TOPWL 218

The whole empire was joyous when word spread that a beautiful prince who looked exactly like the emperor had been born. The emperor also adored the child who resembled him. When the empress learned that two-year-old Reginald had no disability, she poisoned her own daughter’s cup because she thought the girl would hinder her son’s future, and then she framed a favored concubine for the murder and drove that woman from the palace.

The emperor knew the empress had killed his favored concubine, but her family’s power stood too great for him to act. From that time, when he drank, he went to the empress’s chamber, and he vented his hatred through her body. The empress broke again and again in her husband’s arms. After that time, they came to hate each other completely.

When such days continued, the empress conceived again. Unlike her other pregnancies that ended in miscarriage even while she lay bedridden, the child inside her clung stubbornly to life, even while the emperor raped her every night. The empress had been frail since birth, and the physician warned that she could die in childbirth. The empress, who no longer wished to bear the emperor’s child, tried to miscarry, but the emperor stopped her and even set guards so she would not take medicine.

Her already weak mind and body withered more every day. Only Reginald, still young and seeing his mother as his whole world, supported her. When the time for birth drew near, the emperor commanded openly that the child’s life come before the empress’s. The empress now felt disgust toward the child that devoured her body. Yet her belly kept swelling until the day of birth arrived.

After thirty hours of labor, the child was born. Both mother and child lived, by great fortune. The emperor himself gave the newborn a name because the empress would not even look at the baby. The child was named Hiore Friedrich Adenauer.

The baby came into the world with a fragile temperament. When the emperor found that the empress grew distressed at Hiore’s cries, he dismissed the wet nurse and ordered the empress to care for the child herself. At that time, the emperor’s schemes weakened her family’s influence, so the empress had to raise Hiore alone. Hiore fell ill often, and he cried often. His cries drove the already deranged empress closer to madness. Without guards, she would have killed him without hesitation.

When the emperor took a new mistress and forgot the empress, she finally escaped from Hiore. Hiore, from a young age, knew she hated him. He could not miss how differently she treated Reginald and him. He felt wronged for being treated differently even though both were her children, but he thought that if he proved himself, she would love him someday.

When Hiore turned seven, he found a way. He obeyed Reginald, and he gave Reginald credit for his own achievements. Then the empress smiled at him.

“Keep doing that from now on, prince. Do you understand?”

The empress spoke in the same gentle voice she used for Reginald, and Hiore nearly cried in her arms. The empress laid Hiore on her lap and told him about her daughter. Sweat gathered on his palm as he held her sleeve. She never said it directly, but she told him how she had killed her daughter, and she added that she was glad he had finally become useful. Hiore realized that the empress was threatening him.

Give glory to Reginald, take blame yourself, or you’ll die if that balance breaks.

When the empress saw that Hiore understood, her smile grew even brighter. To the young Hiore, she looked like a monster, beautiful and hideous, who starved him of affection.

Decades passed, yet she still followed only Reginald. It was a foolish act, but Hiore could not despise her, because he had done the same.

He looked ahead. If he went straight, he would find Reginald, and beyond the mountains lay Yudit.

His decision was made very quickly. Hiore went to the barracks to set out on the journey. The wind that smelled of blood ruined his carefully arranged hair.

***

He could not breathe. Yudit opened his mouth wide and tried to take in air, but only a small amount entered.

“No more. I can’t do this anymore.”

“You can do enough.”

“It’s already too much… ah.”

Yudit’s eyes opened wide. He felt like his spine was breaking. He straightened his waist and caught the right instant to exhale.

“Now, it’s almost done. One more time.”

“……”

Yudit held the pillar and endured. He thought he finally understood why women in the morning held onto pillars. With this body, even taking a single step was hard.

“It’s done. Look at the mirror once.”

Yudit stared at the full-length mirror before him with a pale face. In it stood a man with a corset around his waist. Just thirty minutes ago, his waist had been normal, and now it had shrunk unnaturally because of the whale-bone corset.

“When I become emperor… this will be the first thing I ban.”

The tightness around his throat made even a single word hard to speak. The knight who had helped lace the corset smiled.

“If Your Highness had become emperor a little earlier, I might never have become a knight.”

“Carmen… did you debut before enlisting?”

“Yes. I didn’t want to, but my parents pushed so hard that I had no choice. It was difficult.”

Yudit looked at the red-haired knight whose hair was cut shorter than most men’s. Her name was Carmen Cuvier. She was the third daughter of the Cuvier viscount family and one of fewer than thirty female knights in the army.

“That must have been hard.”

“I wouldn’t do it again if I could go back, but I guess no knowledge is useless. Since it helps me like this now.”

“You said you had two older sisters.”

“Yes. Both married into good families, and their dowries cost a fortune. I used to tighten both their corsets, but now I don’t know who does it for them.”

Carmen dusted off her hands as she spoke. When Yudit first met her, she had been nervous, but now she seemed more relaxed, and her naturally open nature began to show.

“Probably their husbands.”

“Probably. Oh, I’ve actually seen Your Highness before.”

“Me?”

“Yes. You attended the debutante ball in the imperial palace, didn’t you?”

“I did. But I don’t remember it…”

When Yudit showed an apologetic look, Carmen laughed heartily.

“It’s natural that you don’t remember. We never spoke. I only saw you from afar.”

What was I like then? Yudit thought for a moment, but his memories before meeting Khalid were blurry, like colors covered in paint, and he couldn’t recall the image clearly.

“How did I look back then? I can’t remember well.”

“Can I speak honestly?”

“Yes.”

“You looked beautiful, and you looked unhappy.”

“That’s very honest.”

Yudit gave a her a helpless smile.

“I’m sorry.”

“No, you’re right.”

“But now you look much better. Your face is the same, but your impression changed so much that I almost mistook you for someone else.”

“Really?”

What changed him then and now was probably Khalid? He felt longing every time he thought of Khalid.

He heard of Khalid’s victory four days ago. Even though Khalid had joined the war later than anyone, he was achieving better results than any prince. There was only one reason he was advancing so quickly. Between Yudit and Khalid, only three territories remained. The direction of Khalid’s conquest pointed only toward Yudit. He never sent a single letter to say how he would advance, but Khalid was moving toward Yudit as if he already knew everything.

Was he still angry? Months had passed without Yudit being able to tell him about the pregnancy because of the risk of discovery. His stomach had started to swell. Clothes hid it perfectly, but without them, the change showed slightly. Male omegas didn’t show as much as female omegas or betas, which was a small relief.

“You should try on the outfit too.”

Carmen brought a dress. It was sensual, with a low neckline and a slit running up to the thigh. As Yudit looked at the flimsy, shimmering fabric, his face turned pale.