To You Who Forgot Me - Chapter 2

Ainel Kingdom and Hercesia Empire.

 

At one time, they were an allied nation that had maintained a friendly relationship for a long time, to the extent that there was even a brief discussion of national marriage.

 

The first conflict between them was because of King Ainel’s greed for trade.

 

At that time, Ainel was developing as a center of maritime trade.

 

King Ainel restricted trade with neighboring countries by imposing excessively high tariffs. He did the same to the Empire.

 

There were several protests and negotiations, but no compromise was reached between the Empire and the Kingdom. It was only natural for a friendly relationship to turn sour.

 

It did not take long for a small dispute to escalate into a war.

 

The war was long. During the five years of hostility and enmity, the two countries suffered large and small damages.

 

The first to declare surrender was the Ainel Kingdom.

 

It was a Kingdom that could not be ignored but also could not beat an Empire that was said to be the most powerful on the continent.

 

They had to give the Empire a lot of useful goods as well as trade rights.

 

And as another proof of surrender, they negotiated to hand over the one and only Princess to the Kingdom as a hostage to the Empire.

 

“Leah Ainel. Do not forget your duty as a Princess.”

 

King Ainel looked down coldly at the maiden, who knelt under the podium.

 

Leah Ainel, fifteen that year, grew up to be a beautiful girl that no one could deny.

 

White-silver hair inherited from a humble mother evoked a mysterious feeling. Amethyst-coloured eyes proved that even if she was only half-royal, she was the King’s bloodline.

 

Her extraordinarily graceful appearance made everyone in the royal family loathe her even more.

 

“You should be a royal woman who grew up generously protected and loved by the royal family. Do you understand what I mean?”

 

The King seemed to have no qualms when he said it. Like a man who never considered that he had never treated Leah as his child, his daughter.

 

The status of a hostage to be held by the Empire had to be a royal or a minister of a Kingdom of such great power. Enough for the Empire to accept surrender and negotiation.

 

However, Leah Ainel did not belong to either side.

 

An overnight mistake and a stain made by the King. An illegitimate child born to a pr*stitute with no roots.

 

Leah, born with all those modifiers, was a disgrace to the royal family. Far from receiving protection, she was, of course, a being that could only be treated coldly.

 

Knowing that the Queen had been scheming and abusing Leah, the King had always tolerated it. As if he thought it was an apology for betraying the Queen and a way to cover his mistakes.

 

Leah has been neglected since the day she was born. And only today was she first recognized as a child by her father.

 

As a scapegoat to take the place of his other children whom he actually loved.

 

“The departure is in a week. Be prepared with that in mind.”

 

That was all the encouragement he gave to his daughter, who would live in a country without ties for years without promise.

 

Exactly one week after that, Leah suddenly got on the carriage to the Empire. No one saw off Leah like that.

 

The same was true of the few people she knew, as well as her ostentatious family.

 

Nevertheless, Leah stared through the window as if she were waiting for someone. Then, at the moment the carriage left, she finally let go of all attachments.

 

Her homeland abandoned Leah.

 

The carriage ran on and on for a long distance. Until Leah’s heart sank deep into the mire she couldn’t get out of.

 

It was one day in the middle of summer when she finally arrived at an unwelcome place.

 

* * *

 

“Look. That girl is the princess of Ainel, and it would be fine even if she were ripped to death.”

 

Even in the Empire, Leah’s life was not very different.

 

The Imperials despised and rejected Leah from Ainel. Perhaps it was a matter of course.

 

The Kingdom of Ainel, which had been a nuisance to the Empire for a long time, was fundamentally perceived by the imperial people as an enemy.

 

Leah, who came from that same Ainel, had no choice but to become a thorn in their eyes.

 

Knowing that she would be treated like this, her father must have decided to send her as her hostage without even worrying about her. He couldn’t have allowed his other children to suffer like this.

 

Leah was always safe to be treated as a sinner. The child, who became a criminal just because she was born, was now in a position where she had to endure even hatred of a whole Empire.

 

And that day was the day she was particularly blatantly insulted.

 

“That hostage has no shame, does she? Does she not know she is from Ainel? She looks so confident.”

 

It was a summer evening when there was a banquet. In particular, it was the fact that Leah was given permission to attend the banquet.

 

The unkind gazes relentlessly pursued the wandering Leah.

 

“There is no such thing as shamelessness. She seems to think she’s royalty here too. On the subject of a hostage from a Kingdom that was recklessly defeated…”

 

Those words, tightly packed with malice, were hurled at the young Leah without hesitation.

 

Even if it was a familiar treatment, it was always the same and it was difficult to handle for the young girl.

 

“If she is greatly humiliated once, will she never appear again?”

 

It was certainly not a mistake that a woman who had come close to her spilt her wine glass on Leah.

 

Leah couldn’t even be surprised by what happened in an instant, and she froze on the spot. The red wine spilt by the woman soaked Leah’s dress and dripped onto the white marble floor.

 

“Oh my God… Are you all wet? What should I do if I’m sorry?”

 

When Leah looked down at her from afar, the woman threw a handkerchief as if she felt sorry.

 

The moment the colorfully patterned handkerchief hit Leah and fell to the floor, laughter erupted everywhere. Raising her head, Leah caught a glimpse of the laughing faces surrounding her.

 

The eyes of the people who covered their mouths with fans and laughed cheerfully were filled with familiar contempt.

 

“F*ck, it’s dirty! I told you not to look!”

 

In their laughing appearances, she could see her half-brothers who had been harassing her every day, back in the Kingdom.

 

Every time the Princes met Leah’s eyes, they would spit out abusive language and treat her as a disease that might infect them.

 

It was because Leah, the pr*stitute’s daughter, must have been born with dirty blood.

 

In fact, Leah had no illness, but it didn’t really matter to them whether it was true or not. They were just loathing Leah enough to make such a ridiculous claim.

 

As she recalled her nightmare-like memories, her breath caught in her throat. Leah, white and hesitant, hurriedly ran across the hall.

 

The thought of getting out of there ran through her mind. Like the young days when she ran away from the Princes who slapped and kicked her.

 

She spurred out the door frantically, avoiding the people who were being hit by her shoulder. She couldn’t even imagine how ridiculous she must have looked.

 

After leaving the Banquet Palace, she desperately ran as far as she could. Then, when she sprained her ankle and fell on her face, she saw a wide lake.

 

It was finally a deserted place.

 

As the cool night air penetrated her lungs, the relaxed Leah sat down on top of the bushes.

 

“…”

 

Wiping the dried wine on her cheeks with the back of her hand, Leah looked up from afar. The moon that rose in the early evening was as pretty as nighttime.

 

The moonlit water shimmered beautifully.

 

Leah sat casually on the well-manicured grass. She looked at the lake for a long time, like someone possessed by something. Then she slowly brought her knees together and buried her face in them.

 

The sound of the waves flowing through the place sounded like a lullaby. Closing her eyes made her feel like she was falling asleep.

 

She thought she shouldn’t sleep, but she didn’t want to wake up. As she was, she wanted to be completely separated from this world.

 

The long shadow cast over Leah’s head was when she didn’t even know how much time had passed.

 

“Princess.”

 

When the low call came, Leah flinched and raised her head.

 

A boy was standing in front of her.

 

“Are you thinking of freezing to death?”

 

With a quiet but clear voice, the boy spoke casually to Leah.

 

Black hair, indiscriminately disheveled on a straight forehead. Thick eyebrows under it. Shaded eyes and sharp nose bridge, as if sculpted.

 

He was a beautiful boy, though he had a slight hint of youth on his face.

 

It was only when the boy took a big step closer that Leah came to her senses.

 

“Ah…!”

 

The belated fear pushed her to her feet.

 

Leah also took a step backwards, wondering if he was the one who came to bully her, but the boy didn’t care and just lowered his gaze.

 

“Put it on.”

 

Then, he suddenly handed over his coat to Leah, who was wary of him.

 

As she prepared to flee, Leah could only look up at the boy with a dazed face. Because it was such a strange thing.

 

At the height of the confusion, the boy strode forward.

 

The boy who put the coat on Leah’s shoulders, who was startled, backed away as if that was the only purpose he came for.

 

“…”

 

Leah looked down at the coat that didn’t fit her arms and slowly raised her head. The boy did not avoid Leah’s eyes.

 

It was a completely different attitude from the other Imperials, who made an unpleasant impression and clicked their tongues when they met with her.

 

For the boy with an expressionless face, she did not feel familiar hostility or contempt. He was strange and unfamiliar.

 

At that moment, they looked at each other with their eyes unclosed.

 

The eyes clashed for a long time; it would not have been surprising to think that time had stopped, if not for the night wind from the other side of the lake that caressed her hair.

 

The long eye contact ended when the boy’s pupils began faintly fluttering. The boy who averted his gaze first turned around.

 

She thought he would leave, but a calm voice flowed from him.

 

“You are not a distinguished guest, but you are not a sinner either.”

 

Leah’s eyes twitched slightly. That was a strange thing she had never heard before.

 

Leah had always been a sinner.

 

Just because she was born.

 

Just because she existed.

 

Because everyone treated her that way, she naturally looked down on herself and lived her life. Thinking that she was a sinful child who shouldn’t have been born.

 

But the boy casually said something that broke that proposition.

 

“You don’t have to put up with people who are rude.”

 

The boy tilted his head and stared at Leah again. Even in the dark, his bright blue eyes resembled the lake she looked at just a moment ago.

 

Was that why?

 

Leah felt like she was dreaming with her eyes open.

***