Chapter 13

Nephitia and Shadia left the forest and returned to the beach. The attendants who had been waiting for the princess’s return with bated breath and the workers gathered before the mountains of tribute welcomed them.

“Please go ahead, Your Highness. We will escort you to your palanquin.”

Even while casting wary glances at Nephitia, Shadia ended up spreading a large piece of cloth and wrapping it securely around Nephitia’s shoulders. Call it an unyielding determination to cover her up somehow.

“Aunt… really…”

Nephitia scowled. The cloth stubbornly draped over her shoulders was the very robe Nephitia had abandoned behind on the ship. She had the mind to snap back with a sharp remark, but the lined-up attendants caught her eye, leaving her with no choice but to endure it.

Nephitia slipped her arms through the sleeves of the robe and climbed into the palanquin. Shadia sat in a slightly smaller palanquin following behind the princess with a satisfied expression. Once the two women had settled in with dignity, an attendant at the very front shouted loudly.

“We shall depart!”

Accompanied by a booming command, robust men hoisted the palanquins high and rose to their feet. The palanquin decorated with pure gold shone brightly under the sunlight, and the attendants arrayed in neat rows ahead and behind began to walk forward slowly while playing flutes and drums.

Nephitia relaxed her posture and leaned back loosely. It was only the first day, but perhaps because it came right after exchanging harsh words and raising voices with Shadia, her mind remained utterly unsettled.

“Your Highness, that ‘Hetasept’ you speak of is nothing more than a theory and cannot possibly exist in reality. It is a mere illusion.”

…Hetasept was an illusion that did not exist?

“What man in this world would ever dare take Her Highness’s hand and feel such a tremor?”

Nephitia recalled the prince’s handsome face. Arkin had appeared calm and composed, but his wrist was telling a completely different story. When she had grabbed hold of the man’s solid, thick wrist, Nephitia had managed to catch the frantic, pounding pulse beating against the delicate inner skin of that powerful forearm.

From an extremely close distance, she had seen and felt everything. The turmoil storming within Arkin’s pupils, the shock of being swept up in a sudden situation, and even the defensive reflex that flared up to protect himself—she caught every single detail.

Of course, someone might ask whether such a sudden encounter was even possible. They would call it far-fetched. Pitiful ordinary people untouched by divine grace would undoubtedly think so.

Yet Nephitia was certain that Arkin was her very own ‘Hetasept’. Not a shred of doubt remained. She had thought and thought about it until now, but the answer stayed the same. What use were the slim probabilities calculated by ordinary human conventions to a body granted divine power? No matter what Shadia thought or how she felt, Shadia was wrong and Nephitia was right.

What she did would soon become the path of Kepet. She would forge a life different from her mother’s. Could she not even abolish the consort system if push came to shove? Would she be able to do that?

There were six whole months ahead of her. Nephitia hardened her resolve once more. She just needed to get to know Prince Arkin gradually over that time and slowly persuade him. If she taught him the path of destiny and made him realize what a Hetasept was, he would eventually understand her words.

Aside from his handsome appearance, his personality was rather terrible, and the fact that he wasn’t very cooperative was the only problem…

Nephitia looked back on her first meeting with him. Arkin Seilir. Murmuring the name inside her mouth, even the name itself suited her fancy.

His eyes were cool and blue like the color of water found in a desert, and the smooth hair that scattered from his fingertips was the color of honey. His porcelain-like skin shone so brilliantly that even his bluish veins were vividly visible…

Above all, that refreshing and ecstatic feeling. Nephitia unconsciously looked down at her own fingertips. The surprising and rapturous sensation that had rushed over them as if their bodies had clung tightly and deliciously together! Not even a cool oasis encountered in the midsummer desert could compare to it.

Nephitia let out a low sigh. Still, thinking about it again…

Aside from his stubbornly difficult personality, everything else suited her taste. If Arkin had been a person of Kepet, things would have been so much easier!

The prince had shown a rather violent and sensitive reaction. She hadn’t thought he would hate it quite that much; she had initially assumed he was just startled, but she truly hadn’t known he would find it so utterly unpleasant…

In Kepet, people wept and trembled with emotion, claiming that even a mere brush of her touch was a blessing passed down through generations of their noble house—what if she had told him a story like that? If she had known that, would his reaction have turned out a bit different?

Nephitia fell deep into thought.

“There’s a limit to how much I can brush off as eccentric behavior. Keep crossing the line endlessly, and bear in mind that it could escalate into a diplomatic issue between our two nations.”

“You committed rudeness as naturally as breathing from our very first meeting, but I’ll let it slide generously this time.”

“I hope I never have to mix words with ‘Kepet’ again in the future. It’s terribly bothersome.”

Nephitia’s eyes narrowed. Was her behavior really that ‘rude’? Just what on earth made it rude?

“Ha…”

It was difficult. Nephitia decided to try viewing things from Arkin’s perspective for a moment.

The way he recoiled every time she touched him as though a bug had crawled onto him, the fiery anger that flared up in his eyes the moment she brought up royal succession.

While the palanquin swayed back and forth climbing the hill, Nephitia remained lost in thought the entire time. She even retraced the words that plump attendant who had been serving Arkin—‘Magnus’, was it?—had said to comfort Arkin.

…It seemed Arkin did not want it to be exposed that he might fail to inherit the throne.

Desperation. Yes, he must be desperate. Unlike herself, who had received the prophecy and was born to become a monarch from the very beginning, Arkin had to live a life of constant striving and proving himself to validate his own position.

Hmm… If that was the case, it must be truly exhausting. That might be why he reacted even more sensitively. That must be why he got angry and asked if she didn’t know how to ‘apologize’. Thinking it through step by step, her chest felt somewhat sore for some reason. Perhaps she really had been too rude, just as he said.

With a sigh, Nephitia lifted her gaze and checked the path leading to her destination. A crowd of people had gathered densely in front of a large, white building. As the pristine white structure of the massive sanctuary drew closer, the clamorous noise grew louder.

“Stop!”

Because of another procession entering from a branching road right beside them, the Kepet procession was forced to grind to a halt. The sounds of drums and flutes cut off abruptly.

“What is the matter?”

When Nephitia asked, an attendant quickly bowed his head.

“We have collided with a procession from another country.”

Both the Kepet procession and the opposing procession were standing awkwardly right at the merging point of the road. Nephitia raised a hand and had her entourage move aside first.

“It’s nothing much, so clear the path for them first.”

At the princess’s order, the attendant bowed his head. Nephitia expressed her gratitude and carefully observed the procession proceeding toward the sanctuary ahead of them. The procession felt longer because it marched in a single file. The men leading the front wore green clothing and carried large half-moon-shaped swords at their waists. The sight of numerous strings dangling all over their clothing ornaments was quite striking.

However, what left an even stronger impression was the uniquely shaped palanquin. Unlike Nephitia’s, it was built like a small cabin, making it impossible to make out the person riding inside, but that palanquin carrying some nameless royalty had its walls woven from light, elongated wood and vines, with large leaves draped over the roof as a canopy.

“Who are those people?”

“Judging by their attire, they appear to be ‘Iivika’. It seems they have brought along a princess with lovely brown hair.”

A nearby attendant replied. If it was Iivika, was that the Vine Kingdom? Nephitia held her breath and watched the procession grazing past her side.

It was then that the small blind covering the palanquin window rolled up silently and smoothly. A hand popped out from the darkness as if offering a friendly greeting, waved flutteringly, and then vanished again as the blind rattled down.

…What? They just waved at me!

Nephitia’s eyes gleamed brightly. Had she made a second friend following Arkin? She would probably be able to exchange greetings once they arrived at the sanctuary, right? Even though she had only caught sight of long, slender hands, a sense of fondness unexpectedly welled up within her. What did the princess of Iivika look like? What kind of clothes would she wear, and with what sort of voice would she speak?

A smile she couldn’t possibly hide blossomed across Nephitia’s face, instantly lifting her spirits. Her heart hammered with anticipation, eager to exchange greetings at the earliest possible moment.