“I had to travel immediately to Toulouse due to an urgent problem with the business I was managing.
Please excuse me for not being able to inform you in advance - Your friend.”
“He got in the way of me again.”
A week had passed since Denis traveled to Neuve Chapelle.
Thérèse burned the letter from Jacques.
Danielle, her personal maid, pushed the paper deeper into the fire so that not a single letter could be seen.
“His Highness the Prince… is indeed very cruel to Your Highness.”
“Don't say such words.”
As she stared at the roaring flames, Therese felt indescribably exhausted.
Her path to this place had never been easy, not a single thing was easy.
If Hashel had not died at the time of her nomination for the heir apparent, her marital life with Denise would not have deteriorated to this extent.
Rather, it may not have been her who became the princess of the state.
'I have, by pure coincidence, taken the place of the dead Haschel.'
Perhaps it is natural for Dennis to see her as the embodiment of intrigue and slander.
In fact, she is the one who sent Amelie, who was a candidate with her, into a scandal.
Because she, Thérèse herself, was the one who ordered Remy Avery to carry out the mission on the orders of the Marquis Inglis to become princess of the state at all costs.
But Haschel's death was just an accident.
Who would have known that she would die in vain due to a spreading epidemic?
Who would have known that His Highness Prince Denis the Generous was interested in Hashel Macher, descended from the provincial nobility?
In the end, with both candidates disappearing due to scandal and death, the one wearing the crown was Therese of the Inglis family.
The Inglis breed, which Dennis hates with everything.
Sometimes, Thérèse felt that Denise's hatred for her was excessive.
Maybe it was because he couldn't relate to Hashil Macher that he wanted.
A relationship is like a button planted out of place.
A relationship you know is crooked, but you can't start it again.
Maybe she should have asked Denise before they held hands for the first time in the wedding hall.
Why do he hate Inglis so much?
Words not said, answers not heard.
She watched the time pass while leaving everything covered.
Perhaps her fault was her negligent feeling that things might get better with time.
Although time solves nothing.
Or perhaps, her real fault is that she is a descendant of Inglis
Her lips parted in an exhausted smile.
As the night deepened, her thoughts were slipping toward the emotional.
“It's late at night, so leave the palace, Danielle.
By the way, I have an appointment tomorrow with Baron Barbier, don't I?”
"Yes, this is correct."
“Okay, I understand.
Now go.”
Therese arranged the remaining papers and left the work office.
The night seemed as if sleep would not knock on his door.
“You're still busy as always, little one.”
“Brother, welcome.”
Therese received the dear guest while sitting at her desk in the work room.
This meeting was the first meeting to take place in a month due to conflicting schedules.
“What brings you to my palace?”
“Oh my God, Therese, let us breathe a little.
You are still hasty as usual.”
The man, who seemed to be walking quickly out of breath, threw his coat over the back of the chair.
Richard, Thérèse's older brother, worked for the Home Office.
It was Richard, who had soft blond hair and hazel eyes.
He had a slightly smaller stature compared to Dennis, but he had a fairly good reputation among high society women.
Women who knew him would mention Richard's charisma, his friendly air and the dimple that only appeared on his right cheek when he smiled.
He was a different kind of handsome than the unapproachable Dennis, so it was natural that he would be popular.
“You only visit me when you have work, brother.”
“Hmm.”
Richard seemed to think for a moment, then smiled faintly and sat upright.
It was his gesture to move on as usual.
There were fine wrinkles around his eyes due to his constant smile.
“Is something bothering you?”
"What are we?
We're a family after all.
How are you these days, Thérèse?"
Therese smiled faintly as she saw Richard's obvious intentions, and pretended not to know that he was deliberately avoiding the conversation.
“Nothing new and you, brother?”
He sat for a moment without answering, then brought up the main topic.
“Hmm, Marquis Benchetrit has decided on his direction.”
“Since you came to me, then he is with Prince Fabrice.”
"Yes."
“Is there any possibility of change?”
“There is none at the moment because Fabrice has presented to Marquis Benchetrit...”
“Excavation rights to the Bou Mahé mine, surely that is what the Marquis of Pinchetrit would have wanted.”
Richard rubbed his eyebrows as he spoke disapprovingly.
It was a serious and anxious air rarely seen from him.
“We don't have a lot of cards to present to Benchetrit.
That's the problem.”
“Then the tables must be turned (the rules of the game changed).”
Therese immediately grabbed a pen and started writing something.
“Chief Delphine will have something to do.”
“Delphin from Roche and Roche Store?”
Richard inquired curiously.
“Yes.
She is quick to calculate, so you will understand it well from this letter alone.
When the tables are turned, we will have a suitable card to use, so do not rush, brother.”
“Oh, to take advice from my sister who is more urgent than I am.”
Richard laughed a fake laugh.
Then he cleared his throat, stretched his back, and looked into the void.
He seemed to have a difficult word to get out.
“Therese, come and sit here for a while.”
He pointed to the couch opposite.
She got up from her desk and sat across from Richard.
"to speak."
He was hesitant to speak, unusually.
Then he even drank bitter tea which he didn't normally enjoy.
“No, maybe I should go.
It seems that such talk is not right.”
Then he hesitated, picking up his coat, which he put aside as if he was going to stand up.
“What words are so difficult for you to say like this?
Speak comfortably.”
When Therese spoke, Richard sat upright again and lowered his voice.
“…Well, I will simply ask you: Is your relationship with the prince good?”
“Is this what you've been hesitating all this time about?”
Therese laughed sarcastic.
Her relationship with the prince?
Isn't that what even the little kids in Leoburn know?
“There's no need to say it's 'good or bad.' I just have duties and responsibilities towards him.”
Therese interrupted her words.
“So…there is no other woman with the prince, right?”
Therese looked at Richard.
Is my brother saying this as a joke?
He bit his lips, then clasped his hands and squeezed them tightly.
He looked worried at first glance.
When she saw this, she realized he wasn't joking.
Then she sat upright too and continued speaking.
“There are two things that the prince never does because of the late Queen Charles’ order.
The first is drinking alcohol, and the second is extramarital affairs.
At this point, he is someone who can be trusted, so don’t worry.”
“Therese, like your brother, I don’t want you to get hurt.
Know that this is as honest as it gets.”
“Really, brother too, why are you avoiding talking like this today?
Did you eat something strange?”
Richard seemed to have finally made up his mind and proposed.
“What would you do if it was said that you were an obstacle to making the prince king?”
Therese was unable to answer for a moment.
But she was not unable to understand the question.
“…because of the heir.”
“Yes.
It has been almost five years since you have been married and yet, there is no child between you yet...”
It was an expected move.
Regardless of whether Denis would become king, if there was no heir, his ruling power would obviously be weakened.
If Thérèse could not be the mother of the next king, neither would Engelgs be able to exercise strong influence over the royal family.
Therese gripped the hem of her dress tightly.
“Besides, the prince has no intention of bringing a second wife, as they say, and this is also because of Queen Charles.”
“Therese, you have done your duty well so far, but if this continues...”
“Brother, stop there, I know what you mean.”
Therese did not want to hear more, so she interrupted him.
“...I understand.
I will come back now.
I will have a good talk with the father.”
Richard picked up his coat and walked back as quickly as he had come.
After Richard left, Thérèse released her grip on the hem of the dress.
Wrinkles remained due to the intensity of her grip.
'I will have a good talk with Father.'
Therese laughed sarcastic.
As if that Marquis Engelgs had ever listened to anyone's words.
Engelgs Palace was his world where he exercised absolute power.
Therese covered her face with her hands and buried her head.
An unbearable feeling of guilt and contempt overwhelmed her.
She could hear the indifferent words of strangers and pass them by.
But not from the family.
The anxiety she heard from the family was crushing her.
The only person in the world she recognizes as family is Richard.
Shortly after her eleventh birthday, her mother died of illness, and darkness fell over the palace.
No one was laughing or gossiping.
The Marchioness of Engelgs and her mother began to fall ill the year Thérèse entered the academy.
That winter was like any normal winter.
The Marchioness of Ingelgs, who used to catch a cold every winter that year, was often confined to bed due to a recurring cough and fever.
When they called a famous doctor in Lewburn to examine her, he said it was just a cold.
But it would get a little better and then get worse again, and this condition would repeat itself.
Eventually, the Marchioness Ingelgs' cold developed into pneumonia.
Thérèse remembered her father, the Marquis Ingelgs.
He was a person far from emotional and tender to begin with.
But after his wife died, he became more cruel and stubborn.
He became brutal and merciless.
For some reason, perhaps as a result of a series of events, he pushed her to be the princess of the state.
If she could refuse.
The number of people suffering in a marriage based solely on duty and responsibility would have been reduced by one percent.
Therese stared at where he was sitting.
Richard.
The only exception was in Therese's world.
He was the one who sincerely desired her happiness.
She had to show him that they were living in harmony.
To have a child, and to see the child grow up.
Therese furrowed her eyebrows.
I felt short of breath and suffocated.
She blamed herself.
Her mistake was that she was satisfied that her married life was more or less going well.
Even if Dennis didn't love her.
Duty, responsibility, and a little fellowship.
Aren't the relationships of spouses of royal families built on such things?
That was self-deception.
If she herself cannot fulfill this duty, what can she do in this marriage...
Therese bit her lip hard.