***
Judith knew how relentlessly Queen Gilsis, who was the successor, had tormented Franz.
She must have worn him down, endlessly nagging him about how poorly he had chosen his princess, how insignificant the woman he was to marry was.
At first, Judith had assumed it was just an insult directed at her.
She thought she was being humiliated by the queen because she was insignificant, worthless, incapable of anything.
But at some point, she realized that Queen Gilsis was degrading her to humiliate and despise Franz.
Judith understood that by constantly belittling her, she was making an attack on Franz himself.
By constantly pointing out how utterly unsuitable his princess was, even going so far as to pay a hefty sum to bring her in, the queen was making him feel unworthy, hoping to drive him to madness.
Judith knew, but there was nothing she could do.
She couldn’t comfort Franz, nor could she confront Queen Gilsis.
She didn’t feel she had the right.
‘He must have resented me,’ she thought, her eyes filled with sorrow as she stared at him.
If there was anyone who hated her more than anyone else, it would have been Franz.
By making her his princess, he had unwittingly given Gilsis one more weakness to exploit.
He surely couldn’t help but resent her, no matter how unavoidable the situation was.
This was evident in how he had never once called her by name.
He had never looked her in the eye, never held her hand gently.
Their relationship was built on distrust and unspoken bitterness, in the cold halls of the Lotheir palace.
Standing on thin ice, the two of them could never reach out to each other.
The ice beneath them was thin and brittle, one wrong step and it would shatter.
But things were going to be different now.
Judith kept her small hands clasped in her lap as she silently gazed at Franz.
He was nineteen now, two years older than her.
But she had died at twenty-two, allowing her to regard him with a certain ease, as if he were her younger brother.
“What have you heard about me?”
“Are you really curious?”
Even though she wasn’t curious at all, Judith nodded, even forcing a faint smile.
“Yes, I am very curious.”
“It will make you feel bad.”
“Are you considering my feelings?”
“More than anything, I’m not good at comforting crying women,” he answered, with a touch of sarcasm in his voice.
“And I’m not the kind of wretch who gets off on seeing one.”
Franz’s tone was colder than she remembered.
So this was him now.
Even though she was facing the man she had once married, she felt a strange unease, as if she were meeting him for the first time.
“Hearing you say that, I can tell you didn’t have a very favorable opinion of me.”
“First of all, your way of speaking is different.
As I understand it, you are… a stutterer.”
Her eyes flickered.
Franz looked away for a moment, wondering if perhaps he had said something too harsh.
For a brief moment, she entertained the thought, but then, doubting such a possibility, she chuckled softly.
“Why are you laughing?”
“I used to stutter, but that was a long time ago.”
“And that you cry a lot, that you were timid and frail.”
“I’m not in the best of health, as you can see.
If you were hoping for a beautiful lady of seventeen, I’m afraid you’ll be disappointed.
But I don’t cry.
I’m not timid either.”
“I see.”
“I may not be the ideal princess you wanted, but I will not be a wife who causes you trouble.
I promise you.”
Judith realized that saying these things now would only bewilder Franz, but she took a deep breath and steeled herself.
Franz was a necessary figure for exacting proper revenge on Queen Gilsis and her son.
Helping him ascend to the throne would be the most gratifying way to bring the queen down.
She would bind her limbs so tightly that she couldn’t move even if she tried, and force her to keep her eyes open, no matter how desperately she wanted to shut them.
She intended to show her, from start to finish, the sight of Franz—whom she had so cruelly abused and wished to see fall—confidently sitting on the Lotheir throne.
Then, she would completely bury her in her despair.
To do that, Judith needed to keep Franz from losing his sanity.
Her first goal was to transform him into someone worthy of the throne—a man who had endured the suffocating grip of the queen’s cruelty since childhood and had hardly been able to breathe.
“That’s a strange thing to say,” Franz said, frowning with a hint of confusion in his tone.
“Does it sound strange?”
“I heard you’ve never set foot outside the Tien Kingdom since you were born, yet you speak as if you know something,” he replied.
“It’s something I told my brother as well.”
Judith clasped her fingers together on her lap, curling her fingers into tight fists as she leaned slightly towards Franz.
“I have ears, too.
Who can stop rumors from spreading?
When you carefully piece together the words carried on the wind, you can catch glimpses of landscapes that are otherwise hidden.”
“So you’re saying….”
It didn’t take long for his bewilderment to suddenly twist into anger.
She tried to think back to see what she had done wrong, but she was confused.
“Your Highness?”
“So, you’re saying that you know all this and can still manage to remain so composed?”
Her pupils flickered slightly.
He glared at her with a fierce scowl.
“Are you trying to pity me?”
“No, Your Highness.
That wasn’t my intention….”
“What you’re saying is that you know what my situation is like in Lotheir.
And even knowing all this, you can still calmly agree to be my princess?
Is it because you desperately need the money?
Or are you clinging to some sort of shallow hope that things won’t be as miserable as you’ve heard?”
“Your Highness, that’s not it….”
Judith’s voice trembled with shock.
It was the first time since her return to life.
She never thought Franz could erupt with such sudden fury.
In her memory, he had always been taciturn and gloomy, but he had never been so violently angry in front of her.
Was it possible his condition had worsened?
Her anxious gaze lingered on him.
She didn’t want to show her unease, but her vision started to blur.
If Franz was already showing signs of madness, then all her plans would fall apart.
She couldn’t let that happen.
Never, ever.
“Ha.”
Just as Judith was struggling to cope with her surging anxiety and trying to find words, a sound like a sneer escaped Franz’s lips.
“Now you’re starting to resemble what I’ve heard about you.”
“What did you say?”
“They said you tremble like that.
They said you can’t even speak properly in front of others.
But you were talking so confidently just a moment ago.
Now, at last, you’re showing me the princess they described.”
His voice was laced with mockery.
Judith took a deep breath, fighting to steady her racing heart.
“…Your Highness.”
The words came out choked.
Franz was silent, as if urging her to speak, but he didn’t seem interested in what she had to say.
“Your Highness, you’re misunderstanding me.
I didn’t say that out of pity for you.
I….”
“If it wasn’t pity, then that makes things even worse.
If you were holding onto some naive hope that things wouldn’t be as bad as you’ve heard, you should abandon it now.
The place you’re going to is a viper’s nest.”
His eyes were still fierce, but his tone was softer than before.
It was too early to rule out the possibility that he had already had a relapse, but Judith was able to relax a little.
If things went wrong between her and Franz, nothing would work out.
At the very least he mustn’t come to hate her.
‘He’s… not a bad person.’
She calmed her troubled mind with that thought.
Even though they hadn’t shared affection, she had known that he wasn’t evil, even back then.
Perhaps that was why, even though she was terrified of him, she had needed him in her final moments.
“If what you say is true, then I am destined to enter a viper’s nest.
But you are someone who has survived there all this time.”
Franz cast a furrowed glance at her.
Queen Gilsis had ordered Franz to choose his own princess, all while parroting endlessly how unsuitable she was.
“Timid and insignificant—perfect for you,” she had mocked.
“Who else would take someone like you as a husband, if not a girl like that?”
But the Judith he met was completely different from what Gilsis had described.
True, she was small and frail for a seventeen-year-old, but she wasn’t timid or insignificant.
Her words were measured and logical, and her clear blue eyes carried an unexpected strength.
“You are strong, Your Highness.
Countless vipers will try to harm you in the future, but you will overcome them and keep moving forward.”
“…Nonsense.”
“No, Your Highness.
You will surely do that.
You may think I’m inadequate, that I’m not the ideal princess.
But please remember this: no matter what happens, I will help you.”
As she finished speaking, Judith swallowed hard and slowly extended her hand towards him.
He couldn’t hide his surprise at the gesture.
Handshaking was a custom in Lotheir.
How did she, a Tien native, know this?
When he hesitated to take her hand, Judith let out a deliberate, soft chuckle.
“I heard that in Lotheir, close friends who trust each other greet one another this way.”
“We are neither friends nor anything else.”
“There’s no law saying you can’t be friends just because you’re married.
I don’t mind if we’re not a typical married couple.
Even if I’m just a princess in name only, I won’t complain.”
“Do you think that makes any sense?”
“If you take my hand, Your Highness, then we will be friends first, before husband and wife.
Friends who treat each other with trust.”
Franz’s eyes remained fixed on her outstretched hand, his eyes wavering faintly at her words.
As the carriage jolted forward, he briefly grasped her hand.
The lukewarm touch of his hand made Judith hold her breath.
This was the first time she had held his hand.
Though there was little warmth in it, it was steady and soft.