Chapter 12

“I had heard that the Ivanstein mansion has a garden that never goes dark at night, and I was curious what it might look like. Indeed, it’s beautiful.”

“……Is that so.”

Mel’s voice lacked energy as she responded to Second Prince Rudrich’s words. Although she had received permission to walk through the garden, which was not usually open to outsiders, the beautiful scenery couldn’t penetrate Mel’s eyes as her mind was filled with too many thoughts.

The evening walk, which began at Rudrich’s suggestion after Mel mentioned she had already eaten, consisted only of him continuously asking about her well-being and her responding politely, without any proper communication taking place.

“Ivanstein told me that you weren’t in a good mood today, Princess. Has something happened?”

“The one not in a good mood is him, not me.”

“……?”

Rudrich stared at Mel with eyes seeking an answer as if he didn’t understand, but she avoided his gaze by lowering her head to look at her feet.

Just walking side by side with Rudrich, who would soon become emperor, made Mel feel so suffocated that it wouldn’t have been strange if she fainted.

‘What could the future emperor, who is about to have his coronation, possibly have to discuss with me that he would come all the way to the Ivanstein mansion?’

Mel desperately wished that the Second Prince would stop making her uncomfortable and leave quickly. Whether Rudrich sensed this desire or not, he continued to ask with the same consistent kindness.

“I’ve been worried about you since you left that day.”

Mel flinched. She briefly stopped walking and stared at Rudrich’s face.

‘Is he referring to the scar he saw that day? Is he trying to use it as leverage against me? But the Second Prince has nothing to gain by holding leverage over the Reibritton princess……’

Perhaps noticing that Mel was wary of his words, Rudrich quickly added, raising both hands with palms showing:

“I’m just concerned, princess.”

“……Thank you for your concern, Your Highness. I’ve been quite peaceful.”

“I’m glad to hear that.”

Rudrich had promised to keep Mel’s scar a secret, but lately, Mel had been viewing the meaning of promises differently.

‘Even though he’s the upright Second Prince, he’ll eventually become the emperor of the Raon Empire. There’s no guarantee he’ll keep the secret of my scar forever.’

The thought that she shouldn’t trust promises that could be politically entangled in the empire’s chaotic situation occupied Mel’s mind. She needed to think this way to ultimately deny that bitter expression Genoa had briefly shown earlier.

As if mocking her thoughts, Rudrich continued to speak in a gentle voice.

“Ivanstein is not an easy person for me either. If even I, who will soon be his lord, feel this way, it must be all the more difficult for you who’s staying in a place you don’t want to be.”

He seemed careful, as if considering how his words might sound to Mel. Her wariness gradually melted away at his thoughtful attitude.

“That’s why I’m always concerned about you, Princess. That’s why I keep asking like this. I want to tell you that you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“I heard about the Duke’s proposal.”

“……!”

Mel swallowed for a moment. It seemed that the proposal was firmly established in Genoa’s mind if he had mentioned it to the Second Prince.

“The Duke said that you haven’t fully accepted yet. According to him, he’s in the position of begging, but I can’t see Ivanstein as that kind of person at all.”

Rudrich didn’t trust Genoa. That was natural since he was a dangerous person.

Mel found it somewhat surprising that Genoa had chosen Rudrich, who didn’t trust him, as his lord. If Rudrich successfully completed his coronation and became emperor, Genoa would be his greatest contributor.

Yet here was Rudrich, asking an enemy kingdom’s princess for the truth because he couldn’t trust Genoa’s words.

“Why does Your Highness place more weight on what I might say than on the words of Duke Ivanstein, who will help govern the country with you in the future?”

“I think you know well after experiencing him. Can you guess what might be inside Genoa Ivanstein’s mind?”

At Rudrich’s words, Mel couldn’t easily say no. That’s how Genoa had always been. How many schemes were alive and writhing inside him? Perhaps even if one looked inside, they couldn’t fully measure them all.

But Mel kept recalling Genoa’s face from the dinner table earlier. Was there truly no one here who trusted Genoa?

“You’re the only one who sees me like this, Mel. So I want you to remain this special to me.”

“How can I continue to be special to you, young master?”

“Just, just stay like this. Continue to trust me, rely on me, and listen only to what I say.”

How did Genoa smile in that conversation from the past when he gently stroked her head?

“That’s enough for me.”

Had she seen that smile since coming here?

Mel knew she needed to find an answer to Rudrich’s words, but she kept drawing Genoa’s face, then erasing it, over and over.

Seeing Mel’s face deep in thought, Rudrich interpreted it as a silent affirmation of his point and nodded, continuing to speak.

“If the reason you’re hesitating about Duke Ivanstein’s proposal is because you fear his retaliation if you refuse, I can help you.”

Mel’s gaze, which had been directed at her toes, slowly lifted to meet Rudrich’s eyes. Looking at those eyes, which revealed a firm determination as solid as his upright character, she thought:

‘The Raon Empire led by this person would be truly warm.’

There was something in Rudrich that wasn’t felt from the Reibritton king. Mel tried to identify that something as mercy, but what she felt from him was beyond mercy.

It was something Mel couldn’t understand. And Mel didn’t trust those whose hearts she couldn’t understand. Even if she was directly facing Rudrich’s gentle face that seemed ready to show her boundless kindness.

“Why are you bestowing such troublesome kindness on me?”

“……”

At Mel’s question, Rudrich remained silent for a moment, as if lost in thought. But it didn’t seem like he was keeping quiet because he didn’t know what to say, but rather like he was choosing how to convey what he wanted to say. His straightforward gaze, which didn’t avoid her eyes, told her as much.

“I respect your spirit, Princess. Because you haven’t let go of yourself even in a situation that I wouldn’t have been able to endure if I were in your position.”

“That sounds like you’re saying I’m maintaining my pride as the Reibritton princess despite being captured as a prisoner.”

“I’m talking about your self-respect.”

At Rudrich’s words, Mel laughed weakly and muttered.

“Self-respect……”

What word could be more ill-suited to Mel than that? She couldn’t help but laugh at the thought that Rudrich’s kindness originated from such a sentiment. How could there possibly be any princess-like self-respect in Mel, a fake princess?

Mel wondered if she had been that skilled at acting as Amelia Reibritton. But she quickly stopped that train of thought. Self-respect was precisely what Amelia Reibritton, the real princess, lacked.

“I thought I clearly conveyed my intentions to Your Highness at the last party, but it seems my poor eloquence has caused confusion.”

“What do you……”

“I don’t wish for the continued existence of the nation of Reibritton. Which means I also wish for the Reibritton royal family to no longer exist.”

“But don’t you sincerely care about the people of Reibritton? That’s precisely why I believe you’re a true royal……”

“No.”

Mel firmly shook her head, daring to interrupt Rudrich, who would become the future emperor.

“What I said was that I would entrust their future to the empire. Because I have no intention of taking responsibility until the end.”

“……How can that be?”

Rudrich didn’t hide his confused emotions. It was a mindset somewhat difficult for him to understand.

When he was born, Raon was a kingdom. Even as a kingdom, Raon wielded significant influence on the continent as a powerful nation, but his late father and Duke Ivanstein, not satisfied with that, elevated Raon to an empire.

He was able to become a noble member of the imperial family after a bloody storm of sacrifice swept across the continent. What Rudrich learned in that process was that the responsibilities and honors befitting the imperial family came with noble sacrifices.

If he became a member of the imperial family and succeeded his father’s position to become the emperor of the empire, he would have to shoulder a heavy responsibility equal to that glorious honor. Being such a person, Rudrich could only judge that the princess also bore considerable responsibility, and because of that, she was gritting her teeth and enduring the current difficult situation.

“I’d like to ask you as well. Didn’t Your Highness have a father who was somewhat difficult to respect? If this is disrespectful, I apologize.”

“Not at all. Please continue.”

“Under such a father, how were you able to love this country and its people?”

“……”

Rudrich couldn’t answer. She knew this fact but waited briefly for his answer, yet his firmly closed lips couldn’t seem to open.

As if she had expected this, Mel smiled, pulling up the corners of her mouth, and said:

“I envy the imperial citizens who will live under Your Highness’s benevolence. I only hope that Reibritton will also find peace under the same benevolence.”

“Princess.”

“I don’t want to be called that anymore.”

Mel was sincere. She wished all of these situations where she was called the Reibritton princess would end quickly.

“The reason Your Highness is concerned about me is probably because of the scar you saw that day.”

“……!”

Rudrich’s eyes widened in surprise that she had brought up herself what he had promised to keep secret.

Mentioning the scar on her back wasn’t easy for Mel either. Just speaking of it made her palms sweat. But if this conversation could stop Rudrich from concerning himself with her, the memory that made her tremble just by recalling it was worth enduring.

Mel decided to mix an appropriate amount of truth and lies about her scar.

“The Reibritton king, that is, my father, was someone who cared excessively about education. On days when I failed to meet his expectations, small and large scars were etched onto my body one by one.”

“Are you saying the Reibritton king inflicted violence on you, Princess?”

“He had no reason to dirty his own hands. He had a loyal royal tutor for that.”

“How could……”

Rudrich’s expression hardened severely, his face shocked.

While Rudrich remained silent for a moment in a situation where no words of comfort would suffice, Mel hid her hands behind her back, clenching her fists tightly so he wouldn’t see.

‘It’s okay, it’s okay. It’s not a complete lie.’

Mel secretly took deep breaths to calm her irregularly beating heart.

She hadn’t completely fabricated her story. In reality, the Reibritton king was extremely strict about the princess’s education. From a young age, the princess was dull-witted and disappointed the king in every aspect, so his solution was to send Mel, who looked exactly like her, as a maid to be beaten.

“If Father’s goal was to make me feel bad, I’d like to tell him he succeeded. She looks disgustingly like me.”

And the royal tutor had a sadistic hobby. He enjoyed punishing Mel, who resembled the princess, feeling pleasure as if he were hitting the noble princess. The princess noticed this without much difficulty.

Mel was the one being beaten, but Amelia would rage as if the marks on Mel’s reddened palms or calves were etched onto her own body.

“This is all because of you. Because you showed how vulgar you are, that man dares to imagine touching the princess’s body in such a disgusting way!”

On days when the royal tutor beat Mel, Amelia would strip Mel’s clothes and whip her back. Mel’s back was always full of wounds that had not yet healed.

Amelia enjoyed comparing the large lacerations on Mel’s back with the wounds she had inflicted. She would point to Mel’s lacerations, saying they were clearly traces of a failed attempt to kill her, and curse her as a tenacious wench.

She would then tell Mel to realize how generous a mistress she was in comparison and be grateful. Because of this, whenever Mel endured the increasingly severe beatings, she was forced to constantly recall the laceration from that day.

When death approached right before her eyes, she would be consumed by that eerie fear, trembling with a face covered in tears and saliva, and only then would Amelia seem satisfied and stop.

“Now you’ll attend my lessons too. I’ll fairly play your role from now on. But if you make even the slightest mistake and let that man’s whip touch my body, know that your head will fly.”

Mel desperately learned to read and write, acquired culture, mastered dance, and memorized all kinds of knowledge to survive. Each time, she had to face the royal tutor’s regretful, glistening eyes. Of course, as Mel gradually took on more princess-like qualities, she had to endure all sorts of humiliation from Amelia’s jealousy.

“He says there’s nothing more for me to learn. Because you’ve been unnecessarily diligent, scholars who want to meet me are overflowing, so instead of lessons, I’m to meet them. So, my poor Mel, how many beatings will it take to repay this sin?”

Mel, who attended lessons, solved problems, and discussed academic papers in place of the princess, showed outstanding results. Because of this, the Reibritton king was proud and wanted to widely boast about the educational achievements of his princess that he had accomplished.

Mel was able to do all this partly because Amelia would beat her more severely if she was mediocre, claiming she had tarnished her honor, but also because she knew she would be killed once these lessons ended.

“The reason I keep you alive even after your education is finished is because you’re still useful. But if you’re discovered, you’ll no longer be useful. Then what can I do but kill your worthless mother before your eyes and have you follow her?”

In the end, Mel survived. The Reibritton king never noticed that his daughter had been switched.

Amelia was so deeply jealous of Mel that she wanted to strangle her whenever people sang about the Reibritton princess’s wisdom. Thus, Mel became a slave whom Amelia wanted to kill but couldn’t discard.

“So I feel nothing for Reibritton. Could the kingdom’s people truly be happy in a land ruled by a king who has no mercy even for his own child?”

At Mel’s question, Rudrich couldn’t say anything for a while, but then nodded as if he had realized something.

Mel, who let out a small sigh of relief at this, continued:

“Though I fear Duke Ivanstein who has shaken Reibritton, this is precisely why I stay with him. The kingdom’s people will also fear him like I do, but soon they’ll realize that a way to escape the king’s tyranny is close at hand.”

“Then you intend to accept Duke Ivanstein’s proposal. Since there would be no better way to minimize the confusion of the Reibritton people and incorporate them into the Raon Empire……”

Mel could read a hint of sympathy in Rudrich’s gaze as he looked at her. It was strange to receive sympathy from a member of the imperial family for deciding on a political marriage, but Mel decided to accept it gladly. A small sympathy bestowed by someone of high status can be a great strength for someone powerless like Mel. So it was advantageous to acquire as much sympathy as possible.

“But if you truly intend to let go of Reibritton, there’s no need to sacrifice yourself for the kingdom’s people.”

“What do you mean……”

“If Reibritton and Raon become one, ultimately, guiding the peaceful lives of the kingdom’s people will be my responsibility. So entrust them to me, and please, princess, be free.”

Mel stared at Rudrich as he mentioned the freedom she had longed for so desperately.

“How do you intend to help me?”

“I will create a new identity for you. No matter how great Duke Ivanstein’s influence on the Raon Empire may be, I’m not so incompetent that I cannot gift you with freedom.”

Rudrich offered Mel another choice. The choice of ‘escaping with the help of Second Prince Rudrich.’

Between having her identity discovered by Genoa and dying, or somehow clearing up past misunderstandings to prove that at least Mel hadn’t betrayed him.

Unlike the gloomy futures shadowing these two choices, this was a choice that guaranteed life with certainty.

“……”

Blinking her eyes slowly, Mel sank into thought.

Perhaps if she chose this option, she would be able to preserve her life. Amelia would board a ship and cross over to the Eastern Continent, and if Mel obtained a new identity and escaped, the fake Reibritton princess would disappear from Raon forever.

If that happened, Genoa might live without ever knowing about her deception. She wouldn’t have to risk her life to reveal all of her lies.

‘But can I really leave the young master like this?’

Why did the weight of this choice press so heavily on her chest? Mel hesitated before Rudrich’s offer, which she would have accepted without hesitation in the past.

Genoa’s expression she saw in the dining room today, his long nights where he couldn’t sleep without her presence.

“I didn’t expect her betrayal at all.”

His voice, which once cracked bitterly as he recalled her from the past, held Mel back.

It was an undeniable fact that she was deceiving Genoa by hiding her past, concealing her status, and still acting as a fake. But the claim that the past Mel had betrayed Genoa was false.

‘Is it really okay for the young master to live forever believing that I betrayed him?’

If she escaped like this, Mel would forever remain a traitor to Genoa. Perhaps his sleepless nights would continue. Or perhaps Mel, who accepted Rudrich’s offer and left, might give him another memory of betrayal.

“I don’t mean for you to decide right now. Since you said you haven’t yet accepted Duke Ivanstein’s proposal, I just wanted to let you know that you have this choice as well.”

Noticing Mel’s concern, Rudrich took a step back, trying to ease her burden. Such kind consideration was unfamiliar. She had been firmly cautioned by her mother about the fear of kindness without compensation from before.

“I’ll ask once more since you don’t seem likely to give the same answer this time. Why are you bestowing such troublesome kindness on me?”

“……Because while I dare not claim to understand your hardships, I’ve come to want to respect your choice.”

Rudrich’s answer came after a brief pause, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t a sincere response. It must have been quite difficult for him, who would soon lead a country, to respect her choice to abandon her own country.

Mel was someone who had never stood in the position of a ruler, so she couldn’t understand how difficult those words were for Rudrich to utter. But she knew that just as she couldn’t understand him, he couldn’t understand her position either.

“You’re showing me difficult respect.”

Perhaps that’s why his words felt even more welcome. Although she had only been understood through a story mixed with truth and lies, it still felt like half of it belonged to her.

Mel’s face, which had been stiff with tension, suddenly melted at that moment. Her round eyes curved widely, creating a picture-perfect bright smile.

“Thank you sincerely.”

“……!”

Rudrich’s face, directly facing that expression, was instantly tinged with embarrassment. He made a helpless face, his lips fluttering, before deeply bowing his head.

“Your Highness?”

Mel called out with a puzzled voice at Rudrich’s sudden action, but for a while, he couldn’t answer her. He was too busy hiding his face, which had turned red to the tips of his ears.

The question of why he, who had learned to manage his expressions most quickly when studying imperial studies, couldn’t control himself would likely remain an unsolved problem for Rudrich for some time.

* * *

“……What did I just see?”

Genoa’s face reflected in the window distorted like an evil spirit.

He had seen something he shouldn’t have.

The garden where he had permitted the princess to meet with the Second Prince was clearly visible from his office. Whether it was his mood or not, from the moment the princess and the Second Prince came out to the garden and walked together, Genoa’s attention was entirely focused there.

An unpleasant sensation heavily circled his entire body. He could tell that this was different from the fatigue that had been pressing down on him for days due to his inability to sleep.

“I’ll find out what conversation they had.”

Bane approached, noticing his uncomfortable mood, but Genoa didn’t take his eyes off the window. He lightly ignored Bane’s words and said:

“Has the princess ever smiled at me like that?”

Genoa asked, but Bane couldn’t answer. He couldn’t see what the princess’s expression was like in the garden outside the window. Nevertheless, there was one thing Bane was certain of. Whatever way the princess smiled, his master’s interest in it was not a good sign.

“The princess smiles quite often, doesn’t she?”

“That’s different. It’s different. So the Second Prince also……”

Genoa’s gaze fell on the back of Rudrich’s neck, which had turned red. He should have found such a raw reaction interesting from Rudrich, who had been refreshingly straightforward in his relationships with women.

Moreover, Mel’s smile, which seemed to have broken down something, reminded him of someone. That clear face that shed its tough but delicate shell and crumbled only in front of Genoa……

Perhaps that was why. The moment the princess smiled at the Second Prince like that, Genoa became anxious as if something that had been his was taken away. Without any consultation, the princess had given the Second Prince something that should rightfully have been his.

This was a big problem. Genoa’s mind was dyed with a color he couldn’t understand.

‘Because she resembles her, because she reminds me of her, because I’m overlapping her and the princess right now……’

Genoa continuously tried to attach reasons to this unpleasant feeling, trying to soothe himself. But no matter what reason he attached, he could only draw one conclusion.

The princess had never smiled at him like that, and she never would.

Today, she had ostentatiously prepared to curl her tail and run away from him. It was as good as declaring that becoming his wife was horrifying. Since Genoa had dragged her like a dog on a chain from her peaceful palace and shaken her life by holding her life in his hands, this fact shouldn’t be surprising.

“Why do I hate it.”

Genoa questioned himself, unable to understand.

Why wouldn’t he accept what he understood intellectually?

Without even time to be surprised that he was acting in a contradictory way, which he usually considered the behavior of dull-witted people, Genoa’s mind was being consumed by displeasure.

“Bane.”

“Yes, my lord.”

“I want to sleep.”

This was probably his body, having tasted the sweetness of sound sleep, screaming at the unbearable insomnia. Genoa decided to conclude it this way.

* * *

After her conversation with the Second Prince, time flew quickly, and the day she promised with the head maid approached. The night before the coronation ceremony announcing the birth of a new emperor on the continent, the empire couldn’t easily fall asleep. The same was true for Mel and Lin.

“How could they not send an invitation to the princess? I heard all the noble people of the empire will attend, how could they leave out only our princess!”

Lin pouted her lips and spewed complaints. Her hand brushing Mel’s hair was rough.

The emperor’s coronation ceremony would be held in two major parts. First, the ceremony where he ascends to the imperial throne with the blessing of the high priest in front of all the nobles of the empire, and then the ceremony announcing to the dignitaries of each country and the imperial citizens that a new emperor has been born.

Tomorrow’s coronation was the former. A grand party to celebrate receiving the high priest’s blessing in front of the nobles would also be held.

Since the Reibritton princess had made her debut in the empire’s social circles, she too should rightfully have been invited to the coronation during her stay in the empire. But the fact that she wasn’t could very likely be seen as an intention to no longer treat her as a member of the empire.

The Second Prince, soon-to-be Emperor Rudrich, wouldn’t think that way, but there would be more people who would deliberately interpret it that way and gossip.

“Stop it, Lin. I told you it’s not an end to the war, but a ceasefire. So I’m still just a prisoner of war.”

“But that……”

At Mel’s calm voice, Lin realized she had misspoken and bit her lip tightly.

“I’m sorry. In fact, the princess must be the most upset……”

Mel was grateful for Lin who was so upset on her behalf, and just smiled, patting the back of her hand.

“I didn’t want to go anyway.”

Mel could speak brightly because she sincerely didn’t want to attend the coronation. However, to Lin’s eyes, it seemed like she was pretending to be okay for her sake.

Lin laid out various stories to cheer up Mel’s mood.

“I heard that His Highness the First Prince will not attend.”

“Is that so?”

“They say he’s going to comfort the soldiers who can’t attend the coronation, but there’s also talk that he’s running away because he can’t stand the sight of the imperial crown that will be placed on the Second Prince’s head.”

“I’m sure that’s the case.”

Mel nodded, agreeing with Lin.

It was unexpected that Rihast had stepped back cleanly without causing any disturbance, but that was all the more reason not to let down one’s guard. The Second Prince, Rudrich, would also be wary of his brother who had walked into the front lines on his own.

She thought the First Prince was the type whose inner thoughts were easy to grasp when his twisted personality was provoked, but now she found him suspicious as he showed inexplicable behavior when he should be completely upset.

It was clear he had some other scheme, but Mel, confined to the Ivanstein mansion, couldn’t know the reason. She would need Genoa’s help to understand even a little about this situation.

‘I need to talk to the young master about this……’

As things she needed to consult with Genoa came to mind one by one, Mel’s face hardened, and she let out a deep sigh.

Mel hadn’t been able to see Genoa since their dinner that day. She had told him she would no longer act as his sleeping pill, but worried about how much he might be suffering from insomnia, she had visited his bedroom several times herself.

But each time, she had to turn back after hearing from the butler that Genoa was absent.

‘I know he’s busy overseeing the coronation, but… even though I know he returns to the mansion regularly, I can’t see him even once.’

It was doubtful whether she was even in the same mansion as Genoa.

Mel couldn’t shake the suspicion that Genoa was avoiding her. But as much as she thought about it, there was no reason for Genoa to avoid her, except perhaps if she was someone who could be swayed as he wielded his influence.

“Will Duke Ivanstein attend the coronation?”

“I suppose so. The Ivanstein ducal family can’t miss the emperor’s coronation.”

“So that’s why it’s so hard to see him.”

“Even without the coronation, it was always difficult to see the Duke at the mansion. If anything, people at the residence have been seeing the Duke more often since you arrived here, Princess.”

Lin’s words made Mel’s mind even more complicated.

The Genoa she knew should have lightly ignored her refusal of his proposal and her refusal to act as a sleeping pill. He had always obtained what he wanted by any means necessary.

Rather than ignoring the other person’s will, Genoa’s method was to change the other person’s will to align with what he wanted. That’s why Mel had expected Genoa to grip her heart, shake it, and make her sincerely want to marry him.

In fact, Mel had trembled with fear several times because of the desire that surged within her due to Genoa’s sweetened tone.

‘Did I misspeak?’

She hadn’t thought Genoa would be shocked by her words, which were merely meant to keep some distance. Wasn’t he the Genoa who had been treating her by weighing her life against the political situation of the Raon Empire and pressuring her neck?

Even while smiling gently, Genoa could hold a knife to her throat with that same expression. Mel was confused between the Genoa she had known in the past and the Genoa of now.

‘Maybe the young master has changed from the past. Perhaps I was arrogant to think I knew everything about him.’

Thinking this way, Mel wanted to take back the words she had said to Genoa at the dinner table. At least the part about not acting as his sleeping pill.

“You look tired. Would you like to rest?”

“Yes, I will. Lin, you should go to bed early too if you’re going to fulfill my request tomorrow.”

“I will. Remember to pay me generously for the errand as promised!”

“Of course.”

Mel saw Lin off with a smiling face. Seeing Lin return to her quarters without any suspicion made a corner of her conscience ache. But it couldn’t be helped. The fewer people who knew about this matter, the better.

“Let’s focus and prepare.”

Mel waited until Lin had completely disappeared before quickly closing the door and retrieving a box hidden under the bed. Inside the box were comfortable pants, a shirt, and shoes she had secretly stolen from the laundry room she had pretended to get lost in.

Mel first put on the pants and shirt, then wore a dress with abundant frills over them. It was a dress with small jewels densely embedded, sparkling even more under the moonlight. Enough that she could be quickly found even in the western garden made up of dense forest.

Finally, she secured the comfortable flat shoes to her waist with a cloth wrapped around it, fixing them inside the skirt. After jumping in place a few times to confirm that the shoes wouldn’t fall off, Mel was about to sigh in relief.

“……I’m coming in, Princess.”

“Come in.”

The head maid, who would guide her to the western garden today, entered the room, unable to completely erase her nervous appearance.

“The moonlight is good now, so it should be nice for a walk.”

“I think so too.”

Mel and the head maid immediately set off without exchanging any other words. She didn’t know how the head maid had managed it, but they didn’t encounter anyone else on the way from the mansion to the western garden.

“How long do you think your walk will last?”

“I’m not sure. I really love feeling the wind in the middle of the forest, so wouldn’t it get boring when the wind calms down?”

“The wind isn’t very strong today, so you won’t be able to enjoy it as much as you want.”

“What matters is that I got to enjoy it at least once.”

The head maid glanced at Mel’s dress sparkling under the moonlight and nodded. Mel smiled brightly, hoping to appear as if she was genuinely excited about enjoying a walk in the forest without any ulterior motives.

“By the way, didn’t you say the western garden is usually guarded? Why is no one here?”

“This is a hidden path to the western garden. The guards circle the boundary of the western forest, but if you know the timing when they cross paths, you can slip in through the gap.”

“I see……”

At the head maid’s answer, Mel pretended to lose interest and merely looked around, but in her mind, she was carefully storing that information. Today, the mansion staff’s attention was diverted due to tomorrow’s coronation, making it possible to explore the western garden, but it would be difficult to enter and exit the garden without the head maid’s help in the future.

Nevertheless, Mel needed to find a way. It would be difficult to find what she wanted in one attempt.

“From here on is considered the western garden. If you go a bit further in, you’ll be in an area not easily visible from the patrol route, so you can enjoy yourself comfortably.”

“Can I really enjoy myself comfortably? Don’t they patrol inside the western garden?”

“The prohibition against entering the western garden applies to the guards as well.”

At the head maid’s words, Mel swallowed a sigh. It meant that if she were caught, she truly didn’t know what would happen.

“So, Princess, please accomplish everything you wish this time and never set foot here again.”

For the first time, Mel responded to the head maid with her true feelings.

“I hope so too.”

As Mel moved toward the depths of the western garden without looking back, the head maid followed behind her. The head maid seemed to have judged that leaving Mel completely alone would be more dangerous.

The head maid was in a position where she could quickly withdraw if the western garden became noisy, so it didn’t take much effort for her to watch Mel.

‘I need to be visible enough so the head maid won’t be suspicious.’

There was a reason Mel had deliberately chosen such a conspicuous dress. Though the head maid would think her a frivolous princess.

However, after walking quite deep into the garden, away from the entrance, the head maid could no longer follow. But her gaze never left Mel.

“I’ll wait here.”

The head maid, not hiding her disapproving face, handed Mel a lantern emitting a faint light, as if telling her to hurry along.

“I’ve had a lot on my mind lately, so I’ll just get some air to clear my head. I won’t go too deep, so don’t worry.”

Mel walked until she was adequately distant from the head maid’s view. And when she was just barely visible as a human figure, Mel took off the dress she was wearing. The western garden was indeed poorly maintained, with weeds growing up to her waist, and saplings of various sizes providing sufficient cover.

Mel broke off a branch and tied it with weeds to create a temporary hanger for her dress. She hung both the dress and the lantern at her height on a side where the wind blew well.

Since she hung it on a branch that swayed greatly even in a slight breeze, when the head maid looked from afar, Mel’s sparkling dress would move back and forth, making it appear as if Mel was enjoying the wind.

“Haaah……”

Mel exhaled a light breath in her comfortable attire that she hadn’t worn for a long time. Since she had always dressed like this during her days as a slave, it felt like she was finally wearing clothes that suited her.

“This place hasn’t changed from before, even without maintenance.”

Mel clicked her tongue as she looked around at the lushly spreading trees. She hadn’t known as a child, but gardens like forests in noble mansions were rare. As she wondered if it would have been better to know that earlier, Mel shook her head to clear her wandering thoughts and moved on.

“I need to either confirm or find something quickly. I must accomplish at least one of these today.”

Mel had two objectives in visiting the western garden. She needed to confirm whether the tree in front of the cabin where she and her mother had stayed was still there. Because the hole in that tree was an air vent connected to the testing ground of the Ivanstein mansion.

When Genoa was dragged into the testing ground, Mel had inserted various necessary items for him through that air vent.

“Young master, I think I’ve found an air vent connected to the testing ground. I’ve left markers inside the testing ground, so if you follow those markers, you’ll reach the place with the air vent. I’ll throw in things you need through there.”

“What if others find it first?”

“Others probably won’t find it, but since the passage is narrow, if you lose some weight, you’ll be able to move more easily than others, so you can use that to your advantage.”

“That’s easy. I just need to eat poisonous herbs a few times.”

“Wouldn’t it be better to just skip meals?”

“Haha.”

“Don’t just laugh, answer me.”

Mel’s footsteps dragged slowly on the ground as she recalled her past conversation with Genoa.

Had he received what Mel had thrown in for him? Had those things helped him survive?

Mel couldn’t know. She had left the Ivanstein mansion before he escaped from the testing ground. If Mel hadn’t left this place then, she could have asked Genoa.

“……Let’s hurry.”

Mel gritted her teeth, encouraging herself as she began to feel gloomy. Then she blinked her eyes quickly, trying to adapt to the darkness. Fortunately, Mel had good night vision, so she had no difficulty moving around the western garden relying only on moonlight without a lantern.

The western garden was familiar to Mel as she had stayed there in the past, but since quite some time had passed, there were points that had faded from her memory. So Mel needed to find the markers she had left as a child to learn the geography of the western garden.

Mel had left various markers all over to find the testing ground, where she always moved with a blindfold in the western garden.

“This is a non-verbal character used in my country.”

The characters from the Eastern Continent that her mother had taught her looked like pictures, and when marked on trees, they were difficult to distinguish from cracked bark, which made them quite useful.

“Those markers should still be there.”

Mel had used quite a variety of markers, but now she was looking for two things. One was the marker indicating the route she had taken while blindfolded in the western garden.

Mel was caught just before discovering the entrance to the testing ground. So if she could find that route marker now, she could secure a path to the basement of the Ivanstein mansion.

The other one was…..

“That’s disappointing.”

“Precious things should be handled by precious people.”

“There’s no one more precious to me than you right now, Mel.”

“Saying that won’t help. After you burn all the slave documents, I might occasionally touch them a little.”

“It’s just a necklace.”

“It’s ‘just’ to you, young master!”

The treasures that Genoa had gifted to Mel when she was a slave. Genoa used to give gifts that would suit the young Mel. A necklace with sparkling jewels in pretty colors, cute animal dolls, dresses that would suit Mel well.

Genoa secretly hoped that Mel would wear what he had given her, but Mel had carefully collected them all together. No matter how clean she washed herself or how well she combed her hair, Mel thought those things didn’t suit her at all.

Because she was a slave. Even if she wore pretty clothes and adorned herself with pretty things, in the end, she would still be a slave, and what could be more ridiculous than that?

Mel had promised herself that one day, when she burned her slave documents and became a free person, she would take out the gifts Genoa had given her.

“If I had known it would turn out like this, I would have tried them on then.”

At that time, she thought nothing could be more ridiculous, but now Mel found herself in an even more ridiculous situation. Among the clothes she wore as the Reibritton princess, the jewels she adorned, and the meticulous makeup, none of it belonged to her.

If only she had tried on the gifts Genoa had prepared for her then. At that moment, at least then, they would all have been Mel’s things in front of Genoa.

“It’s fortunate I didn’t tell the young master the location.”

Fearing that Genoa might take them back if she didn’t use them, Mel never told him where she had hidden them. If the western garden had become a forbidden place and people had stopped coming, there was a high probability that Genoa’s gifts that Mel had hidden would still be in their place.

‘……I hope I find at least one of them.’

If Mel could confirm just one of the two things in the western garden today, she could confess the truth to Genoa. The truth that she was not the real princess, but the slave from the past whom he believed had betrayed him and died.

Genoa wouldn’t completely believe Mel’s story. But if she showed him the markers she found and confirmed today, he would at least harbor two suspicions.

Either someone had heard Mel’s story and told the princess, or the princess might really be Mel.

‘Either way, it’s a reason to keep me alive for now.’

If he believed someone had heard Mel’s story and told the princess, it would mean that Mel hadn’t died then but had escaped alive and told the story.

Genoa would probably keep the princess alive, if only to find out the whereabouts of Mel who was alive somewhere. Conversely, if he suspected that she was that slave from the past, she could at least clear up the misunderstanding that she had betrayed him.

“What happens after that?”

Mel tried to imagine what would happen next. What changes would her relationship with Genoa undergo if she confessed the truth to him?

No matter how much she thought about it, Mel couldn’t imagine that Genoa wouldn’t kill her. That’s why Rudrich’s offer from last time still lingered in her mind. While she was happy with Rudrich’s attitude of respecting her, and his offer was tempting, Mel wanted to clear up at least that misunderstanding that Genoa had been harboring until now.

“I didn’t expect her betrayal at all.”

“She had nothing. Because she had nothing in her hands, she had no reason to betray me. That’s why I trusted her.”

If she left behind Genoa’s voice breaking bitterly, Mel had the intuition that she would live each day trapped in an even more terrible feeling than now. That intuition led her to this western garden.

“Huh?”

As Mel was walking in search of markers, her eyes caught sight of an entrance leading to a somewhat familiar clearing.

“Wait, could it be……”

If her memory was correct, this was near the cabin where Mel and her mother had stayed. Mel’s steps became urgent, almost to the point of breathlessness.

No way, no way, no way.

Even as she kept telling herself it couldn’t be, Mel’s heart raced madly. If this was indeed where the cabin had been, she could find the air vent she was targeting.

“Huff, hah.”

Mel ran quickly toward it. Toward the cabin that had been the beginning of all those events at the Ivanstein mansion.

“How can this be?”

Mel’s pupils trembled finely as she took in the cabin with her eyes. Even with the cabin right before her, it was hard to believe.

“It’s too intact.”

The cabin was exactly the same as when Mel had stayed there in the past. It was as if time had stopped for the cabin. The cabin existed in the same form Mel remembered.

‘It looks like it’s been maintained.’

Mel approached the cabin as if entranced. Its exterior became more visible in the moonlight.

“……?”

When she was just a few steps away from the cabin, Mel’s steps came to an abrupt halt as she discovered something. It seemed like a faint light was leaking from inside.

Light? There was nothing unusual about light leaking from a cabin built for people to stay in, but at this moment, it shouldn’t be happening. Because this was the closed western garden.

‘Only young master and Sir Bane can enter this place?’

But Genoa and Bane were busy preparing for the coronation, so they couldn’t possibly be here now. After all, the coronation was tomorrow.

Mel decided to consider other possibilities.

‘Could there be someone among the staff who secretly frequents the cabin?’

Mel thought her speculation was plausible. Even the head maid had succeeded in pushing Mel into this place. Of course, the process hadn’t been easy for the head maid either.

The fact that the head maid could do it meant that it wasn’t completely impossible for others. Anyone could attempt it if they were prepared to risk their lives if caught. If they were lucky enough to successfully enter the western garden, they could roam freely inside and no one would know.

Moreover, Mel had never heard news of Genoa and Bane coming here during her stay at the Ivanstein mansion. So even if someone repaired and used that cabin, the two of them wouldn’t notice.

‘Was there someone in the mansion who would secretly do something in a cabin in a garden where the Duke has forbidden entry?’

While Mel had snuck in with the sole intention of clearing up past misunderstandings, it seemed unlikely that anyone from the mansion would risk entering the western garden.

Mel approached the cabin cautiously out of pure curiosity. With each step closer, memories surfaced vividly.

The first cozy space she had shared with her mother. The sense of security when opening that door and entering. The thump of her heart at the sound of small pebbles hitting the window. Genoa’s arms that deliberately made her jump out the window and deliberately caught her.

She remembered all of it.

“……It really is exactly the same.”

Unable to open the cabin door right away, Mel looked around. Fortunately, she couldn’t sense anyone’s presence inside the cabin.

Mel quietly placed her hand against the cabin wall. Even the rough exterior surface that touched her palm was identical to her old memories.

As she headed toward the back of the cabin, she finally found the tree she had been so desperately seeking. The air vent tree. The tree where she had mistaken the hole for a bird’s nest and thrown bread crumbs into it while nestled in her mother’s arms.

“I found it, I found…!”

Overcome with emotion, Mel almost shouted but quickly covered her mouth with both hands. Though she couldn’t hear any sounds or sense any presence from inside the cabin, she needed to be careful.

After silently scolding herself for becoming momentarily careless, Mel examined the tree. With the passage of time, the area around the tree was filled with weeds and crumbled wood debris, making it difficult to examine the hole.

“……I think I’ll need to remove all this to know for sure.”

Mel hadn’t brought any equipment besides the clothes and shoes she wore under her dress. Since she had to accompany the head maid, she couldn’t hide many things. It was regrettable, but she had to postpone her investigation for next time.

Though she was disappointed that she couldn’t find the marker indicating where she had hidden Genoa’s gifts, finding this place was already a significant achievement.

As she turned around to leave, Mel took one more look at the cabin.

‘This window once seemed impossibly high.’

As a child, she had barely climbed up with Genoa’s shoulders as a step and her mother’s help. But now, she had grown tall enough that she could peek inside if she had something to stand on. Mel suddenly realized how much time had passed.

‘Is the inside of the cabin still the same as back then?’

Mel looked around for something to stand on. She easily found a few small rocks nearby and stacked them neatly under the window.

When the rocks were stacked up to her knees, she could just barely peek inside if she stood on them. Feeling the passage of time anew, Mel climbed onto the pile of stones.

“Where is the light coming from……”

As Mel turned her gaze to find the source of the light leaking from the cabin, her eyes discovered something and froze.

“……Gasp!”

Without realizing it, Mel tried to step back but nearly fell backward as her foot slipped. Quickly pressing her body against the cabin wall to regain her balance, she froze with her forehead against the wall.

‘Why? Why? Why?’

A man who shouldn’t be here was curled up asleep on the small bed inside the cabin. The silver thread-like hair that shimmered in the moonlight streaming through the window made Mel’s gaze freeze.

‘Why is the young master sleeping here in such a state?’

It was unmistakably Genoa Ivanstein, a man who wielded power second only to the emperor in this empire. Such a person was sleeping in an old cabin where a mere slave once lived, cramming his body into a tiny bed.

Mel couldn’t believe what she had just seen and looked inside the window again.

“……”

Inside the cabin, the items that Mel and her mother had used remained exactly as they were. Books that Genoa had used to teach Mel how to read were carelessly opened on the floor, and papers where she had practiced writing letters were scattered everywhere.

On the small table, a lantern that Genoa had presumably brought was emitting a faint light, illuminating the inside of the cabin. Genoa was taking an unstable rest there alone, not blending in with his surroundings.

His expression was hidden by his hair and shadows, making it difficult to see properly. But his curled-up body looked pitiful and lonely, like an orphaned animal. It was a feeling Mel had never experienced when looking at him before.

Genoa looked so small……

“Why on earth……”

No matter how much she thought about it, there was no reason for Genoa to be sleeping here like this. He was the Genoa who hadn’t even shown his face to Mel under the excuse of being busy.

‘Has he been sleeping here like this all this time?’

While Mel wasn’t acting as his sleeping pill, had Genoa come here and tried to sleep so uncomfortably? Now she understood his absences whenever she had gone looking for him and the butler had told her he wasn’t there.

Mel recalled the rumors about Duke Ivanstein who couldn’t sleep no matter what he did and could only fall asleep when covered in blood. If that was the case, what meaning did this cabin hold for him that allowed him to sleep so peacefully?

What if Genoa was longing for the Mel of the past? What if he had been coming here on sleepless nights, enduring an uncomfortable sleep?

“……”

Mel’s face contorted as if about to cry. Though there must have been signs of Mel’s presence outside the window, Genoa was sleeping so deeply in that uncomfortable place that he hadn’t noticed.

Her gaze couldn’t leave him. After staring at him for a while, just as Mel was trying to turn away, holding back tears that threatened to overflow—

Sling, the chilling sound of a sword being drawn was right behind Mel’s back,

“Hup!”

A large hand roughly covered Mel’s mouth and pulled her backward. The scream she couldn’t let out was swallowed in the stranger’s grip. A sword that gleamed blue in the darkness was held against her neck. As if it would pierce her throat if she struggled even slightly.

“I believe I told you there are places in the Ivanstein ducal family that one must never enter.”

A familiar voice came from above her head. Mel couldn’t raise her head because of the sword poised to pierce her neck, but she knew the identity of the assailant.

“It seems I must now carry out my lord’s order to execute the princess immediately.”

It was Bane, Genoa’s faithful servant and the captain of the Ivanstein ducal knights.

* * *

Bane dragged Mel like a sack with his rough hands, heading somewhere. He judged there was no need to disturb his lord’s sleep just to execute Mel.

Watching the cabin grow more distant, Mel twisted her body to break free, but the more she struggled, the more painfully Bane tightened his grip.

“Wait, wai……”

“It would be better if you kept your mouth shut, Princess.”

Without a moment’s hesitation, Bane pointed his sword at her again. Mel inhaled sharply and froze pale.

In her panic earlier, she hadn’t realized it, but the sword Bane was wielding was the one that had left a deep wound on Mel’s back in the past. The family sword that supposedly only the Duke of Ivanstein could use. Remembering how painfully it had torn her tender flesh, Mel’s breathing quickened.

As Mel began to break into a cold sweat, Bane, perhaps judging that she was frightened, lowered his sword and continued dragging her. Mel was pulled along helplessly, unable to resist anymore.

Only after they had moved a considerable distance from the cabin did Bane release Mel, almost throwing her down.

“Before I execute you, Princess, you must tell me why you crawled in here.”

Bane still held his sword at Mel’s neck. Even when Mel’s legs gave out and she sat down hard on the bare ground, Bane’s voice remained as cold and resolute as his sharp blade.

“I just, I just came in out of curiosity and got lost, that’s all.”

Mel’s voice trembled as she squeezed her eyes shut. Her body, knowing the pain of being cut by that blade, seemed to scream.

Bane didn’t hide his obvious sneer at Mel’s absurd excuse and said:

“Given how thoroughly prepared you appear to be, I find that hard to believe. Do you have any other excuses prepared?”

“……”

Mel bit her lip hard, trying to reduce her body’s trembling.

Bane was relentless when it came to Genoa’s affairs. If what he was trying to hide in this western garden was Genoa’s condition, then since Mel had witnessed it, Bane would not hesitate for a moment to slit her throat.

“If you kill me without consulting Duke Ivanstein, you’ll only end up ruining his plans.”

Mel ignored her cold sweat and considered room for negotiation. There were still many things Mel needed to do with Genoa before she could be killed. Bane showed weakness when it came to political matters, so he would have difficulty calculating Mel’s usefulness himself. Mel tried to exploit this point.

“The coronation will proceed smoothly, but everyone knows the First Prince won’t accept the result, right? Duke Ivanstein asked me to contact people from the First Prince’s faction. I think you also know the importance of this matter.”

“……So you’re trying to persuade me this way?”

“I’m not persuading you, I’m stating facts. The reason why you shouldn’t kill me right now, Sir Bane.”

Mel looked straight into Bane’s eyes. The displeased expression on Bane’s face meant that he too had reservations about killing Mel right away.

“I never liked you from the beginning. I thought you would eventually have a bad influence on my lord.”

“I knew you felt that way about me, Sir Bane.”

Mel suppressed the surge of indignation she felt at Bane’s strangely relieved voice.

She vaguely understood why Bane reacted so sensitively to her. Because Mel resembled the Mel of the past. So Bane had something that pricked his conscience, and he feared the Reibritton princess who looked too similar.

“You must have had a hard time hiding such suspicious behavior until now. But this time, no excuse will help you, Princess.”

Bane withdrew his sword obediently.

Even without handling it himself, the fact that the princess had entered the forbidden western garden and was peeking into the cabin would probably arouse Genoa’s suspicion. Arousing his suspicion meant giving up any hope of living peacefully in the Ivanstein ducal family.

“I’d like to inform you that being executed by my hand might be a better option for you, Princess.”

“……”

Mel narrowed her eyes at his words.

Bane, whose intention to properly remove Mel from Genoa’s side in this opportunity was evident, seemed unlikely to be persuaded by anything she said.

If she were caught entering the western garden and questioned by Genoa about her reasons, Mel would likely meet an unfavorable end. She hadn’t yet gathered enough evidence to clear up the misunderstanding from that day.

But the biggest evidence that could clear her name of betrayal was right before her eyes.

“Sir Bane.”

“Speak.”

Moreover, Mel had one thing she was certain about regarding Bane. His eyes, trembling with anxiety whenever she was near Genoa, gave her a strange confidence.

“I have one last question.”

“Yes.”

Having gained an opportunity to deal with the princess, Bane appeared quite generous. But his relaxed attitude didn’t last long after Mel’s next question.

“Why did you tell the young master I was dead when you knew I hadn’t died?”

“What are you…?”

“Mother told me. That it was you, Sir Bane, who saved me when I was dying and brought me to her.”

“……!”

Bane’s face hardened. Unlike his face, which showed no movement, his eyes were shaking violently. His increasingly wide eyes seemed to say ‘unbelievable.’ Looking at Bane like this, Mel gradually became certain that what she had vaguely thought was true.

“Duke Ivanstein believes that slave betrayed him as soon as he was dragged to the testing ground. Then ‘that thing’ I asked to be delivered must have been presented as something you provided, Sir Bane?”

“How could you know that!”

“So that’s how you, who was the young master’s servant, could become the captain of the Ivanstein ducal knights?”

With Mel’s continued words, Bane finally realized that the suspicion and anxiety he had always harbored inside had surfaced. It was an anxiety and suspicion that Genoa, who was certain Mel had died, would never have felt. It was a burden that only Bane carried alone, knowing that Mel was alive somewhere.

“When I first saw you as the captain of the knights, I wanted to congratulate you. It was your dream, wasn’t it? To become a knight and protect the young master.”

Whenever Genoa would talk about how Mel might have grown up if she were alive, Bane also imagined Mel’s grown-up appearance. Genoa might have pictured her running toward him with a bright smile. But the Mel that Bane imagined was different from Genoa’s vision.

In his imagination, Mel asked him this with a sharp, resentful gaze and a bleak voice, just like the woman standing before him now.

“So you made me a traitor to the young master?”

“So you made me a traitor to the young master?”

When the voice he had once heard in a nightmare overlapped with the princess’s voice, Bane finally realized.

“You’re Mel?”

Bane’s voice trembled uncontrollably. His eyes filled with the image of Mel’s face, smiling coldly with one corner of her mouth curled up.

“My greeting is too late, isn’t it?”

“How could you, how could you be the Reibritton princess……”

“Let’s talk about that later. We have so much to discuss in the future.”

Mel raised her body from where she had been sitting. The trembling had already stopped.

While she brushed off the dust on her clothes, Bane remained frozen, only opening and closing his mouth without being able to speak.

“If I could speak openly with you like this, there was something I wanted to ask first, Sir Bane.”

Mel brushed off the dust on Bane’s stiff shoulders and pressed herself close to him. When she brought her lips near his ear, he was holding his breath so tightly that not even the slightest breath could be felt between his parted lips.

Not realizing how much more her insides twisted at his abandoned attitude, which just moments ago had been so ready to take her life with apparent satisfaction.

“Do you know where ‘that thing’ was stored?”

At Mel’s words, Bane, who had been frozen as if time had stopped, roughly grabbed both her shoulders. His urgent expression told Mel the answer without him having to speak.

“You don’t know, do you?”

“……You!”

Bane doesn’t know. Where ‘that thing’ is stored would be extremely important to Genoa.

In fact, Bane never told Genoa. That’s why he couldn’t earn his complete trust.

Realizing this fact, Mel smiled brightly at Bane.

“But I know.”