‘I’ll think about that later. For now, there’s so much to do.’
I needed to cancel the breakup, apologize, and get close to him again. This time, I had to protect him.
‘I have to make things right somehow. Resolving misunderstandings won’t fix his feelings, so I’ll just be persistent and clingy, stubbornly sticking to him like glue.’
From today on, my role models are ticks and leeches!
I jumped up.
At the same time, the maids of the princess’s palace rushed toward me.
“Your Highness?”
“What’s going on all of a sudden? Are you planning to go somewhere?”
Their surprise was understandable.
I hadn’t really left the princess’s palace except for my regular visits to the imperial library.
“Your Highness, please wait. You’re not thinking of going outside the palace, are you?”
When I didn’t answer, one of the maids blocked my way and spoke cautiously.
“His Highness the Crown Prince instructed everyone in the palace not to let you leave as much as possible before he left.”
It was a valid point.
My brother had made sure that I, as a minor, couldn’t leave on my own without Simon, my guardian, giving permission.
He even forbade me from sending letters to anyone but himself and Simon.
‘It was just unnecessary overprotection from a brother who wanted to ensure nothing happened to his clueless little sister.’
“The outside world is dangerous. Who knows what scoundrels might approach my naive sister while I’m away. Just wait a little longer. I’ll return soon and make sure only the best people come near you.”
Because of this, there was no way I could meet Kayan directly outside the palace. I couldn’t just command him to come see me here.
So, to meet Kayan, I had to use my head and go through several steps.
“I’m not going outside the palace.”
I looked at the maids and spoke firmly.
“So, could you please step aside?”
With that, I left the princess’s palace that had been frozen in time for eight years from doing absolutely nothing.
- ● ●
“Your Highness? Your Highness!”
My maids and escort knights followed closely behind.
“W-why are you walking so fast!”
Ignoring them, I headed straight to the Crown Prince’s palace, where my brother had stayed.
I flung the door open.
‘This place is frozen in time, just like the princess’s palace.’
The swords my brother had used as a child were still hanging on the wall. Next to them hung a portrait of him.
“Your Highness!”
I slammed the door shut and looked up at my brother’s portrait.
My brother, who wanted to protect me so much, who fought hard on a distant battlefield, waiting only for my letters.
I knew his sincerity, so I thought I had to follow his words as much as possible. And that’s why I failed.
‘Well, sincerity isn’t always the right answer.’
I murmured as I looked at his portrait.
“Brother, I’m sorry. I’m not going to listen to you anymore.”
If he had returned from the eastern front within a year, all his words would have been right.
“Of course, I know the situation isn’t looking good.”
Prince Hugo, aiming for the throne, wanted to get rid of me by any means necessary.
The Rubel Count family, my maternal family, had long since fallen.
My grandfather, the Emperor, was struggling with illness and too busy with state affairs to pay attention to his grandchildren.
It wasn’t without reason that my brother attached the empire’s best suitor to me as my fiancé and told me not to leave the palace.
“In my previous life…”
My grip on the pendant tightened.
“I trusted my beloved brother’s advice, the imperial protection over the palace, and the faith of my fiancé, who held the empire’s greatest wealth and power…”
I overturned the three things my brother had urged me to rely on and set three new goals for myself.
“This time, I’ll trust my own judgment, my own abilities, and my own people.”
Of course, there were nobles close to my brother and his followers in the capital.
Although communication with my brother was slow, we could still exchange letters.
But sadly, at this point, I had no complaints to report.
‘I can’t just go and say, ‘I’ve regressed, Simon is a bad guy, please annul the engagement immediately.’’
No one had done anything wrong to me yet. In fact, Simon was protecting me perfectly in the eyes of the public. So I had to step up myself and change the future.
Just then.
Bang!
The door to the Crown Prince’s palace swung open again.
“Hey!”
It was Hugo, who barged in with his maid in tow, looking triumphant.
He was my older half-brother, four years older than me.
“Why did you suddenly enter the Crown Prince’s room?”
He must have rushed over as soon as he heard I left the room.
He immediately sneered.
“I hear it’s common for northern barbarians to raid and plunder… But you were raised among those barbarians, right? Are you having a hard time resisting the urge to steal, just like when you were a kid?”
Before his departure.
My brother had told me this:
“Prince Hugo’s faction will try to frame you no matter what. There won’t be anyone on your side in the palace, so don’t fall for their provocation and just stay put. You need to stay in the palace.”
Imperial punishment, whether big or small, always starts with a banishment order. That was what worried my brother the most.
“The Emperor doesn’t know yet, but I suspect they’re dabbling in black magic…”
Hugo shouted to his maids.
“Hurry and search her! She must’ve come here to steal something from the Crown Prince’s room!”
In my previous life, something similar happened around this time.
When I came here, unable to hold back my longing for my brother.
Hugo, who had been watching my every move, barged in just like now.
‘The outcome was predetermined anyway.’
One of Hugo’s maids searched me.
“Oh? There’s something here!”
She pulled out a jewel from the hem of my dress.
“I saw her put something away quickly,” one of the many servants gathered outside the door testified.
“Even though the princess must have plenty of her own funds… Was it really a habit from her childhood?”
Back then, I bit my lips and bowed down to Hugo. In front of all the palace servants.
Because I had to keep my brother’s advice.
He told me not to receive any kind of punishment, no matter how minor.
He told me not to leave my room, but I did. So it was my fault.
“I was wrong. Please, just this once, let it go… Please overlook it…”
Soon after, Simon arrived at the scene.
He handed Hugo a large sum of money and asked him to let it go. He didn’t even ask me, ‘Did you really steal?’
I shamefully thanked Simon.
“Thank you, Duke. Really… thank you.”
Simon looked at me with disdain and didn’t reply.
Even the maids closest to me looked at me with eyes that said, ‘The girl who caused trouble for Simon by stepping out when the Crown Prince warned her to stay put.’
“This isn’t right, Your Highness… The Crown Prince specifically told you not to leave the room.”
“This must be because the northern household didn’t raise her properly.”
No friends to share my feelings with, no family to rely on.
That was my situation, helpless against even such a petty scheme.
“Still, it was smart of you to admit your mistake and get through it quickly. It didn’t escalate, after all. You were really wise.”
“Yes. This is the way of the imperial family, not the savage North.”
And so, I couldn’t do anything for eight years.
But now…
‘I’ll never live like that again. I was a strong northern child by nature.’
In fact, before entering the palace, I had spent twelve years in the North, hunting baby monsters and climbing mountains every day.
The people in the palace didn’t know, but I had always been quite physically capable. There was a reason I could hold out against the assassins until Kayan showed up right before I regressed.
Now, I was determined to live boldly, as I had back then.
Hugo shouted.
“What are you doing? Search the princess right now!”
Just as expected.
The maid, following Hugo’s order, leisurely approached me.
She was the most malicious and the one who had tormented me the most among Hugo’s close attendants.
The situation was the same as in my previous life.
However, my actions would be different this time. ‘I just need to act like I did when I was twelve.’
I watched the approaching maid and grabbed a child’s sword hanging on the wall.
Then, I thrust the sword into Hugo’s stomach.
“Aaaaahhhhhh!”
It was a swift move, striking precisely at a vital point.
“Oh my!”
As I listened to his piercing scream, I felt quite satisfied.
‘The old Ivnoa is still alive and kicking!’
…
I fixed my Ko-fi finally..
Honestly, I was quite sad because no one supported me until now on ko-fi, but I found out that’s the problem was with my PayPal…
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