“That, Your Highness.”
Pristin cautiously called out to Claret, who was walking ahead.
Upon hearing Pristin’s voice, the young princess immediately stopped and turned around to look at her.
“What’s wrong?”
“I…”
Pristin hesitated and struggled to continue speaking, prompting Claret to urge her.
“If you have something to say, feel free to say it.”
“That’s…”
After hesitating once again, Pristin finally spoke up about what she wanted to say.
“No matter how much I think about it, it just feels excessive for me to meet His Majesty the Emperor.”
“Excessive?”
“I haven’t done anything extraordinary…”
“It wasn’t anything extraordinary!”
Claret shook her head, opening her eyes wide as if it were nonsense.
“You deserve more than enough compensation for what you have done for me!”
“Compensation? What are you talking about?”
“I even wanted to ask my brother to make you a duke or something.”
“That’s really too much, Your Highness.”
“Pristin.”
Claret, who was only eleven years old, said, holding Pristin’s hand seriously.
“You’ve been by my side throughout my exile.”
“…”
“And you saved my life recently. Did you forget?”
“Well, it wasn’t really…”
“Hush, don’t say any more, Pristin. Don’t keep saying that what you’ve done for me is insignificant. It’s like you’re belittling me.”
Claret spoke to Pristin in a voice that was not at all stern, contrary to what she said.
“Pristin has done something extraordinary, no matter what others say. So, my brother told me to bring you, right?”
“…”
“Pristin has done something truly remarkable. You can believe that.”
“Is that so…”
“Of course!”
The princess answered in a confident tone.
“Wouldn’t everyone give the same answer as me? So don’t worry about unnecessary things. Got it?”
“Yes…”
Pristin nodded her head helplessly. And she started walking behind Claret again.
Pristin was now on her way to meet the newly crowned emperor, in recognition of her efforts to take care of the princess during her exile and for saving the princess’s life recently.
This wasn’t something planned from the beginning. Claret initially called Pristin under the pretext of showing her around the palace. And coincidentally, it turned into an opportunity to meet the new emperor.
At first, Pristin refused, saying that she didn’t do anything extraordinary. But she couldn’t reject the repeated requests from the princess.
‘But, as expected, it’s burdensome.’
The mere involvement with the princess made Pristin feel undeserving enough. Now she was going to meet the emperor of the empire.
‘I heard that he exudes an aura of power.’
Pristin couldn’t help but worry if she would appear insignificant in front of him.
“We’re here!”
During their conversation, they had already arrived at their destination. They stood in front of the reception room where the emperor resided in the central palace. Pristin nervously bit her lip, and noticing this, Claret gently held her hand.
“You don’t need to be nervous at all, Pristin. I will be with you!”
“Thank you, princess.”
“Now, let’s go and report.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
After a while, the voice of the attendant announcing their arrival echoed through the reception room.
“Your Majesty, Her Highness and Pristin Lamont are here with you.”
Pristin followed the princess into the room through the open doors. Even though she didn’t fully step in, she could feel the vastness of the room clearly, as if indicating that it was indeed the emperor’s reception room. The room glimmered with the reflection of light from gold and gemstones. Nervous, Pristin lowered her gaze, only looking at the tip of her shoes as she followed the princess.
“Brother!”
“Claret.”
…What?
Pristin felt strange instantly. His voice was… familiar?
‘It’s an illusion.’
When had she ever heard the emperor’s voice before? Pristin forcefully pushed aside her rising intuition. It must be a coincidence; there were many people with similar voices in the world.
“Say hello, brother. This is Lady Lamont.”
“The one who helped you throughout your exile?”
“That’s not all. She even saved my life.”
Claret said to Pristin with a smile.
“Pristin, raise your head and say hello to my brother.”
Pristin hesitated and slowly raised her head. Due to the emperor’s tall stature, she had to raise her gaze slightly higher than usual to see his face.
And when she finally confirmed the emperor’s face…
‘…No way.’
Pristin’s face completely hardened. She looked at the man in front of her, motionless with a stiff face.
She wasn’t the only one. The emperor also looked surprised as soon as he saw Pristin’s face. Pristin muttered unconsciously.
“…Jerald?”
Immediately Pristin realized that she had made a big mistake and quickly covered her mouth with her hand. But it was already too late.
“Oh? You know my brother?”
Claret asked in a puzzled voice. Everyone had already heard the name.
Pristin couldn’t answer, but just looked at the face in front of her with a blank expression. The emperor also couldn’t take his eyes off Pristin, without saying a word, but with an expression of equal surprise.
‘Do I know that man?’
There’s no way she wouldn’t know. That man…
Pristin swallowed dry saliva without realizing it.
Jerald was Pristin’s ex-boyfriend.
A year ago.
– Bang!
Pristin, who was preparing lunch at the sound of a rough knock on the door, frowned with wonder. She lived in a remote mountain range from a crowded village. Therefore, few people knocked on the door of the house where she lived.
‘Who is it?’
Pristin, who had been thinking for a moment, walked to the door, then unlocked the latch that had been locked and opened the door.
A large man stood there armed. Pristin shrank instinctively.
“Who are you?”
“Do you live here?”
When Pristin nodded her head silently, the man’s expression softened, showing relief.
“I need you to take care of Princess Claret.”
It was very out of the blue. Pristin looked at the man with an expression, asking if she heard him wrong.
“What do you mean, princess?”
“The house beyond that oak tree has been designated as the place of exile for the princess.”
Pristin had been surprised twice. Once at the news of the royal daughter’s exile, another at the news that the exile was very close to her house. Indeed, Pristin lived in a place so remote that it was safe to say it was a place of exile.
“From now on, you will have to take care of the princess.”
“… Yes?”
“There is no pay, but if you are a citizen of the empire, you should, right? I want you to take care of her lunch first.”
It was a bewildering situation. Suddenly, he appeared and said she would take care of the exiled princess.
“Why would I…”
“Wouldn’t it be wise to go along with it while someone is being kind to you? I’m not feeling particularly happy about suddenly ending up in this rural area.”
Pristin flinched once again at the strangely threatening tone.
‘…Sigh.’
What a hassle.
‘Well, I was in the middle of preparing lunch…’
Pristin, who glanced at the kitchen, asked the soldier.
“Where exactly is the princess?”
───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────
What Pristin prepared for lunch that day was a sandwich made of scrambled eggs and juice made from squeezed tomatoes. Pristin put all the lunch she had made that day in the basket. It was originally made for one person, so she had to come back and make her share separately.
After leaving the house, Pristin began to walk with the soldiers toward the oak tree.
‘The princess is exiled.’
The current emperor of Limburg, Albert III, seized the throne last year by rebelling against his predecessor, Ferdinand IV, who was bedridden. It was aimed at when Crown Prince Jerald, son of King Ferdinand IV, visited the Perk Empire. After Albert III ascended the throne, the crown prince went missing, and Princess Claret, who was said to have been exiled here, was the younger sister of the crown prince.
‘Though it’s a natural procedure to send a political opponent into exile after ascending the throne in a coup.’
What made her feel bad was, of course, that the princess was only eleven years old.
‘She’s too young.’
It seemed that even the nanny who would take care of her didn’t come with her. The way Albert III was treating Claret, despite being a part of the emperor’s bloodline, was excessive. This was because, under imperial law, women could not become emperors.
‘Perhaps it is to provoke the hidden crown prince.’
If the crown prince wasn’t dead and was actually in hiding, then Claret, as his only sister, would likely be treated in such a manner to elicit a response.
However, it was too cruel to send an eleven-year-old child into exile alone with no one by her side.
‘…You’re not much older than my brother.’
The situation of the princess, who was left alone with no one to rely on, reminded her of her missing sister. Before she knew it, pity began to arise in Pristin’s heart.
‘Yes, I should take good care of you.’
And with that thought, Pristin arrived at what appeared to be the princess’s place of exile. Pristin looked up and looked around the house.
‘Is this the place?’
To be exact, it was a place where the expression “hut” was more suitable than “house.” Pristin was quietly appalled by the appearance of the ‘house’ which was more shabby than she thought.
‘No matter how reclusive, it’s still unthinkable to have the young princess live in such a shabby place.’
The surroundings were filled with soldiers, forming a tight circle. If there was any fortunate aspect to this situation, it was that the princess was an unarmed woman, so the level of alertness wasn’t as high as one might expect. Pristin cautiously walked towards the main gate.
“The princess is known to be a very strict person, so you must be careful not to offend her.”
It was kind of funny to say such a thing after sending a royal into exile to a house where even a simple person would be offended.
But Pristin nodded without expression. There’s nothing good about provoking.
Arriving at the gate, Pristin knocked carefully on the door. Even though she didn’t knock on the door with all her strength, with how old the house was, there was a creaking sound. Oh, my god.
“Princess, may I come in?”
Pristin asked in the most gentle voice. But there was no answer from inside.
‘Well, I wouldn’t feel like giving any response at a time like this either.’
Even Pristin didn’t feel like responding to anything.
“I’m coming in.”
Immediately after that, Pristin opened the door.
