Chapter 19
Anyone could tell that the “spider” referred to the emperor and the “red ant” meant Empress Pamilla.
It was a setup.
“The final line was not in Patrick’s letter, and I did not write that final reply either,” Patricia said in a firm voice.
But not a single person gave her words any weight.
“The rebellion has been classified as the princess’s crime alone. However, it would not have been possible without the crown prince’s complicity. His Highness the Crown Prince should also be held accountable, but due to his illness and inability to move, that matter has been postponed. We are in a dire state—so dire, it wouldn’t be surprising if the Karsik Empire attacked at any moment.”
After the guard captain finished speaking, Duke Pars, chairman of the royal assembly, continued.
“To overcome this imperial crisis during wartime, several proposals have been put forward. One was to revoke Crown Prince Patrick’s command and appoint Second Prince Chris as the new commander to face the Karsik Empire.”
Duke Pars paused briefly, scanning the room before speaking again.
“It is currently estimated that the Karsik Empire has five times the available manpower of the Tane army. Even a child could predict the outcome of such a war.”
Since Emperor Harzen’s rise to the throne, the Karsik Empire had embraced the lesser kingdoms, minority groups, and nomadic peoples of the Arkan continent as mercenaries, laborers, and imperial citizens.
Even before full-scale gold and diamond mining had begun, people of Arkan were already flocking to Karsik, shouting. ‘To the golden empire of a new golden age—Karsik!’
Duke Pars rose from his seat and walked toward Patricia. Standing directly in front of her, he spoke.
“Fortunately, His Majesty the Emperor has prepared a solution to overcome this critical national crisis.”
He paused again, letting the tension in the room build. All eyes turned to him with growing curiosity. Duke Pars cleared his throat with a clenched fist.
“His Majesty has proposed a political marriage between Princess Patricia and the Emperor of the Karsik Empire as part of the negotiations. Karsik has accepted the terms. Thus, His Majesty has ordered the princess to enter a political marriage.”
‘What? A political marriage? With the Karsik Emperor? And the Karsik Empire already accepted it? When?’
Patricia glared at Empress Pamilla.
Pamilla, still seated on the emperor’s bed, fanned him with a fan adorned with red feathers and garnet pyro, the same color as her hair. Behind the fan, her ambition curved into a smile.
‘If I refuse, then Patrick and I will be punished together for treason. That’s the unspoken threat.’
If the deal was already accepted, she wouldn’t even have the chance to refuse.
Pamilla had laid out a transparent scheme—one that erased Patricia’s potential to become crown princess, one that clearly planned to dethrone Patrick and install Chris as the new crown prince.
‘Pretend I don’t see through this? Fine. If I stay here, it’s the gallows or a dungeon. I’ll go beyond Tane’s borders and plan from there.’
Suppressing the fury that rose within her, Patricia lifted her chin high. Keeping her eyes fixed on Pamilla, she clenched her jaw until the veins in her neck were taut and declared:
“I accept His Majesty’s order. I will enter the political marriage.”
The court scribe, who had been recording the royal assembly, handed a note containing the monumental decision to an attendant standing at the rear of the chamber. The attendant opened the door and passed it to the trumpet-blower waiting outside.
The trumpet-blower copied the key message onto slips of paper, placed them in a basket, and walked out to the plaza.
Toot-toot! Toot-toot!
After blowing his trumpet, he grabbed a handful of the slips and scattered them toward the crowd.
“A political marriage! A union between the Emperor of Karsik and the Princess of Tane!”
“Hey, you crazy trumpet fool, Tane doesn’t even have a princess!”
Toot-toot! Toot-toot!
The sound of the trumpet drew people toward the plaza. Those crossing the street turned their heads in the direction of the sound.
“Princess Patricia is the twin of Crown Prince Patrick—she’s been living in seclusion in the West Tower for twenty-five years as the shadow princess.”
“A political marriage! The Emperor of Karsik and the Princess of Tane are getting married!”
***
During the round-table meeting in the emperor’s study, an attendant knocked and entered.
He announced that the empress dowager was outside and wished to participate. Concluding it could not be avoided, the emperor ordered Kalip to bring a chair.
Led in by Kalip, the empress dowager was received with bows from the ministers of foreign and interior affairs, other administrators, Duke Reak—the nobles’ representative—and all aides and scribes.
“Forgive my intrusion. I will be brief: as mother of the realm I wish to propose something regarding the political marriage. Must the match for the peace treaty between empires be the emperor himself? Duke Pessoa of the Rocha Range branch line is, I believe, still unmarried.”
At her suggestion Duke Reak rose, bracing himself on the table, and brightened.
“An excellent idea. I strongly support Her Majesty’s proposal.”
“Indeed. It was Tane that first broke the peace, and their commander even led the war. The public backlash would be fierce.”
“Yes, I think Tane need show only minimal sincerity for the marriage terms.”
One after another the ministers added comments and voiced approval of the empress dowager’s proposal.
Tap, tap, tap.
Wearing an icy expression, the emperor drummed the table with his left forefinger.
“Enough.”
A chill silence fell around the round table.
At the thought of Patricia marrying the northern Duke Pessoa, a cold shiver ran down Harzen’s spine. Punishing and possessing the princess had to be his prerogative.
“Emperor Kazan of Tane proposed the marriage, and the Karsik Empire accepted. Tane has promised peace before, yet war followed. A collateral noble is insufficient for a partner who may change his mind again. Besides, the marriage is something I, Harzen Einte Kal Berg, personally desire.”
The empress dowager, Duke Reak, and the ministers stared, mouths agape.
“Each minister and official will make preparations in his own sphere. Aide—proclaim the marriage.”
“By your will, Your Majesty.”
News of the union between the two empires for the peace of the Arkan continent spread within half a day, from the northern Rocha Range to Lake Pana in the far south.
At first the populace reacted with resistance and shock, but the greater current of continental peace soon drowned out the smaller ripples of rumor.
A delegation that had surveyed the situation in Tane Palace and obtained the wedding schedule reached the encampment at Lake Pana fifteen days after leaving.
In the meantime Karsik had treated Tane’s prisoners and wounded and sent them home.
The emperor had expected Rean, whom he had ordered to escort the princess, to arrive for the preparations—but only the delegation came.
“Where is Rean? Is he escorting the princess?”
“No, Your Majesty. We came ahead alone.”
“Why?”
“According to Tane custom, the bridal couple’s bed must be made and brought along. They are to depart after receiving Amir’s blessing for a bed crafted from the palm trees of Mount Hesperos.”
A bridal bed… what a shameless custom.
I rather like it.
Struggling not to smile, Harzen twisted his lips and opened the trumpet-flier the captain handed him.
“Shadow Princess Patricia, hidden in the West Tower! Twin of Crown Prince Patrick! Political marriage with the Emperor of the Golden Empire, Karsik, confirmed!!!”
Tane clearly had customs very different from Karsik. Trains faster than carriages and horses were astonishing, and a trumpeter spreading imperial news was intriguing.
The custom of the bride bringing the marital bed—and even Tane’s sky—greatly appealed to him.
Harcen wondered how Patricia had reacted when the Tane emperor ordered the marriage.
Probably not badly—perhaps she accepted readily. A life with me…
He rubbed his lips between index and middle finger, a habit whenever he thought of Patricia.
Romantic antics—splendid memories.
“Sir Rean planned to send Conrad ahead when he set out.”
“Then why hasn’t he left yet?”
Harzen found it odd that with just over a month until the wedding date set by the Tane emperor, Patricia’s party had not yet departed.
The captain reported that, just before leaving Tane Palace, the princess had insisted on tending Patrick’s health and traveling with him.
Even before the marriage, he felt a simmering annoyance at being overshadowed by Patrick.
He had expected them ten days later, but it was twelve days beyond that when Rean’s letter arrived stating that only then had the princess’s party boarded a train from Tane’s capital.
Patrick’s condition had not improved, and so he was unable to accompany them.
The head steward and chief lady-in-waiting, Anna, were delighted by the extra time they now had to prepare the White Palace and its gardens, the space designated for the empress. They turned over the soil, laid new grass, and planted budding flowering trees.
The east wing on the second floor of the Karsik main palace was Emperor Harzen’s private domain. From his study’s terrace, he could look down into the garden of the White Palace. An outdoor stairway from the terrace connected directly to the garden.
Whenever he had even a bit of free time, Harzen would descend the steps to the White Palace.
When workers asked for his opinion on ceiling and wall decorations, he responded with careful thought. He didn’t know Patricia’s preferences, so he couldn’t answer easily—but he found pleasure in imagining what she might like.
He silently walked through the reception room, study, rest room, dressing room, bath, bedroom, and the terrace connected to the reception room, sitting quietly in one of them.
Imagining Patricia staying in this space brought a warm feeling, like morning sunlight touching the crown of his head in winter.
Each day of waiting felt like ten, and three or four days seemed like a month.
*
Will they skip today as well?
As the sun tilted westward, the shadows of the garden trees stretched long. Harzen brushed back the black hair falling across his forehead and looked up at the Tanean sky.
No Conrad bringing letters, no clouds, no wind—just a bright blue sky.
While he sat with Kalip on the White Palace’s outdoor terrace, the steward came and announced that Rean had arrived.
“Rean’s alone?”
“Yes.”
Rean soon entered. He knelt on his left knee and kissed the back of the emperor’s outstretched hand.
“I greet the blazing golden sun of the empire, His Majesty the Emperor.”
After rising, he exchanged a wrist-clasp greeting with Kalip. It had been nearly a month. Ever since joining the knight order as teens, this was the longest they’d been apart.
“Rean, why are you so late? Where’s the princess… you came alone?”
“Your Majesty. Well, things don’t always go as planned. Just packing took days. Then there was the consecration of the palm-wood bed…”
Rean explained the journey: taking a two-day train ride from the Tane palace, stopping overnight in the border town of Luken, and crossing into Karsik.
“Enough.”
The emperor furrowed his brow.
“So, where is the princess now?”
“After entering the capital, I sped ahead on horseback, so with some margin, she should arrive in about two hours—before dinner.”
Harzen’s mouth slowly opened in astonishment.
“Kalip. Notify the steward and chief lady-in-waiting.”
Harzen then asked Rean about Patrick’s condition. Rean said he’d checked in before leaving Tane and, judging by Patrick’s greenish complexion, he didn’t seem likely to recover anytime soon.
“Go rest for now.”
After bowing, Rean walked off through the corridor connected to the terrace.
“Rean.”
He turned.
“How is the princess?”
“Pardon?”
Rean didn’t understand the question’s intent.
“How is she?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. The princess is well.”
What does “well” even mean? When Patrick’s condition is worsening? Say something more detailed.
“Understood. You may go.”
Harzen rose from the terrace chair. As he walked through the reception room, he paused in front of the oval mirror on the console table.
He raised the stiff collar of his black uniform embroidered in gold thread and straightened the epaulets on his shoulders. The uniform made him look even taller, and he calmly checked his striking reflection.
“…Patricia.”
She’ll fall for me.
With his hands in the pockets of his black trousers, Harzen tilted his head and walked down the corridor.
He began thinking of Patricia’s various appearances.
Wearing the Tane Academy’s male student uniform. In armor. In his loose shirt. In a violet dress.
He tried to picture her in the violet dress, but it was impossible. All he could recall was the feel of her waist encircled by one hand, her soft white nape, and her lips.
He’d never been interested in ladies’ dresses. Even when helping his three crow-like sisters loosen their corsets, he only saw the back, never the front of the gowns.
He crossed the lawn that had been dug up and re-covered for the flower trees and stepped into the emperor’s wing. Even the earthy scent wafting through the air stirred his heart.
Kalip, climbing the central staircase, followed after the emperor.
“Your Majesty, aren’t you going to greet the princess?”
“She’ll come.”
Harcen replied with feigned indifference.
“But she’s coming from so far…”
“Kalip, bring me the diamond mining proposal from the Kaosan region.”
“Why that, all of a sudden? No, I mean… shouldn’t you put business aside for today and at least greet her at the palace entrance? You’ve waited so desperately for her.”
“Who waited?”
“…Wow.”
‘You’ve made it obvious to the whole world, and now you’re denying it?’
