31.
‘How ridiculous must I look to Judith?’
Ekian sighed, clutching his forehead. Her back as she turned away—cold, distant, and unyielding—refused to leave his mind. It was the first time she, usually so gentle, had shown such a frosty demeanor.
‘I must see her.’
It was the crack of dawn, and a drizzling rain was falling, but Ekian rose and donned his mask regardless.
‘I have to see her…’
He didn’t know what he would say when he finally met her, but he felt an aching need to go.
He felt stifled. Hadn’t Judith herself said that even coming to the Ducal Mansion to see her was not ‘the proper etiquette toward one’s master’? If he let time pass after that awkward conversation, his insides would only continue to churn.
He knew where she would be this morning.
‘If she’s going to The Shrine of the Last Priestess, it must be because of the Marquis and Marchioness Shoden. Though I cannot fathom the reason.’
She had done many things for reasons unknown until now, and every one of those actions had a purpose. He didn’t know what connection she had to the Marquis and Marchioness Shoden, but Judith certainly had an objective.
‘…I’ll be able to meet her if I go there.’
In the end, Ekian stepped out into the rain.
‘Since I’m not going to the Ducal Mansion, she won’t be able to scold me for it.’
The Shrine of the Last Priestess.
“I shall tell you the truth.”
After learning the horrific reality Bart had hinted at, he had considered visiting this place at least once.
“Because that is what will cause you the most agony, Cursed Imperial Prince.”
Yet, for some reason, he had been so reluctant that he couldn’t bring himself to take the first step.
“In my case, the one who gave birth to me and the one who raised me were different.”
He had said that to Judith on impulse. Now that he thought about it, it was absurd; he had confessed such a thing even though she hadn’t asked.
‘Is it fate, perhaps?’
Ekian’s face, hidden behind the porcelain, twisted into a grimace.
He didn’t know why Judith had chosen this shrine, but for him, it was a place of heavy significance.
By the time Ekian arrived, a long line had already formed—even though everyone knew The Shrine of the Last Priestess offered no answers to the living.
In that line, Ekian spotted Judith with ease. She was standing just behind the Marquis and Marchioness Shoden.
Having received permission from Isabella, Judith was dressed in modest clothing, holding an umbrella. With her hood pulled up and the wide canopy concealing her slender frame, no one recognized her.
Her face wasn’t widely known, and she had not yet made an official debut in high society to declare, ‘I am pregnant with the Young Duke Mayous’s child.’
‘She will probably… announce it at the upcoming Imperial Banquet.’
Given Isabella’s personality—her deep dislike for banquets—she wouldn’t throw a new one, nor would she waste the opportunity to present Judith at a major event where she could be seen by the greatest number of eyes. Since an Imperial Banquet was scheduled to commemorate the Crown Prince’s birthday, she likely intended to debut her then.
Judith stood upright, waiting silently for her turn. He didn’t know for sure, but standing directly behind the Marquis and Marchioness Shoden was surely a calculated move.
He was well aware that the Shodens made strenuous efforts to find their lost eldest son, and whenever they visited the capital, they offered prayers at this spot. He didn’t know how that fact related to Judith.
‘Judith and the Shodens have zero points of contact. Today should be their first meeting.’
He was gripped by a sudden, sharp curiosity: what was Judith thinking, trying to approach them while deceiving everyone?
Only then did Ekian realize that the tangle of emotions within him was not simple.
The urge to talk to her, the desire to somehow make amends for the awkwardness of last night, were now underscored by something else. He was simply, profoundly curious about her.
He was desperate to know her plans, her thoughts, her secrets. He wanted to know everything.
If this was what they called possessiveness, he was clearly dying to take her entirely for himself.
‘Pathetic.’
He sneered at the shrine, which was small yet exhaled a powerful, lingering presence.
Tulips were in full bloom around the structure, which could barely fit two people. Seeming to defy the season or the weather, they blossomed like a painting regardless of snow, wind, or rain, adding to the place’s mysterious, immutable aura.
That wasn’t all. Despite it being a place no one tended to, the roof, walls, window frames, and even the crevices of the door were pristine, without a speck of dust. The candles surrounding the shrine burned with a brilliant, shimmering light, indifferent to the rain.
Not a single drop of wax had fallen, as if it had been maintained by a ghost for centuries.
Though the last priestess had long since vanished, the shrine remained in a state of frozen time. It was no wonder people gathered here to whisper their desperate wishes.
‘To think I’d be thinking of Judith even here.’
Even in front of this shrine, which he had avoided for fear of his own complex thoughts, he had eventually arrived.
“I shall tell you the truth.”
As he watched Judith’s back, Bart’s voice echoed once more.
Old memories began to overlap with the image of the woman standing before the shrine.
* * *
Ekian Mayous was a happy boy. Everything was perfect.
Although his reputation was tarnished by the bad blood between his house and the Imperial Family, he was still the eldest son of the Mayous Ducal House, a family possessed of immense wealth and power. It was only natural that he had held the position of Young Duke since he was very young.
The same remained true after the birth of his brother, Karl, who was many years his junior.
His father, Duke Mayous, named Ekian his successor and revealed every secret of the house to him. That included, of course, all the secret passageways known only to the heir.
A respectable father, a kind mother, a cute younger brother. Everything was perfect. Ekian worked hard to ensure that perfection was never broken.
He had been born with great talent, making his studies easy, yet he applied himself with fervor. He loved his family and took deep pride in the Mayous Ducal House.
“Won’t it be a problem that our relationship with the Emperor is excessively poor?”
“Even so… I cannot agree with many of the Emperor’s policies, so it cannot be helped. Well, perhaps things will improve a bit once the Crown Prince ascends to the throne.”
“The Crown Prince?”
“Yes. The Crown Prince is a reasonable man. It is merely a worry that the Emperor keeps the Crown Prince, his own flesh and blood, in check.”
The age difference between the Crown Prince and the Emperor was exactly twenty years. The Emperor, having no intention of relinquishing his seat, openly kept his adult son in check and threatened him.
“At any rate, won’t things be better in your generation? Once the Crown Prince successfully ascends the throne.”
These were peaceful days, filled only with concerns over such minor political issues. No matter how much the Mayous were out of favor with the Emperor, Ekian was at the center of high society wherever he went, and there were many who sought to impress him.
As he turned seventeen, people began to bring up talks of an engagement. Of course, Ekian didn’t have any particular thoughts on the matter. He simply assumed that when the time came, he would marry the woman his family chose for him.
He hadn’t been particularly interested in women anyway, and his only goal had been to keep his house standing tall to protect his family.
Therefore, he spent more time within the walls of his home than out in the world. He was particularly close to his younger brother, Karl, and made sure to spend as much time with him as possible, often in the company of Sarah Orton, the maid Karl adored.
Although Sarah was a maid, she was as beautiful and intelligent as any noble lady. The reason Karl followed her around was obvious. Ekian, of course, hadn’t been interested in her at all.
Then, one night when he was seventeen.
Bart, the long-time physician of the Ducal Mansion, came to see him in secret.