CHAPTER 2 – Yesterday’s Husband’s Friend is a Husband Today
“Go get married.”
When Estoria heard what the Emperor said she doubted her ears. ‘What did the Father Emperor tell me just now?’
Estoria asked Emperor Jacob I in disbelief,
“I must still be in shock as I only heard nonsense just now.”
“You didn’t hear it wrong.”
Estoria’s expression hardened when she heard his answer.
“You’ll get married, Estoria.”
“Your Majesty.”
She shook her head with a frown.
“This can’t happen.”
“It has already been decided.”
“It has only been less than 15 days since Duke Emmerich died.”
Estoria was still scrunching her forehead and her voice was mixed with anger.
“What would the world think of me if I had a new husband in less than a month?”
“Things such as that are none of their business.”
“My reputation is at stake here.”
“This marriage was arranged by me so the slander will affect only me.”
Emperor Jacob I said looking straight into his daughter’s eyes.
“Get married.”
“…”
Estoria was stunned for a moment and at a loss for words. The Emperor was being stubborn. Where in the world was there a father like this? This situation has never happened in all of history before. Contrast to the furious Estoria, Jacob I spoke casually,
“You don’t have to worry about missing the month of mourning.”
“…What?”
“Even if we start preparing for the wedding, it’ll still take about three months no matter how simple it is.”
“Your Majesty, you must be out of your mind.”
“Watch your language, Estoria.”
“Your Majesty is the one who should be careful of what you say.”
Estoria could’t repress her anger and spewed out while trembling,
“How, how… I just lost my husband. You didn’t even ask if I was okay with the marriage…”
“Wasn’t it just a political marriage without love anyway?”
Estoria balked at his cruel words.
“It sounds like you’ve fallen for him.”
“…Ah.”
She was dumbfounded and couldn’t continue speaking. It was a loveless political marriage. It was the truth, however, this…this was just not rational. She looked at her father with contempt and opened her mouth,
“As expected of the Emperor.”
Her voice trembled a little bit,
“You only see me as a tool to help Prince Brahms.”
Estoria continued to mutter her criticisms.
“In fact, how much do you even love me? I know you don’t want to see the daughter of the woman you murdered!”
“Estoria!”
“I’ll never think about getting married.”
Estoria angrily looked up to Emperor Jacob I. Even at this moment, his eyes were very cold-hearted. Estoria was fed up with his cruelty.
“I don’t want to get married again, even if I die.”
“…”
“So give up, Your Majesty.”
She ended her sentence then proceeded to turn her back to her father and returned to her palace.
“The Father Emperor was surely crazy.”
As soon as Estoria returned, she vented the absurdities to Asceline, who stood there with a shocked look on her face.
“How can he bring up marriage at this point?”
Asceline thought she should prevent the relationship between father and daughter from getting any worse. However, in this situation she couldn’t take Jacob I’s side. Whatever behavior or action he purposely intended to do wasn’t sensible. Even so, Asceline knew that the Emperor didn’t actually have a twisted meaning. So, she tried persuading Estoria to change her mind.
“Surely, His Majesty also thought about his actions too.”
“Under what assumption? I don’t think that’s the case.”
“…”
“He needs another ally to protect Prince Brahms.”
Estoria muttered, then burst out laughing.
“But he can’t marry me to the next head of the Emerich family, so he must be looking for someone else.”
Estoria continued rambling, trembling as she couldn’t take it any longer.
“It’s indeed terrible. Even a breeding horse wouldn’t be treated this way.
“Your Highness…”
“Did you understand me, Asceline?”
Asceline couldn’t bear to nod her head. However, her silence was already an answer enough. Estoria knew she wouldn’t respond so she asked quickly,
“Is there a man who would want to marry a woman who lost her husband on the first night of her marriage?”
“…”
“Well, Father Emperor brought the marriage up.”
Estoria laughed out loud once again.
“Who in the world is that crazy man?”
Asceline knew who that man was, and calling him ‘crazy’ or ‘out of this world’ was a little too much. She also knew that if Estoria knew who ‘that man’ was, she wouldn’t agree to the marriage. Not that it mattered, this marriage was dependent on only the agreement of both the family Heads. It was made without the slightest consideration for those who were getting married. Estoria looked horrible as she buried her face in between her knees.
“I feel miserable. How long do I have to live like this?”
“You’re thinking too hard… Don’t think negatively, Your Highness.”
Asceline spoke again to calm Estoria as much as possible,
“I know Your Highness’s marriage partner.”
“…Really?”
“Yes. He’s a fine man.”
“You’re saying he’s a fine man?”
Estoria bursted out laughing as if dumbfounded.
“A fine man who will marry a widow less than 15 days after she lost her husband?”
“As far as I can tell, he doesn’t desire the marriage deal too.”
“…Really?”
Those words attracted Estoria’s ear.
“So he’s normal. That’s fortunate.”
“But I don’t think both of your opinions will have an impact on the marriage.”
“No, it will be possible if both of us don’t want this marriage.”
Estoria asked Asceline with determination,
“I must meet this man. Who is he?”
***And it turns out that person is…
“You’ve come a long way, Your Imperial Highness!”
If this was unexpected then there was also a possibility that man was unsuspecting.
“…Duchess Bigelow.”
“You’ve come to meet Tristan, right? Please wait here for a moment then.”
She was Tristan Bigelow’s Mother, Elesis Bigelow. She went away with a somewhat excited face. Estoria tapped the table with a troubled look. In this world, there was no other person with that name…
‘I didn’t know there was a marriage proposal going forth between the Bigelow Family.’
Estoria couldn’t believe it. Wasn’t he a friend of her dead husband?
‘But, of course, my first marriage was invalid.’
However, the Imperial law wasn’t everything.
‘It’s the eyes of the people.’
Estoria waited for Tristan with an awkward expression.
‘Rather, this might be a good thing, I don’t know.’
Under this situation, Tristan would be cooperative in cancelling the marriage. It would be uncomfortable to marry a woman who was married to his friend. Besides, he was also a man who pursued a free life. Estoria had a feeling that things would be solved easily somehow.-
–knock
Then the door opened and someone came inside.
Estoria raised her head to see the face of the man who opened the door. The man who she had seen before was walking towards her. Last time he looked a lot less haggard. She wondered to what extent the impact of losing a friend for him was. With a tiny smile on Tristan’s lips, he bowed politely in front of Estoria.
“Our Empire’s star, greetings to Her Imperial Majesty. Glory to Gradiento.”
It was an elegant greeting that resembled his smile.
“Please sit, Crown Duke Bigelow.”
Estoria said in a low voice.
“I’m sorry for the sudden visit.”
“No, Your Highness. I can assume the reason why you visited.”
“You’ve concluded?”
Estoria raised an eyebrow.
“That’s good. Then it will be easier to talk about it.”
“What do you mean…?”
“I’ll be direct.”
Estoria said while leaning her upper body towards Tristan.
“I’m sure you know that both of us will be getting married soon.”
“Yes, my mother informed me.”
“I was also informed by (Father Emperor) His Majesty about my second marriage.”
Estoria furrowed her forehead as it was horrible to think of it again.
“Let’s cancel this marriage together.”
Estoria looked straight at Tristan and spoke her mind,
“I don’t intend on marrying anyone. I didn’t even decide on marrying the Duke of Emmerich who died, in the first place.”
“I understand, Your Highness.”
“As far as I know, the Crown Duke also pursues a free life and lives abroad without the intention of getting married. As much as possible, help me in this matter together.”
“Of course, I want a life that’s not restricted, like you said.”
Estoria expected things to go better than she was thinking due to Tristan’s reply. However, the following words shattered her expectations,
“But I’m afraid I won’t accept your offer.”
“…What did you say? How come?”
“You might be mistaken.”
Tristan said with a silent smile.
“As you know, this marriage. I’m not even a little bit happy about it either.”
“Therefore why…!”
“However, my mother has been longing for my marriage.”
Tristan said with regret evident in his voice.
“And I also think that this won’t be the last time. I can’t just wander outside forever.”
“…So?”
“Like Your Highness, I don’t want this marriage either.”
Tristan looked softly at Estoria, then right away offered a shocking offer.
“Why don’t we get married for just one year then get a divorce?”
“…What did you say?”
“Ah, of course, I’m not really saying that we should live together.”
Then? What are they gonna do? Estoria’s forehead crinkled.
“I’m saying, let’s just pretend.”
“Pretend…?”
“I’ve heard that many nobles live that way.”
Tristan shrugged his shoulders then continued.
“It is well known that under Imperial Law, a divorced person can not get married again except for a marriage with the same person.”
It’s a different story if the separation’s cause was death. Then one could marry again. Estoria murmured with a frown,
“Don’t tell me…”
“Indeed. That’s what I’m taking advantage of.”
Tristan smiled then said his plan,
“We’ll respect each others’ lives for a year then say that we can’t live together due to personality differences.”
“That’s what we’re going to do.”
“One year is a long enough time to go through and make a judgement on each other.”
Tristan was confident.
“I don’t think His Majesty and my mother can do anything about us making such a statement afterwards.”
It was a pretty reasonable scheme. Estoria’s ears were seduced.
Tristan said with a smile.
“I’ve been thinking about this for the past few days. How is it?”
“…It’s not bad.”
This situation was completely supported by both families. Avoiding marriage will never be easy at all. Estoria saw this plan as not bad either. If Tristan dies in this marriage, they will try to marry her off again.
“I have to break this constant vicious cycle.’
It may be a basic solution to be a divorcee.
“But there’s a condition.”
“Tell me. Anything.”
“Let’s set some rules for a successful divorce.”
“How about writing a contract for all of it?”
Tristan asked for another drink.
“We won’t be able to take it back later on.”
“Yes, that’s good. We’ll do a contract.”
Estoria clapped her hands to ask.
“Shall we write it right now? The contract?”
“If there’s anything you want, I’ll put it in the contract (finish it then show you).”
Then Tristan added as if he had forgotten.
“Of course, this should be top secret.”
“That’s fine. First.”
Estoria unfolded a finger.
“No matter what happens, we must get divorced after a year.”
“Fine by me. Second one?”
“In any case, we will faithfully fulfill our husband and wife duties for a year.”
Estoria said determinedly.
“That means, you shouldn’t have any inappropriate relationship with another person while we’re married. Absolutely not allowed.”
“Yes, what you said was very reasonable.”
“Finally, that most important third rule.”
Tristan stared at Estoria with interest in his eyes.
“Skinship is absolutely prohibited.’
“…”
“Husband and wife intercourse, is also absolutely prohibited.”
After finishing her speech, Estoria found that Tristan’s face looked rather dazed and asked,
“Why is your expression like that?”
“Ah.”
Only then did Tristan come to his senses and answer,
“I’ve never thought about it before but you said those words.”
Then he smiled. Estoria was somehow offended by his reaction.
“I attached this clause in case the Crown Duke would try to take advantage of the limited-time marriage.”
“Do not worry, Your Highness. You’ll never be worried.”
“I mean, it’s just that…”
Estoria, who was somehow embarrassed, finished her thought,
“You never know what’s going to happen to someone.”
“…”
“Just in case. Don’t get me wrong.”
“If you say so.”
Tristan said while giving Estoria a meaningful look.
“I’m not sure but there may be a possibility that we’ll be in a situation where we would want to do skinship.”
“…”
“It’s a joke, a joke.”
“…Anyway.”
Estoria tried hard to undo her expression then said to Tristan,
“I had wished we’d meet again during a good time, but I didn’t think we’d meet again like this.”
“Well, marriage isn’t a bad thing.”
What a truly positive mind. Estoria laughed at the moment. After a while, Tristan reached a hand out to Estoria and smiled. Estoria looked at him filled with curiosity. Tristan casually smiled and said to her.
“Please take care of me from now on, Your Highness.”
“…”
He was such an optimistic man. Was a marriage without consent decided without anger?
‘I’m dying of anger.’
It was the exact opposite of him.
‘Maybe in the future there will be a lot of things to encounter.’
Estoria absentmindedly looked at the stretched out hand of Tristan
“My arm hurts already, Your Highness.”
Only then did Estoria reluctantly take his hand and shake hands with him.
