TVWRL Chapter 60
Feelings of guilt, frustration, anger, and sadness settled on Ilias’s face.
“To be facing death on our wedding night… I feel ashamed. I’m sorry for putting you through such a difficult situation because of me.”
“It’s okay. Don’t apologize so much. We’re in this together, after all. And who else would have such a dynamic first night?”
I couldn’t help but chuckle at the absurdity of having such a dynamic first night as someone from Dynamic Korea.
Anyway, since justice had prevailed, I didn’t feel bad.
“I want to assure you that such things won’t happen again, but I can’t, and I’m sorry for that. However, I will definitely protect you, Adeline, so that you remain safe.”
I could feel that Ilias was speaking with all his heart and sincerity.
“Yes. But Your Highness, it was scary, but it wasn’t bad.”
I whispered, lowering my voice, as I saw Ilias looking at me in surprise.
“After all, we’re probably the only ones who have spent a night like this.”
As I smiled brightly, a faint smile finally appeared on Ilias’s lips.
☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓 ☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓
As he said, the moment morning came, Zion rushed in through the window.
What was even more surprising was that our door had not opened until Zion arrived.
He probably didn’t want to be the one to discover our bodies if we had died.
At this point, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to consider all the palace attendants of the prince’s palace as the empress’s people.
As the princess responsible for the inner court of the prince’s palace, I couldn’t just stand by and watch this situation, so I vowed to replace everyone as soon as possible.
Zion spoke desperately and urgently, without even catching his breath.
“Your Highness, Princess, are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
Unlike Ilias, who answered nonchalantly, Zion seemed to be filled with mixed emotions. Looking at the blood-soaked room, Zion spoke softly.
“I wasn’t able to protect you again, Your Highness.”
“I can protect myself. But since you were the first to rush here, don’t worry too much. Where have you been this time?”
“I went to support the outskirts of the capital.”
When the assassins were sent to Ilias’s room, the entire guard unit was changed without any warning. It left only Ilias alone in the vast imperial palace.
While the danger was indeed perilous, it pained me to think of him enduring and fighting alone in what should have been the safest space, with no one to rely on in such a large area.
If the last bastion, his home, had fallen, it would not be an exaggeration to say that there was no safe space for Ilias in the empire.
I was so angry that my whole body trembled, and I jumped to my feet.
“What are you doing, Lin?”
“I need to train the palace attendants who haven’t shown any signs of life until now. Leave the palace to me. And I would like you both to step outside.”
Ilias nodded.
“Sir Zion, open the door.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
As Zion raised his sword to cut the doorknob, I stopped him.
“Can you make it so loud that the door itself comes off its hinges?”
“Of course, Your Highness.”
As Zion swung his sword widely, the door fell outward with a loud crash.
Thud!
Ilias and Sion had already jumped out the window and were nowhere to be seen.
In the chaos that no one could ignore, the head attendant and head maid, along with other palace attendants, quickly gathered.
Their eyes were filled with intense curiosity. For a moment, disappointment was visible on the faces of the head attendant and head maid.
I could never forgive them. They were the Empress’s accomplices.
“Line up behind the head attendant and head maid.”
The palace attendants, looking bewildered, aligned themselves behind the head attendant and head maid.
I ordered the youngest-looking maid to fetch a branch. Whether she was perceptive or not, she returned with a thick and sturdy branch.
I looked at the head attendant and said, “Open your palm.”
The head attendant, looking confused, extended his palm. I struck his hand with the branch. As hard as I could!
“Ah!”
The head attendant cried out, hiding his palm.
“Your Highness, what is the meaning of this?”
“What do you mean? You are being quite arrogant.”
The head attendant glared at me, not hiding his rebellious gaze.
“Princess! You will regret this.”
I could sense him gritting his teeth as he spoke.
“Regret? Who? Me? Hahaha.”
I laughed at him loudly.
“Are you threatening me? How dare you threaten royalty? Just know that you’ve just added another crime to your list.”
The head attendant’s gaze was arrogant, as if to say, “What can you do?”
“Confinement, complicity in murder, dereliction of duty—don’t you think you all deserve punishment?”
I glared coldly at the palace attendants. Until now, Ilias had never raised an issue about this. So, the attendants must have thought they could just sit back and relax.
But I had no intention of letting it slide quietly like Ilias did. I would take the place of the madwoman in this area.
“Have you all gone deaf? And you didn’t come even though the sun is high in the sky. How wicked and lazy you are. The worst palace attendants. I will punish all of you.”
Only then did the head maid seem to realize that the situation was serious, and she hurriedly came up with an excuse.
“Your Highness, there were circumstances today.”
I ignored her words.
“How many attendants are there in the prince’s palace?”
“About 80.”
That was an absurdly low number compared to others. It was clear that the prince’s palace was not being properly managed.
Typically, the larger emperors’ and empresses’ palaces had around 300 attendants. Even Aiden’s palace, which was similar in scale to ours, had over 200 attendants managing it.
I had no intention of simply dismissing the Empress’s accomplices. I planned to torment them enough to make them want to leave the prince’s palace on their own.
“I’m holding back my urge to cut off your heads with my sword right now. Wouldn’t a rod be better than a sword? Consider it a blessing that my temperament has become gentler over the years.”
After that, I struck the palm of each attendant five times. It started to become difficult after more than ten, and before I reached half, my arm felt like it would fall off from the pain.
But I gritted my teeth and punished them.
The attendants who had been struck still wore expressions of disbelief.
“Today, we will conduct a thorough cleaning of the prince’s palace, so prepare yourselves.”
Good or bad, events should come in succession to be truly satisfying. From now on, I will make sure to keep them on their toes.
“What?”
“It seems your eyes are just for decoration, aren’t they?”
I maintained my cold expression as I brushed my fingers over the furniture in the reception room. Dust covered my hands.
“Ha.”
I blew the dust towards the head attendant’s face.
“With such incompetence in the prince’s palace, it’s no wonder things are in this state.”
His face turned a shade of red and blue.
“I will inspect everywhere, so make sure it’s spotless. If not, you’ll be punished again. And bring Sarah to me right now.”
After finishing my grooming with Sarah’s help, I called for the head attendant and the head maid.
“Finish your work by the time I arrive.”
“Your Highness, the palace is vast, and we are severely understaffed.”
“Then you should have organized your areas regularly. If you play around every day and try to do everything at once, is that not your fault? To work like this and still receive a salary is truly a waste of taxes. You should blame your laziness. Is that all? If this information gets out, it will tarnish Her Majesty the Empress’s reputation. People will think that Her Majesty has neglected His Highness Ilias. Do you truly want this to spread?”
The neglect of Ilias by the Empress was something the entire empire was aware of. It was just that it hadn’t been confirmed through the palace’s mouth.
In a country that values honor like the empire, such matters were a disgrace to the family. Palace attendants could not leak secrets that everyone tacitly kept.
The head attendant and head maid were left speechless.
“Please do not disappoint me this time. If you keep disappointing me, I don’t know what I might do.”
I spoke coldly, colder than ice, and stepped outside.
I sent Sarah back to the palace training center to finish her education. Then, I headed towards the royal guard training grounds where Ilias was.
Ilias was training with the knights of the prince’s palace, engaged in swordsmanship practice. The sparring sessions, done in pairs, felt almost like real combat despite being practice.
Perhaps because of this, most of the knights were swinging their swords without their shirts. The sight of sweat dripping down their well-defined muscles was pleasing to the onlookers.
I really made the right choice by coming to the palace.
Praising myself, I sat in a resting chair for knights in the corner and watched Ilias.
Although I didn’t know much about swordsmanship, there was something particularly beautiful about the way Ilias wielded his sword. It looked more like a dance than a martial art. I couldn’t take my eyes off him.
Once the sparring ended, he and his opponent exchanged respectful bows.
I stood up and approached Ilias.
“Your Highness.”
“Lin, what brings you here?”
“I came to ask for a favor, Your Highness.”
“What kind of favor?”
“I would like to learn swordsmanship, even just a little.”
Ilias narrowed his eyes slightly.
“I see I haven’t earned your trust.”
I jumped up and waved my hands.
“That’s not it! It’s just that I felt so incompetent last night. I want to be of help to you, Your Highness. I don’t want to be a burden. I want to be a support. We are equal partners, after all.”
Ilias didn’t hide his complicated feelings. I looked at him seriously and said,
“I’m not trying to learn anything extraordinary. And there might be times when you’re not around in a crisis. I just want to be prepared for any eventuality.”
At the mention of a situation without him, Ilias’s expression changed rapidly. He soon nodded his head.
“I will call Zion.”
After hearing the explanation from Ilias, Zion looked at me with a surprised expression.
“Your Highness, it must be difficult for you. Are you sure you’re okay with this?”
Suddenly, I recalled Zion’s straightforward and earnest character.
“You don’t need to teach me rigorously since I’m not going to be a formal knight. Let’s just keep it simple. I need techniques that I can use in a crisis.”
“I understand what you mean. I will prepare so that you can start classes tomorrow, Your Highness.”
“Thank you, Your Highness. I will take my leave now.”
“Adeline.”
“Yes?”
“Where are you going?”
“I’m going to the library. I have some studying to do.”
“Understood.”
I smiled and greeted him as I headed towards the library.
Hey Guys you can read advanced chapters on Patreon.
If you liked my work and want to support me then you can visit my page for tips. As I can’t create Kofi because of the unavailability of Paypal in my country, I’ve made this tier which is being updated every week so that you won’t be charged again till you want to donate again by yourself or you can exit the tier after donating 🙂.
Happy Reading🩷
