I Start with a Bad Hand!

Her poor dancing skills, her poor manners, and the poor treatment she received all contributed to her sense of being pushed away.

“…The lady His Highness danced with is not my sister.”

Everything about her seemed to be pushing him away. Realizing that something that had once brought him comfort had shattered didn’t make him feel good. The fact that she had become an embarrassment to Elexion, that she didn’t remember him at all, and most of all…

‘Dietrich?’

What a ridiculous name for a girl. The carelessness of giving her such a masculine name irked Icarus.

But just as there had been such a serious look in her eyes beneath that ridiculous dress, she hadn’t changed much upon their reunion.

“It’s a name given to me based on an old legend from my homeland. It’s said that giving a girl a boy’s name will help her avoid misfortune and ensure a long, happy life, filled with love.”

When she said that, a thrill ran through Icarus’s chest. She was the same as before, yet different from him now.

He wanted to ask how she had been. But he felt like he already knew. A small presence in the small Baron’s castle, always isolated with a mere semblance of attendants. 

It seemed that the long time alone had taught her not to rely on anyone. Despite the chaotic situation, her calm demeanor stood out. Her firm posture and unwavering eyes, much like when she was a child, made him want to provoke her.

Icarus was no longer the boy who would rudely pull a girl’s hair, but he now knew many other ways to provoke her. Not leaving her alone when she wanted to be alone. Staying by her side when she was in a situation she didn’t want anyone to see. Striking up a conversation at moments that could easily be ignored. In each of these moments, Dietrich would look exasperated but never pushed him away completely. He liked that.

The moment of certainty in his heart came suddenly. He couldn’t pinpoint exactly when or where the feelings began, but the moment of realization was clear.

There was a time when he had comforted Elexion’s ‘true’ lady, Roxanne, when she was crying. Icarus wasn’t so indifferent as to pass by his brother’s fiancée crying alone without offering some solace. And it was especially because the reason for Roxanne’s tears was similar to a reason the ‘fake’ lady had cried once.

“Pathetic… Am I truly worthy of being a lady when I can’t even match up to Cedric or Evan?”

However, that young girl was certain of herself. Remembering her resolute gaze when she declared herself a lady despite everything, Icarus handed Roxanne a handkerchief.

It was during the time when he couldn’t convey his feelings and just circled around her ambiguously. Despite talking to her, picking fights, and forcing his way into her presence, Dietrich never easily let him in.

‘I thought doing a play together would bring us closer.’

No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t get as close to her as the Marquess’s eldest daughter or that small, curly-haired girl who was always by Dietrich’s side. Sighing, Icarus turned the page of the script. The script for “Romeo and Julianne,” filled with strange, almost maliciously odd lines, wasn’t quite what he had expected.

The curly-haired girl who always hung around Dietrich had secretly lent him the script, saying it was for when he needed a laugh. She had added that Dietrich wrote the script seriously, believing it to be a tragedy.

**Narrator:** When King Lear I founded the new capital,  

It was common for the dead to become ghosts and maintain their form.  

Thus, people began to draw the ghosts of dead ancestors into their power,  

Leading to the dead involving themselves in the affairs of the living.  

To end these evils, Prince Lamhit of Denmark  

Traveled around the capital, destroying the homes of the dead.

‘The villain’s name is Richard I, Richard II, Richard III, Richard… XVI? How far does this go?’

The more he read, the more ridiculous the world became, and Icarus found himself covering his mouth to stifle his laughter. What kind of books had Dietrich been reading to come up with such a script?

Richard XVI: Aaargh! This is frustrating!  

Richard XXVII: How dare you defeat Richard XVI! Do you think you can destroy the tomb of our 16th ancestor and escape unscathed?  

Lamhit: I will dig up all your ancestral tombs to break this chain of evil! Shatter to pieces, ghost!  

Richard XXVII: Aaargh!  

Lamhit, with a shovel, destroys the tombs of Richard XVI to XXVII.

Dietrich was creating a world in a format no one had ever seen before. Why were these characters so obsessed with ancestral tombs and evil customs? Where did such words and phrases come from? Icarus couldn’t fathom it. Stifling his laughter, he turned the page.

However, the play, which seemed like it would only lift his spirits, unexpectedly brought Icarus back down with a thud.

Lamhit: I promised to give you everything in the world.

Ophelia: You are destined to be king. I understand the love given from the highest place is special.  

Lamhit: Then why can’t you be with me?  

Ophelia: Since you decided to ascend to the highest position, and the moment your fate became tied to that destiny, everything about you belongs to all people. I, as your subject, must follow your noble cause. But I do not wish for my fate to be bound to the many by being with you. I want my life and love, my choices and their consequences, to be solely my own.  

(Ophelia, evading Lamhit’s attempts to stop her, jumps into the river and swims away with a strong, freestyle stroke.)

Icarus couldn’t turn to the next page. The script, messy as it was, seemed to hide sharp blades here and there. Until now, he had vaguely considered the possibility of being with Dietrich. But now, that vague hope has been shattered.

Upon graduating from the academy, Icarus was set to govern a northern territory. It was an immutable law, a silent promise he couldn’t change. Even though he didn’t desire to become emperor, there was no way he could catch up to his brother, who had been groomed as the heir from a very young age. He was the second prince, frequently sent away for study and expeditions, and thus, effectively out of the empire’s favor.

The high-ranking nobles of the empire knew this story, and as a result, no noble power gathered around Icarus, even if he didn’t want it. If he refused, who else would guard the distant borders? It was likely Icarus’s duty as a prince, a role he had to accept after receiving so many benefits.

Though he had not received affection, he had been granted power. Icarus always thought it was his obvious duty considering what he had received.

So, he would have to live in that dark, long winter, killing other lives until his own end. Could Dietrich’s life and love, her choices and consequences, truly belong to her in such a place?

Icarus already knew the answer.

Yet, there were moments when he couldn’t hide his feelings.

‘Who is that guy?’

Dietrich, in a dress that complemented her eye color, was walking with Klaus, a deviation from her usual demeanor.

‘Judging by the direction, they’re headed to the small theater…’

Icarus recalled a play recommended by the young marquess. He had insisted that he should go alone when everyone else refused.

‘It’s obvious. She couldn’t stand seeing him go alone again.’

If he had known it would turn out like this, he would have agreed to go. Watching their retreating figures, Icarus sighed softly. Dietrich, with her perpetually indifferent expression, had an oddly soft spot. She hadn’t listened when he asked her to change some strange dialect lines last time.

“Ask her twice with a sad face, and she’ll do it.”

On a day when he was grumbling about the awkward lines, the curly-haired girl who always stuck to Dietrich had murmured this advice with a deadpan expression.

“What?”

“Even if she says no, she doesn’t really mean it. If you ask her with a sad face, she’ll eventually give in.”

Try it. With a twisted smile, she had offered her advice. Half believing, half doubting, Icarus approached the playwright.

“Can you change these lines? This part here…”

Dietrich looked at him as if he were speaking nonsense.

“Why again… No, it’s not possible.”

“Every time I read these lines, I think of my comrade.”

Would this work? It sounded ridiculous, but Icarus continued.

“He used to say it often.”

Dietrich, as she always did when wanting to escape a situation, lowered her eyes and replied.

“…Still, no.”

Of course. Perhaps that special softness was reserved only for the curly-haired girl, whom Dietrich had come to accept as part of her life, or for the eldest daughter of the Horatius family. Without showing his disappointment, Icarus nodded and turned away.

“…Oh.”

The next day, the lines had been changed. From an inexplicable, utterly unrefined manner of speech to plain lines full of the curly-haired girl’s suggestions.

‘Wow, this is really…’

Exhilarating. Being the recipient of that subtle kindness stirred Icarus’s heart intensely once more.