# 11
"peace…?"
Helen's features hardened.
She knew she should have responded calmly, but she couldn't.
“Your Highness? Are you feeling unwell?”
Even though she knew that showing her feelings would be a loss, she couldn't calm down.
"…I'm fine."
Helen forced herself to smile.
She raised her trembling lips as high as she could.
Then I took a deep breath.
“…You must be on your way to see Her Highness the Princess, so I will leave you now.”
“So, bye.”
Duchess Tessa's distinctive heavy steps faded away.
Helen spoke, stroking the sleeping Shevlyn's hair:
“To protect you... this may be an unavoidable choice.”
She now felt certain that she was obliged to accept marriage to Grand Duke Belzeit.
There was a doctor in the Ricoir Empire who was able to treat Shivalin.
Given that, this might be for the best.
The next day, Helen learned that Glizi was in the Royal Library, so she went to see her.
“Her Highness.”
"Helen? What brings you here?"
Glizzy, who was browsing the bookshelves, turned to Helen curiously.
“I will marry Grand Duke Belzeit again.”
“You came earlier than I expected. I thought you would take longer to decide.”
Glizzy looked at her in surprise.
“You said you would tell me what you wanted after I agreed to marry again. What do you want, Your Highness?”
“This is why I like you.”
Glizzy smiled in satisfaction at Helen's quick wit.
“Bring me information about Grand Duke Belzeit.”
"information…?" She knew that Glizzy wouldn't want simple, well-known information.
“...Are you asking me to become a spy?”
Glizzy took a few steps toward the window.
She closed the heavy curtains and opened the window wide.
The sudden sunlight made Helan squint.
“How long do you think two suns can coexist?”
Glizzy stared at the distant sun unconcerned.
Two suns.
This was a reference to the Pitstein and Ricoeur empire.
It was a dangerous statement.
“Are you planning...to start a war?”
Helen swallowed hard, nervous.
“I rule Betstein on my father's behalf, but I am still just the Crown Princess.”
Glizi continued, neither confirming nor denying Helen's question.
“To prove that I am the future legitimate empress, I must consider the possibility of war.”
“……”
“We will see how things go after this royal wedding.”
Helen's heart skipped a beat at Glaze's mention of the war.
“Helen, don't worry. It's just a possibility, I won't start a war rashly.”
“…I understand.”
Glizi reassured Helen, sensing her anxiety.
“In addition, the Grand Duke of Belzeit being a wizard will put us at a disadvantage.”
As Glizi said, the Grand Duke of Belzeit, a member of the royal family of Ricoeur, was a wizard.
With him, they could not guarantee victory in the war.
'At least she's not rushing into war, that's a relief.'
Helen placed her hand on her racing heart to calm herself.
The sound of a heartbeat rang out...
Suddenly, Glizzy pushed the bookshelf aside.
Behind him were forbidden books that only the Emperor and the Crown Prince could see.
Glizzy pulled out a book with a dark blue leather cover.
“The text here says that the power of the Rikuir royal family collides with magic, causing those with mixed royal and magical blood to go mad and die.”
“Mad…?”
“Yes. Then how could the Grand Duke of Belzeit, with the jewel eyes, survive as a wizard?”
Glizzy rubbed her temples, puzzled by this ancient mystery.
“When I first read this as a child, I was very curious about the Grand Duke of Belzeit.”
“This is the information you want, Your Highness.”
“I want you to become the Grand Duchess and reveal this mystery to me.”
“...and...”
A glistening voice interrupted.
“Lady Elisha Dune, maid of Largon Palace, would like to speak to you.”
“…What’s wrong?”
The maid entered with Glizi's permission.
She bowed deeply before speaking.
“Princess Shivalin has fallen seriously.”
"Oh, my God."
Glizzie regretted it, and Helen worried.
"She fell? How badly was she injured? Is Shevlin okay?"
“She refuses treatment and asks to see Her Highness...”
The maid rolled her eyes nervously at Helen's questions.
“Helen, she might be very afraid. Go and reassure her.”
“Thank you, Your Highness.”
Glizi watched Helen hurriedly leave.
Then she leaned against the window, exhausted.
Countess Kane, her governess, opened the door and closed it carefully.
“You have come, Nanny.”
Glizzy smiled slightly, sensing her presence.
“Tell me, Nanny.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Glizy hugged the countess tightly.
She had rarely shown such weakness.
Knowing how tired she was, Countess Qin gently patted her shoulders.
"What is a child? How can one love something so much as to sacrifice oneself for it?"
“….”
Glizi was sterile. No matter how much she wanted, she could not have a child.
I found it interesting that Helen would do anything for Shivalin.
“Sometimes, I think that way.”
Maybe she was jealous too.
“Having a child can be a weakness, but sometimes I want a child so badly that I accept that weakness.”
“Her Highness...”
“When I see Helen, I feel it more.”
Glizzy smiled bitterly.
Countess Kane, patting Glizzie, thinking about how hard she was trying to have a child, couldn't utter a word.
“By the way, you will soon meet Grand Duke Belzeit.”
“Meeting the Grand Duke?”
Glizi didn't like the atmosphere, so she suddenly changed the subject.
“Accept the marriage proposal we discussed, but suggest changing the partner to the Grand Duke.”
“Will he agree? At first, Emperor Caliosa wanted to marry Princess Violet.”
Countess Kane expressed her concern.
“And… Her Highness Helen has Princess Chevelline.”
Glizzy shrugged as if it was no problem.
“Isn’t this Duke Belzeit’s second marriage as well?”
I heard that the Duchess, a commoner, died five months ago.
“Last year, he married a commoner woman who was secretly raising his child, but she died shortly after due to illness.”
Glizzy felt something strange and gasped thinking about the former Duchess.
“But why did the Duke give up his position as Crown Prince upon his marriage?”
“I don't know...”
“Why did he inherit his father’s position without taking a new title after years of no contact?”
He could have made his child's mother, a commoner, the adopted daughter of a noble and made her the crown princess.
“Being the eldest son of the Crown Prince of Ricoeur would be better than being the Duke of Belzeit.”
There was no good reason to give up the title of Crown Prince.
“Perhaps, because the position of the former Duke became vacant after the death of his twin brother.”
“Hmm...”
She couldn't shake the feeling of a hidden secret.
“Or perhaps the former Duchess, being a commoner, felt the burden of joining the royal family.”
Despite Countess Kane's many speculations, Glizzie remained unconvinced.
'This is strange. They didn't seem to get along, and he didn't seem particularly emotional at the mention of the former Duchess…'
Even though she was the mother of his child, Aachen did not seem sad when talking about the former Grand Duchess.
He seemed even more agitated at the mention of Helen's name.
“I heard he sent a larimar bracelet for Cheveline’s baptism.”
“Yes. I later learned that it was a bracelet made of the finest gemstones.”
Knowing the rarity of larimar stone, Glisi could not understand Aachen's kindness towards Helen.
'Have they met before?'