With No Hope For an Heir, I Continue To Rob The Prince of His Future.

With No Hope For an Heir, I Continue To Rob The Prince of His Future.

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“With wounds this deep… you may not be able to bear children…”


At the doctor’s awkward words, the parents swallowed hard as they averted their eyes from Lady Vertina.


Inside the room the air grew heavy, but outside the window the sky was clear and snow clung to the trees, drifting like petals. It was a crisp winter day.


Lady Vertina, daughter of a duke, was engaged to the Second Prince. If she could not have children, what would follow was an easy calculation.


Listening to the doctor while sitting up in bed, clutching the linen tightly, Vertina bowed her head. Her father immediately took her hand and wrapped it in his.


“It will be all right… Vertina…! We will not cast aside your brave action… rest assured.”


Tears welled in his eyes. Behind him, her mother sobbed.


Vertina had been stabbed in the abdomen while shielding the Crown Prince from an assassin. She had slept for three days, but, fortunately, her life had been spared.


As a noble daughter, it was her duty to marry into a distinguished family and bear children. As the fiancée of the Second Prince, Vertina’s place had been to join the royal family and give birth to the Second Prince’s heirs. If that proved impossible, however, the only route left for her was to be married off as a second wife into a household that already had heirs. Her father would do his best to ensure the best possible outcome. Vertina forced a smile and said, “Thank you.”


That night, she cried silently into her pillow.


The next day, Prince Edward, the Second Prince, came to visit. Edward explained the sequence of events.


The assassin who targeted the Crown Prince had stabbed Vertina in the moment of the attack, and when the assassin realized the assassination had failed, he killed himself by swallowing poison hidden in his molar — a trick professional assassins used to avoid being tortured. The assassin was dead, but the royal family had managed to trace the employer.


It was the work of nobles backing a faction that wanted to elevate the Second Prince to Crown Prince.


“It’s my fault… I’m sorry…”


Edward’s handsome face creased with regret. Vertina gripped the linen on her bed once more. She knew well that the plot was the scheme of certain nobles aiming to make Edward the monarch; she also knew Edward did not himself covet the throne.


“I took care to behave so this wouldn’t happen… truly…”


Edward apologized again.


Smile.
Make a smile and say it.


Vertina had practiced what she would tell him. This had happened because of her actions. If she were going to regret it, she might as well have done nothing and watched the whole thing unfold. But her body had moved before she could think.


“Prince Edward… I… I may not be able to bear children…”


Edward’s shoulder twitched.


“I know. I heard from His Majesty last night.”


Apparently her father had already informed the royal family. If so, then Edward likely understood what would follow. Even though she did not want to say it, she had to. If she had never fallen in love, this would not hurt so much.


“Let us… annul the engagement.”


She managed to hold back her tears, but her voice trembled. A woman who likely could not become pregnant had no right to stand beside him. Surely another woman would take her place beside him — the thought tore at her chest.




At first, Vertina had been a candidate for Crown Princess. Everyone admired the perfect Crown Prince Valerio: handsome, accomplished in both letters and arms, upright in conduct — a model Crown Prince. Vertina had worked on her ladylike education thinking she might stand beside such a man. But Valerio was three years older; for reasons of age and political balance he became engaged to the marchioness’s daughter Aurora, who was his age.


Vertina knew Aurora personally and admired her as a perfected lady; she accepted that Aurora being chosen as Crown Princess was only natural.


Then Vertina became engaged to the same-age Second Prince, Edward.


“Sorry it’s not my brother,” he said.


Did he know Vertina had always looked at Valerio with longing? It had only been admiration. Edward’s handsome face pouted in a sulk, and Vertina found it a little endearing.


“Besides, I have no ambition to become Crown Prince, so anyone trying to ride me to power will be wasting their time.”


His rough words made Vertina smile.


“It’s fine. I too lacked what it takes to become a queen mother…”


Prince Edward was the son of a concubine, and in many ways fell short of Valerio, the legitimate son: his maternal family’s standing, his scholarship, even his skill with the sword.


“The only thing I’m better than my brother at is my face.”


He said it with confidence, and Vertina laughed. He truly was more beautiful than Valerio — like a framed painting wherever he went — but his rough manner and speech spoiled it.


Vertina and Edward were the same age and had both attended the royal academy. Over time, she realized Edward was not inferior to Valerio; he only behaved in ways that made him appear so.


When summoned to the palace to attend with Edward, Edward had addressed His Majesty with perfect manners and careful speech, moving as a naturally perfect prince would. He also helped Vertina with problems she didn’t understand academically and had, perhaps, held back in sword practice so as not to injure others.


“Would the country be more stable with a perfect Crown Prince than with a perfect second prince? A little flaw in the younger brother is often the most endearing.”


To prevent factions from attempting to push the Second Prince onto the throne and destabilize the realm, Edward faithfully performed the role expected of him. If he had only been a crude, lesser prince, Vertina wouldn’t have been so drawn to him. She loved him because he cared about the country, and that was why she had reacted instinctively that day.




Edward’s reply when Vertina told him she wanted to annul the engagement was…

“We will not annul it.”

“Huh?”

“I’m sorry, but even if you hate it, I won’t let you break the engagement.”

“But—”

Vertina was shocked at the unexpected reply.


“If His Majesty instructs us to annul the engagement, I would comply, but so far there’s been no such talk.”

“I see…”


She worried whether that was really okay, but she stopped asking Edward; she thought her father would give instructions about her future soon enough.


While Vertina was away from the academy recovering, Crown Prince Valerio also came to see her and apologized, saying, “I’m sorry this happened because of me.” They reported that the nobles who had backed the Second Prince’s faction and plotted to remove the Crown Prince had been purged. It seemed clear that the plot was not tied to Edward’s own will, and the situation had been proven not to be his doing. This reassured her. In recognition of her brave act in protecting the Crown Prince, the royal family awarded her an honor. She looked at it with a complicated expression.


A month and a half passed. Vertina was to return to school the next day, and she and Edward had still not annulled their engagement. Her father said things could continue as before, but could they really? She pressed a hand to her fluttering chest.

School life had not changed much. The fact that she had been injured protecting the Crown Prince and had received a reward was public knowledge, and many expressed concern for her health. Those words were sincere, and aside from a few unpleasant voices, most people’s remarks were not spiteful. Aside from a few.


“Do you know the baroness’s daughter who transferred while Vertina was absent?”


One of the friends who had worried about Vertina’s health asked.


“Yes. I think she was recently taken in by a baron’s household… she’s two years below us… Marietta, I think, is her name…”

“Yes, that Marietta. She’s been conspicuously familiar with sons of high nobility!”


Apparently the baroness’s daughter Marietta had been making advances even toward Prince Edward.


“The prince deals with her firmly, so I don’t think it’s a problem…”


She related what had happened while Vertina was on leave.


“Lady Vertina! Please free Prince Edward from yourself!”


Vertina thought it odd when she was summoned by Marietta and the other woman’s first words were that. Vertina let out a quiet breath so as not to be noticed.


“Did Prince Edward ask to be freed from me?”

“N-no… that’s not it…”


Marietta didn’t seem to be lying, and Vertina felt relieved — even if it were a lie, hearing that Edward might have asked such a thing would have upset her.


“Then why would you say such a thing, Marietta?”

“W-well…”


Marietta kept glancing at Vertina’s abdomen. She seemed to want to bring up the possibility of lasting injury, but she held back.


“You’re worried about marrying into the royal family with this kind of body, aren’t you?”

“Well… yes…”


Vertina herself was concerned, but as a fiancée she needed to respond with dignity.


“My engagement to Prince Edward was arranged in light of the royal family’s interests. If you have objections to that, then I would interpret it as you having grievances against the royal family.”


When Vertina said this, Marietta protested, “I didn’t mean it like that!” and tears filled her sky-blue eyes. With pink-gold fluffy hair and large blue eyes, small and trembling, she evoked a protective instinct.


“I feel like I’m the villainess in one of those trendy novels…”


In popular fiction there was a blonde duchess who bullied a pink-haired baroness; if you took only this scene and showed Vertina’s golden hair, she could look like that villainess, Vertina murmured.


“Even if I wanted to free him, there’s nothing I can do. Take it up with those with authority.”


Marietta’s eyes brimmed but she did not cry; she only bit her lip in frustration. It was admirable that she had the nerve to voice her doubts. Vertina thought perhaps she should learn from that.


“Prince Edward?”

“Yes?”

“Why didn’t we annul the engagement?”


When they were having tea in the palace garden, Vertina asked bluntly.


“Because I won’t free you.”


Marietta had demanded Edward free Vertina, and he responded curtly. It became confusing who was to free whom.


“Our engagement was political, wasn’t it?”


Their betrothal had been arranged to maintain the balance of power among the nobility.


“Yes. That’s why His Majesty said the engagement should continue.”

“But…”


Vertina could not bring herself to say aloud that she might now be unable to have children. The thought that she might have lost her ability as a woman was too painful.


Marietta continued to flirt with many male students, and lately she’d been surrounded by sons of high nobility, drawing whispers from the girls.


“Prince Edward!”


Marietta even called out to Edward boldly, and Vertina frowned. Edward rebuffed her coldly — “Don’t use my name so casually” — which put Vertina at ease.

After school, Vertina had princely education at the palace and was to go by carriage with Edward. Edward, who usually waited ahead of her, hadn’t shown up. When the appointed time passed, Vertina scanned the area for him.


“Won’t you break your engagement with Vertina?”


The voice made her flinch. She ducked behind the shadow of a school building.


“I won’t.”


The conversation she overheard was between Marietta and Edward; it seemed Edward had been held up by Marietta.


“But—Vertina was injured… had her belly cut — she’s become a body that can’t bear children, right?”


Her pulse quickened at that. Her heart hammered loudly.


“So what?”


Edward’s reply was curt.


“There's no future for a prince and a princess with a body like that.”


Hearing those words so plainly made her heart freeze.


Ah, I really have no future.


“You’ll never be happy then, Prince Edward!”


With me, Prince Edward can’t be happy.


Because no one had said it outright, she had turned away from the harsh reality.


Blood drained from her. If the engagement continued, Vertina would be the woman who kept stealing Edward’s happiness.


As she stood there stunned, Edward spoke.


“You say I should break the engagement because she can’t have children and has no future?”

“Y-yes!”


Marietta said out loud things others hesitated to voice. Perhaps she was blunt because she had lived among commoners for a long time. Vertina could not fathom how this person could be the same species as them.


“Then I’ll live the rest of my life with no future.”

“Huh?”


His tone was low as if crawling along the ground. Marietta sounded surprised; Vertina remained speechless.


“But… Prince Edward is a prince…”

“Don’t use my name so casually.”

“B-But Your Highness is… for the country…”

“The country’s future will be looked after by my brother. He’s excellent; there’s nothing I have to do.”


Edward’s cold voice made Marietta’s own tremble.


“If I marry Vertina…”

“So what if she can’t have children? What does that have to do with you?”


She had been worrying about the country’s future, but Edward snorted it away.


“Ah… I didn’t mean— but I only want you to be h-happy…”

“Do you mean you can’t be happy without children?”


Edward’s eyes chilled as he pressed her.


“You want to say Vertina will be unhappy her whole life because she can’t bear children?”


Those blunt words pierced Vertina’s chest. Marietta herself faltered and stammered, “I didn’t mean it that way…”


“I don’t want to marry Vertina just to have children.”


—!


Vertina clutched at her pounding chest. Unlike the trembling Marietta, a warm feeling welled up inside Vertina.


“If it's Vertina, it's fine.”


Edward’s words tightened her heart with ache.


“If being with her means giving up being a prince, then I don’t need that rank.”


His forthright words felt comforting; her vision blurred. Unable to bear it, Vertina covered her face and sank to her knees.


“So? What was it? Are you still going to speak against our engagement?”


Edward’s coldness still reached her; Marietta’s voice trembled.


“I’m terribly sorry for speaking so presumptuously.”


Footsteps pattered toward Vertina. Marietta seemed to have found Vertina crouched against the wall of the school building; she flinched but awkwardly bowed her head and left.


A little later Edward exhaled.


“Whoa…!”


He too found Vertina crouched there and cried out in surprise.


“Eh? Bert…? Since when—?”

“I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but I heard my name…”

“Are you… crying?”


Vertina’s tears flowed in great drops.


“I’m sorry…!”


She took a handkerchief and wiped her eyes, but the tears wouldn’t stop.


“Maybe… I overheard from the beginning… Prince Edward, you said that even if you married me there would be no future or happiness…”


When Vertina replied, Edward clicked his tongue.


“That baroness keeps measuring everything by her own standard…!”


He scratched his head irritably.


“Vertina, I’m sorry. I can’t free you. His Majesty told me.”

“Huh?”

“He said: if you want Vertina’s happiness, maybe it would be better to annul the engagement and have her marry as a second wife into a household that already has children.”

“That is…”


The thought of being married to a man with children — not Edward — had immediately occurred to Vertina when the doctor said she might not be able to bear children. His Majesty seemed to think that, if she could not bear a child, she should at least be given the chance to nurture children as a stepmother in a house that already had heirs.


“I don’t intend to marry anyone else besides Vertina…! But I also won’t go have children with others, so I can’t give you the future of holding a child.”

“…”

“By that baroness’s standard, I would be someone who keeps stealing your future!”


Edward’s words shook her. Vertina gave a soft smile.


“That’s really wonderful, isn’t it?”

“Huh?”

“If I can be with Prince Edward… I don’t need a future either.”

“Vert—”


Edward wiped Vertina’s tears with his thumb and pulled her gently into an embrace.

“So… you said Prince Edward would keep stealing my future. In reality, I’m the one who would keep taking his….”

“What a lovely story. I’m moved.”


Aurora, the Crown Prince’s fiancée, listened to Vertina with reddened eyes.


“I don’t really understand what it means to be unable to bear children. I don’t feel pain from the wound, things are as they were. But when that baroness put it plainly, it hit me hard.”


Vertina looked down sadly, and Aurora’s chest tightened.


“I told Edward I didn’t need a future for the sake of saving face, but still…”


Vertina had not fully come to terms with the matter, so Aurora spoke brightly.


“There’s no need to give up yet, is there?”

“Huh?”

“The doctor only spoke of possibility; he didn’t say you absolutely cannot become pregnant, did he?”

“R-right…”


According to Aurora, the doctor had only said, “You may be unable to bear children,” and had not definitively ruled it out — modern medicine could not determine such for certain.


Vertina nodded awkwardly.


“I may become Crown Princess and be required to provide an heir, but there’s no guarantee I’d be able to bear children. Even if another seemingly healthy woman might have an easier time conceiving than wounded Vertina, the pressure to absolutely produce an heir would be the worst. In some cases Valerio might take consorts or concubines.”

“That's t-true…”

“I don’t intend to give up my right to stand beside Valerio, but I won’t give up until it gets to that point.”


Aurora’s resolve made Vertina press her lips together as if to decide something.


“Even a woman who seems healthy — whether she can have children or not is something no one can know.”

“Right…! I’ll… I won’t give up until I’m of an age when I can’t have children!”


Hearing Vertina’s determination, Aurora smiled.


“That’s the right attitude. Let’s work hard together.”

“Yes.”


To Aurora, Vertina was like a beloved little sister. Seeing her look forward eased Aurora’s mind.


“Lady Aurora. How is Vertina?”

“Prince Edward, if you were curious you could have joined our tea party.”


When Vertina stood to attend her training, Edward arrived.


“I can’t join an all-female tea party.”


Edward sulked.


“By the way, when did you start liking Vertina?”


Aurora asked innocently, and Edward choked.


“L-like…?”

“You like her, right?”

“I do, I do…”


Edward averted his eyes before answering.


“Thinking back… I realized it when Vertina protected my brother.”

“Oh, that realization came late…”


At that time Vertina and Edward, and Aurora with Crown Prince Valerio, had all disembarked from carriages at about the same time and exchanged light greetings at the palace gate. The assassin had been hiding in a carriage’s shadow and, when noticed, had already been by Valerio’s side more than by the knights’. Aurora had not been facing the assassin and so had not noticed.


“You're jealous of your brother being protected by Vertina…”

“Huh…”

“Vertina tried to protect your brother more than her own life. You thought she must still love him…”

“What…?”


Though Aurora did not see the assassin’s movement, she had seen the actions of Vertina and Edward clearly. It had been a split-second, but when the assassin’s blade was visible, the moment had seemed unbearably slow; Aurora could not move and could only watch. All she could do was scream at the sight of Vertina collapsing and bleeding.


She remembered it vividly. Yet Aurora had not been traumatized — perhaps she had a thick skin.


Vertina had moved because Edward had moved to protect Valerio. Initially Edward had moved to protect Valerio, but when Vertina saw Edward step forward, she had taken his place, stepping in front of Valerio. Edward’s gaze had been fixed on the assassin and so he may not have noticed.


Vertina stepped forward to protect Edward. She had not been acting to protect Valerio but to save Edward.


Aurora wanted to tell Edward this but stopped herself — if she said it, he might blame himself again, saying “It’s my fault.” Vertina certainly would not want him to feel guilty.


Perhaps it’s enough that he can become aware of his feelings for her…


They respected and cared for one another. Aurora thought that even if she did not tell Vertina’s feelings now, Edward would one day realize them.


“Prince Edward, she’s facing forward properly.”

“Is that so?”

“If you wanted, you could have told His Majesty off when he brought up annulling the engagement.”


Valerio had told the story that when His Majesty suggested annulling the engagement, Edward had resolutely refused, and the king had reluctantly backed down. Because Edward was the second son, that refusal had been permitted; Edward had reportedly said to Valerio multiple times, “I’m glad you were born first,” apparently grateful his older brother existed.


“If you heard that, wouldn’t it feel heavy?”


Edward said that, but Aurora thought that declaring one would deprive Vertina of her future was heavy enough.

“I apologize for being insensitive and rude.”


Marietta bowed deeply to Vertina. After school, as Vertina was on her way to meet Edward, Marietta stopped her saying she wanted to apologize.


“Do you like Prince Edward, Marietta?”


Vertina asked, curious.


“No… it’s not that…”

“Then… the Duke Lupeid’s heir or Count Zontark’s heir?”

“Not really…”


Vertina tilted her head. Why was Marietta so eager to court the sons of high nobility?


“My father told me to do my best to marry into a distinguished family.”


That made sense.


“You must be a good girl who listens to your father…”


Marietta had lived among commoners and was taken in by a baronial household after losing her mother. If her father ever gave up on her, she would have nowhere else, so she was desperate.


“Miss Marietta, you keep your grades among the top in the year, don’t you?”


The posted exam rankings always placed her within the top five. Having lived among commoners, she must have worked hard to achieve such results. She answered awkwardly, “Yes.”


“You are very clever. You’re honest and can speak your mind. Being someone who can ask what you want to know is a good thing. I thought I should learn from you.”

“…”

“To marry into a distinguished family… being a lady is important, as the governess insists.”


When Vertina taught her that, Marietta looked up from her downcast posture.


“A lady…”


A proper lady does not throw herself at men. Vertina’s honest way would surely get through to Marietta.


“One day… when you marry into a distinguished family and become a lady, it would be nice if we could have a tea party together.”


Though it might be impossible for a duchess’s daughter and a baroness’s daughter to share such a future, if Marietta married well it might become possible. Vertina couldn’t bring herself to dislike her. The fact that Marietta could apologize plainly was endearing. Vertina smiled at her before turning on her heel. If Marietta stopped her flirtatious ways she might become isolated at school, but that experience would help her grow.


Edward was waiting. As Vertina stepped forward she heard Marietta call out loudly, “Lady Vertina!” and turned back.


“Do you love Prince Edward?”


Perhaps because there was some space between them, Marietta asked a little louder, and Vertina raised her voice slightly.


“Yes! I love him! I want to keep stealing his future!”


When she answered, Marietta bowed deeply again. Vertina then walked on.


Turning the corner, she saw Edward standing against the school building. The place where Marietta had been speaking was just ahead.


“Eh!? Prince Edward…!?”


His face was flushed crimson and he covered his mouth with both hands.


“You didn’t… hear—”
“S-sorry… I just arrived so I didn’t hear everything…”


It seemed the situation had flipped from what had been earlier. Even if he hadn’t heard everything, the last part had clearly been heard. There was nothing left but to own it.


“Prince Edward.”


Vertina looked him straight in the eyes to state it clearly. But he stopped her, saying, “Let me speak.”


“Huh?”


He knelt and took her hand.


“I love you, Vertina.”

“…!”

“I’ll take away all of Vertina’s future. The only thing I can give you instead is my love. Still, I want you to be with me. Vertina, marry me.”


A single tear slipped from Vertina’s eye as she answered, “Yes,” and Edward pressed his lips to the back of her hand.


It was a spring day bathed in gentle sunlight. A pleasant breeze stirred Vertina’s hair. Graduation from the academy was soon.

Author's Note

Thank you for reading this imperfect piece. I haven’t tagged it “happy end,” but the author believes that the god watching from the sky will bring a happy ending to their future.


I’d be grateful for ratings and impressions.