Chapter 1. The beginning of everything
****
Sponsored by H đź’– (13/14)
****
Young Shanil hesitated at Terban’s words, but then, having made up her mind, she re-entered the room. Then she brought the small chair she sat earlier and placed it in front of the terrace railing.
Terban didn’t help, he just stared at her. He was curious how it would turn out. When he told them that, the other children were scared and confused, but not Shanil.
In the meantime, she used the chair as a pedestal and climbed on the railing like Terban.
 “Wow, it’s very high.”
“If you’re scared, you can give up now.”
“I think I’ll be fine. I would have been scared if I was alone, but now Your Highness is by my side.”Â
The way Shanil spoke, pointing at him, made Terban feel a little guilty for testing her.
It was then that Shanil brought up the subject of deliberately picking his brain. Although he was pretending to be an adult, Terban was happy to take advantage of the fact that he was a child just like her.
“By the way, isn’t it scary for Your Highness to be up this high all by yourself?”
“How about you? Aren’t you scared?”
“Yes. If it were just me, I would be scared if I was with others. Now that I have someone with me, I can feel safe that someone will help me if I fall.”
Terban felt as if his heart had skipped a beat at the words he hadn’t heard from anyone else.
It was as if he realized the insecurity that he had hidden in his heart.
So, not being able to look Shanil in the face, he jumped down from the railing first.
“Now you come down too. People will be surprised if they see you up there.”
“Yes.”
When Terban seemed to have opened up to her more than before, Shanil deliberately hid her joy, then she looked down the railing for a moment.
Actually, this was the second floor, but it wasn’t high enough to be scary. It only looked that way to the child’s eyes.
Instantly, a thought flashed through her mind as she tried to get down.
It was reckless, but that much didn’t matter to the young Shanil. As long as she could keep Terban by her side.
As soon as she reached that thought, an invisible smile spread across her lips. It was chilling, even for a child.
She didn’t hesitate to put the plan into action.
“What? Huh?”
Shanil’s startled voice caused Terban to turn around and see the body of the child losing its balance and falling backwards.
With a mind too startled to think straight, young Terban rushed to Shanil.
He then reached out towards the falling child under the railing, and Shanil also reached out to make it look like she was trying to grab him somehow.
Unfortunately, the two children’s fingers only touched faintly and Shanil’s body began to descend helplessly.
Terban could see Shanil reaching for him, but he could do nothing but watch.
Eventually, as she fell down, Shanil hit the floor hard, which was a great pain for her as she was still a child.
Her head bled. But even in the midst of the pain, she thought of the expression on Terbanface as he looked at her.
She closed her eyes in her fading consciousness, smiling at the success of her plan despite being hurt. Her consciousness ceased completely after the last sound of Terban’s voice and the people approached urgently.
***
‘I threw myself under it with determination.’
Shanil felt even more frustrated as she thought back to that moment.
Fortunately, it wasn’t too high, so it wasn’t life-threatening, but she was badly injured in her head and especially her legs. It took her a long time to be able to walk properly.
However, when she looked into Terban’s eyes, which showed guilt every time he looked at her for a long time, that much pain didn’t matter.
It was enough for her to be able to keep Terban close. At that time, after she regained consciousness, she looked at Terban’s guilty face and spoke to make him feel more guilty.
“I’m sorry, Your Highness, I didn’t mean to startle you with my stubbornness up there. Don’t worry about me, I’m fine.”
From Terban’s point of view, it must have sounded like she was covering for him, and Shanil’s words carried over the day’s incident without any major problems.
However, Terban’s behavior completely changed after that.
Whenever there was an official event, he would accompany Shanil as his partner and wasn’t cold with her anymore.
That was how it had been for a long time and continued until now.
After reminiscing about the past, Shanil took out the handkerchief she had brought from Terban’s office. Then she gripped it so tightly that it became crumpled.
According to her plan, it was natural for her to become empress, but something unexpected happened.
The appearance of Ellea.
‘El, I thought that once you were taken care of, it would all be over.’
She had to somehow put away the existence of Ellea, as she had just put her own life and death at stake.
Before her position was shaken any further.
***
Ellea hadn’t seen Terban for a long time, perhaps because she was conscious of what she had said that day.
A few days later, when the rumors had died down, the day of the horse riding competition that had originally been planned dawned.
She was actually expecting to be at the tea time with the ladies, but now that it was the day of the event, all she wanted to do was avoid them.
Because it was obvious what kind of gaze people would look at her and Terban.
But avoiding it was a way to convince them of the rumors, so she had been preparing since early in the morning.
She put on her riding clothes and tied her hair in a ponytail so that it would be easier to ride the horse today.
“You’re all set.”
“Thank you. Is Borence coming with me?”
“Yes. I’ll stay here.”
Jane decided to guard the palace while Borence would accompany Ellea. And they headed to the site.
As was the case every year, many nobles participated in the riding competition, which took place in the forest inside the Imperial Palace.
Some of the participating nobles were unaware that their own interests, not the tournament, were the main purpose of the event.
When Ellea arrived at her destination, many people were already moving busily.
The size of the forest and open space was so large that it was hard to believe that it was located in the Imperial Palace.
On the other hand, all the tents, chairs, and other necessary items for the ladies had been prepared.
The ladies and nobles who participated in today’s tournament had gathered and converse. When Ellea appeared, the space was instantly filled with silence. She could even feel her skin.
Elur walked completely unconcerned and Heris, who had arrived earlier, welcomed her.
“Ellea.”
“Heris, it’s been a long time.”
“Yes. We don’t have many chances to see each other.”
Ellea just laughed at the sight of Heris saying she was disappointed.
She was just grateful that Heris was friendly and being considerate, pretending like nothing happened even though she probably already heard about the rumors.
“The way they look at you is still harsh.”
“I agree. It’s a headache. If I’d known it was like this, I wouldn’t drink.”
“Drinking?”
“Yes.”
Ellea told Heris about that day honestly.
When she heard that Ellea was forced to sit with the two men, Heris, who didn’t like to be bothered, gave her a shrug.
“It’s a good thing I wasn’t there.”
“Anyway it was my fault to get them involved.”
“Don’t worry about it. It’s a false rumor, people will stop talking soon enough. But If you need any help, let me know. We can help that much.”
 When Heris said that she was willing to help if she needed it, Ellea was filled with gratitude. She felt assured that everything would be fine if she had such a caring friend.
“Thank you for saying that. Heris is always so kind. By the way, are you going to ride, too?”
Most ladies wore dresses that weren’t suitable for riding, but Heris, like Ellea, wore riding clothes.
Her question made Heris look awkward, as if she was not used to being dressed like this.Â
“I would have stayed in the tent originally, but I wanted to be with you today. I don’t think it would be a bad idea to take this opportunity to learn to ride a horse.”
“I’m all for it. Riding a horse is quite fun. I’m sure you’ll like it as much as I do.”
While Ellea and Heris were talking, the surroundings became noisy when the last protagonists appeared.
Terban was walking in with Shanil by his side. Behind them were Bandel and the knights.
Shanil was always present, despite Terban concerns. And back then, El was always behind them.
Ellea was a little farther away, but for a moment her eyes met Terban’s. That glance was only for a moment, and then she turned her head away quickly after greeting him.
And she didn’t know Terban’s eyes stayed on her longer than that.
“It’s a very nice day. I hope we can all perform to our full potential.”
The event began with a brief greeting from Terban.
There were no other ladies who were going to ride besides Ellea and Heris.
“Don’t pay attention to the surroundings. Do you want me to teach you how to ride a horse?”
“Really? Then I’m sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it. As you know, you are the only one who is close to me.”
As Ellea said this, a voice rang out with regret.
“That’s a bit disappointing. I thought we’ve gotten pretty close.”
“You scared me. I told you to let me know your presence before speaking.”
Ellea spotted Chaylen looking at her from behind with his arms folded.
Heris also looked surprised at his sudden appearance.
She heard the conversation briefly, but she was surprised to see the two treating each other so informally. They seemed to be much closer than she thought.
“I thought I was your closest friend in Rubain.” (Chaylen)
“You’re going to sulk about that?” (Ellea)
“Who sulked?” (Chaylen)
He said he wasn’t, but by all accounts, Chaylen looked bewildered, as if he had been caught off guard.
His appearance made Ellea, as well as Heris, laugh.
Based on first impressions alone, the Duke seemed unapproachable, but seeing him up close and talking to Ellea was so unexpected.
Heris realized at once that it was just the way he showed himself only to Ellea.
Ellea, the person in question, wasn’t aware of the emotions in his eyes, but Heris could tell.
She suddenly felt the urge to tease him momentarily. So she crossed her arms with Ellea’s to show their friendship.
“I’m sorry, Duke, but I’m the one who’s close to Ellea. I don’t think I can give that up.” (Heris)
“Is Lady Heris the daughter of Marquise Endalin?
“Yes, it’s the first time since the banquet.”
Chaylen also remembered Heris from the banquet, where they had exchanged brief greetings. He also paid more attention to her because she was a close friend of Ellea.
“She has decided to teach me how to ride today.” (Heris)
Chaylen joined today’s event mainly because of Ellea, so his expression turned sour at once at the mention of her being with Heris.
“That’s a bit of a problem, Young Lady. Ellea has an appointment with me earlier.” ( Chaylen)
 “Ellea has never said anything about that to me.” (Heris)
With herself in between them, Chaylen and Heris engaged in a battle of nerves, and it was Ellea in the middle of it that was in trouble.
At that moment, they both looked at Ellea at the same time as if asking her to choose who she wanted to be with.
Ellea looked troubled for a while, but after much deliberation, she made a decision.
***
*Anyone ships Chaylen and Heris together…..