“You see, we just received a message from the Ren Empire addressed to you, Your Highness. I’ve brought it here. It’s a reply to a wedding invitation.”
From the Ren Empire?
I raised an eyebrow. The Ren Empire was the largest country on the continent. It was also the homeland that Lingsha fled as a refugee. The Ren Empire and Elshaid had an alliance and an exchange student program. We had sent invitations to the royalty of all the surrounding states—naturally, the emperor of the Ren Empire was among them.
I looked at Eric, and his expression hadn’t changed. He merely stared at the envelope he had been handed.
“I’m going to go see Dale. Take a break and wait here for a while until I return, Leia.”
Without even breaking the seal of the envelope, he left the room.
It was unusual for him to visit Dale. True, they had grown closer after the Algrene incident, but he had never gone to consult Dale first about this sort of thing before.
Does he have a bad feeling about this letter?
No amount of navel-gazing would yield any answers. And since the rest of the guest list was settled, I decided to just relax and wait for Eric to return.
Almost immediately after Eric left the study, Lingsha took his place.
“Eric ran out of here in an awful hurry. Is something wrong?” She was peering at me strangely, as if she sensed that something was off.
It’s probably best that I don’t tell her it concerns the Ren Empire, right?
“I’m not actually sure myself. We were just finalizing the guest list for the wedding when he left.”
“Ooh, yes, to make sure some weirdos don’t show up that I’ll have to blast away?”
“Y-yes…you could say that.”
Lingsha seemed satisfied by my answer. Indeed, her assumption wasn’t wrong. If anyone were to exhibit inappropriate behavior, either Johann or Lingsha would have to deal with them.
“Hey, Leia, in Elshaid, brides wear things called wedding dresses when they get married. I know.”
“Ha ha, yes, we do. And actually, I’m going to try on my wedding dress soon.”
My wedding dress was finally finished, so it was about time for a fitting. I was looking forward to trying it on, since I was very specific in my design request.
“Ooh, I see, I see. I’m sure you’ll be a beautiful queen, Leia.”
“You think so?”
My cheeks burned from the sudden compliment.
Me, a queen… Lately, my mind had been preoccupied with thoughts of the future. But my crucial first step to becoming queen was getting the people of Elshaid—starting with Margrave Linboldt—to accept me as Eric’s bride.
“I like to think I’m going to live up to their expectations…but I still have no confidence whatsoever.”
“No confidence? Hmmm… Well, the Ren Empire had twelve empresses, you see, so I’ve got no words of wisdom for ya there.”
Twelve empresses… That fact alone made the nations so culturally different that I couldn’t even imagine what it was like. The Ren Empire’s culture really was a world apart.
Lingsha’s voice grew serious, “Lingsha’s mother was an empress too, oh yes, she was. But she was more like my big brother’s caretaker. That’s because my big brother’s mom was a higher-status empress than my mom.”
“They treated their empress like a servant?”
In Elshaid, there had been a couple cases of daughters of lower-ranking nobles working as servants for higher-ranking noble families…but in the Ren Empire, both women would have been made empresses in that case. Their former statuses remained unchanged.
“Oh, yes. Lingsha’s mom took care of Lingsha’s big brother for his mom too. That’s why we’re like real brother and sister, even though we don’t have the same mother!”
“My goodness, really?! Oh dear, I didn’t mean to pry.”
“No worries. After that, we were thrown in the dungeon because of my big brother, but it’s all in the past! So it’s no bother anymore, you see?”
Lingsha’s story was terrifying, especially paired with the big grin on her face.
What I’ve been through can’t begin to compare to the tragedy Lingsha experienced.
Talking to her made all my problems seem quite small. Which made her smile all the more heartbreaking—the fact that she had a happy life now in Elshaid felt like a miracle.
I hope I get to see her have a happy ending.
I yearned to stay and chat with her for a while longer.
Just then, Johann entered the study and said, “Pardon me, Lady Leia. May I borrow Lady Lingsha for a few minutes?” There were traces of panic in his expression.