Would you dance with me my lord?

All the nobles at the place sighed. It was expected.

There were only three people left in the royal family of Monterobis: the king and the previous king’s first and second wives. At the coronation right after the previous king’s funeral, Lu Havre killed all of his siblings. Even though he used the knife of Etutu, it was Lu Havre’s will to kill his siblings. There were numerous people who saw this happen.

After watching their children being killed right in front of them, the mothers were going insane. At least Lativasa seemed fine outside. However, Passau suffered from mental illness. For the past two years the king was out at war, these two women were stuck in the palace.

Nobody expected such a cruel person to be on the throne, especially the third prince who always followed the previous king’s orders and went out to the war past his marriageable age. Etutu did not announce that Lu Havre was the Nante until the coronation. Lu Havre had been hiding it by asking Etutu to keep it as secret to pretend like he was not interested in the throne.

Originally, the next one to be on the throne was the first prince, Bergen. He was the original owner of the coronation and throne who was not supposed to be dead, but Lu Havre killed him.

Lativasa shivered in madness when Lu Havre called himself her son. Her fingers were shaking.

“Your highness, I am your son.”

Disregarding how she was, Lu Havre glared with his red eyes.

“Isn’t it correct? Your highness, please care for your child.”

She wanted to get rid of his face right now. She wanted to hit his face so badly, but Lativasa held onto her sanity. He was already a king, so she could not do that.

Although the throne was empty for two years right after Lu Havre became the king, following his strong will, Etutu has made Monterobis as the kingdom of Del Monte the Third. The supporters of the previous king or other heirs had completely disappeared. So did Lativasa.

Her power and position in the palace had weakened a lot. She became someone people didn’t care about at all. Lativasa stared at the nobles who would have had to bow down to her two years ago. Even Duke Moncheta looked away from her.

Lativasa bit her lip. It was the first time she was facing the third prince, the current king, since the coronation. He seemed to be doing well. She never wanted to see his face again. However, she did not have any choice, as it was the first ball after the king had returned. She told herself that she would rather make this as a chance to let everyone know that she would not attend any of the events anymore.

However, she went insane right when she saw him. She did not like any part of his apologies, saying that he was her son, bringing himself down hypocritically. She was just getting more and more upset.

He said that he was doing his duty by keeping her and Passau in the palace, but if he truly wanted to do his “duty,” there was no way that he could have killed their children like that. He ruined their lives. He had no concept of the word “duty.”

<> Lativasa clearly remembered the face that looked just like his.

“How dare you with your dirty blood…”

Not a single thing had changed on Lu Havre’s face.

Lativasa clenched down on her teeth. Her criticism would not do anything here. This realization was as cruel as reality. She hated herself for stepping in here a few minutes ago.

It had already been a long time since she gained her reputation as a queen by being the partner of the king. Even her dark will to survive was slowly disappearing. Her eyes were tearing up. She missed her sons and daughters.

“… my sickness will not let me stay here longer. I’m going to leave now.”

Lu Havre replied calmly. “Yes, your highness. I will make sure you are comfortable.”

His face was still calm, even after all the insults she spat out. She thought she should have stayed in like Passau. Lativasa glared at Lu Havre.

There was a terrifying silence. Lativasa turned around and headed to the small door she used to come into the room. Soon the dress trail disappeared. Lu Havre bowed to her back as she was leaving.

Then he spoke to the nobles around him. “I have something I have to be clear about here. Keep it in mind.”

“Please say it, your majesty.”

To them, Lativasa was nothing. Lu Havre brought out the most important issue.

“I am not looking for a partner for now. Everyone should be aware that there are things to be taken care of that are more important than marriage.”

The nobles thought of the incident that happened a short time ago.

Count Banassi tried to stay calm. He tried to hide his shaking eyes. The king had a strong will. Duke Moncheta suddenly felt bad for his daughter. She was such a pretty girl, but it seemed like the king was not interested in her at all.

They wanted to ask when the queen’s position would be filled and by who, but no one said anything. After the Terre Festival, and after the post-war process was done, the nobles had to discuss it. Only then would they be able to persuade the king. The nobles looked at each other, showing that they understood what the others were thinking.

The music was flowing gently throughout the room as if it was not aware of the small incidents happening at the ball. It was a gentle and natural sound.

At some point, the music reached its peak. The partners who were dancing together stopped as they received signals. Some splendid and grand music started to play. The welcoming had begun.

Ashite went up to the third stair of the platform and greeted everyone in the ballroom.

Lu Havre had a speech according to the orders of welcoming. It had just the simple meaning of welcoming the princess from Skara, but it was made of fancy and elegant words. Ashite quickly went down from the stairs and looked up to the king. Frankly, Ashite was not paying attention to any of the words.

Suddenly, there were words she was not able to miss.

“…and the crown prince of Skara will come next year in the spring.”

L’avenant would be coming? Ashite was confused. She thought she would be good enough as a war captive.

“Following the Jeice pact that I signed with the diplomat of Skara, the crown prince and the princess—”

People whispered for a while. The disturbance in the ball disappeared slowly.

There was a pact she was not aware of. Ashite felt conflicted. She knew that there would be a pact after a war, but she did not know she herself was included in it. She wasn’t just a person to serve the king; she thought of the moment she got anxious when the king handed her the pact.

The king of Skara never explained anything about her situation — that she was not going as a trinket of Monterobis’ king or that it was to follow the post-war pact they had made or that she did not have to worry about her life or peace there. There were no such words. As the king never said anything, the vassals did not say anything either.

Knowing how the king was, Ashite was not complaining about it. It was not necessary — there was no reason for her to do that.

There must be something going on, she thought. It cannot be something that is beneficial to Skara. The princess, the crown prince — she wondered what things from Skara got taken away by Monterobis. She wondered if Salamanca Osensei was part of the pact. If that were served to Monterobis, not only the vassals, but also all the citizens would not be happy about it. That was probably why he did not mention anything about it. In addition, he would not have had time to think about the princess when he had to send out the crown prince for this matter.

However, regardless of whatever it could have been, it did not make her feel better.

She realized she was disappointed. She thought it was funny that she felt that way about him. She scolded herself inside for expecting something out of things she had known for a long time.

Suddenly, a big hand caught Ashite’s sight. Someone was putting his hand out for her. There was elegance in the hand slowly opening.

She thought it was from that imagination of hers. Ashite blinked her eyes and tried to center herself. She needed to remember that she was at the Terre Festival ball, in the middle of a welcoming party for her. What would be next?

“Princess, would you dance with me?”

A dance with the king. Ashite looked at him.

As one of the practices in a welcoming, royals were supposed to dance with guests. Out of everyone in this big ballroom, only one, Ashite got to hold his hand. The hand felt strong and firm. Starting from his hands, she looked down his wrist and all the way to his eyes. Lu Havre was looking at her as well.

A lady with long pink hair with a hint of purple was staring at them.

Lu Havre and Ashite held each other’s hands and bowed down politely to the nobles before the dance began. The orchestra started to play slow music.

It was the most proper dance for a king and a foreign princess who were not related in any way. It wasn’t intense or passionate — just a slow and calm dance.

She took a step back and forth. One, two, one, two. Although she couldn’t focus well, Ashite was dancing almost perfectly. It had been a while since she danced. However, there was no way she could forget or make a mistake. Ashite was able to think of the correct dance for the song right away when the orchestra started to play their music. Whether she was born with it or happened later in life, she had been dancing well for her entire life.

Suddenly, Ashite looked into the king’s red eyes. He was so close that she could feel his breath. The moment she started to pay attention he was closer than she expected him to be. Lu Havre’s eyes were so bright.

Bright and red. His eyes were purer and more vibrant than any rubies she’d seen.

But there was nothing in those eyes. Strangely, they reflected nothing. Ashite thought that was the proper way to describe them: eyes that were not thinking. Cold-hearted eyes. Those eyes did not have anything in them, even the lady in front of him.

Ashite realized from the deep down below that there was no way he could ever treat women poorly.

Rather, he was not interested in them at all. She felt sorry for all the noble ladies, including Yena. There must have been a different side of the story from that early morning. The king would not abandon a lady after he had some fun with her. There must have been something else.

It should have been obvious. The king was not interested in women. It made sense, as there were so many urgent matters to be taken care of before he could even begin to worry about women. For example, there was the post-war process and solidifying his throne. Maybe his cruelty and brutality were needed. Everyone would kneel down to someone who was strict as he was.

And that king promised her. She finally felt like her peaceful life and calm nights were coming true. She did not have to live an anxious life anymore.

***

<>

<>

She closed her eyes. That will never happen again, she told herself. Ashite opened her golden, pure eyes.

“Princess, you are supposed to look at your partner’s eyes while you dance.”

He calmly explained it to her again. He was not mad at her. The manners in Monterobis were similar to that of Skara, and she’d been dancing for a number of years. She was aware that she needed to look into his eyes, but that memory had bothered her. She had to close her eyes for a bit to calm down.

A quiet voice was advising her. Ashite looked at Lu Havre. His bright red eyes calmed her down.

Now Ashite clearly knew that this king was not as monstrous as people said he was.

It was all an act for her to stay calm in Monterobis until now. Dancing with the king, she could finally be calm and relaxed. There was no need to worry about what the king would do to her. She just needed to live quietly and peacefully just as she did in Skara. She could finally do that.

Ashite did not regret the time she was anxious when she came down to this kingdom. Even Yeref and the servants who might have noticed her were not something she cared about. She never cared about what other people thought of her. It was something she learned as she grew up.

If she cared about what others thought and was anxious all the time, she would not have been able to survive 20 years in Skara as a princess.

How could she do that in a place where everyone looked down on her for her tainted blood?

Ever since she was born, she crafted her own mask to fit into the elegant palace. She hid in the Wroclaw library to get away from those looks. She tried to survive in the palace, especially after she lost her mother.

The dance always reminded her of the time she spent with her mother. However, this time, she was not afraid of those memories.