Chapter 3 The Princess, The Villain
Veronia, the villainess of the novel she has been reading for years.
She was a victim of the selfish and despicable imperial family, and although she felt sorry for her, she never understood her.
Just because a character has an unfortunate narrative doesn’t mean that all of their evil deeds are forgiven.
‘It was even cathartic when he tried to kill the heroine, failed, and was executed.’
But now she is in a completely different position.
Just because she enjoyed her death doesn’t mean she wants to die the same way.
She is not a fool.
‘I’m going to run away, I’m going to run away from death, I’m going to run away from this horrible family, I’m going to run away from this original story where I have to live and die a wicked woman!’
Veronia made up her mind.
She had no other choice.
The Emperor’s eyes narrowed and he spoke.
“This will be the first time you’ve seen Lord Killion in two years, so you’ll need to be prepared. Make sure you seduce him properly so we can hasten the wedding.”
“Do you intend to hasten Veronia’s marriage, father?”
Jonathan asked, and the Emperor nodded.
It may not have been visible in the eyes of the others, but it was there in Veronia’s eyes.
The muscles in the right corner of Jonathan’s mouth twitched whenever the subject of Killion came up.
‘You’re jealous, Jonathan. And rightly so, for my people have more confidence in the Commander-in-Chief of the United Knights than they do in their soon-to-be crown prince.’
‘You could have done better than that, running off with your arse at the first sign of a surprise attack on the border you were visiting on a visitation.’ Veronia stifle a sigh.
The crown prince is jealous of her fiancé and does evil things, and the princess is jealous of her mistress and does evil things.
It was a fairly typical plot of a romance fantasy web novel.
The protagonist is supposed to endure all kinds of hardships and adversity.
However, from Veronia’s point of view, who suddenly entered this world in the body of an evil woman, it resembled an express train to hell.
While Veronia’s mind was racing with thoughts, the Emperor stroked his beard and answered Jonathan’s question.
“I think you’d better go,” the Emperor said, stroking his beard, “reports are coming in of unrest in the southern and eastern provinces.”
With unstable borders, bad harvests, and frequent demonic outbreaks, life was hard for the people.
Nevertheless, the imperial family and nobles were too concerned with their own well-being to look after the people.
The festering pus was about to burst.
“Marriage is marriage, but it is the opinion of the Senate that a honeymoon tour of the two provinces will have a positive effect on restoring public sentiment.”
“And if they make a child while touring the South, they could even put on the ‘child of the South’ frame!”
“Tate, how ingenious of you to think of such a thing!”
“You’re too kind, father.”
“Then perhaps it wouldn’t be a bad idea to give him a good estate in the south, Killion, and let him raise a child there!”
Heh heh heh, the Emperor chuckled pleasantly, stroking his beard.
Tate’s shoulders slumped in response to his praise.
‘What a bunch of bullshit humans, I’ve had enough!’
A family that plans marriages, pregnancies, and births without even thinking about us!
Veronia shuddered at their arrogance and cruelty.
“I will have a pretty dress ready to help you seduce Lord Killion. So, Veronia, don’t worry about yourself, but do your best to compose yourself.”
The empress opened her mouth in imitation of an earthly mother.
“Oh, and by the way, since you won’t be out in the sun while you’re in bed, you might as well focus on your skin care!”
Ho-ho-ho, the Empress, looking pleased with herself, laughed softly.
Veronia’s headache as her laughter pierced her eardrums.
It was as if the blood that couldn’t escape was burrowing into her head and causing a headache.
* * *
Dagdag, dagdag-
The Knights of the Noble Alliance, led by Killion, were marching towards the entrance of the capital.
The Order was originally formed to exterminate demons, but two years ago, the imperial government requested their assistance.
The reasoning was that the border regions were in constant conflict, and the Imperial Knights alone were unable to resolve it.
The Noble Alliance Knights, led by Killion, have been helping the Imperial Knights defend the borders for the past two years, traveling from region to region.
Countless battles have been fought, countless victories have been won, and time has passed quickly.
Finally, the border region was deemed to be somewhat stable, and the Knights were allowed to return home.
The imperial court thanked them for their efforts and even organized a victory ceremony.
A feat is a feat, but this was an allied order of knights led by the Emperor’s future son-in-law, Count Killion Drea.
Naturally, the knights’ steps and hearts were lightened by the anticipation of a spectacular victory ceremony.
Despite being exhausted from over a week of marching, the thousand or so knights showed no signs of weariness.
Windler, the aide-de-camp, approached Killion.
“At this rate, I think we’ll arrive in time for the victory ceremony.”
“Yes.”
“I’m glad to see the knights’ morale is high.”
Killion nodded slightly at Windler’s report.
Then it was time.
Killion’s companions moved closer to him.
They were the mainstay of the Knights of the Alliance, the second-in-command, Count Vale, Baron Anderson, and Viscount Cooper.
“I have so much to look forward to!”
“I assume Her Highness will be in the arms of Commander-in-Chief Killion again today?”
“Don’t tell me you don’t know! I think Her Highness will be putting her lips to him first.”
“Ah, yes, indeed, he did!”
“Well, I envy somebody!”
The men laughed at the top of their lungs as they cracked a series of dirty jokes.
Undaunted by the commotion, Killion looked ahead without replying.
Before they were mates on this expedition, they were also old friends, having spent their childhood together.
They knew more about Killion and Veronia’s situation than anyone else.
Someone spoke up.
“Two years ago, at the departure ceremony.”
That sentence alone replayed the exact same scene in their minds.
Veronia, her dress fluttering, rushed forward and caught Killion as he was leaving.
But she didn’t stop there, she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him.
It was deep, and it was long.
“That was something!”
“Our youngest was weeping that night, that he’d lost his princess.”
He was laughing so hard he couldn’t see his companions.
Killion’s face grew redder and redder from his neck down.
One by one, his colleagues began to recall his dark history.
“It was on his fifteenth birthday, I believe, when the Princess gave him his first kiss?”
“I thought you were just kidding when you said there were no other gifts and the kiss was a gift.”
“There was no other gift, really, only a real kiss.”
“Well, you’re quite the lady, aren’t you, my dear, blurring the lines between serious and joking?”
Killion wanted to close his ears and ignore what he heard, but it wasn’t easy.
The memories of black history were still sharp, no matter how many years had passed.
“And the best of them were the handcuffs!”
“That’s right, handcuffs!”
“You were just engaged, weren’t you? You weren’t going crazy then!”
Killion’s stomach suddenly churned and a nauseous feeling came over him at the old stories he couldn’t help but hear, even if he didn’t want to.
What the girl, whose pretty face was full of smiles, said with a chuckle was shocking.
‘Isn’t this what all engaged people do? You have to spend a lot of time together to make a beautiful couple, isn’t that what I was taught?’
The handcuffs that bound Veronia and Killion’s wrists were enchanted to release after exactly three days.
This meant that the newly engaged 10-year-old girl and 12-year-old boy had to live together for three whole days.
“Three days, you two, handcuffed to each other?”
“It was a spell cast by a great wizard, and they couldn’t break it, not with weapons, not with any other magic.”
The chuckle, small at first, faded.
“But now that I think about it, it’s a little scary. At the time, I took it as a heartfelt prank from the young princess.”
“Exactly. Being stuck with a fiancée I barely know for three days! Ugh, I’m creeped out now!”
His colleagues began to take notice.
Come to think of it, it was after that day.
That’s when Killion, who already didn’t enjoy being around people, became almost agoraphobic.
He’d come through it, but it had been a terrible trauma.
“Will you stop now?”
Killion growled lowly.
“Yeah, yeah, I’ll stop.”
“Now loosen up, why would we do this to you, we’re jealous of you.”
His companions began to soothe him gently.
“I have experienced the miracle that just by looking at the Princess face, all my cares and worries disappear, it’s amazing!”
“So do I. Just a minute, nay, thirty seconds of looking at her. I often think that the healing power of Her Highness’ smile is more powerful than the healing power of the Saint who appeared in the West.”
“And yet, only you, Killion, have been able to take Her Highness into your arms and kiss her!”
“You lucky bastard!”
Embarrassed to continue to listen to the chatter, which was a mixture of jokes and seriousness, Killion could stand it no longer.
His gruff voice rang out low.
“If you continue to speak disloyal words about Her Highness, … I will deal with you to the fullest extent of imperial and military law, whether you are a colleague or a friend.”
His glare at his companions was quite sharp.
It was as if you could cut somewhere on his body with just a glance.
“Hehe! Why is he so uptight? I didn’t see him like that!”
“We were merely praising the Princess!”
“It’s not a sin to worship the beauty and loveliness of the Princess, is it!”
Killion let out a small, shallow sigh at his companions’ grumbling.
He spurred his horse on and rode away from his companions.
