Chapter 2 The Second Prince Of Higala

"I will not leave Rhydian, even if he tries to divorce me. I will never cater to his ego."

Elodie was silent. She had not expected that Lady Ophira would come to see her to talk about Rhydian.

"I do not know where the Lady heard the news. But I am quite relieved that I don't have to tell her the truth. You must already know the contents of our conversation, right?"

"Yes, I know everything. I never blamed you for this. Instead, I am grateful to you, Your Highness."

"Does Lady love His Majesty Rhydian?"

"Ah, not at all. Why would I love a man who killed my beloved?"

Elodie widened her eyes, quite surprised by the fact. How could this be? Lady Ophira was a woman who suffered. She had to marry a man who had killed her own lover. Wasn't that very cruel of her?

"Therefore, I will not let him go. Because the moment he leaves me, he will be happy with the woman of his choice. This is my way of avenging Rean." Lady Ophira lowered her head. Her face made it clear she had a substantial burden. "I felt hurt at first, so I wanted to cancel the engagement several times. However, I decided not to. Because it was not enough to hurt His Majesty Rhydian's heart."

"I apologize."

"No, I'm not. I was thanking you, Your Highness. In fact, you must also be angry, but you apologized to me instead. It should have been His Majesty Rhydian who apologized, not you."

"Yes, Lady is right. My anger is very great. So much so, I don't know how to vent that anger."

Lady Ophira sensed a unique aura from Elodie. She herself knew that Elodie and Rhydian had been in a relationship for a long time. After knowing Elodie's answer to Rhydian's request, she was sure that Elodie was in the same camp as her. Elodie, who rejected Rhydian's offer, made Lady Ophira's path smoother. Her plan to make Rhydian hurt will come true soon. Just waiting for the right time.

"In that case, I will leave. Have a good rest, Your Highness." She handed over a square parcel.

"What is this?"

"This is my best friend when I am troubled. You can enjoy it in the garden, right behind your room."

Elodie took the parcel and opened it. Ah, a bottle of alcohol. She was looking forward to savoring the drink that was so famous in the Land of Higala. She looked at Lady Ophira's back, then smiled wryly. Lady Ophira was graceful, petite, and very gentle. Would Rhydian really not fall in love with her? Who knew?

As Elodie stared blankly at the alcohol she was holding, a servant came over to her.

"I will help you change clothes, Your Highness."

As if waking up from her reverie. She quickly re-entered the room. "Did Rifian ask you to come here?"

The young servant nodded. "Yes, your personal bodyguard requested it, Your Highness."

Although Elodie was more comfortable in pants, she had to look elegantly at Higala and wear a dress like a typical princess. After all, she was a princess of Arandel. She had to maintain the good name of the emperor and all the people in Arandel. If she showed one poor attitude, her country could be labeled as lacking manners.

***

"Are you alright, Your Highness?" Rifian approached Elodie who was sitting in the garden.

"No, I'm not. I am not fine. I may look good, but know that my heart is hurting." Elodie looked up at her bodyguard with a sad smile. Rifian was her brother's friend, and she had known him since she was five years old. Rifian was the person Elodie trusted the most. "You can leave me alone here."

"Your Highness. It would be very dangerous if you were alone here."

"That's fine. Lady Ophira already said that this place is very safe. You don't need to worry. I just want to calm down. Get some rest, Rifian. You must be tired."

Rifian bowed, then left Elodie with a troubled heart. Although he could not refuse Elodie's orders, his little heart did not want to leave. He had to guard and accompany Elodie, but who could disobey an order from the emperor's daughter?

After confirming Rifian's departure, Elodie opened the box of alcohol, poured into a glass, and drained the contents of the glass. People were not wrong in saying that Higala's alcohol was the best. Even she herself agreed with that. Elodie had never had alcohol this good before. It seemed like she should buy some Higala alcohol and bring it back to Arandel.

Higala was much warmer than Arandel. Even if she slept outside, she probably wouldn't feel cold. Even though it was warm, many flowers were blooming there. Elodie just realized that it was spring. Did Rhydian choose this time on purpose? The man deliberately married in spring, so that his wedding day would be filled with the fragrance of blooming flowers.

"What are you doing here?"

A tall, well-built, and well-dressed man approached Elodie who was wandering around the park. Although the park was a safe place, who would have guessed that a stranger would want to do harm?

Elodie squinted. "I was just enjoying a bottle of alcohol, while wandering around in a garden that is said to have hundreds of kinds of flowers."

"Which messenger are you from?"

"Arandel." Elodie did not recognize the man, but she was certain that the man before her at this moment was of the imperial family.

"Arandel? Didn't His Majesty Rhydian once study there?"

"Yes, you're absolutely right."

The man reached out a hand. "Introduce me, Keyden."

Elodie shook hands. "Elodie."

"If you're from Arandel, you must know Princess Kaelith Tharion's, right?"

Elodie squinted. This was the first time she had heard her first name mentioned by a strange man. Only the people of Arandel and certain people knew her first name, Kaelith Elodie Tharion, but she only often introduced herself as Elodie Tarion.

"Yes, I know her." Elodie did not want to clear up the man's misunderstanding.

"Really? Well, I didn't expect to be talking about the woman my brother loved so much."

"You're His Majesty Rhydian's brother?"

The man nodded and smiled brightly. Elodie thought the man would be stern and masculine according to his stature. However, the man who claimed to be Rhydian's younger brother turned out to be friendly and childish.

"What about Princess Kaelith? Is she also as friendly as you?"

The presence of Rhydian's younger brother amused Elodie, and it seemed playing around for a while was quite enjoyable. "I'm not familiar with her. We rarely talk. I don't think it's appropriate to be close friends with her."

"Really? However, His Highness Rhydian has always spoken highly of Princess Kaelith. He said that Princess Kaelith was a woman who never saw caste. She would be friends with anyone, especially since you are also a noble child."

"Why are you so sure that I'm a noble child?"

"You will not be ordered to be an Arandel envoy if you don't have a high caste."

Elodie was wrong. That man was not an empty man, as she had thought. "Yes, you are absolutely right."

"I really want to meet Princess Kaelith."

"What would you say if you met her?"

"My brother's love for her is still very great. However, he must marry another woman to strengthen the throne. When I found out that he was going to marry Lady Ophira, I protested. What about Princess Kaelith? Especially since I knew they had been in a relationship for two years. Wouldn't that be very painful for Princess Kaelith?"

Elodie moved. It turned out that there was still someone who cared about her feelings. Even though Keyden had never met Princess Kaelith. The concern made Elodie believe Keyden was an honest and caring man.

"Arandel is famous for its witches, isn't it?"

"Yes, but their descendants have lost their power. Two generations have passed and there is no sign that the magic power in Arandel is returning."

"That is bad news. In fact, the hallmark of Arandel is unrivaled magic power."

Elodie frowned faintly. She did not expect that Keyden's knowledge of her country was quite extensive. In fact, the news about Arandel's extinct witches was not widely spread. Was it Rhydian who said that to Keyden? Were they that close?

"It turns out you know a lot about Arandel."

"Yes, I read a lot of books about other countries. I'm very interested in the culture of foreign lands. I even aspire to travel the world."

"Then collect a lot of money, because traveling around the world requires a lot of funds."

"I'll whine to my brother if necessary. I have to use my position as the emperor's younger brother, don't I?"

Elodie laughed. "Yes, you must make use of it."