The Tyrant’s Beloved Doll - Chapter 21

He remembered when Lilien had grabbed Setz by the hair and dragged her along as if she were nothing more than a criminal. Or when Lilien had yanked off the shawl Luna had lovingly made for Setz and trampled on it, grinning with satisfaction.

There was even a time when Lilien pretended to be kind and led Setz to a storage room that was rumored to be haunted, locking her inside for an entire day.

[Luna must know about this too, about how the princess once suffered from mutism.]

Although Raytan had never really spoken to Setz and had not seen her suffering from mutism directly, looking back, it seemed like Setz had lost her ability to cry properly at some point.

To be more precise, she didn’t cry out loud anymore. Most children would wail when upset, but even after being beaten, Setz would only let her tears fall silently, never making a sound.

But Raytan hadn’t let it bother him.

Why should I care? That was his honest feeling. They were all the same in his eyes: blonde hair, blue eyes. Just looking at them made him nauseous. One day, he’d have to get rid of them all from his sight. They were a constant irritation.

But now…

[Please stop, Brother Bern!]

Suddenly, the memory of Setz standing in front of him, blocking his way on the day of the “dogfight” in the library, flashed through his mind.

[Brother, your hand is bleeding. If you don’t treat it, it might get worse.]

He recalled the awkwardly wrapped bandage that Setz had insisted on, wound around his hand like a mummy, which had taken ages to unravel.

Now, seeing Lilien torment Setz in front of him, something inside Raytan shifted. Without thinking, he reached out, and his large hand grabbed Lilien’s collar, yanking her away from Setz.

“[…And I like Brother Raytan too.]”

Those childish words from Setz’s note crossed Raytan’s mind again.

“Both you and Raytan will end up the same way! When my brother becomes emperor, you two will be the first to die!” Lilien screamed with all her might.

As her angry voice echoed, Raytan heard Setz’s light laughter in his mind, overlapping with the sound.

“Brother, you were worried about me, weren’t you?”

Worried? Who would I ever worry about? That foolish girl is no different to me than any of the other royal pests…

“Disgusting and filthy, you say?! I think you and Brother Bern are the most disgusting!” Setz shouted back.

“What?!”

“Brother Raytan is way better than you! The only thing you have over him is your blonde hair and blue eyes!”

Raytan’s expression turned momentarily blank.

He found it utterly absurd. Saying that blonde hair and blue eyes were the “only good things” about Lilien—when Setz herself had blonde hair and blue eyes too! How could she defend him, looking the way she did? She should be groveling and begging for forgiveness instead. She knew she’d only get beaten worse for saying such things…

Above Raytan’s red eyes, he caught sight of Lilien’s fist raised high.

And then, in that brief moment, something in Raytan snapped. He moved without thinking, sprinting forward and grabbing Lilien’s collar as she loomed over Setz.

“Ahhh!” Lilien screamed as she was suddenly yanked off the ground. With one swift motion, Raytan tossed her aside like a discarded object. He then looked down at the disheveled Setz.

“B-Brother Raytan?” Setz stammered, clearly unable to comprehend what had just happened. It was as if she couldn’t believe Raytan had actually stepped in to help her.

After a moment’s hesitation, Raytan extended his hand to her. Setz, staring at him in shock, eventually took his hand and pulled herself up.

Her appearance was… well, a mess, to put it lightly. Her face was swollen and smeared with dirt, her hair was tangled like a bundle of straw, and her dress was torn and ragged. But she didn’t cry. Instead, she glared furiously at Lilien, her face burning with anger, breathing heavily in her frustration.

The sight was both ridiculous and, in a strange way, a little… endearing. Without realizing it, Raytan let out a small, hollow laugh.

Lilien, of course, was quick to ruin the moment.

“You low-born wretches, how dare you…!” she seethed, trembling with rage. In her mind, her anger was entirely justified. How could the one she always treated like a toy—Setz—dare to defy her not once but twice? And on top of that, Raytan, of all people, had stepped in and taken Setz’s side, pushing her away.

Despite her fury, Lilien knew she couldn’t simply resort to physical violence now that Raytan was involved. He wasn’t someone she could easily confront, especially without Bern present to back her up.

“You think you’ll get away with this?!” Lilien shouted, glaring at Raytan and Setz with all her might.

“I’ll tell His Majesty! I’ll tell my mother! I’ll even tell my brother! I’ll have them break every bone in your bodies—”

Lilien’s rant was abruptly cut off as Raytan suddenly leaned in close, his face just inches from hers.

Raytan’s blood-red eyes gleamed over Lilien’s twisted blue ones, and she flinched ever so slightly. There was a coldness in his gaze, a complete lack of emotion that chilled her to the core. Up close, Raytan’s face carried an intimidating aura that made Lilien instinctively shrink back.

“Shut up,” Raytan said, his voice low and menacing.

“Unless you want to be the first to have your arms and legs broken.”

Lilien actually shut her mouth.

Setz, on the other hand, stood there with her mouth wide open in shock. It was an astonishing sight. The ever-venomous Lilien had just backed down like a whipped dog! And with just a single word from Raytan!

But what happened next was even more surprising.

Raytan turned his head to look at Setz again, and then he said something completely unexpected.

“Let’s go, Setz.”

Setz.

He called her by her name—Setz. Not “stupid girl,” not “nuisance,” not “hey, you.” It was the first time Raytan had ever used her name.

Setz, still in shock, was about to respond with a smile, her earlier anger forgotten, when suddenly her gaze shifted to the window of Lize’s palace in the distance.

Eaton was there.

What’s he doing now? Setz’s blue eyes flickered with anxiety as she sensed something ominous.

It seemed Eaton had been watching the entire scene unfold. He glanced at Lilien, who was standing behind Setz, and gave a small nod. Then, he muttered something under his breath.

“That girl—such a nasty little thing, isn’t she?”

And then he smiled.

Why is he smiling? No, don’t smile. Please, don’t do anything weird, I’m begging you…

Setz pleaded internally, but her silent prayers went unheard. Eaton, with a mysterious grin, raised his finger to his lips in a gesture of silence, then suddenly winked at her.

At that exact moment, a sharp scream rang out from behind her.

“Ahhhhh!”

Startled, Setz whipped around, only to gasp in shock. Fire! Lilien’s hair was on fire! Her once-beautiful, golden hair was now crackling and burning like dry kindling.

“What is this—what’s happening—Fire! My hair is on fire!” Lilien shrieked in horror.

Setz stood frozen in place, unable to comprehend what was happening. Lilien’s cries of panic echoed around them as her hair, her most pLized possession, continued to burn.

Lilien screamed in panic, thrashing about wildly like someone who’d lost her mind. But despite her desperate pleas, Raytan made no move to help her.

“Oh my goodness, what’s happening?! Lady Lilien!”

The commotion quickly attracted a swarm of maids, and soon the area in front of Lize’s palace was a chaotic scene. Setz stood frozen in place, watching in shock as Lilien, now ranting hysterically, shouted, “It’s him! That cursed boy! He did this to me!” She then turned her gaze back toward Eaton.

Even in the midst of the disaster he’d caused, Eaton showed no sign of concern. He simply shrugged his shoulders and chuckled to himself, as if amused by the spectacle. It was infuriating.

“Is someone there?”

Raytan asked, turning his head in the direction where Setz had been staring blankly.

“I don’t see anyone.”

As expected, it seemed that Raytan couldn’t see Eaton at all. But then…

Just as Raytan turned around, Eaton’s face, which had been full of mocking laughter, suddenly turned stone-cold. The sneering grin and the lighthearted demeanor vanished entirely. He looked different—like a completely different person.

What just happened? Setz was caught off guard by the abrupt change in Eaton’s expression. She was both bewildered and alarmed. Her eyes darted back and forth between Eaton and Raytan, and without thinking, she grabbed Raytan’s hand tightly.

“Brother… let’s go back,” Setz stammered, her voice trembling slightly.

Raytan flinched at the unexpected touch but didn’t pull his hand away. He merely responded with a quiet, “Fine, let’s go.”

As they took a few steps away, Setz couldn’t help but glance back one more time. But Eaton was gone—he had vanished without a trace.

***

“[You miserable brat-!]”

Eaton hadn’t initially planned to intervene.

He simply watched as Setz took blow after blow from Lilien, vaguely guessing that Setz’s life in the palace hadn’t been easy.

But still, he wondered, why did they torment her to this extent?

To be honest, in Eaton’s eyes, there wasn’t much difference between Lilien and Setz. They were the same. Both were princesses of the Denhelder Empire, marked by their blonde hair and blue eyes as symbols of their royal lineage. Of course, Setz did have that audacious secret, but Eaton was likely the only one aware of it.

Eaton assumed that Setz would eventually break down in tears and beg her sister for forgiveness. He didn’t know why Setz had earned such scorn, but in a situation where you’re cornered like that, the smart move is to give in and plead. That’s what everyone Eaton had ever seen would do—every single one.

But Setz didn’t do that.

“[Why should we have to die?! We didn’t do anything wrong!]”

Setz defied expectations, standing there panting, her face full of fury despite her disheveled state. Eaton chuckled to himself in a low voice as he watched her. What a cheeky, yet amusing kid.

“[Both you and Raytan will end up the same way! When my brother becomes emperor, you two will be the first to die!]”

Ah, yes, Raytan.

Eaton had been curious about him. A strange anomaly born in this palace filled with blonde hair and blue eyes. A child so different that he was seen as cursed. Yet, Eaton didn’t believe in Setz’s words about Raytan.

…The legend itself was already warped far from the truth.

Though Eaton found the situation questionable, he didn’t take it too seriously. It seemed too far-fetched to entertain.

In a royal family obsessed with such twisted legends, the birth of a child with black hair and red eyes—a child condemned to be called a cursed one—was nothing short of tragic. That’s how the name Raytan came to mean “the cursed one,” a name that had lost its original meaning over time.

That was how Eaton saw him—until he witnessed what unfolded next.

Soon enough, a dark figure ran into the scene. When Eaton saw the black hair, he knew: That must be him. Raytan. He saw Raytan fling Lilien aside as if she were nothing and help Setz back to her feet.

“[Do you think you’ll get away with this?!]” Lilien screamed, her voice filled with fury. It seemed clear to Eaton that Raytan and Setz were treated as outcasts in the palace, while the cruel Lilien received a certain level of respect.

What a vile girl, Eaton thought. Just as he was reflecting on her rotten character, Raytan suddenly got in Lilien’s face. Judging by the way Lilien’s face turned pale, Raytan must have either threatened or insulted her—or perhaps both.

Eaton found himself laughing again as he watched the retreating figures of Raytan and Setz. Despite being treated like outcasts, one of them was fiercely standing up against their tormentor, while the other was stepping in to support his ally. They were both stubborn to a fault, resisting even when they knew full well that it might only make their lives harder.

But, Eaton thought, kids with that kind of spirit are always the most endearing.

He liked kids like that.

So, he stepped in.

“[Ahhhhh!]”

Lilien’s scream echoed sharply through the air, and Eaton turned his gaze to Setz. She wore a look that seemed to ask, “What are you doing?”

Why, I helped you, didn’t I? Doesn’t it feel satisfying? That was Eaton’s thought at that moment. But then Raytan turned to look his way.

…And that was when Eaton saw Raytan’s face.

Tap, tap…

In the empty room, the sound of fingers tapping against each other echoed eerily. It was one of Eaton’s old habits—a reflex that surfaced whenever something weighed on his mind or when he was deep in thought.

Black hair, red eyes, and the label of “the cursed one.”