Even if your Sword Pierces my Heart

 

For a moment, Cayden was shaken by the sincerity of Izak’s words, then his fists clenched tightly.

 “Do you mean to tell me that you know that the Duke of Macthurden is after my dragon power, and that the reason he married you and me was so that he could have a child who would carry on his dragon blood?” 

When her father had insisted on marrying her to Cayden, mentioning the new Emperor, she had changed her mind, fearing it would hurt him. 

 

But a part of her still wanted to believe him, that he’d simply become a different man for a time, driven by the grief of losing his beloved mother. 

 

That one day, when the anger would pass, he would return to his old self.

 

But when he touched Cayden’s body and exposed it to me, I realized that he didn’t show any embarrassment, instead calling it an education. 

 

I realized that he truly wanted to kill him.

 

That the words he spoke of a new dynasty would mean his death.

 

But she would never let him have his way as long as she lived. This crossed a line. It was wrong. She had to make it right now. 

 

For her father’s sake, and Cayden’s. She just hoped her resolve wasn’t too late.

 “I don’t hope so.” “You think I’ll believe you?” “No matter what I say here, you won’t believe me.” 

She understood his disbelief, even though she’d shown him her knight’s oath.

 “I’m a knight who gave my body and soul to the Empire before I was a Macthurden.” 

He wouldn’t believe any of it, but that was okay.

 “Use me as you wish, Your Grace, whether as a shield or a spear,” 

Cayden said nothing as Izak finished the oath. He just stared at Izak for a long moment. 

 “Pfft!”

he exclaimed and burst out laughing. 

 

Then he was laughing to his stomach.

 “Ahahah!” 

His loud laughter leaked out the half-open door and reached the ears of Jacob, who happened to be walking in with the doctor.

 “Ha~ haha!” 

After laughing maniacally for a while, Cayden lets out a long sigh as he brushes a tear from the corner of his eye.

 “Ah, I haven’t laughed in a long time.” 

Walking up to Izak’s height, Cayden bent down to meet her eye level, his face as devoid of laughter as it had been a moment ago.

 “Izak, you’d rather be the Duke of Macthurden.” 

For the first time in six years, he stared at Izak as deathly as when their eyes had met at the victory ceremony.

 “Stop trembling with hypocrisy.” 

And then he snapped. 

 

Just as she had done to him so long ago. Izak clenched hard at her fist, staring at the faint scar on Cayden’s face.

  

The death of her mother had been sudden, and shocking. 

 

Why would she go to a banquet, all dressed up, and then suddenly fall to her death from a great height?

 

A simple accident, they said. Everyone was drunk and disoriented, and no one witnessed the accident, so it was impossible to hear the full story. 

 

But… it wasn’t an accident. The noble Emperor of this country tried to cover up the death of her mother as a simple accident.

 

When he learned later that a drunken nobleman had tried to rob her and that she had fallen to her death from a great height while trying to escape, my father was furious. 

 

The nobles had been blind to the truth. They had followed the Emperor blindly.

 

Afterward, my father became a different man, taking the position of regent in the name of protecting the Crown Prince, who was left alone after the death of the Emperor and Empress.

 

Izak, who had been a frequent companion of Cayden’s since childhood, also refused to see her after her mother’s death. 

 

Then Cayden himself came to visit Izak, and like a sinner, he could not look her in the eye. That made Izak even angrier.

 [Izak…]

 

Even though she knew in her heart that it wasn’t Cayden’s fault, Izak’s mouth was angry that she couldn’t hurt him.

 [I don’t know how you thought to come looking for me, Your Imperial Highness.]

 

This was the reason I avoided him, and I resented him for coming to my home and disturbing me.

 [I really didn’t… I didn’t know! I… I’m still sorry I…]

 [Please leave.]

 

Izak raised her sword again, and swung it to control her racing mind. 

 

Cayden stubbornly refused to leave. He kept saying he was sorry over as many times as he could. For a moment, her anger flared.

 [I don’t want to hear it, so leave…!]

 

In the blink of an eye, the sword in Izak’s hand slashed across Cayden’s delicate cheek. 

 

A red streak formed across the white skin, and blood dripped from it. It was unbearable to realize that she, and no one else, had hurt him.

 

I wanted to run away from it all, even from my father, who was becoming a stranger to everything.

 

Perhaps it was time to make up her mind and hurry to the border.

 

A letter from the Empress arrived in secret, and if I were to ask what went through my mind, it would be that I must be punished. 

 

Cayden was a noble Crown Prince, and for hurting him, surely a punishment was in order. 

 

Izak wished she was punished, so that she could take some guilt off her shoulders for hurting him.

 

The letter contained no words, only a location. 

 

Izak made her way there and knelt before the Empress, who was even thinner than the last time they had seen her. 

 

Bowing her forehead to the ground, Izak asked for forgiveness.

 [Why do you ask for my forgiveness, Izak?]

 [I dared to wound the noble Crown Prince, and you wish to kill me on the spot…]

 

Suddenly, the Empress burst out laughing. 

 

She literally chuckled. Izak was taken aback by the Empress’s sudden laughter, and when Izak looked at her, she explained the reason for her laughter.

 [When Cayden kept his mouth shut when I asked him who did it, it was you, Izak.]

 [What…?]

 [Cayden didn’t say anything about the wound, so of course I didn’t call you here to punish you for his wound.]

 

It was unexpected. 

 

The fact that Cayden hadn’t told anyone that she’d hurt him, and that it wasn’t his wound that had brought her here. 

 

So why had she called her to this meeting, and so secretly, so that no one would know?

 

Amid her confusion, the Empress bent her knee slightly and gently cupped Izak’s cheek. Her eyes were warm as she looked at Izak.

 [You are innocent, Izak. If you are guilty of anything, it lies with me and the Emperor for failing to protect your mother, and with your father’s twisted mind for filling the void left by her death with power.]

 

The Empress pulled Izak to her feet.

 [I am not long for this world.]

 [What does that mean…?]

 

The suddenness of her words was incomprehensible. 

 

At that moment, the Empress coughs up blood.

 [Your Majesty!]

 [I’m not surprised.]

 

The Empress laughed as if she was used to it and took a handkerchief from her maid, who stood behind her like a shadow, and wiped her red blood-stained lips.

 [Izak.]

 

Then she handed the handkerchief back to the maid, and took Izak’s hand in hers, her fingers so icy cold that Izak’s shoulders stiffened. 

 

Only then did Izak recognize the sickly color that had settled over the Empress’s face.

 [Do you know why I have called you here?]

 

Her sunken eyes, her puffy cheeks, her blue coloring… she could die right now.

 

Perhaps her illness was caused by her father.

 

It must be because of my father that she, who was always full of vitality, had become so weak so quickly in just a few years. 

 

This thought filled her with endless resentment toward him. Then the Empress said.

 [You are the only one I can trust with Cayden.]

 

Her words caught Izak off guard.

 [But… I am a Macthurden, how dare I, such as I am, defend His Highness the Crown Prince?]

 

Amongst the countless nobles who groveled under the name of Macthurden, there were still a few families that remained loyal to the imperial family.

 

Amongst them, the Marquess of Greyburn was the only one who could stand equal to the Macthurden, and it was the Greyburn’s who would most likely protect the Empress and Crown Prince.

 

The Empress’s family was also a prestigious noble family, so Izak couldn’t understand why she would want to entrust Cayden to her. Then the Empress spoke again.

 [Because you’re a Macthurden, it’s more likely.]

 

The words only added to the confusion. The Empress noticed Izak’s expression and laughed.

 [You don’t understand what I’m saying now, but you’ll understand what I mean later.]

 

As Izak was pushed out of the bedroom by Cayden and into the Crown Prince’s reception room, Izak closed her eyes tightly as she recalled her last meeting with the Empress.

 

Empress…

 

Did you know that I would eventually decide to stand up to my father and protect the Crown Prince?

 

She squeezed her eyes shut against the overwhelming feeling of despair and took a deep breath, just as a servant entered the room and bowed.

 “Your Imperial Highness, I have finished tidying your bedroom.” 

Opening her eyes, Izak turned and looked at the servant. 

 

The servant stepped aside and led her to the Crown Princess’s bedroom. 

 

Taking a moment to rest, Izak followed the servant out of the reception room and down the hall. 

 

As they walked down the long hallway to the bedroom, Izak’s pace suddenly stopped. The servant behind her called out to her softly.

 “Your Highness?” 

Without answering the servant’s question, Izak turned and gazed toward the Crown Prince’s bedroom at the far end of the hallway, which faced the Crown Princess’s bedroom. 

 

Worried about Cayden. Jacob and the doctor would have tended to his wounds, but Izaak still worried about him. 

 

Even though she would probably be thrown out again, she wanted to stay by his side tonight.

 “I must go to the Crown Prince.” 

After a moment of confusion, the servant nodded hastily and led her back toward the Crown Prince’s bedroom.

 

As they approached the Crown Prince’s chambers, Cayden’s chamberlain, Jacob, stepped outside, spotted Izak, stopped, and bowed politely.

 “Your Highness.” 

He bowed, then squinted at Izak as if wondering why she had returned.

 “I don’t suppose… you’re not planning on spending your first night with the Prince, Your Highness.” 

Even though he was calling her Crown Princess, the coldness in his eyes told her he wasn’t acknowledging her at all. Jacob eyed her warily, not unlike Cayden.

 “You’re afraid I’ll go mad on my first night and attack the Crown Prince, which is not what I’d like to see, but I’ve come to the conclusion that, given what happened at the temple, it would be best if we stayed together tonight.” 

One of Jacob’s eyebrows twitched slightly, as if he hadn’t thought of that.

 

She’d forgotten about the first night. 

 

No, it didn’t matter.

 

There was no way they’d let her in here if she came clean and said she was worried about Cayden and thought he might die. 

 

So Izak thought better of it and brought up the events at the temple. 

 

I was embarrassed to mention that there had been talk of the couple at the banquet, but I kept my expression straight.

 “It’s worse when a couple who’ve been together for six years don’t spend the first night together and sleep separately. Rats are so quick.” 

The rats, of course, were the servants his father, the Duke of Macthurden, had planted. 

 

Jacob, who understood Izak’s comment instantly, stepped aside.

 “Come in.” 

Nodding to him and stepping through the door, Izak narrowly dodged a flying piece of pottery aimed at her, but a shard of shattered porcelain grazed her cheek as it hit the wall.