The Azelyan race, a race born of blood and poison. They were so barbaric… so cruel…
Even now, most of the crimes in our kingdom are committed by them. By those violet-eyed monsters.
I heard that it's in their blood to kill without hesitation. That's why Heranis' soldiers immediately kill an Azelian the moment they see one.
They are not noble like us. They are not like us. I don't consider one race superior to another. It's just that the Azelyan race, in general, harms us because they learn evil from birth…
In one of my speeches, I stated that everyone is equal and that it's unfair for people to unnecessarily live in heaven or hell on earth. I don't think that about the Azelians. They deserve to live in hell. They deserve it. They are different…
Victor looked at me, I turned away and said—"You deceived me!" —"What difference does it make if I'm an Azelian, My Lady?"
—"A great deal. I will not marry an Azelian."
—"Why?"
—iI cannot defile my blood!"
—"Why then? Defile… That's an extremely awful word considering your nobility and intelligence."
—Because you're killing us! I cannot betray my race!
—"We're not killing you, Almila. That's what happens when you only hear about things from your father's side… Besides, if we get into this 'you versus us' argument, we really won't reach an agreement. I'm not happy about marrying a woman from Heranis either." —"An agreement? Are you still stuck on that?!"
—"Yes. We will reach an agreement. There's no other way. In fact, we're not leaving until we reach an agreement."
—"Victor. Even if my father betrayed me, I would rather go back to him than make a deal with you!"
—Who forgot you in a day?
He asked. He was right. I thought my father loved me… But it was him who gave up on me so easily.
—"…"
—I'll find you fallen off a cliff again if you go back to your father's palace. I hope this time you don't fall towards those rocks.
—No…
—Then you'll forget about being a ruler for the rest of your life, when you die. That gambler brother of yours will ascend the throne. I'll take great pleasure in forcibly removing him from the throne. Godd*mn him… I don't like him.He's the one doing the most anti-Azelian propaganda. And you accepted this deal because you knew that, didn't you? It's highly unlikely your brother will remain Sultan. Someone will inevitably come and seize his throne by force. And I'm his strongest rival. You know that.
—"Don't talk about my brother like that, you disgusting man!"
—"It's ironic that you're defending your brother to the man who saved you and only wanted your well-being, even though your brother is who despised you your whole life and wished for your death. If you don't marry me, I'll declare war to Heranis immediately.
—"Go ahead then! Why did you wait?"
—"Because I don't want to declare war! I'm not like you! There's no such thing as winning in war!"
—"Because you can't win."
—iI can win. But I'm not like your family. I don't want to risk my knights."
—"Liar…"
—"If I win, you'll become slaves. You know that. If the Sultan is defated,then the royal family become slaves.
"—It seems you'll become my slave, Mr. Stormwell."
—"Almila. You're only watching the events from your own perspective. This land was ours! You committed genocide against us, you silenced our people. That's why you've lived here for centuries! Even the language you speak is our language! You are newcomers! And you are the ones who drove us out… You'll never understand, will you…"
—"That's not how it was! You only believe in your own truth. We fought! It was a fair fight, and we were the winners."
—"A fair fight? Are you sure? Almila, you know nothing… I wish you would open your eyes."
"—I don't want my eyes opened."
—"But do you have another choice?
After hearing this, I angrily snatched the paper; she was telling the truth. I was so desperate that someone like him was my only hope.
I started writing on a piece of paper.
—We will neither sleep in the same bed... nor eat the same food. We can only have intercourse one day a year. And that starts next year. If I get pregnant, I won't have to do that ever again. Because I will not have any kind of intimacy with an Azelian. Also, if we ever go through a divorce, the entire process will be managed by me.
—"Understood. But we cannot divorce until there is an heir, and we must still be considered married until that heir turns 10 years old. Okay?
—"When I become queen, I will have 10% full rights in the kingdom."
—"You will have 5% full rights. And you cannot be involved in any decisions concerning the Azelians."
—"If there is no 10%, the agreement is canceled. I will return to my father's palace."
—"Okay, 10%, but as I said, you cannot meddle in anything that puts the Azelians at risk. Think of it as living as an archduchess. "
—"I never wanted to make a decision about your disgusting race too. But if your race attacks mine…"
He interrupted me.
"—You cannot attack my race. If such a situation arises…"
—"If this weren't my only way to ascend the throne, I would have already told you to go to hell and left without looking back, Victor."
—"I also think like that too. If I hadn't seen the tiredness in my people's eyes, I wouldn't have lowered myself to such a humiliating situation to marry a princess from an enemy kingdom. This is the easiest way; if I marry you, I have a chance to ascend the throne without war. I cannot lose that chance."
"—If your race attacks mine, I have the right to defend my own race. I can order the knights in the palace to protect them."
"—The knights in the palace will be under my command. I can give you 20% of the kingdom. You can do whatever you want with them. Except harm my people."
—"Okay. If you want to stop something my knights are doing, you can only send the same number of men as my knights"
—"It's like I'm creating enemies in my own house… I'll add one more thing. No betrayal. If you don't follow any of these conditions, everything written on this paper will be canceled."
—"Okay. I won't betray you. Finally, don't bring a mistress into this house. I can't bear it. If another woman is brought into the house I'm currently living. You can't imagine how shameful it is for a woman to be cheated on. I won't fall into that situation. I won't kill you, but I'll make your life worse than death. I'll make your life hell. Believe me, I will. I'm the kind of person who can do it."
—"Agreed. Don't worry. I'm not that much of a womanizer. The same goes for you. As the ruler of a country, I don't want history books to say I was cheated on by my wife," he said.
Victor put out his hand.
I considered not shaking his hand. I hadn't wanted to touch him. But that would have been rude. After all, he had helped me recover after I fell off the cliff.
Just for that reason, I shook his hand. Then I was going to sign and leave without saying anything, but,
Suddenly, knights started coming from outside the window. They had our kingdom's coat of arms.
They suddenly pulled out their pistols. And they started shooting people.
First, they shot a mother and child. When they saw me looking out the window, they pointed their pistols at me. Victor pushed me, so I fell to the ground and escaped the bullets."
Victor pulled a gun from under his desk and fired several shots.
I found a gun too and shot the man who had shot at me,
—"Idiot! I'm the Princess! I'm not even an Azelian, you piece of filth!"
I yelled.
I only retreated after shooting that man. After all, I wasn't going to shoot my own people. I wouldn't do that. I stepped back. Victor shot them.
The conflict stopped. I said to Victor,
—"Why did they do that? They were even shooting at me! I'm not even one of you." —"There are raids here from time to time. They fire a few shots and then leave."
—"What did you do to deserve something like this…"
—"I have work to do, Almila. No matter how much a person wants to deny what they see with their own eyes, they know it for sure deep down."
—"…"