Chapter 52
After they left, Anita and Lanslo got into the car as if they had been waiting. He gazed out the window for a moment before speaking quietly.
“It was my mistake. I never imagined we’d meet Prince Reinhardt like this. I apologize for not telling you about my mother beforehand.”
Anita was quite surprised by his sincere apology.
She could have asked about his family at any time. But she hadn't, not wanting to trigger any hidden trauma he might have.
Lanslo, for his part, had never pried into Anita's family matters. In fact, one could say that Anita's own disposition of not taking much interest in others' affairs was heavily influenced by him.
“It’s no different for me. I’ve never spoken about my mother either….”
After her careful reply, Lanslo began to speak after a long pause.
“My mother died during childbirth. The only face of my mother I know is the one left in a portrait. …Or so the Grand Dame claims, but the reality is different. To be precise, she died giving birth not to me, but to my sibling.”
A sibling. The one mentioned in the former Edenbahir Duke's will.
“You mean… the sibling who died?”
“My twin brother. My mother was frail, and I’m told she had already lost too much blood giving birth to me. She fainted while delivering my brother, and the only option left was a surgical incision. It’s certain that if the Grand Dame had just given her permission, the chances of both my mother and brother surviving would have been high.”
Could it be that the Grand Dame opposed the surgery?
‘How horrible…’
As a woman, it was a situation she didn't even want to imagine.
‘So, that’s why.’
That was the reason for the strained relationship between the former Duke of Edenbahir and the Grand Dame. After pondering this, Anita asked as cautiously as she could.
“The Grand Dame didn't give her permission… was it because of the ‘Original Sin of Twins’?”
The legend of the Golden Dragon Nuaza, who killed his treacherous twin and conquered the world. Anita remembered the story Claunia had told her clearly.
[They say one of the twins, the second or the first, is killed or abandoned. Before the impurity can take hold. If it does, the family is ruined and a plague spreads through the region.]
The Grand Dame strongly believed that Lanslo had inherited the potent blood of Nuaza. For her, a blind believer in the being known as Nuaza, to be capable of such a horrific act was not entirely surprising.
Lanslo answered with a short, derisive laugh.
“You can laugh if you find it ridiculous, Anita. I find it ridiculous even as I say it.”
My guess was right.
“Then, the former Duchess….”
“While she was arguing with my father, my mother’s heart stopped. My brother died without ever seeing the light of day. Should I say it was a relief that he left with our mother? Or….”
The hard line of Lanslo’s brow slowly crumpled.
“No, that’s a terrible thought. No one would think it a relief. No one.”
She thought she finally understood why Lanslo's mother, and even his brother, were treated as if they had never existed.
It was because of his unborn twin brother. The Original Sin of Twins. A tragedy created by those who believed in that cruel myth.
“I’ve kept it to myself because I thought it was a story that would only displease you to hear. But I kept it too close, and now it’s been revealed by someone else.”
His voice was filled with emptiness. Anita squeezed his hand tightly.
“It’s okay. I understand how you must have felt. Thank you for telling me now, Lanslo.”
Fidgeting with his large hand, Anita hesitated for a moment.
“My mother, well….”
Will he be disappointed in me if he hears this story?
That worry made it hard for her to speak. But as his fake wife and childhood friend, it was a story she had to tell someday.
“The truth is, I only know my mother’s name. I’ve never seen her face. There aren’t any portraits left, you see.”
Lanslo watched her fingers play with his right hand and asked softly.
“Were they lost in a fire?”
“No, my mother wasn’t my father’s wife. She was an opera singer. She became pregnant with me while she was seeing my father, but I guess she didn’t want a child. They say she left me with my father as soon as I was born and went back to her hometown. After that, they lost contact, so he doesn’t know how she’s doing.”
My father became a single man with a child at a young age.
But my father took me in, and he never married. His acquaintances constantly pushed ‘stepmother candidates’ on him, but nothing ever came of it.
“It’s a little unimpressive, isn’t it?”
To her small question, Lanslo replied with a blunt expression.
“Who, the Grand Dame? Or my father, who couldn’t even protect my mother? The Grand Dame is far beyond ‘a little unimpressive,’ and my father is no different, so neither of them fits.”
“No, I was talking about my birth.”
For the first time since the car had started moving, Lanslo turned to look at Anita.
If she wasn't mistaken, his face was slightly angry.
“You are sometimes so foolish it’s hard to understand, Anita Völőni. Do you believe your own worth is determined by others? Then my worth must be filthy and vulgar beyond measure. I was raised by that terrible Grand Dame who treats people like dogs.”
Flustered, Anita quickly shook her head.
“No, Lanslo. I’ve never once thought of you that way….”
“You are beautiful, Anita.”
He pulled Anita’s hand, which was covering the back of his own. And just as she had done, he gently stroked the thin skin.
“If you need someone to determine your worth, then choose me. Ask me, and I’ll tell you whenever you want. You are beautiful. My wife, my woman, the kindest and strongest person in the world.”
A lovely whisper came from Lanslo as he pressed his shoulder close to hers.
“A person with a heart so warm it could melt snow. A person so affectionate I want to stay by your side forever. A gentle person who always puts others first….”
Rather than stopping Lanslo’s embarrassing compliments, Anita closed her eyes and focused completely on his voice.
This was cheating. He was definitely a despicable man.
The nerve of him, warning her never to give him her heart. How could he look her in the eyes and say such things?
‘If only he had just been cruel…’
If he had… no, I still like you.
I like you.
I like you so much, Lanslo.
I don’t know how not to love you.
***
Early evening, as the sun began to dip behind the mountain ridge.
It was the time of day when the twilight sunbeams fell languidly through the windows into the royal corridor. The heavy doors of the audience chamber slowly opened, and a tall man walked out.
The man, Reinhardt, had his clean silver hair dyed crimson by the light. The Chamberlain walking ahead of him turned and spoke.
“I will show you to your chambers, Your Highness.”
“Ah, that’s not necessary. I plan to look around the city center of Hixen for a bit. Please prepare a car for me.”
“It is a bit late, however.”
“It doesn’t matter, I’ll be back soon.”
“Very well.”
While the Chamberlain walked ahead at a brisk pace, Reinhardt followed at a very slow one, recalling the face of the Queen he had just been with.
‘She looks five years younger now that she’s shed a great worry.’
They say the weight of care and worry can change a person’s face. That saying was a perfect fit for the Queen.
It was obvious what made her so happy, even without asking. It must be because Prince Maxim’s succession to the throne had been further solidified. The Queen wore an expression that seemed to say there were no longer any obstacles to her son inheriting the crown.
‘Is that really so? I always feel this way, but the royals of Montevio live such comfortable lives.’
Reinhardt slowly looked around the Royal Castle, steeped in peace and complacency.
A sudden question occurred to him.
If he too had been born a prince of Montevio, not Hesperine, would he have been influenced by this peace and complacency? And if so, would he have been able to seize power more easily?
“Reinhardt?”
As Reinhardt was lost in meaningless sentiment, a familiar presence approached from behind.
Footsteps with an uneven rhythm. He slowly turned and greeted his old friend.
“Maxim.”
The prince of Montevio, Maxim, extended his hand with a bright smile.
His blond hair covering his forehead was slightly damp, as if he had hurried over as soon as he spotted him. Using his bad leg, no less.
After a happy handshake, Maxim studied Reinhardt’s face and playfully punched his shoulder.
“Well, I thought it might be you, and I was right. How long has it been? Welcome to Hixen, my friend.”
“It’s been a long time, Maxim. You seem to have gotten even more handsome.”
Maxim was one of the few people Reinhardt genuinely liked.
Maxim was mocked among the nobles for his limp and excessively coddled by his own mother. Despite this background, Maxim had grown into a prince of upright and excellent character, his spirit unwarped.
A person who overcomes a fatal flaw and forges their own path.
He was the very image of a person Reinhardt couldn't help but admire.
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