At that moment, Chloe was relieved that her marriage to Callius had been confirmed.
It was official now. The engagement had been announced. Soon, she would leave this poisoned palace forever and begin a new life in Ronheim.
Just hold on a little longer. The formality of the engagement ceremony—that's all that remains.
But while Chloe found solace in her impending escape, another gathering was taking place—one that would complicate everything.
At Callius's rented mansion on the outskirts of the capital, his most trusted subordinates gathered in the modest dining hall. The room was sparse—no tapestries, no gilded decorations. Just plain wooden furniture and men hardened by years of war and poverty.
They had poured themselves cups of cheap wine, but none of them were drinking. Their faces were grim, their voices edged with barely restrained fury.
"Marriage? All of a sudden? To a woman from Arrental—and not just any woman, but the Princess of Arrental?"
"What on earth is our lord thinking?"
"The Arrental despise us, whether we're commoners or nobles. They've made that abundantly clear."
One of the older men—a grizzled veteran with a scar running from his temple to his jaw—slammed his fist on the table.
"The Idelian royal family is clearly scheming something. They could never have planned anything good for us. Could it be that our lord has been threatened without our knowledge?"
The men exchanged dark glances. None of them believed that Callius had courted Chloe willingly.
That's understandable.
To the people of Ronheim, Arrental was the invader. The conqueror. The Idelian royal family was Ronheim's enemy—the very people who had subjugated their homeland, imposed crushing taxes, and bled their territory dry.
No one would have thought that Callius—of all people—would willingly choose a bride from the family of such an enemy.
There must be something their lord couldn't tell them.
"For whatever reason, the Idelian royal family must have forced, coerced, or threatened the lord into marrying the Princess for some absolutely evil purpose."
"Aren't all three of you saying the same thing?"
"I'm saying there's no other possibility."
Callius's subordinates were convinced that their lord—who would do anything for Ronheim—was once again willing to make a great sacrifice alone.
Another subordinate leaned forward, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper.
"What if the Empress Kavala bewitched our lord with sorcery?"
At the mention of Kavala, every expression in the room turned grim. Several men visibly shuddered.
"Have you seen her? She looks younger than her own son. I thought she was close to sixty, but she only looks like she's in her twenties."
"I heard that she maintains her youth through sorcery. Doesn't that sound... creepy?"
"Rumor has it that even the Emperor was possessed by her magic."
"The former Empress's mental state began to deteriorate after Kavala appeared, didn't it?"
The men muttered darkly among themselves, each contributing another piece of damning gossip about the Empress who had somehow defied age itself.
But after a moment, one of them shook his head.
"Wait. Sorcery is the enemy of our lord's bloodline. Even if the Empress had used magic, it wouldn't have worked on him."
"That's true."
Callius was a man who had inherited the sacred blood of the Saintess of Ronheim.
He carried the bloodline of healing and purification—a gift passed down from his mother. Though the power was weaker in him than it had been in her, it was still potent enough to resist most poisons and sorcery.
"It must be a threat, then."
Everyone nodded in agreement.
The Idelian royal family had been making unreasonable demands on Callius ever since Ronheim had been subjugated to Arrental. Because of this, the damage to Ronheim had been catastrophic.
It had been over a decade since the financial crisis began.
Excessive taxation on Ronheim—already poor in food and resources due to its harsh, frozen environment—had pushed the territory to the brink of collapse. The people of Ronheim were struggling to survive by hunting and digging through the frozen ground to unearth tree roots to eat.
If it weren't for the Ronheim people, who had the vitality of weeds that took root in rocks and survived, they wouldn't have endured this long.
Moreover, the Idelian royal family would often demand troops from Ronheim whenever there was a border dispute.
Ronheim, which had been unable to raise an army due to long-term financial difficulties, had no soldiers to offer.
So Callius and his subordinates had to be deployed directly to the battlefield—again and again, risking their lives for a crown that despised them.
This time, they had come to the capital to report on the results of a recent battle—having successfully defended the border by order of the Emperor.
Given these circumstances, it was no surprise that Callius's men were hostile to the marriage between their lord and the Emperor's daughter.
"Shit."
One of the younger men spat the word bitterly.
We can't stop it.
They had no choice but to comply.
It was a sad law for the people of a powerless country.
The expressions of the subordinates who had been muttering curses grew increasingly gloomy. The weight of their helplessness settled over the room like a heavy fog.
At that moment, a man with close-cropped red hair burst into the dining hall. He was a fierce-looking individual with a small ring-shaped ornament pierced through the tip of his left eyebrow.
"Everyone's here! Good."
This was Alex—one of Callius's most loyal knights.
The men turned to look at him.
"Did you know? A Princess named Claire or Chloe—whatever her name is—threw away the gift our lord sent her!"
The subordinates all turned to Alex with expressions of shock and fury.
"What, Alex? Who told you that?"
Alex had accompanied Callius and his aide, Brentian, to the palace earlier that day to finalize the engagement details. And what he had witnessed there had left him seething.
"The Princess's maids were making a huge scene—laughing at us! They were practically mocking our lord to his face!"
He gritted his teeth as he recalled the contemptuous stares he had received at the palace.
"This is exactly why I didn't want to go!"
Knowing that trips to the palace rarely brought anything good, Callius's men always avoided going. So whenever their lord had to attend, they would draw lots to decide who would accompany him—aside from his aide, Brentian.
Today, Alex had drawn the short straw.
"I heard that the Princess threw the gift our lord sent to the ground, saying, 'Are you making a fool of me with this gift?' Even if she didn't like it, isn't it too much to insult our lord like that?"
Alex stamped his feet on the wooden floor as if he were struggling to contain his rage.
At his words, every face in the room hardened.
The subordinates believed that Chloe had deliberately ordered her maids to insult Callius.
They had no idea that the maids—who neither respected nor feared the mistress they were supposed to serve—would have the audacity to spread rumors that distorted Chloe's true intentions.
How could they possibly guess that a Princess of the Idelian royal family would be treated so poorly by her own servants?
"Damn it, she dares to insult our lord?"
"Next time I go to the palace, let me go. I want to see that pretty Princess's face for myself."
"I want to go too."
"Me too, me too!"
That day, among Callius's men, resentment against Chloe grew as deep and bitter as their resentment against Empress Kavala.
And Chloe had no idea.
"Ha..."
I looked at my reflection in the mirror and sighed softly.
The version of me staring back had an awkward, stiff expression. It was because the jewelry hanging all over my body, the flashy and heavy dress, and the thick makeup that made me look like I was wearing a mask were all extremely uncomfortable.
Today was the engagement day.
The day when the couple would meet face-to-face and promise to marry in front of witnesses. When two people expressed their consent to marriage with their own mouths, the union would be finalized.
This meant that if even one of the two parties did not agree, the marriage could fall apart immediately.
Of course, for a princess, the engagement ceremony is just a formality. It won't actually fall apart.
A princess who married according to political interests—chosen by the Emperor himself—had no right to refuse in the first place.
Still, to carry out the procedure, I had to become the 'beloved Princess of the imperial family' and meet Callius in front of the court.
Because Kavala wants to make it seem like they cherish me like their own daughter.
So, for the first time in my life, I was dressed extravagantly—awkwardly playing the role of a pampered princess.
I looked at my unfamiliar reflection and steeled my resolve.
"It's just a formality. All you have to do is declare your consent to the marriage in front of the Emperor. Then, you can say goodbye to this damned palace forever."
It was such a simple task—and yet, the thought of standing in front of so many people made my chest tighten with dread.
For someone like me, who had been confined to her chambers for years, attending such an official event was unfamiliar and terrifying.
The day I went to the party to meet Callius was an exception.
That day, I had been so anxious and pressed for time that I hadn't had the luxury of feeling pressured. Besides, I had only wanted to appear insane—so there had been nothing to fear.
But today was different.
I want to look good to Callius and his people.
I hoped this marriage wouldn't be as painful and lonely as my last one.
I wanted to go to Ronheim and have a good life—or at least, a bearable one.
To do that, it would be best to show a favorable side to Callius's retinue.
I trembled like a girl about to attend her debutante ball.
At that moment, a familiar, welcome voice drifted through the open window.
"Are you nervous?"
"Karl!"
Outside the window, Karl was looking at me with a playful expression, his arm resting casually on the windowsill.
"I came because I thought you might be like this."
I approached Karl with a smile, my anxiety momentarily forgotten.
"Please do something about me. My legs are about to give out."
Karl chuckled softly.
"Do you want to look good to Marquis Rodrian that much?"
"Rather than that..."
I just hope this marriage isn't so bad.
As I swallowed those words and smiled bitterly, Karl suddenly leaned closer and gently touched my forehead.
"Don't be so nervous. The snowstorm will eventually stop."
It was a blessing—a promise that difficult times would pass and good things would fill their place.
"Yes."
His small warmth seeped deeply into my heart.
For a moment, I felt like I could face anything—even a room full of nobles who despised me, even a husband who might hate me, even a future filled with uncertainty.
Because someone believed the storm would end.
And maybe—just maybe—he was right.
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