If I Throw Myself into His Sea - Episode 1.26

“They say the Princess of Epine is still on the mainland.”

“……”

“The noble bloodline I desired is still up there, living in luxury.”

Still holding his sword, Pereian studied Irene’s expression. Judging by the way her pale face, which he had found so tiresome, was reddening, she must have felt as though her secret had been exposed.

It was laughable. Did she really think that a nobody could impersonate the Princess of Epin and not get caught? Was she so foolish that she remained silent even when treated harshly?

The woman remained silent. Pereian pressed the sword closer, disgusted by her tightly shut mouth. The blade finally grazed her slender neck, drawing beads of blood.

“What are you going to do now?”

“I…”

“Would you rather die by my sword?”

Irene moved suddenly. Vanishing from Pereian’s sight in an instant, she was kneeling on the floor as if she had collapsed.

Irene Iphraim silently shed tears. Whether the darkening red carpet was due to the droplets of blood from her neck or her tears, it was impossible to tell. Pereian didn’t lower his sword, warning her as if she were about to beg for her life.

“I have no intention of killing you easily. I will expose your true identity in every detail before I cut you down.”

Irene was confused. Judging from the circumstances, Pereian seemed to have realized that she was not the princess he had requested to marry. However, based on what he said, he didn’t seem to know about the existence of the illegitimate daughter yet.

In any case, now that she knew she wasn’t the princess who received Deltia’s marriage proposal, she had to say something. Her mind knew she had to say something, but the problem was that her mouth wouldn’t open.

“It’s ridiculous. Saying you didn’t want to lie to me was also a lie.”

“Pereian.”

“I’m glad I didn’t trust a woman like you.”

He didn’t trust land dwellers in the first place, but he thought the queen’s face, when she said she didn’t want to lie in this sea, seemed sincere. The fact that it was all a lie made Pereian laugh emptily.

Just then, Atina, who had sensed the commotion through the opening door, rushed in. It was the day Sipri, who had returned after the Sea Trench subjugation, had promised to visit, so he arrived at the Coral Palace on time and burst in with Atina.

The sight that greeted them as soon as they entered was their master about to be struck by her husband’s sword. The moment Atina saw the blood flowing from Irene’s neck, she turned pale and approached Irene.

A monarch holding a sword and a queen being beheaded by that sword. A terrible moment that would not even be recorded in history books, and it looked just like when Pereian killed the royal descendant. Sipri grabbed Atina, thinking that it would be dangerous to go near Pereian now. Maintaining his distance, he spoke to Pereian.

“Put down the sword, Pereian.”

“Sipri, this woman is a fake.”

A fake? Before Sipri could say anything more, Irene, who was kneeling, cried out.

“I, I…”

At first glance, it might seem like she couldn’t speak properly, but Sipri, who was well-versed in magic, could grasp Irene’s condition. Aside from the existing wound, a red line had already appeared on Irene’s neck. It was a harbinger of a silencing spell. It was what happened when one tried to utter something that was forbidden to be spoken.

A silencing spell was preventing her from telling the truth. It was strange that Irene didn’t even groan, considering how painful it must be.

“Disgusting Epin bastards,” Sipri muttered. If she were to speak about something forbidden in that state, Irene Iphraim would die instantly. The silencing spell on her was that kind of magic.

“I am an Epi-”

Irene wanted to admit that she wasn’t a legitimate daughter. Now that her lie had been exposed, she wanted to tell the truth, even now.

But she couldn’t. Her mouth wouldn’t open easily. It felt like her throat was burning, not by her own will, but by someone else’s.

Even after leaving the land, the Epin were still restricting Irene. Just trying to confess made her feel like she would die soon.

She wanted to at least say that she was under a silencing spell, but even that was impossible. All Irene could do was clutch her neck and gasp for breath.

“Don’t speak!”

In the urgent atmosphere, Sipri blocked Pereian’s sword and shouted. It was solely to prevent Irene’s death.

“She’s under a silencing spell. She can’t say anything more here anyway.”

“Move.”

Pushing aside Sipri, who was blocking his path, roughly, Pereian advanced.

A cheap sword, not even properly forged, scraped against the floor, creating a strange sound.

Stopping in front of Irene, Pereian lowered his body. He still held the real sword in his hand, and the tip of that sword was stained with Irene’s blood.

Pereian grabbed Irene’s chin and lifted it. Biting his lip, he met the eyes of the woman he was sicker of than anyone else at this moment, and said,

“A silencing spell, you say.”

The sword dropped from his other hand with a thud. He tapped Irene’s neck, reddened by the signs of the silencing spell, with his thick knuckles. Irene grimaced as if the wound was being grazed each time he touched her.

Only after seeing her darkened complexion did Pereian feel relieved. He had thought the woman’s face, which had treated him with innocence all along, was like a sweet rice cake.

“Did you think that for that reason alone, I would easily overlook this matter?”

Despite Sipri’s dissuasion, Pereian’s rebuke continued. That was because, setting aside personal grudges, he was the lord of Deltia.

To him, the woman before him was an unidentified woman impersonating the princess of Epin, and it would not be an exaggeration to interrogate her immediately. He couldn’t just let it go just because she was under a silencing spell.

Even with her mouth sealed by the silencing spell, Irene was constantly trying to say something. Is what that woman is trying so hard to say the truth, or a lie? Pereian was completely confused.

Blood flowed from Pereian’s lips as well, as he had been biting them so much. He kept muttering inwardly.

‘Because of that precious Epin bloodline, I had to give up someone.’

Your country shouldn’t have deceived me by passing you off as a princess. At least you shouldn’t have done that to me. Irene Iphraim, if you, if you’re not a princess.

The lump in my throat, which I had been holding back since the unwanted marriage, finally burst out. Irene struggled to speak, seeing Pereian in even more pain than she was at having her identity exposed.

“I am, the princess of Epin.”

Each word was fragmented, as if she was using up the last of her strength.

Fortunately or unfortunately, she was able to finish the sentence, perhaps because this much had avoided the silencing magic.

Sipri cast a spell to determine the truth next to her.

Even if she was a daughter born out of wedlock, her status was that of a princess, so her words were not judged as lies even as they went through the magic. Irene added with difficulty,

“I have no intention of selling Deltia’s information to the mainland.”

“……”

“Pereian, I wasn’t trying to use you either.”

The tears she had been holding back finally appeared. Once the tears started, they didn’t stop easily, and Irene continued her confession without even wiping away the tears that dripped down her chin.

“I know that I, my existence… that my existence alone is hindering your love.”

Pereian Richard. Ian. The man I loved now loves another woman. And it was entirely Epin’s doing that ashes were scattered on his future, which he was about to promise to that woman for the rest of his life.

“But I have nowhere to go but this sea.”

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