PRKE 02

CHAPTER 02…………………………………

For the first time, I wanted to break the old vow that I would never steal anything from him.

But I forced myself to believe. I didn’t want to think he was avoiding me for the same reason others would—because a barbarian had “tainted” my body.

He was the only one who ever treated a wretch like me kindly. I couldn’t be the one to let go of that hand that once shone brighter than jewels.

The servants, who had always despised me for “climbing above my station,” now glanced at me as if I were something filthy.

Life in the count’s manor was becoming increasingly miserable.

Then one day—

「Egrein, get up. Hurry!」

“Leo?”

Leo’s urgent voice jolted me upright in bed.

“Kyyaaak! Barbarians! Barbarians have broken in!”

A shrieking scream.

Clang! Clang! Clang-clang!

People screaming and weapons clashing echoed continuously from outside.

“Kkiyaoooooo!”

A strange cry filled with rage. The sound of barbarians.

The kingdom was fertile and rich in resources, so the Empire’s barbarians frequently invaded to plunder.

But even so, to break all the way into the capital?

They couldn’t handle the climate here, so they rarely crossed beyond the outer villages.

‘Something’s not right.’

Despite the chaos, my room was quiet. No one came looking for me.

“Kyyaaaak!”

A servant screamed nearby. The barbarians must have broken into the manor itself.

Suddenly, I thought of Hubert.

‘He’s in danger.’

“Hubert!”

I ran to the lord’s chambers and flung the door open. The room was empty.

Had he gone to deal with the crisis?

I was about to run downstairs when another possibility entered my mind.

‘No way…’

Anxious, I ran.

I reached the place I feared most—it was much closer to his room than mine. Aris’s room, where she, the collateral member of the Lorenst family, stayed.

Before opening the door, I sensed it. The scene inside wouldn’t be pleasant.

My hand wouldn’t move.

“Kyyaaaak!”

The screams outside were getting closer.

I couldn’t wait any longer. I threw the door open.

Inside was a world completely different from the one outside.

“I’m so scared…”

“The soldiers are dealing with it, don’t worry. The palace guards will be here soon. Try to sleep. I’m worried you’ll faint again.”

Hubert—whom I had desperately searched for—was there.

He was gently stroking Aris’s blond hair, comforting her.

My limbs went limp.

“Egrein?”

Lady Emmern frowned.

“What are you doing here? What about outside?”

Hubert flinched when he finally noticed me.

From the doorway, I took in the scene.

The former count, now viscount after Hubert inherited the title, and his second wife, Lady Emmern—people who always clicked their tongues at me as though I were a stain on their family record.

And Hubert and Aris, whom I once served as young master and lady.

The four of them huddled together, waiting for the danger to pass. A harmonious family.
Perfect—if you removed me.

‘Was I ever truly part of this group in the first place?’

Even though I wanted to collapse, I forced myself to speak one last time.

“The soldiers are fighting the barbarians. Is everyone alright?”

The viscount nodded wearily.

“How could something so absurd happen? Go check the situation outside. Everyone is too frightened to move.”

Hubert avoided my eyes. Lady Emmern urged me sharply.

“Did you not hear the viscount? Why are you still standing there? Go!”

And then I realized.

Since I returned from the palace, not one of them had met my eyes.

The screams from outside gradually faded.

The ones who suppressed the chaos were the palace guards and the Empire’s ferocious prince.

From inside the manor and from the rear courtyard, our gazes met briefly through a window—but parted even faster.

Just a moment, but strangely, the prince’s black eyes burned themselves into my memory.

The Lorenst manor wasn’t the only target that day. A barbarian—no one knew from where—had attempted to kidnap the princess.

The imperial prince intervened swiftly, and the plan failed, but the king—whose only daughter had nearly been taken—was furious.

The Empire insisted the attackers were rogue warriors with no connection to them. It was a lazy lie.

People whispered that tensions between kingdom and empire had finally become real.

A war would hurt many. I prayed everyone would remain safe.

Perhaps the mistake was not praying for my own safety.

A week later, kingdom soldiers arrested me.

Even shoved into the courtroom waiting room, I could not understand what was happening.

I genuinely considered bribing the guard.

‘No, wait. Something must be wrong. A mistake.’

If I ran, it would look like I was confessing to a crime I never committed.

“How dare you attempt to sell this kingdom to the Empire.”

“No punishment is too harsh for a traitor.”

The contempt with which the courtroom greeted me made even less sense.

Sell the kingdom to the Empire?

Who?

‘I’ve fenced stolen jewels before, but I’ve never sold a whole country.’

Only during the trial did I learn the charges against me.

Several others had been arrested with me. Before them lay bloodied bodies—tortured beyond recognition.

One face was familiar.

‘Aris’s friend?’

The man Aris had recently met at a salon. Jacques, was it? I recognized the smooth-faced young man.

People called him an imperial spy.

“Egrein Lorenst. Your crime of colluding with barbarians to open the Lorenst gates is grave.”

The judge’s stern but nonsensical voice faded into the background as I searched for Hubert.

Even if things had been strained, Hubert would help. At least tell me what was going on.

That hope shattered when I saw the Lorenst family.

“I can’t believe it. How could my sister do something so awful…”

Aris clung to Hubert’s shoulder, staring at me. His eyes were icy.

Until now he’d only avoided my gaze. But now he looked straight at me—without wavering.

‘Ah… hell.’

Finally, I understood everything.

My lips twisted before I realized it.

“I never thought you’d betray me like this, Hubert Lorenst.”

I stared directly into his eyes.

“You conscience-less bastard—fit to boil your own hunting dog.”

It was the first time I ever cursed him. I had always watched my language since living in the count’s house.

Hubert’s face twisted. Aris pointed a trembling finger at me.

“How dare you talk like that? Showing your true colors now?”

I had wondered why barbarians attacked the Lorenst manor specifically.

The traitor wasn’t me.

It was Aris.

A laugh rose uncontrollably. Better that than crying.

Hubert spoke in a heavy voice.

“You endangered the family, Egrein.”

“…”

“There was nothing else I could do.”

I ignored him and looked at Aris in his arms.

She glanced at me, fear flickering in her eyes.

“You should’ve chosen your boyfriends more carefully.”

Aris’s pale face twisted, and despite everything, I felt pity.

To think I’d once tiptoed around someone like her.

Colluding with barbarians was treason punishable by death.

Even as they dragged me to the guillotine, I laughed like someone insane.

Memories of the day I rejoiced at being accepted into the count’s family flickered and crumbled like dust.

The moment I’d secretly thrilled at standing proudly by the young master I loved also faded.

‘There’s nothing more foolish than giving your devotion to someone else.’

I regretted trying not to stand out for the family’s sake, regretted giving Hubert credit for everything I’d done.

‘That was never like me.’

After being betrayed so many times, why did I still trust? Foolish.

The blade fell toward my neck.

At that moment—

「No!」

A desperate wail jolted my spirit.

‘Leo?’

「You must live, idiot. Why are you realizing this only now? Live! Live and find the guardian who can help you—and find who you truly are!」

Before I could ask what he meant, my consciousness plunged into darkness.

Born into the lowest rungs of the kingdom, I lived as a thief.

What my parents taught me—though others might sneer—was all useful for survival.

How to steal quietly, crack simple safes, clean, launder, cook, and demoralize an opponent with sharp, colorful insults.

Of them all, theft was the most practical.

My father—who stole me away as a baby from my mother when she became a maid in the count’s household—raised me with great affection.

He treated thievery as a respectable profession, so naturally I followed in his footsteps.

The ten years I spent with him shaped me entirely.

He left me at my mother’s feet when he was dying of illness, but I held only warm memories of him.

My mother, however, despised him. I can’t blame her.

If my husband ran off with our entire savings, I wouldn’t forgive him either.
Though she did fall for another man first…

‘They were both at fault.’

Either way, she wasn’t happy to see her daughter return. At least she didn’t throw me out—and for that I’m grateful.

From then on, I lived as a maid, not a thief.

I held a broom and dusted flour off my hands. I was good at most physical work, so chores came easily.

But in a noble household, that didn’t matter much. It meant nothing toward becoming a head maid—let alone a lady of the house.