"Prince Theodore!"
Black night crowded the window. The echoes of Theodore's footsteps grew gradually distant.
Rishe rounded on Arnold. "Why are you doing this? Why do you keep pushing him away?"
Arnold looked at her as if all of this was stupid. "Didn't I tell you? I don't care about him."
"Your Highness."
"Don't worry. I'll send him away if he tries anything else," Arnold said. "He can live elsewhere, like my sisters."
"That's not what I'm worried about." He knew that, which meant he was stonewalling.
I won't let you get away.
Rishe understood that Arnold's decisions were momentous. One day, he would influence the whole world. He would go to war with every nation, trampling them down and consuming them with overwhelming might. In her past six lives, there had not been a single person who didn't know his name. By the same token, it was unlikely to the extreme that she'd never heard the name of his little brother, Theodore Auguste Hein.
She hadn't thought it unusual at first. Court intrigue wasn't widely circulated into the international sphere—at most there would be rumors. It wouldn't be that unusual for a mere merchant or apothecary to never hear them. But now she was sure that couldn't possibly apply to Theodore without his active attempt to keep himself off the world stage. Coupled with this night's strange performance, it was obvious.
"Your brother is trying to erase himself from Galkhein's future. He considers that a greater priority than the people of the slums. And I'm pretty sure it's because of you, Your Highness."
It had to be. Theodore prioritized Arnold above all else.
"So what?"
"Remember how you said the other day that I don't need to be resolute in becoming your wife? " Saying it out loud made her heart hurt. Curious, that.
"I have been mulling over what you meant ever since. One of my guesses is directly tied to Prince Theodore's behavior."
Her first idea was that he meant they'd be divorced at some point, but if not…
Arnold was telling her that he already had plans to kill his father in three years and start the war. And if Theodore knew about this plan, if he guessed what his brother intended to do…
"You're planning to completely destroy everything, aren't you?" Rishe asked.
"You're going to discard your future."
Arnold stared at her with cold eyes.
"That's what Prince Theodore fears, isn't it? And that's why he's behaving like a willful child with no aptitude for leadership. He doesn't want you to leave him the throne." When Arnold said nothing, she prodded, "Well?"
Rishe was taking a gamble. She needed to know whether the cruel Emperor Arnold Hein existed yet, somewhere inside him.
Just let me in, just the smallest bit. I can still change the future.
Arnold possessed compassion like any decent person. Rishe fully believed he did not intend to start a war. She watched him unwaveringly, waiting for him to answer.
Arnold was silent for what felt like eons before he said, "Oh, I understand now."
There was no trace of anger in his voice. Relief flooded Rishe—until she saw Arnold's expression. She gasped.
"I'm sure of it." He gave her a challenging grin. A dark, chilling glint grew in his eyes. It made Rishe shiver.
What's that supposed to mean?
This was not the response Rishe was expecting. Not that provocative grin, not that cold look, nor those words.
"You know what…" He smiled at her bewilderment.
"You're adorable."
"What?!"
"I know being unsure of my intentions is distressing you," Arnold said. "But you don't need to know. Feel free to continue theorizing, though."
So, Arnold refused to reveal anything to Rishe. Perhaps it had been naive of her to imagine he ever would. She pursed her lips, thinking. Over the past few weeks living in the palace, she'd truly thought she was coming to know him.
I've been arrogant. I don't know him at all.
Arnold's smile was gone, replaced with that bored, blank look. "I'll say it again: Just ignore Theodore."
"But—"
"As for what you were saying—you're right that I'm laying plans for the event of my death. That's only what's expected of me. I can't make policies that can be undone just because I pass away."
Arnold was denying Rishe's conjecture. With her current hand, Rishe couldn't refute him.
"Perhaps Theodore has read my actions wrong," He went on. "But he's a fool. This was a truly ridiculous gambit for a prince."
Then, in a considerably harsher tone, he said: "My brother shouldn't associate with someone like me.."
Rishe gawked at him in astonishment.
Was this finally a glimpse into why Arnold kept his brother at a distance? Why he refused to interact with him, turned around when he saw him coming?
"You really do love him."
"What?" Arnold knit his brows, but he didn't correct her. If he were truly apathetic, he wouldn't have said something like that.
"Your Highness, have you ever heard the saying 'If you love somebody, set them free'? Constant guidance and assistance can be detrimental rather than helpful." Something else Rishe could claim she read in a book, when in reality a fellow knight had once told her that, smiling ruefully as he spoke. "Perhaps that's why you keep him at a distance."
"Interesting. Do you honestly believe that?"
"I do. I don't know where you draw your lines, nor do I understand your tactics. But I know for certain that you are not made of stone."
His rebuke had made her falter, but she was not yet at the point where she would fully discard her conclusions. Despite what she knew of the future him—the monster and the warmonger. Rishe now knew that he was human.
"Your Highness, may I ask… You appear to be preparing for a future where you, yourself are out of the picture, but have you ever considered the reverse?"
"The reverse?"
"A future without Prince Theodore. You can't predict when someone will die."
Rishe had no idea what would happen to Theodore within the next five years. Perhaps in his other lives, he had merely continued down his path of obscurity. But what if he had launched a rebellion against Arnold and been punished accordingly?
It was not outside the realm of possibility that his brother had killed him.
Rishe gazed steadily into Arnold's eyes.
"I urge you to live your life without regrets, that's all. "
That was how Rishe was trying to live her own life, even if she did end up dying in five years. And if this loop was the one where she finally broke the cycle, her final chance…Well, she wouldn't regret that, either. So that was what she said to him.
"I am going to strive to live this life as your wife without any regrets." Rishe turned her back on Arnold and left him.
Theodore's footsteps had been heading up the stairs rather than outside—she was sure of it.
In the now-empty room, Arnold muttered, "Damn it all."