Chapter 62

• He shook his head. “No, they’re like real siblings. They loved each other like that. So, my father got ill even after a few months of being on the throne, so he passed it down to me instead of my brother, who tried to take the position from him. My father thought my brother wasn’t fit for it and chose me instead. That’s why I’m called the ‘Crown Usurper.’ I had to marry two more noblewomen to pacify the royal court. I married them a year after the other. And then, Sedori fell in love with me after our years of marriage, but my feelings for her were the same as before, like she was my little sister. She tried to seduce me, but I refused. She then resorted to using some kind of a drug, so that I would sleep with her. She was successful then.” He gave Ril’m a wry smile. “She conceived. We were both happy, but my feelings for her didn’t change. Behind this, her life was threatened. I sent Sui to investigate. He was killed instead. I tried to hide this fact, so I asked Hirrux to help me keep Sui alive.”
• “What? How?”
• “Sedori’s pregnancy was difficult. I had no heart to tell her that her brother died because of Court Official Xafmir’s conspiracy. Their father died of a disease a year or so before that, so it was only her and him. You see, Ril’m, it’s why I started impersonating Sui. I couldn’t break Sedori’s heart and get even more ill while carrying our child!”