The Elephant and the Broken Engagement
“Arkin, not the twig. Use the one over there.”
Serena’s voice sliced through the air like a blade, sharp enough to sting the ears. Annoying. What exactly was bothering her this time?
But Arkin remained silent, lowered the branch he had picked up, and followed her instruction to the letter. He had no desire to feed her temper—he was simply weary. He wanted nothing more than to think of something else.
“No. That one has too sharp a tip. What if it scratches the elephant’s skin?”
Arkin silently chose another branch. Another interruption.
“Ah, not that. Use the longer, thinner one on the right. Plenty of leaves there—it’ll help smear the mud properly…”
The princess had always been exasperating since childhood. Her father and mother had always appeased her whims, it seemed, bending to her every unreasonable demand.
Yet he could never quite understand her. Even the Lake Kingdom’s royal couple indulged her capriciousness—sometimes even encouraging it—and yet the king of Solinar always lowered himself far below what was necessary when dealing with the Lake Kingdom’s ruler.
“You are meant to be Serena’s partner, are you not? Do as the princess wishes.”
In name, yes. But in the Solinar royal palace, where his own position was ignored, the king had only ever repeated the same tired refrain: “As long as she is his partner, endure it.” Arkin had no choice but to swallow her tantrums.
Why?
After scouring the matter with Magnus, the truth still eluded him. The power balance between the kingdoms was clearly tilted toward Solinar, yet he could never discern why the king had always played weak before the Lake Kingdom’s ruler.
The years passed. Finally, on the day his oracle failed, the Lake Kingdom’s king demanded the engagement’s dissolution with the same arrogant letter. The king’s face had never before held such darkness.
Even at the moment of the breakup, it had been one-sided. And even now, Serena was testing Arkin’s patience. The way she baited him—wanting to toy with him like a puppet on a string—had grown unbearable.
And Arkin finally understood why. Though he still could not say exactly why, the Lake Kingdom wanted to tame Solinar to suit their whims. They wanted him and his father to crawl like dogs between their legs.
“Arkin. Move that mud bucket this way. You’re too close to the elephant. What if it kicks?”
“And smear the mud here just enough…”
“Serena.”
Arkin set the branch down and turned to face her. The interior of the man he had spent his life controlling finally rebelled. Being swayed by others, pretending to be the perfect heir while hiding his anxiety—it was nauseating.
If he was meant to endure anything for the sake of his fated partner and pour affection into her, then it was all nonsense.
And now Arkin had no obligation to endure Serena’s demands anymore.
“I have reached my limit, Serena.”
The cold words made Serena’s eyes widen in shock. Her face drained of all color.
Arkin looked down at her arrogant mask with disgust and added coldly,
“Say what you will. But if not, stop. I am no longer your partner. I have no reason to endure your childish tantrums.”
“W-who says that? We are still partners, you and I!”
Serena bit her lip until it bled. She struggled to speak, but her turquoise eyes filled with panic as she shook her head.
“You’ve forgotten the divorce letter your father sent? The friendship between our kingdoms is over. We were never more than allies.”
“That is not true. The engagement was never in question. My father simply received the proposal…”
Serena’s perfect features twisted with pain. Her mind and mouth no longer matched. She chewed her lips in confusion, as though she herself could not understand what she was saying.
“Both of you—you, and your father. I have no idea what you’re dragging through the mud. Set your course clearly. At the very least, I am glad this engagement is broken. Do not interfere with me anymore.”
Crack. It sounded as if something inside her had snapped. The ground trembled. Her rage rose like an earthquake.
“Arkin Seilir.”
Her eyes, bloodshot with fury, called his name. Arkin tried to turn away, but Serena seized his arm with iron force.
“Why—why are you doing this to me? Don’t you know what you’re throwing away? You’ll lose your position as heir. Everything you stand on is crumbling beneath you. How can you not see?”
“That is none of your concern.”
“How can you say that? Don’t you care at all? If we break this engagement, your future is ruined. You know that, don’t you? I even begged my father to grant you this chance…”
Her voice shook with barely contained rage. Arkin watched her flushed face without a trace of sympathy and tore her hand away.
“I do not need the opportunity you offer, Serena. Do not toy with my life as you please.”
Tears welled in her eyes, but Arkin showed no pity.
“Do not misunderstand me, Serena. Between us—what was there? Nothing. Not a single moment.”
“…You said that?”
“Be honest, Serena. All you ever did was indulge my demands. Always testing how far I would go. When were you ever my partner? You loved me only when it suited you. A beautiful match on the surface, convenient for both kingdoms’ politics.”
Arkin’s voice was low as he looked down at the princess, whose head now hung in defeat.
“I have never once loved you. I only fulfilled my duty because the kingdom pushed the marriage, and the engagement bound us together.”
Arkin turned away from her and picked up the branch again. The ones Serena had just been arguing over were shoved aside without ceremony. Behind his back, Serena began to weep.
“I don’t know what’s gotten into you suddenly, but if you continue, you’ll lose everything. When your oracle is exposed as false, you will lose the heir’s position. You will pay the price for not holding my hand…”
SPLAT! SPLASH!
Arkin stepped back a pace as he held the branch and rubbed the elephant’s hindquarters. Something heavy fell with a wet sound. SPLAT, SPLASH—obscene noises continued without end. Serena, still unable to finish her sentence, finally snapped.
“You filthy beast! Anyway, Arkin…”
SPLOSH, SPLOSH, SPLAT—Serena’s words cut off again by the endless avalanche of brown.
“S-so, anyway… from now on, you must brace yourself…”
SPLOSH…
“You mad thing…”
He could not scold her. The elephant had not done it on purpose, but the humiliation of being treated like this made Serena’s body tremble as she steadied her breath. Arkin glanced at her once, then smirked.
“Even you know my words are just trash.”
The moment he sneered, Serena’s sanity shattered. She could endure no more. Arkin Seilir’s betrayal. That indifferent attitude even now. The audacity to claim he had never loved her for a single moment. A person defecating in rhythm while speaking—mad.
Serena’s face burned red with rage. She kicked the tent open and ran out into the crowded, noisy camp. She dashed past the people and beasts until she reached the back of a building, then pressed herself against a pillar and collapsed.
This wasn’t right. It shouldn’t have come to this…
That Arkin Seilir had never once loved her—even if he had despised and hated her—made her stomach churn. It would have been enough to simply hold hands and sweep any inconvenient matter under the rug. Politics was politics. A little humility would have solved it all.
What on earth was he thinking? Gripping the heir’s position with clenched teeth. Trying to reclaim his honor. Believing that even if he disliked it, he would still take her hand…
She no longer understood. She could not read his mind, but she could clearly see that the always-perfect Arkin Seilir was teetering on the edge of disaster.