Chapter 1. The beginning of everything
***
Bellea barely stopped laughing and raised his hand to stop the knight as he approached. The situation was so absurd and Terban looked at Chaylen, approached them without hesitation with unbelievable eyes.
‘What a fool.’
Ellea noticed that Chaylen had made a huge misunderstanding and said,
“Actually, it’s the first time you’ve met him, so you might not know. Let me introduce you, this is Bellea Zevenica.”
“Bellea Zevenica? Wait……Zevenica?”
“That’s right. If I had to add an explanation, how about he’s my twin brother and the Crown Prince of the Zevenica Empire?”
At the word twin, Chaylen looked at the two of them alternately, and only then did he notice the resemblance.
He didn’t know why when he saw Ellea welcome the man so happily, and when they hugged each other, he couldn’t think of anything else and misunderstood.
‘How did I make such a mistake.’
On the other hand, Bellea was only curious about the identity of Chaylen, who was having a conversation with Ellea.
“Then may I know who you are?”
“Forgive my rudeness, Your Highness the Crown Prince. My name is Chaylen Kaicher.”
Chaylen barely came to his senses and politely bowed towards Bellea.
‘Duke Chaylen Kaicher?’
Bellea heard from Ellea about her friendship with the Duke, but seeing him with his own eyes, they seemed much closer than expected.
He first felt suspicious that Chaylen was close with Ellea, but he didn’t mind the mistake and greeted Chaylen.
“It’s okay, so raise your head. I’m Bellea Zevenica. But I didn’t know that the Duke was so close with Ellea. Let’s talk to each other comfortably.”
Saying that, Bellea carefully looked at Chaylen.
“Yes, I get a lot of help from him.” (Ellea)
“I also heard about the Duke several times through Ellea. It’s nice to see you in person like this.”
Chaylen was somehow nervous about the fact that Bellea was Ellea’s family. Perhaps it was because of the silver eyes that remind him of Ellea.
At that moment, Terban approached the three of them.
“It must have been a long trip, but thank you for coming, Prince Bellea.”
“Your Majesty the Emperor. Thank you once again for allowing me to visit the Rubain. Greetings on behalf of my father.”
“No. Rather, it’s our honor to welcome you.”
Seeing how they were having a natural conversation, it seemed that these two had planned it without Ellea’s knowledge.
“Your Majesty planned this with Bellea.”
“As I said before, this was entirely the Crown Prince’s idea.”
When Ellea looked at him with resentment, Terban took a step back from the plan he was a part of.
“His Majesty is right. I asked him to do this. It’s been a while since we’ve seen each other, so it’s no fun if we meet in a normal way.”
“You say that now……”
“I’m wrong, so let’s talk about the rest later.”
Since Bellea came on behalf of his father, he couldn’t relax in Terban’s presence.
“As a token of my gratitude, I have prepared a present for you, Your Majesty. I hope you like it.”
“Thank you for your kindness. Then where do you stay while you’re here…..”
“If it’s okay, I’d like to stay in the palace where Ellea is staying.”
At his words, Terban was convinced of the purpose of Bellea coming to Rubain.
‘Is it because of Princess Ellea?’
He felt nervous, but he did not avert his eyes. With the strong will in his eyes, maybe it was not just his outward appearance.
“Of course, if the Crown Prince wants it. I hope you enjoy your stay here. You must be tired, so we will have a formal conversation later.”
“Thank you for your consideration. Then I’ll be on my way. Let’s go, Ellea.”
Bellea took Ellea’s hand and walked away, and his men hurried to follow them. The two men who were left were watching the man and the woman, no, the brother and sister, walking hand in hand.
As soon as Bellea and Ellea disappeared, Chaylen bowed to Terban.
“Your Majesty was also present, but I was too hasty. I’m really sorry. Please forgive my rudeness.”
“The Crown Prince did not show any signs of displeasure, but this is clearly your negligence, Duke Chaylen. Be careful in the future. I will not tolerate the second mistake.”
At Terban’s rebuke, Chaylen had nothing to say, so he bowed his head more deeply.
“Yes, I will keep that in mind.”
Bellea said it was okay so Terban let it go. Because Bellea was the person who would become the next emperor of Zevenica.
“I never imagined he was the Crown Prince of Zevenica. He looks a lot like the Princess, but I have nothing to say.”
“Like last time, the Duke seems to need more study on Zevenica.”
Chaylen was momentarily taken aback by those words, but worried in a different way than before at the thought of ruining his first meeting with Ellea’s family.
He feared that Bellea might consider himself rude.
“Then if Your Majesty had told me earlier…”
“I didn’t know the Duke would jump out before I even said anything.”
“How can Your Majesty look at it and stand still? A certain man hugged Ellea.”
So, even before he could infer the identity of Bellea, Chaylen intervened between the two of them.
‘But.’
What Terban would have done if he didn’t know Bellea was Ellea’s brother, Terban wasn’t sure himself.
When he heard of Bellea’s plan, he willingly agreed with him because he imagined the image of Ellea as she was earlier.
Chaylen also couldn’t forget the expression on Ellea’s face as she ran towards Bellea more than anything else.
“By the way, isn’t this the first time you have seen such a face of Ellea? She must have missed her brother very much to have such a happy face.”
“That’s right. Because it’s her family.”
It was an expression that Ellea had never shown here. She missed him so much that she couldn’t control her emotions.
On the one hand, Terban wanted to catch Ellea, who ran away like that.
He felt like she was going to disappear forever. Anxiety as if she was about to go somewhere out of his reach came over at once.
****
When Ellea and Bellea were alone, they were busy talking.
“Are you that surprised?”
“Of course. I was surprised to see you getting off the carriage. I thought I was mistaken for a second.”
“It was nice of you to welcome me. That’s what you say, but you missed me, didn’t you?”
“Anyway, you don’t lose a single word. It looks like you’re fine without me.”
“I’ve been busy. Still, I was bored without you.”
Ellea spent more time apart than together with Bellea, but she didn’t feel awkward at all.
She wanted to see him, so she was rather pleased to see him. As Bellea said, it was like a surprise gift.
“Are parents doing well?”
“Yeah, no need to worry. Of course they miss you a lot.”
“I miss them a lot too.”
She knew her parents were doing well from exchanging letters with Bellea, but she was still worried because she couldn’t see them in person.
Meanwhile, the two arrived at the palace where Ellea was staying.
“This is where you live. It’s nicer than I thought.”
“Then, how many times have I told you I’m doing well? You didn’t believe it at all?”
“It’s just out of concern. You always say you’re okay.”
When Ellea arrived with Bellea and his men, the servants who had already heard the news were waiting for them.
Borence, who was standing in the front, bowed her head and greeted them.
“My name is Borence, the head maid of this palace. We will take care of you without any inconvenience during your stay here.”
“I heard a lot about you from Ellea. Thank you for taking good care of my little sister.”
“No. Of course, I just did what I had to do.”
Borence was both moved and embarrassed by Bellea‘s gratitude. Prince Bellea, Ellea’s family, was as warm and friendly as Ellea was.
“Now we are preparing a room for the Crown Prince to stay. Please wait a moment.”
“I’ll wait for you in Ellea’s room. It’s okay if it’s delayed because I didn’t tell you in advance.”
“Then let’s go to my room.”
With a happy heart, Ellea headed to her room with Bellea.
The palace was buzzing about Bellea. Borence as well as the other servants were surprised by his sudden appearance.
“I was really surprised to see the Crown Prince of Zevenica empire.”
“But don’t the two look alike?”
“Yeah, especially the little smile. Because it reminds me of the Princess and I was surprised without even knowing it.”
The main topic of discussion was that Bellea and Ellea were twins. The resemblance was visible even in their expression and atmosphere.
“Now, let’s stop chatting and move quickly. We don’t have much time because he came so sudden.”
“Yes!”
Borence calmed the excited maids and ordered them to do work quickly. Jane approached her.
“But I think it’s the first time I’ve seen the Princess looked like that. She must be very happy.”
“Yes. She said it was okay, but how could she not miss her family.”
“I think so too.”
Meanwhile, as soon as Bellea entered Ellea’s room, he was busy looking around. Seeing that, Ellea spoke.
“I told you clearly before I came to Rubain. It’s the same here as where we live.”
“I know that. But since I’m here, I’m going to check every nook and cranny of how you live.”
“Did your father tell you to do that?”
“Of course. And it’s also my will. Both of them must be waiting for the news that I will bring.”
It was a situation that her parents would have expected.
Bellea saw her room being well maintained and he was relieved once. He was worried that Ellea might be neglected as there weren’t many servants.
“Have you seen it all now?”
“First of all, the room is a pass. Now, sit here.”
Bellea sat down at the table and pointed to the other side. He still had something to tell in earnest.
When Bellea erased his playfulness and showed a serious mood, Ellea sitting opposite him was only puzzled.
“What’s going on?”
“From now on, answer my questions honestly. What happened, I heard you were injured a while ago.”
“As expected, the story has gone so far.”
Ellea was not surprised because it was something she had expected to some extent. It was just that she was having a hard time figuring out how to explain this situation.
“Don’t try to hide it, just tell it the truth. That’s why father sent me here. We already know that there are things you don’t tell us.”
Bellea showed a firm determination that he would not back down easily if he didn’t receive answers. Because what happened to Ellea wasn’t just about her.
“Because you were hurt, Rubain couldn’t stop me from coming. And you know that too. If someone intentionally targeted you, it’s a bigger problem than you think.”
At the sound of his serious voice, Ellea had no choice but to say what she had been hiding.