When I turned seven years old, Mahir gifted me seven birds with seven-colored feathers, and Khalifa bestowed upon me the seven-black castle of Talim, which was located at the seven o’clock position from Sa’dilin.
Talim was a castle built of a stone that glowed in the dark, and while it lived up to its name as a pitch-black castle, it was beautiful and didn’t feel bizarre or dreary in the slightest.
Together with Sa’dilin, the Emperor’s residence, and Jihad, the Crown Prince Mahir’s castle, Talim was said to be one of the most beautiful castles in Aktan.
But my thoughts were a little different.
Sa’dilin was the castle where the madness of the first emperor, the Caliph, was engraved, and Jihad was the castle given to the bravest warriors, those who were willing to go to war in the name of the Sun God.
Only the crown prince, who killed the most people and subjugated the most empires, could win Jihad and become the next great emperor.
Although the current times were calm and there was not much to war about, ever since the first emperor ordered the unification of the empire by force, Akhtan had more than its share of immigrants and rebels.
Only the most brutal could become the next emperor, and Jihad was the token of the emperor’s promise to such a cruel prince.
What about Talim?
More than a century ago, after unifying the continent, Akhtan set its sights on the western peninsula across the sea. When its vast army was led into this unknown land, it ravaged and pillaged a kingdom, stealing the ore known as Taliel, the primary material used to build Talim.
Akhtan’s history of invasion and massacre was everywhere. It would be unfair to hide all of that and say Talim was a beautiful castle just because time had passed.
Labeling past history as forbidden records and cutting off the tongues of those who spoke out didn’t change what had happened.
“Absolutely nauseating.”
I was lying on a rug, staring at a chandelier made of crystals that glowed with a transparent light, when I heard an irritated voice in my ear.
I sat up slowly, dumbfounded. Had my mind been read? I looked at Fatima, who was sitting on the bed, with a surprised look on my face.
“Can you read minds?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Nothing… what’s so nauseating?”
I asked again, puzzled by Fatima’s fierce expression. She was always a little irritable, but today she seemed to be especially so.
“Have you ever been pregnant?”
“No?”
“When you’re pregnant, you get morning sickness.”
I was a man, how could I get pregnant? And why was she suddenly talking about pregnancy and morning sickness?”
I stared blankly at Fatima, wide-eyed, and the moment her brow furrowed, a sudden suspicion flashed through my mind. I was so startled that I jumped to my feet and asked.
“Are you, by any chance, pregnant?”
“Yes.”
“What?!”
As I yelled in surprise, Fatima threw a cushion at me for being noisy. I caught it lightly and walked over to her, eyes wide.
“Are you sure?”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“I don’t know, but I’ve been feeling sick to my stomach just looking at food for days now, and… my body feels tired.”
Po rtf gfjiis kjr tjnlcu j yjys, rtf rtbeiv yf mfifygjalcu, yea rtf ibbxfv kbgglfv lcrafjv. P kjrc’a regf lo la kjr atf wbgclcu rlmxcfrr, yea Mjalwj kjr ogbkclcu lc vlrmbwobga. P bqfcfv ws wbeat.
“P atlcx ws ygbatfg’r cbalmfv.”
Cr P rjlv atlr ectjqqlis, P rjk j yglfo oijrt bo vlrjqqblcawfca bc tfg ojmf. Dea la kjr rb oiffalcu atja P mbeivc’a afii lo rtf kjr gfjiis vlrjqqblcafv bg lo P kjr wlrgfjvlcu tfg.
“See, I told you. He’d be suspicious if they all died at once like that.”
I kept my mouth shut as I watched Fatima click her tongue, saying she knew this would happen. Still, I thought I gave it a reasonable amount of time, except when it got frustrating, but maybe I’d rushed it.
“Anyway, it looks like I’ve been found out, so we’re going to have to keep quiet for a while. What should we do? I don’t think I can kill you and send you away right now… I’ll call a doctor and get you checked out…”
I stopped talking and shut my mouth.
It was only yesterday that I had promised Mahir that I would write sixteen reflections and stay quiet for a while, but if another person died in my harem today, I might have to write a hundred and sixty reflections instead of sixteen.
My first instinct was to call a doctor to confirm the pregnancy, but that was a risky move. It wasn’t unusual for a woman in a harem to get pregnant, but it was customary to get rid of the child.
As I became restless, Fatima sighed.
“I don’t care when I get out. I’ve lived here almost all my life, and I can endure waiting a little longer. As I’ve said repeatedly, staying in this harem isn’t so bad. You feed me and give me a place to sleep for nothing in return, and no one ever says a word against it. It’s paradise on earth.”
As I watched Fatima shrug her shoulders and speak, I felt a little confused. Even though she spoke those words, I knew how long she had been waiting to get out of this castle.
“So don’t push yourself too hard, either. If you’re in a hurry and get caught, you’ll be in big trouble. Don’t get upset at opportunities that are already gone.”
“That’s true, but… Anyway, don’t worry too much. I made you a promise, so no matter what happens, I’ll let you go. Once the wedding is over…”
“Wedding?” Fatima repeated, her eyes widening at my words. Oh, I didn’t tell her? I nodded and opened my mouth to speak.
“I’m getting married.”
“What? Really? With whom? When?”
“A week… no, in six days. With someone I don’t even know in six days.”
“……”
Fatima looked incredulous. I thought it was just as absurd. Now that I’d said it out loud, it was even more ridiculous than it’d been in my mind.
“It was a sudden decision, so things are a mess right now. I’ve been up since dawn and been called here and there, and I have to do some kind of ritual or something…”
“That… first of all, congratulations on your marriage.”
Looking at Fatima speaking with a grim look on her face, I also spoke somberly.
“Yes… congratulations on your pregnancy, too.”
“……”
“……”
The atmosphere was too strange to say that we were exchanging pleasantries. We looked at each other with complicated emotions and sighed at the same time.
“Who’s the father? Ali?”
“I broke up with him a long time ago.”
“……”
Wasn’t it a few months ago that she said they were dating? I shook my head in bewilderment when Fatima spoke as if it was years ago.
“You know that if you’re caught pregnant, you’ll be sentenced to death, right?”
“I know, I know, but I have years of experience living in a harem.”
“I’m glad you understand…”
Once one entered the harem, they couldn’t leave until they died. They would be the servant of their master for the rest of their life, and if they were ever discovered to be in a relationship with someone other than their master, they would be subjected to unspeakable tortures and ultimately put to death.
If I were discovered to be secretly sending people from my harem out of the castle, I, the prince, might be safe, but they were not.
Especially if Khalifa found out.
“Anyway, it’ll be hard to send a doctor right away. Just wait a while. After the wedding, I’ll be very busy, so it’ll be difficult to take care of my harem’s affairs.”
“Don’t worry. Finding out whether I’m pregnant sooner or later doesn’t make much difference to me. In the meantime, I’ll be thinking about how I’m going to die.”
I couldn’t help but laugh at that.
“Anything but monsters, burning, or falling to death while drinking on the terrace. I’ve overused those.”
“This really isn’t easy. How about dying during sex?”
“I’m getting married soon, so that’s too extreme.”
The mere thought of a groom blessing a woman from his harem within a few days of marriage was appalling. Fatima laughed at my disgust.
“Anyway, that aside, what happened to the child who came in yesterday?”
“The one who got stabbed? His wound is severe, but not life-threatening.”
Yesterday, the unidentified boy who was stabbed in Khalifa’s bedchamber was thrown out of the castle. He would have died if left alone, so I brought him here for medical treatment. I was glad that he was alive.
“When he’s healed, give him some money and let him go.”
“If you get caught helping him, won’t you get in trouble too?”
“That man has thrown away plenty of people before. Anyway, I’m busy now and won’t be back for a while, so you be careful.”
At my words, Fatima waved her hand and opened her mouth.
“Don’t worry about me, worry about yourself. Congratulations on your wedding.”
Hearing her congratulate me once again on my upcoming wedding made me feel distraught. Just how on earth had things gotten to this point? My fate really was terrible.
***
The wedding was just two days away.
During this time, I tailored my clothing, performed purification rituals three times a day, ate only vegetables and fruits, and controlled my mind and body.
While I was on my vegetarian diet, Mahir met with Khalifa and tried to talk him out of the wedding, but he was stubborn.
In the end, I was still forced to marry a complete stranger on the whim of a deranged Khalifa.
“So, the princess of the western continent?”
“……”
“They seem to have thoughts of going against us these days, so he took her hostage?”
“…Not a hostage…”
“He’s going to establish friendship by using her as a pawn and having her marry me?”
“Yes.”
Mahir’s expression was grim as he watched me, who was bewildered. But no matter how grim his expression was, it couldn’t compare to the feelings in my heart. I controlled my boiling emotions and spoke as calmly as I could.
“He’s been drinking and taking drugs every day, and now…”
“Kyle!”
Before I could finish, Mahir raised his voice. Apparently, he couldn’t bear to watch his beloved little brother commit a misdeed. But I had already decided long ago to forsake all filial duties and go against morality.
“Has he gone out of his mind?”
“Please watch your mouth.”
“What kind of friendship could you have with someone who forcibly takes your daughter away and marries her off? If it were you, what would you think? She’s nothing but a hostage.”
“……”
Mahir opened his mouth to say something, but then shut it, because, of course, there was nothing to say. This really didn’t make any sense.
As I stood there in disbelief, I suddenly remembered a passage from the banned book.
‘The weak exist to be robbed by the strong.’
“Crazy…”
“Kyle, please watch your words…”
It was the tenet of the Caliphate, and it was also the tenet of the crazed dictator, the drug addicted Khalifa.
What kind of marriage was this? It was nothing short of a kidnapping…
Why the hell would I… No, what sin had the princess committed?
“I, I…”
“Kyle?”
“I’m about to run away, so don’t look for me.”
“Kyle, no!”
I threw myself out the window, leaving Mahir’s shouts behind. Even as I landed lightly and ran for a way out, I knew it was only a matter of time before I was caught.
And eventually, the morning of the wedding, or rather, the kidnapping, dawned.
Oh my goodness kinda a cliffhanger
Thank you for the translation!
I knew it! He isn’t a bad person
I thought it was a bl but maybe i was wrong. I really hope it turns out as a bl😔
Thank you so mucch for the translation!!!!