Chapter 02
The massage room door burst open without warning.
“Goodness!”
Lavenda screamed and threw herself over Serena’s body, shielding her.
Serena shouted at the uninvited guest, obscured by Lavenda.
“How dare you!”
If she’d heard a man’s voice instead of a woman’s, she would have immediately called for their heads. Along with the massage parlor staff who had allowed the intruder in.
“There you are! I’m so sorry, Serena!”
But somehow, the intruder’s voice sounded familiar.
Serena covered herself with a towel and pushed Lavenda aside.
The one who opened the door and entered was none other than the reason Serena wasn’t famous as a beautiful princess.
Silver hair that seemed to glow fantastically even without light, blue eyes that no sea, lake, pond, or sky in the world could rival. A slender and elegant figure. Features so exquisite that one glance could tip a castle, and two could tip a nation.
That was none other than Huji’s greatest beauty, Philia. And her job was Serena’s lady-in-waiting.
Coincidentally, when Serena had first discovered Lavenda’s shop, Philia had been on holiday, so this was the first time Lavenda and her staff had seen her.
Everyone was frozen in awe at her extraordinary beauty.
It was the perfect example of how even the most rational mind can be paralyzed by overwhelming beauty.
Serena frowned slightly. She’d been caught too quickly.
“You found me well.”
“I searched so hard, Serena! How long have you been coming to this shop? Why do you come alone without me? You’re not going with other ladies-in-waiting instead of me, are you? Tell me you’re not!”
“That’s not it. I always come here alone. Come inside and don’t make a fuss. Shh. You know I ran away from the palace.”
“Ran away?”
Lavenda, standing beside Serena, spoke without thinking. Serena shrugged.
It was an emergency evacuation to escape unfair labor exploitation.
“If you were going to leave the palace, you should have told me. Or come to my house. I was dying not being able to see you during the Foundation Day period.”
As you can see, because the lady-in-waiting’s beauty was so overwhelming that it might slightly overshadow her mistress, Philia had been given a temporary leave during the Foundation Day period.
But Philia’s eyes welled up with tears, as if hurt that the princess hadn’t sought her out.
When those incomparable blue eyes glistened with tears, everyone felt genuine sympathy.
“Shh. I told you to be quiet.”
Everyone except Serena, who was used to that face.
“If Count Baker sent you to find me, go back. I’m resting today and doing nothing.”
Philia was always on Serena’s side, but she might have been caught by Count Baker while looking for Serena. She was probably already discovered.
If it reached Count Baker, the Minister of Foreign Affairs? What followed was predictable. Foreign Ministry officials would come find the princess and tearfully plead with her.
‘Please just do the work!’
Labor! What a horrible thing.
Just thinking about it made her teeth chatter and gave her chills. Her stomach felt like it was turning inside out.
“Oh, right. That’s not it!”
“Then what is it?”
“There’s big trouble.”
“What kind of trouble?”
Now that she mentioned it, the lady-in-waiting’s complexion had been poor since she arrived.
“Grand Duke Oren is looking for you, Serena!”
“Even if Richard is looking for me, it’s the same. Go tell him you couldn’t find me.”
Richard Oren Huaim. Grand Duke Oren was Serena’s cousin, and like her, one of the few members of the Huji royal family.
He, too, was considered a sensible person, and like Serena, had been suffering from the limited-time heavy workload during the Foundation Day period.
‘He must not want to work either. That’s a bit much, though.’
How much must he have hated working to try and drag back his runaway cousin? They don’t even interact much normally.
“That’s not it. He’s a little… very… strange.”
“Richard is always strange.”
He kept trying to pat his cousin’s head, even though they weren’t close. Still, he was better than a drug addict or a worthless layabout, so he was loved by everyone.
“Really, I mean it!”
Philia raised her voice, indicating it was no ordinary matter.
“They say Grand Duke Oren drew his sword from its sheath and is looking for Serena!”
‘Really?’
Drawing a sword and looking for someone—that means he intends to kill them.
Serena was dumbfounded.
“Was he that annoyed that I ran away? That’s harsh.”
“It’s true! They said it looked serious! I didn’t see it myself, and neither did the person who told me. But anyway, they said it was serious! They said he drew his sword before His Majesty!”
Drawing a sword before the king?
“That’s treason.”
“Cough.”
Lavenda, a mere masseuse who had just heard something far beyond her pay grade, choked on her saliva and coughed.
At that point, Lavenda snapped out of her stupor and hurriedly excused herself. She didn’t forget to take the gathered crowd with her.
Serena pressed her forehead. Because she hadn’t wiped the oil off her hands, her face became sticky too.
‘So annoying.’
The lady-in-waiting who blurted out royal affairs without dismissing the staff, and the oil on her face—both were irritating.
But what could she do?
Who had hired that lady-in-waiting solely for her looks? Serena.
Who had pressed her forehead forgetting the oil on her hands? Serena, again. It was all her own doing.
“Anyway, it’s dangerous. Run away with me.”
The lady-in-waiting urged her, but it wasn’t the time to wash up leisurely. Serena roughly wiped off the oil applied all over her body and threw her clothes on over it. It was sticky and the fabric clung to her skin, which was extremely unpleasant.
Serena decided to throw away both the clothes and shoes she was wearing.
“If he did that before His Majesty, wouldn’t the Royal Knights have arrested him?”
“It doesn’t seem so. I only heard secondhand, so I’m not sure. Anyway, he said to take you quickly to the Imperial Embassy.”
“That serious?”
She’d thought she’d just go to Philia’s house, but the embassy came up. Serena stopped walking, unable to understand.
“Could it really be a rebellion?”
Serena’s eyes sharpened.
Currently, the Huji Kingdom’s succession order was complicated due to the “Tragedy of Huji,” split between Crown Prince Kipan’s faction and Grand Duke Oren’s faction.
If Grand Duke Oren had started a rebellion, the Crown Prince’s faction had no chance of winning. Frankly, Grand Duke Oren was more suited for the throne than the Crown Prince. Even Serena, as his daughter, could see that. Everyone probably thought so.
What Serena wanted to point out here was the word “everyone.” Right there.
“Everyone” included Serena’s grandfather, Harold II. Grand Duke Oren had no need to resort to the bad move of rebellion.
“Everyone knows Grandfather wants to depose Father and make Richard the Crown Prince. At least in Hujichen, even the stray dogs know it. And you’re telling me Richard drew his sword before Grandfather? Not Father or Seraph?”
To draw a sword before the king, you’d have to be crazy. As far as Serena knew, the only person crazy enough to do that was her father.
“He must have seen hallucinations from withdrawal symptoms and drawn his sword. Isn’t it just a case of mistaken identity—Father being confused with Richard?”
Crown Prince Kipan was a severe drug addict. Because of the king’s strict orders, he’d been forcibly cut off from drugs during the Foundation Day period, so it was entirely possible he was suffering withdrawal symptoms and drew his sword.
‘He does see hallucinations sometimes.’
The Crown Prince, suffering from hallucinations, had often assaulted or nearly killed people around him. He’d never done it before the king, but it wouldn’t be surprising if it finally happened.
“With all those foreign envoys here, there’s no way Richard or Seraph would draw their swords. It must be Father causing trouble. The message must have gotten garbled when it was passed to you.”
“But they clearly said to run away…”
“He’s probably worried the fallout will hit me too.”
Sadly, when her drug-addict father caused trouble, the fallout often landed on his children.
Harold II sometimes took out his anger over his useless son on the son’s children.
Serena, being the eldest of the two, had been scolded the most.
‘Because Dad is lacking, I, as his child, have to take care of him? That’s ridiculous.’
Serena had just become an adult. She had a lot of complaints about her grandfather, who scolded her for things she couldn’t accept.
‘This guilt-by-association thing is bad. The drug addict is worse. What am I supposed to do that I was born and found out my dad’s a drug addict? If he’s your own child, you should take responsibility. Why shift the blame to your granddaughter when you neglected to discipline your youngest and he went astray?’
Serena furrowed her brow. She pressed and smoothed it out, worried about wrinkles.
Anyway, just thinking about this messed-up family and her blood relatives made her face scrunch up involuntarily.
“Or maybe Father drew his sword before His Majesty, and Richard drew his to stop him. And looking for me is to calm Father down.”
“Now that you mention it… that makes sense.”
Philia readily agreed. Actually, she’d rushed out to find Serena after only hearing her husband’s message through the communication device, so she didn’t know the details.
“He only said Grand Duke Oren drew his sword and was looking for Serena, then hung up.”
“Try contacting him again.”
Philia called her husband through the communication device. Philia’s husband didn’t answer.
“He must be very busy.”
“Well, of course there’s chaos. It seems certain that someone drew a sword before His Majesty.”
Serena felt dizzy and pressed her forehead again. It was still sticky, and her hair clung to it unpleasantly.
“I don’t know whether this is a national disgrace or a family disgrace. It’s so absurd I’m at a loss for words.”
Serena passed by the bowing massage parlor staff and left the shop.
“But how did you find me? Did you send people?”
Instead of answering, Philia pointed to the café across the street. A knight sitting by the café window, staring intently at the massage parlor, looked truly out of place.
“With him staring so openly, of course I’d be spotted.”
Everyone was immersed in the festive atmosphere, so a knight in plate armor glaring at the shop across the street stood out a lot. He’d taken off his helmet, but that didn’t make his armor disappear.
‘Even if he weren’t a knight, he’d stand out.’
An adult man glaring at a massage parlor with a “Men Forbidden” sign. Highly suspicious. If he weren’t in a knight’s uniform, someone might have reported him to the guard.
‘This is why rookies are…’
The knight accompanying Serena today had never been on an escort mission. At least, he’d never escorted Serena. He might be skilled in combat, but he lacked such security experience and was clumsy.
‘All the experienced ones are busy, so it can’t be helped. And I can’t go alone.’
She doubted anyone in Hujichen would dare harm Serena, but safety came first.
Since it was the festival season, there were more people, more outsiders, and more incidents, so it didn’t hurt to be careful.
The knight who spotted Serena hurriedly paid his bill and left the café.
Philia also looked around, searching for her own escort and carriage.
“I don’t see the carriage. Not yours either, Serena.”
“They probably parked it elsewhere, thinking you’d be getting a massage with me.”
“Oh, right.”
Since it was a shop catering to nobles, there was a place nearby to park carriages. As Serena headed there, the knight reported.
“I heard they moved the carriage elsewhere in case the horses got startled by the fireworks. They told me the location, so I’ll go fetch it.”
The knight pointed in the direction of the carriage. He gestured to some children near the café and shops to run a small errand. He was going to give them a few coins to bring the carriage.
Serena was about to tell him to do that when a firework exploded nearby and the crowded streets made her change her mind.
“What if the horses get startled by the fireworks on the way here and bolt? And with two carriages, the road would get congested. If it’s not far, I’ll just walk.”
“I heard it’s quite a distance, but if we take the back alley, we can cut across and get there faster. This way.”
The knight pointed to a narrow path between buildings. It was cramped and dirty.
While Serena hesitated for a moment, children carrying wooden toys tumbled out of the narrow alleyway. Their cheerful laughter drowned out the fireworks.
“Thank you, Daddy!”
Behind the children, a sallow-faced man emerged. His clothes were dirty and worn, as if they hadn’t been washed in months, and his skin was chafed in places.
He didn’t look well-off, yet he seemed to have bought toys for his children for the festival.
Serena’s lips curled up involuntarily.
‘If children use this path, it can’t be that dangerous.’
As Serena nodded, the knight took the lead. Some parts of the path were so narrow only one or two adults could pass, while others were slightly wider.
“So, you can’t do business here!”
“Oh, you’re a persistent one. Coming all the way here to collect stall fees.”
“Not stall fees! I’m a guard, a guard!”
A street vendor selling children’s toys was arguing with a city guard. The knight, who had tensed at the noise, relaxed upon hearing the conversation. Serena and Philia did the same.
“The stall is blocking the path. I’ll go clear it up.”
The knight approached them. That was the moment the ground shook.
“Eek!”
Startled, Serena lost her balance and stumbled, her foot slipping. Philia, closely following behind Serena, bumped into her and fell backward.
Serena fell forward, and Philia fell backward. They should have hit the ground, but instead, they were flying through the air. More precisely, the earth had bounced them up.
*Koo-goong.*
Her head spun. Her vision blurred. Their hands met in midair, but they couldn’t find their balance, and their free arms flailed wildly.
*Koo-gu-goong.*
The ground rumbled. Cracks formed in the walls lining the alley, and stone dust rained down. The sound of pillars breaking echoed from all directions. The alley floor seemed to ripple like waves, then collapsed downward.
“Kyaaaaa!”
The terror of being thrown into the air was buried by the even greater terror of plummeting to the ground.
Serena had never been so frightened in her entire life—before or after being born.
‘I’m going to die like this? After finally being reincarnated as a princess?’
She was supposed to have decades of honey-sucking ahead of her, yet she’d die before even reaching twenty. What kind of nonsense was that!
I object!
Whether Serena objected or not, gravity ruthlessly dropped the two of them down.
Down, down, endlessly down.
