The Person I Loved Hated Me - Chapter 20

Sebastian, who wielded authority as the Chancellor of the Kingdom of Cartiver from the closest position to the king, received Isaac in a room at the Duke of Winslet’s residence.

It was already past midnight. The meeting, held while even the servants were asleep, felt hushed and secretive in the dim lighting.

After a brief exchange of greetings, Isaac was permitted to sit and did so without hesitation. The moment he took his seat, Sebastian narrowed his eyes slightly.

“First, I want to confirm something. Are you my father’s… my brother’s son?”

“…No, I’m not?”

He had been asked the same by Eivard and had denied it then too. Perhaps that was why Sebastian had agreed to meet him?

“Is that the truth?” he was asked again, and he replied, “It is not.” The Duke seemed to relax a little, his stern expression softening slightly as he murmured, “I see…”

“Then what is your business?”

“The Crown Prince has taken a strong interest in my sister. Though it may be disrespectful to say so, I do not wish to see my sister unhappy. I wish to borrow your influence to persuade His Highness to give up.”

Instantly, deep furrows formed between Sebastian’s eyebrows.

“My son told me it was a grave matter for the House of Winslet. To think it would be a matter of romance.”

From the perspective of a busy Duke, he probably wanted to say, “Don’t waste my time with such things.” Isaac could understand the Duke’s attitude. After all, he didn’t know Isaac and Clara’s secret.

“My son said it was serious, and I recalled my late father’s words that if you ever came to me for help, I should assist but a matter of infatuation? From my standpoint, I’m not sure if that’s good or bad.”

Sebastian let out a long sigh and leaned back in his chair.

“Well, either way, matters of the heart are difficult to interfere with. I myself acknowledge that His Highness’s walks through the city are a good opportunity for him to learn about the common people. Besides, His Highness is not the sort to force himself upon a reluctant girl. If the girl is unwilling, he will likely give up eventually.”

His attitude was transparent: he wanted to wrap this up quickly and send Isaac away. He was essentially saying it was up to Clara, speaking rapidly as if it were obvious.

But that’s precisely why I’m here.

If this continued, he would be sent away, and that would be the end. The image of Clara’s anxious face flashed through his mind, and Isaac clenched his fists.

Perhaps only the retired Ortol would do after all.

“But… His Highness is concerned about his lack of backing.”

“…Who said such a thing?”

At Isaac’s disrespectful words, Sebastian’s gaze sharpened instantly.

“I was told so by Lord Ortol.”

“Even if that were true, you should not speak of it.”

This concerned the royal family, and moreover, the future king. Isaac had no right to speak of such things.

The current Crown Prince, Dian, was said to be the only child of the former Crown Prince, Rhodias.

Before Rhodias passed away from illness eighteen years ago, he had bestowed the title of Crown Prince upon the seven-year-old Dian.

His mother was a princess from a neighboring duchy, a purely political marriage to Rhodias. Shortly after giving birth to Dian, the princess moved to a detached palace in the south, ostensibly for recuperation, and had never returned to the capital since. Furthermore, the duchy no longer existed, having been absorbed into the Kingdom of Cartiver and made a territory of the kingdom.

Thus, Dian not only lacked backing from his mother’s family but had also lost his father’s protection. Moreover, his position was coveted by Rhodias’s half-brothers and the current king’s siblings.

There was concern that if something happened to the elderly king, those coveting his position would argue that someone with only Cartiver royal blood was more suited to be king than Dian, who carried the blood of a defunct duchy.

Although Dian’s consort was chosen from a daughter with Cartiver royal blood, his supporters were not numerous.

The primary reason, perhaps due to his foreign blood, was that Dian’s eyes were not the distinctive purple of the Cartiver royal family.

Even if he had the qualities to be king, for those seeking power, this was a pretext to pull him down.

Throughout long history, changes in eye color were a normal, trivial matter, but there were always those who would seize on any excuse to complain.

“So, what is your point? Are you not concerned that surrounding himself with a town girl will damage His Highness’s reputation?”

That was exactly it; Isaac gave no thought to Dian’s reputation. For Isaac, the only thing that mattered was protecting his life with Clara.

“Your Excellency…”

Having come this far, he hesitated over what to do. Would it be safe to speak? The fear of their secret becoming public was paramount.

Isaac stared intently at Sebastian.

This man was not Ortol. The unease about whether he could be trusted did not fade. If he made the wrong choice, Isaac and Clara’s future could even be destroyed.

His late mother, Dietrich, had been involved with Rhodias. The result was Isaac and Clara.

He had learned this truth several months after Dietrich’s death. Ortol had visited and forced him to choose: “Public acknowledgment as illegitimate children, or continuing your life as it is now.”

At first, he hadn’t believed such a ridiculous story.

Ortol had said, “If you don’t believe it, that’s fine,” but he had told him about the unique eyes that rarely appeared in the Cartiver royal family.

Purple eyes were the royal color, but they also appeared, albeit less frequently, in other people. Isaac’s eyes were purple too, but that didn’t automatically connect him to the royalty.

But Clara’s color was special.

Those with eyes where gold and red were scattered within the purple occasionally appeared in the Cartiver royal line. And he was told that the reigns of kings with those eyes were invariably exceptionally prosperous.

If their birth were exposed, they could be exploited. Furthermore, having that bloodline and those eyes, they could be judged a threat to Dian and even assassinated.

If acknowledged as illegitimate children, they would be raised in comfort and wealth, but danger to their lives would follow. The likelihood of being used was also high.

Isaac felt no attraction to having royal blood and understood it would be a troublesome position. So, without hesitation, and without consulting Clara, he chose to continue their current life.

Fortunately, the eye color associated with royal prosperity had become such a rare phenomenon that even among the nobility, it was largely forgotten. He had thought that even if discovered, it could be dismissed as mere coincidence.

The Crown Prince already had children to succeed him. Isaac had assumed they wouldn’t be dragged into succession issues… but he had been naive.

He had come this far intending to rely on Sebastian. But the thought of speaking about Clara was terrifying. Sebastian’s perspective might not align with Ortol.

“Your Excellency… I, my sister…”

Even so, he had to trust him, or the discussion wouldn’t progress. Now that Dian had found Clara and taken an interest, he had to stop any mistakes before they happened.

“My sister’s eyes are purple. Gold and red are mixed in them, sometimes appearing iridescent. She has the eyes that have ceased to appear in the recent royal family.”

Isaac did not state the definitive fact outright. Even if they were alone, who knew where someone might be eavesdropping?

It seemed Sebastian also knew what Ortol had told Isaac. He straightened from leaning against the chair back and leaned forward.

Isaac felt a slight relief that he didn’t have to say it explicitly.

“I see… Crown Prince Dian has green eyes. He himself regrets not inheriting the royal color.”

Was Sebastian implying that he too found it regrettable?

Isaac observed Sebastian carefully, both as a Duke and as the Chancellor of the nation.

He focused all his senses, determined not to miss a single gesture or movement, to discern the man’s true intentions.

If Sebastian were the type to ignore morality to secure Dian’s position, Clara could be taken from him.

“There is certainly a possibility that a child born from your sister could inherit the trait. Moreover, if the child were a boy, His Highness’s reign would be assured, and those noisy outsiders wouldn’t be able to complain about foreign blood anymore.”

Sebastian crossed his arms and tilted his gaze, as if thinking.

“But the girl is a commoner. She didn’t inherit the color from the royal family. The color is likely a coincidence, and the chance of it passing to a child is low. If your father were someone from the royal family, one might be tempted to try but considering the damage to his reputation from involvement with a commoner, it would be a poor move.”

The Duke abruptly stopped speaking, perhaps reading the answer from Isaac’s expression. He murmured, as if to himself, “Surely not.”

“Are you saying there’s a blood connection?”

Sebastian’s face was stiff. Isaac’s roundabout way of speaking had been too indirect for him to grasp immediately.

“No, it’s impossible. For Lord Rhodias to casually father a child who would suffer.”

His whispered words, filled with surprise, suggested he found the idea unthinkable.

Was Rhodias such an exceptional person?

To Isaac, he was just a man who impregnated his mother and then abandoned her, failing in his duties as a father.

He had never heard his mother speak ill of his father, so even if it was out of love, he shouldn’t have gotten involved in the first place. As Sebastian had inadvertently said, what did he intend by creating a “child who would suffer”? It was a question that now had no answer.