#1. The Woman Who Made a King
August 1, 2023.
#Prologue
“Will you spend the night with me?”
Karan tilted his head to the left. He gazed fixedly at Elise, who sat across from him.
A noble of Bedroka asking a Titris—branded a barbarian—for a night together.
“The reason?”
“As I said earlier, because it will be of help.”
“To me, or to you?”
“To both of us.”
Karan exhaled a long, thin breath. His chest rose and fell deeply.
She was a woman so luscious it was maddening. So much so that merely looking at her left his mouth bone-dry.
And yet Karan hesitated. Because it was none other than Elise.
“Are you serious? Chastity is of great importance in Bedroka, unlike in Titris.”
“Is it that you wish to hear me say you need not take responsibility?”
The eyes that looked up at him with her chin raised were provocative. Karan’s throat went dry. To keep his tension from showing, he swept back his disheveled hair.
“I am saying I will take responsibility. But before that.”
Karan took hold of Elise’s hand, which had come to rest atop the table.
He forcibly unfurled her clenched fist. Karan slid his fingers between her slender ones.
He rubbed her small, unblemished hand, infinitely delicate compared to his own.
A small hand that laid bare how her life had been a bed of roses, unlike his.
That hand trembled faintly.
‘She’s nervous.’
That tremor shook Karan. Slowly, he brushed his palm over the back of her hand.
If you are sincere, perhaps I should seize you, pretending I do not know.
Karan had no intention of telling her that he stood in a pit of fire.
Pretending to be ripe fruit, giving off a luscious fragrance, Karan lifted Elise’s hand.
Elise’s gaze followed him.
Without breaking eye contact with her, Karan lowered his lips to the pulse racing at the inside of her wrist.
“Ah…….”
Elise’s red, luscious lips parted with a soft pop, like a flower bud bursting open.
“It will not be a comfortable night.”
The place where his lips touched burned as though scorched.
He accepted Elise’s proposal. Elise’s heart pounded thunderously.
She removed Karan’s shirt. Then there were revealed sturdy shoulders, the kind never seen on a noble who had done nothing but hold a pen.
In Bedroka, his black hair like ebony and dark eyes like obsidian—sights rarely beheld—carried an air of mystery.
His gaze was sharp, yet shone with intelligence, and the gentle smile playing at his lips inspired trust in the other party.
Truly a handsome man, no matter how many times she looked. Elise recalled him from the banquet where she had first met Karan.
The memory was startlingly vivid.
‘I thought he was handsome even when I saw him in the past. Even when others said he looked rough.’
While Elise was lost in thought, soft bedding touched the curve of her back.
Before she knew it, Elise was upon the bed.
“Do not have any regrets. It is already too late.”
Even without his saying so, she had decided the moment she resolved to meet Karan.
She neither regretted it now, nor wished to turn back.
And strangely, she was composed. But separate from that, her body was steadily heating up.
Instead of answering, Elise grabbed Karan’s undone shirt collar.
#1. The Woman Who Made a King
“Are you ready, Viscountess Warton?”
Elise Warton.
The woman regarded as the disgrace of House Warton, the marvel of the magic world, and the filth of high society had finished preparing to ascend to the most noble seat.
With bewitchingly upturned eyes like green emeralds and delicate, elegant features, that woman peered back from the mirror.
“You look even more beautiful today.”
Elise’s attendant Regina spoke while brushing her golden hair.
The corners of Elise’s lips curled upward.
She was quite pleased with her reflection in the mirror.
“Could His Majesty finally be proposing today! What do you think he has prepared?”
The outer corners of Elise’s eyes trembled with overflowing emotion.
“Regina, compose yourself.”
Elise was looking forward to it as well. However, she calmed an excited Regina, who chattered with glee rather than simply being thrilled.
“Does my lady not have any expectations? Are you not trembling? It is a proposal you have waited ten years for!”
Elise lowered her head. Her cheeks flushed red. It was an excessively innocent smile for a woman nearing thirty.
Yet it was also an expression that suited a bride-to-be more than anything.
How could Elise not be nervous?
As Regina said, ten years—no, if counted from when she first met Chase, it was a matter she had waited a full fourteen years for.
It was merely that she had puffed up with hope and been disappointed so many times until now that she was restraining herself.
“If you are ready, please come out, my lady.”
Chase’s aide urged from outside.
Regina twisted Elise’s hair up and pinned it. Then Elise’s nape and neckline were fully revealed.
The straight, elegant line of her neck was a sight to behold, even to Elise herself.
Chase Royal Bedroka.
The king of this nation, her liege lord, and her lover—he had loved it too.
“I am ready. Let us go.”
When Elise stood, the attendants lined up behind her bowed deeply.
Elise slowly crossed the palace corridor.
Administrators working in the royal palace, gatekeepers, knights passing by—without exception, they greeted Elise and cleared the way for her.
Even though she possessed nothing but the title of viscountess, no one thought it odd for her to stroll through the royal palace as if it were her own home.
There was a reason for all of it.
Because Elise was the one who had placed Chase—the king’s second son, who had lost his mother and his base of support at a young age—upon the throne.
“Will you be with me?”
A faint smile touched Elise’s lips as she recalled the time when he, oppressed by the former queen, had come to House Warton and shyly held out his hand.
With his gaunt, scrawny frame and unsightly appearance, having fallen out of the king’s favor, Chase had not been welcomed by House Warton at the time.
However, Fraser Warton was not in a position to refuse a marriage proposal offered by the royal family.
Yet neither was he loyal enough to hand over exactly what the royal family wanted.
The royal family had wanted Iris.
But Fraser had no intention of gambling with the marriage of Iris, who would become the pride of House Warton.
So he presented Elise instead of Iris before Chase.
Unlike Iris, the second daughter was plain and talentless, nothing more than the family’s black sheep.
Fortunately, Elise liked Chase, who needed her.
Back then, Elise was fifteen and Chase was eighteen.
Elise poured everything of herself into Chase. Through Elise’s sacrifice and devotion, Chase grew day by day.
She poured even her magic engraving skills, which she had been too ashamed to show anyone, into him for his sake.
Thanks to that, Chase became the finest swordsman in name and deed.
“Elise, if people find out you’re doing the sort of trivial work that half-elves do, they will look down on you.”
Of course, every accomplishment was credited to Chase, and Elise’s existence was thoroughly hidden.
Elise understood it all. Because his words were true.
The ability she possessed was closer to a curse than a talent, from Elise’s standpoint.
Unlike wielding magic directly, drawing simple magic circles was a menial task fit only for half-elves born between humans and elves.
Born with a small amount of mana, Elise could not become a mage and was the disgrace of the viscounty.
Yet she was of help to Chase. Elise refined her abilities.
“Elise! Father wants to see me! He says let’s go hunting! Just the two of us.”
Three years after she had joined hands with Chase, the king—who had not so much as glanced at him—began to show an interest in Chase.
It was right after the business venture under his name had yielded results.
“You are my goddess of fortune. Elise, when I see Father today, I will tell him I will marry you. I have no one but you. You are my fortune, my goddess.”
Chase had composed love poems for her every day.
Then one day, Chase declared with a determined face.
“I intend to reach higher for your sake. I want to become king.”
“Your Highness, I have no desire for the queen’s seat. I am happy simply being with you.”
“No, Elise. I will gift you the highest seat.”
From that moment, Chase changed. Every action gained intent, and he did not hesitate to make unreasonable requests of her.
“Elise, I need money. Can you borrow money by putting up promissory notes as collateral?”
“Your Highness, do you mean for me to use moneylenders?”
“Moneylenders... hearing it put that way makes me sound like such a villain. Money has no name tag, Elise. How many promissory notes do you have?”
Chase’s greed grew by the day. To sate Chase’s greed, Elise had to do things bordering on crime.
Chase bought people’s hearts with money. Yet in the end, he could not buy the king’s heart.
Eventually, he asked Elise to do something irreversible.
“We need to get rid of Brother David. Elise, can you help me?”
Elise could not readily bring herself to agree to Chase’s request to remove David, the First Prince.
David was Chase’s rival and enemy, but not a bad person.
However, her hesitation did not last long. She wanted to escape the viscounty and marry Chase as soon as possible.
A blessed marriage, a warm family, and a child who resembled her and Chase.
For the sake of her dream, Elise squeezed her eyes shut.
Elise pinned all manner of crimes on the crown prince.
Illegal aphrodisiac distribution, leakage of magic documents, assassination attempts on Chase, and so on.
She knew it was a bad thing, but it could not be helped.
It was for Chase.
“How dare you harm my husband! Did you think I would let you be?”
Iris, Elise’s older sister and David’s wife at the time, lunged at her like a woman possessed.
The downfall of Iris, who had ignored and tormented her, diluted Elise’s guilt.
“You reap what you sow, Sister.”
David was stripped of his position and imprisoned in the tower. Tormented by the ignominy attached to him, he ended his own life.
Chase became the crown prince. And then malicious rumors about Elise began to circulate.
“They say that woman trafficked the illegal aphrodisiacs herself.”
“Did you see the nail marks on Crown Prince Chase’s neck? She’s old and vicious too. I feel so sorry for Crown Prince Chase.”
Elise tried to actively defend herself, but Chase stopped her, saying false rumors would die down if ignored. Yet the rumors only grew.
“They say she seized her family’s assets and drove them out? They say she’s terribly extravagant.”
Even so, it was fine. Because she had Chase.
She believed with iron conviction that all misunderstandings would be resolved once she married Chase.
“Elise, the public opinion is not favorable. I will attend this banquet alone. My heart is always beside you. You’ll understand, won’t you?”
Even when Chase, now crown prince, began to leave her alone, she believed.
“My lady Elise! Do you know who attended this banquet? Lady Iris attended! And His Highness even escorted her! Can you believe it?”
When Elise pressed him for an explanation, Chase said:
“I asked Iris to host the delegation’s wives. There was someone among them who favors her. And Iris is excellent at hosting, you know.”
At some point, Iris’s name began to frequently leave Chase’s mouth.
When Elise expressed discomfort, he embraced her.
“Are you jealous? You’re the only one for me, Elise. I’m just entrusting the task to someone competent. We’re using Iris, that’s all.”
She had no choice but to believe.
“Your Highness, our marriage…….”
“Elise, please wait just a little longer for our wedding. I want to become a man worthy of you.”
Chase was unwavering.
If becoming king was what it took.
Elise clenched her fist. She vowed to quickly place him upon that throne.