A Barbaric Proposal Side Story 9

Every cabinet and drawer in the jewel chamber had a keyhole, and every single one was firmly locked. The children, having tried to pull every handle they could reach, were now huffing with exhaustion.

[Dief] "I think we have to go back out and get the keys."

He said, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

[Shellan] "We can't."

She shook her head.

[Shellan] "The Madams split the keys between them; each has half the set."

His eyes widened in surprise.

[Dief] "How did you find that out, Shellan?"

[Shellan] "I asked them a long time ago."

It had happened before she was even five, but she rarely forgot anything.

[Dief] "Does that mean there's no other way?"

[Shellan] "I’m not sure."

Exhausted, she fell onto the floor. She looked up at a cabinet of drawers that towered over her—also locked—and asked.

[Shellan] "Is there anywhere else besides this room where old things might be kept?"

[Dief] "It could be anywhere. But the castle is too big for just the two of us to search."

[Dief] "What if we ask someone for help?"

She scoffed at the suggestion.

[Shellan] "Who? The Madams? One of them is Renfel."

[Dief] "...That’s true."

[Shellan] "Besides, it isn’t time to speak to others yet."

[Dief] "Then what do we do? We can't do anything on our own."

[Shellan] "We have to find a way."

Shellan fell into deep thought. Dief knew better than to interrupt her during these moments. If someone pestered her without reading the room, she would either become incredibly angry or turn completely cold.

[Dief] "..."

He looked away, leaving Shellan to her thoughts. Sitting still and waiting was tedious. Like any high-spirited boy his age, he began to poke around and touch things. He found a drawer with handles he could actually reach.

[Dief] "Oh... uh oh?"

By grabbing the handles of a drawer higher than his head, he ended up dangling from it. Though the drawers were locked, the cabinet began to tilt forward under his weight.

[Dief] "Ugh... Shellan!"

By the time he called out, it was too late.

CRASH!

The entire cabinet toppled forward.

[Shellan] "Dief!"

She jumped up and ran toward the wreckage.

[Shellan] "...?"

However, she stopped in her tracks and simply watched until Dief managed to groan and shove the cabinet off himself.

[Dief] "Ow... Shellan? Help me up."

Even when he spoke with a tearful face, she didn't move.

Overwhelmed by a sense of being wronged, his eyes filled with tears, though he tried his best not to cry in front of his sister.

[Dief] "Shellan? What are you doing?"

[Shellan] "..."

[Dief] "Shellan, I’m hurt..."

Ignoring his complaints, Shellan brushed past him. Dief grunted as he pushed the frame of the cabinet aside.

[Dief] "Huh?"

He realized something was strange. He had clearly knocked over the cabinet, yet a frame still stood in its place. To be precise, the outer shell was standing, but the "innards" had fallen out. The base of the cabinet was unusually high, as if a drawer were hidden within it.

[Shellan] "Dief. You had no idea it was built like this, did you?"

[Dief] "Eh? No... I just thought it was a regular cabinet."

[Shellan] "Exactly. This was crafted specifically to hide something."

He noticed her voice was trembling slightly, the way it did when she was almost too excited to contain herself.

Tap, tap.

She knocked on the thick base. A hollow sound echoed back.

[Shellan] "There must be a way to open this."

She tilted her head, pressing and shaking the bottom of the cabinet.

[Dief] "Should we knock it over again?"

Dief, having already forgotten his pain, spoke up after crawling out from under the furniture. Shellan didn't refuse; after all, she wasn't the one who would get hurt.

[Shellan] "Yes."

[Dief] "Be careful, Shellan. Stay back."

Dief pulled at the empty frame. He intended to jump back before it fell on him again, but the weight shifted too quickly.

[Shellan] "Dief!"

Seeing Dief about to fall backward, Shellan grabbed his clothes from behind. But a child's strength was insufficient for the task.

THUD!

This time, they both ended up pinned.

[Dief] "Ow..."

[Dief] "Ugh, that hurts... Are you okay, Shellan?"

[Shellan] "No, I am not. It hurts."

Fortunately, because they were both pinned, the impact was softened. Since the drawers had already fallen out, the frame was light enough that they weren't seriously injured.

[Shellan] "Oh...?"

Then, a stroke of luck occurred. As the cabinet fell, her foot had struck a specific spot, causing the base to pop open. Her foot had slipped slightly into the gap.

[Shellan] "It opened."

[Dief] "What? What did you say, Shellan?"

[Shellan] "My foot... Ah, don't just stand there, help me move this!"

The twins groaned as they crawled out from under the frame and worked together to heave the cabinet upright once more.

They were drenched in sweat; it was an exhausting task for seven-year-olds. Still, it was worth the effort.

The base of the chest, which had appeared to be a solid, seamless piece of wood, was now slightly ajar.

Shellan slid her fingers into the gap and lifted.

Click!

A mechanism released, and with a bit of pressure, the entire top of the base flipped upward.

[Dief] "...What is this?"

There was only one item inside: a large sheet of paper, rolled up and secured with a seal. It was quite large; if fully unrolled, it seemed it might be as tall as Shellan.

[Dief] "Are we allowed to open this?"

He swallowed hard, overcome by a sudden wave of nerves.

[Shellan] "We have to. This is what we were looking for."

[Dief] "But it’s sealed. We shouldn't mess with things like this."

[Shellan] "By that logic, we shouldn't have been looking for it at all. It was hidden from the start."

Put that way, he couldn't argue.

The children decided to break the seal. Even to their young eyes, the mark on the wax was familiar. It was the crest of House Arsak.

[Shellan] "This is strange... If the Arsak seal is on it, then the one who hid it wasn't a Renfel, but an Arsak? That would mean Mother hid it."

[Shellan] "We can't be sure just by looking at the seal. Just open it."

Rip!

Dief broke the seal. He placed the large paper on the floor and began to unroll it. With every movement of his hands, more of the interior was revealed.

It was a painting.

[Shellan] "Mmm..."

[Dief] "Hmm..."

Having spread the painting fully across the floor, the children looked both serious and utterly bewildered.

[Dief] "It’s just a painting."

[Shellan] "Why would Mother hide a painting?"

The large work was a magnificent portrait. It depicted a man wearing a white fur cloak and a large hat adorned with peacock feathers. And he was wearing a crown.

Shellan, peering closely at the image, spoke up.

[Shellan] "This is Father."

[Dief] "Eh? Why?"

[Shellan] "Look at the eyes; they are exactly like Father’s. And he’s wearing a crown. The only people in Nauk who wear crowns are Mother and Father."

Dief shook his head violently.

[Dief] "No, Shellan. This isn't Father. This person is a bit fat."

[Shellan] "You dummy. Look closer. The eye color and the hair color are identical to Father’s."

[Dief] "But he looks different. I’m not so sure."

[Shellan] "Dief, have you ever seen anyone else with the same eye color as Father?"

[Dief] "Uh?"

He paused to consider this.

[Dief] "I don't think I have."

[Shellan] "Right? And if you look closely, they do have similar features. He only looks different because he’s heavier. People look different when they gain weight. Sir Weroz was like that too, remember?"

[Dief] "Ah, you're right."

He finally agreed.

[Dief] "But it’s weird. Why would Mother hide a painting of Father?"

[Shellan] "Maybe... because it was painted when he was fat."

[Dief] "Even so, it’s still Father."

[Shellan] "Maybe Mother didn't like how he looked when he was heavier."

[Dief] "I don't think that’s it..."

Suddenly, Shellan flipped the painting over.

[Dief] "What are you doing, Shellan?"

[Shellan] "I wanted to see if something was hidden on the back."

There seemed to be no reason to hide an ordinary painting, other than the subject being a bit fat.

She carefully examined the blank back of the canvas. She discovered nail marks along the edges.

[Shellan] "It looks like it was once in a frame. It must have been hanging somewhere. I don't know where, though."

[Dief] "Wow... how do you know all that, Shellan?"

[Shellan] "Anyone could see it with a bit of observation."

She replied tartly, then rubbed her eyes as she found something else.

[Shellan] "Dief."

[Dief] "Yeah?"

[Shellan] "Look here."

[Dief] "Where?"

[Shellan] "Right here."

Shellan pointed to the wax seal, which had been slightly torn when they opened it.

[Shellan] "It’s not Mother’s name."

[Dief] "Oh, really?"

A royal seal contained the family crest along with the monarch's name. Instead of "Liene," the twins read the unfamiliar name: Reder.

[Shellan] "Must be the first Arsak King."

[Dief] "Yeah."

This meant the painting had been sealed a long time ago, likely before they were even born.

[Shellan] "But that makes no sense... Father is wearing a crown in the picture."

Their father had only started wearing a crown after the joint coronation, when he became the co-ruler of Nauk.

[Shellan] "Besides, the first King's era was ages ago. Father would have been a child like us back then."

[Dief] "Oh, really? Is that why he’s fat in the picture?"

[Shellan] "Don't be silly. This is a heavy adult, not a heavy child. This isn't Father."

[Dief] "Wait, you just said it was Father!"

[Shellan] "Well, yes, but..."

Once they had decided it was their father, it was impossible to see anything other than a "fat version" of him. The twins were deep in a logical deadlock when it happened.

BAM!

[Henton] "So this is where you were!"

The door to the jewel chamber swung open.

[Dief] "Ah!"

[Shellan] "!"

The twins spun around in shock. In the chaos, Shellan scrambled to stand in front of the painting to hide it.

The person who had entered was the Head Maid, Madam Henton.

Dief swallowed hard and reached out to grab Shellan’s hand.

They had started this investigation because they doubted Sir Renfel’s identity, and Madam Henton was part of that same family.

[Henton] "Do you have any idea how much trouble I went through to find you? It is time to go back. Why on earth are you playing in here? There’s nothing to play with, and it’s dangerous with all this furniture... Good heavens! You’ve already knocked one over."

There was no way the Head Maid would miss the overturned chest.

[Henton] "Come here. Are you hurt?"

Shen knelt and checked Shellan’s hands first. Shellan was about to say she was fine, but the Madam’s sharp eyes—rivaling those of a hawk—spotted a tiny scrape near her fingernail.

[Henton] "Phew... a little more and you would have had a nasty bruise."

[Shellan] "..."

[Henton] "Oh dear. I’ll have to trim your nails. If they’re jagged, you might scratch yourself when you wash. Are you hurt anywhere else?"

[Shellan] "..."

Her voice and actions were as gentle and kind as ever. It was actually impossible to see her as someone harboring ill intent. Dief clearly thought the same, or else he wouldn't be glancing at Shellan so hesitantly.

[Henton] "Now, Prince Dief. Come here. Let me see if you... Oh, my."

As she turned to check him, Madam Henton spotted the painting they were clumsily trying to hide.

[Henton] "What have you found?"

[Dief] "Um, well..."

While the twins—who had never been taught how to lie—exchanged panicked glances, Madam Henton picked up the painting from the floor. Her eyes widened.

[Henton] "My goodness... I can't believe this painting still exists."

[Shellan] "Do you know who this is?"

[Dief] "Is it Father from when he was fat?"

As she stared at the portrait, the twins quickly clung to her skirts. She clearly knew something. The look on her face and the slight trembling of her hands were proof enough.

[Henton] "This is... King Pembrovin."

[Shellan] "Who is that?"

Madam Henton let out a faint, heavy sigh.

[Henton] "He was the last King of the Gainers line."

[Dief] "Gainers?"

Dief tilted his head.

[Dief] "Then why does he look exactly like Father?"

---

T/N: Too bad, we can't see King Pembrovin's face in the painting. Hopefully, it'll show up in the webtoon.

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