The Price Of Breaking Up - Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Those expensive items didn’t have much meaning to me.

But, it was different with this room.

This place had consumed a short of my lifetime, so I had an attachment to it. I had never valued this room because I was used to it, but I felt bitter at the thought of having to leave it.

“Even if this room has become your possession, it’s not your room yet. You dared to step in here with no permission of mine. Wouldn’t it have been better if you’d asked me before?”
“Hm?”

I realized the house I was trying so hard to build was a sandcastle that easily collapsed in the devastating waves of the storm.

And it wasn’t such a good feeling.

Ever since I was born, I was taken away from my parents and only have seen the Crown Prince. There was no single day when I released my pen from writing my path to become the Empress who would stay beside him, which I did by reducing my resting time.

The Empress’ duty was to look after the Imperial City.

It was the centre of the empire.

I worked hard for him because I knew that the collapse of the Capital would be tantamount to the collapse of the empire.

I studied every day and night to conduct the Imperial City, or to help him in disputes that he would find difficult to settle.

I was raised as a Crown Princess to become the perfect Empress, but now that the oracle had changed and I was abandoned, I didn’t know what I could say.

How could I express this sense of deprivation and loneliness?

“Princess, you must have heard me wrong. Uhm…. Would you like me to explain it again?”

Miss Lurhtella seemed surprised for a moment, but she quickly fixed her frame and smiled slowly.

“Aren’t you the noble daughter of the house of Lurhtella?”
“No, I am the child of the oracle.”

Her smile grew wide. A melodious laugh escaped her lips.

That was already proven to everyone with her pink hair.

The woman looked down at me, smiling silently while her eyes traveled up to my head. A headache started creeping into me all of a sudden.

The Empress’s seat, or rather the Crown Princess’ seat before it, was not easy to gain.

But the noble daughter in front of me was grinning like a happy child as she had acquired the toy she wanted.

“How rude. How dare you speak like that in front of me.”
“Aren’t you the one who’s mistaken? You are already aware of the change in the oracle. You’re definitely aware that I am going to be the Crown Princess.”

That was a bold provocation coming from the young daughter of a noble.

The servants around began to tremble like an old tree.

The cause was surely the lavish appearance of the woman.

It looked like she was two or three years younger than me. I didn’t show my anger though. I just stared down at her with half-lidded eyes.

“Your esteemed lady.”

The future Emperor would spend the rest of his life with this woman.

I once had believed that if everything changed, he wouldn’t turn his back on me.

“Esteemed daughter of Marquis Lurhtella.”

That belief now seemed to be a useless one.

“Do you consider yourself to be nobler than His Highness, the Emperor and the Crown Prince?”
“Pardon?”

I had become humble in myself for giving everything to him.

“You’re aware that neither the Emperor nor the Crown Prince has cast me out of this castle. Your esteemed lady here is the only one who doesn’t seem to know that I’m still the fiancée of the Crown Prince and that I am still the master of this castle’s subjects.”

As soon as the change of oracle was announced, I felt unpleasant at the thought of giving up every ounce of my time for the Crown Prince, who notified the annulment of marriage by himself without a consultation.

“You wouldn’t mind if I were to ask of your fault now, would you?”

All of my life and truly, all of my life…..

I would feel ashamed of the things I dedicated my time to. For the Crown Prince.

“Take her.”
“…….”
“…….”

While being wary, the maids grabbed a hold of the woman’s arms.

Her face flushed red but only for a while. She hid the expression again.

It seemed the maids were going to say something to the speechless woman, but they quickly closed their mouths as they got aware of my stare.

“Give the esteemed lady a ride on a horse to the estate of Marquis Lurhtella with her wrists tied.”
“But that’s……”

The maids were stunned as they thought of whether they were allowed to do that to the child of the oracle.

I nodded.

“It’s a light punishment for not being aware of the subject and barging into the castle of the Crown Princess to face me.”

The maids were sharp. Whose orders they had to follow now was not of the eternity in front of them, but mine.

They immediately bowed their heads in obedience.

Before turning around and entering the room, I craned my neck slightly to see the complaining woman being dragged away.

“Your Highness is being ridiculous.”

That immature young noble daughter replaced me. That’s the kind of person they chose over me.

***

It was originally quiet, but as time went by, the Crown Princess’ castle became more silent.

The reason was simple.

I was not the Crown Princess.

On the contrary, many people were amazed that I was still sitting here even after the oracle had changed.

At least, I could live without any inconvenience because of me being a princess. It’s not that there was another reason.

“She must’ve been abandoned by God, right?”
“Why else would the oracle change?”
“Yeah, that’s kind of true. Poor Pesentria, that treasured daughter, what would she do now that God has abandoned her?”

Most of the maids who served the royal family were from noble families.

Although they did not have such high status, they were usually the fourth and fifth children of the Count or former officials since they had no property to inherit from their family.

Perhaps they belonged to one of the lowly aristocratic families who are making a lot of noise about me now.

“Well, since she’s a princess, wouldn’t she marry a king from another country?”
“Who would marry a noble daughter that is abandoned by God?”

‘Is that so?’ The girls burst out laughing at what they found funny.

I stomped my foot.

The clear sound of footsteps striking the marble floor reached them.

The girls, who were taking a short break, fell silent at the sudden appearance of an unexpected guest.

They froze as they saw the new white shoes bearing a red jewel on each.

They trembled with fear as their minds went blank about the little chat they were having after their meal.

Their tremors intensified at the sight of me standing still without any word or movement.

The word had already spread widely that the daughter of Marquis Lurhtella, the new child of the oracle, was forced out of the Imperial Fortress with her arms tied.

Since the new child of the oracle had received such a treatment, the maids thought their fates couldn’t be far away.

“The thing you mentioned, repeat it in front of me.”

My pink hair swayed under the breeze blowing through the open window.

When the hair, which used to be the symbol that proves the words of the oracle, came into view, the feeling of realization seemed to sink in further below the surface.

“Y-Your Highness.”
“As you’ve said, I am not Your Highness.”
“Your Highness! Please forgive me! Your Highness, please!”

I was on my way to meet the Crown Prince. As a result, I didn’t have a pleasant mood.

This was the first time I felt this way about meeting with him.

For some reason, neither His Highness, the Emperor, nor the Empress, nor the Crown Prince were telling me to move out of this castle. I neither minded nor cared about having to live here alone.

It was no longer possible to take care of Her Highness, the Empress who was bedridden, and it became difficult to roam the castle freely.

That was a matter of course.

Since I was abandoned by the oracle, I wasn’t even an ordinary princess.

“Let’s go back to what you’ve just said.”

I repeated. The maid trembled, unable to think clearly.

‘What should I do with them?’

While thinking about it, I happened to meet the eyes of the maid who was passing by.

That maid, who raised me from my childhood, was one of the people who turned their backs on me as soon as the oracle changed.

To me, who loved her, it was as much of a shock as the Crown Prince’s betrayal.

I exhaled, brushing past the image of the wrinkled frame of the maid after a few days. There were no more individuals in this castle worthy of my love and trust.

Seeing the maid, I lost my mind to those who were talking about me. I shook my hand at the maids covered in tears, pressing down on my throbbing temple.

I turned away as they kept staring at me warily. Sighs of relief erupted from behind me when they realized they had lived. That same moment, the footsteps of the maids leaving the hall echoed behind me.

The figure somehow slackened in a harsh manner.

I couldn’t believe they turned their backs to me right away.

I had feelings for the Crown Prince with whom I had to walk with for the rest of my life. When I moved away from my parents and came to reside in this desolate fortress, I was always helpful to his smiling face and the tight grip of his young hands holding mine.

How encouraging it was.

That I tried my very best to return it to him.

The memories of him visiting with his young self during the hard times were still vivid.

I glanced sideways at the familiar scene outside the window. The empire rarely had any snowfall.

The first time I experienced one was when I was six. After having a walk for more than two hours with our hearts thrilled, he forced me in his arms and read me a book while sitting in front of the fireplace.

I couldn’t forget the feeling when I slept soundly under the blanket he had put on me.

I turned my head and said to the knights standing at the door.

“I’m here to see the Crown Prince.”

The knights politely bowed their heads before opening the door.

All those memories were unforgettable. Nevertheless, they had to be forgotten.

At the same time, I had to let go of the sweet memories that I once cherished.

Because they wouldn’t be any more meaningful.

“Your Highness.”

The scent of the tea he and I once enjoyed was spread over the room.

It was a tea made by drying very precious flowers found only in the east. Those small flowers bloomed very rarely, so the tea could only be tasted inside the Imperial City.

It was only natural to see him drink that tea.

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