Chapter 2
“My ladies-in-waiting are not going to the Euphorian Kingdom.”
The declaration from my roommate, Sonya, hit me like a bolt from the blue.
“As far as I know, they have never taken a lady-in-waiting with them, not even once.”
Was this really something to be so adamant about?
I averted my dizzy gaze and looked out the window. The banquet hall lights were still on, even close to midnight. I could almost hear the cheers of the knights selected for the journey to the Euphorian Kingdom.
The people toasting down there were the elite of House Canis.
If I could be under their protection, I could reach the Euphorian Kingdom safely, but I can’t join their procession?
“I heard most of the journey involves camping out? Then who will prepare the meals and do the laundry?”
But no answer came.
Was she asleep?
Holding onto the railing, I leaned over to look down at the lower bunk. I saw Sonya’s face, heaving a deep sigh.
Her lips parted like an adult admonishing a child who knew nothing of the world, which somehow felt unsettling.
“Lacey. You’re new, so you might not know, but the knights of Canis are frequently on expeditions. How could they possibly take ladies-in-waiting with them every single time?”
In other words, she meant that since the knights knew how to cook and do laundry themselves, they didn’t particularly need ladies-in-waiting.
Even for a perilous journey across the grey desert.
Right, right. Fine for the knights.
“But what about the Family Head?”
Unless it’s a wartime situation, the head of a family doesn’t personally handle their own affairs.
This is an undeniable truth, regardless of the era. I truly believed House Canis was no exception…
“The Family Head? The Chief Aide will be following him around, attending to his every need, so what’s there to worry about?”
“The Chief Aide acts as a nanny?”
“A n-nanny…?”
The Chief Aide was the person responsible for overseeing all administrative affairs of House Canis.
With no heir to succeed the family now, the Chief Aide was the only one who could fill the Family Head’s role in his absence.
So why such a waste of talent…?
“Of course, it must be bothersome. But it’s only until we arrive in Euphoria. The townhouse has its own separate staff… Ah, Lacey, you were one of them, weren’t you?”
Ouch.
“Why am I wasting my breath lecturing someone who’s actually been there and done that.”
Sonya was right. ‘Lacey’ should have seen every step of the process firsthand, having followed from the townhouse in the Euphorian capital to Canis Castle.
‘But why are you asking about this all of a sudden?”
“W-well…”
“Don’t tell me you’ve started wanting to go back to the Euphorian Kingdom?”
“Well, what else…”
Of course I do. It wasn’t me who wanted to come to Canis Castle in the first place.
I slowly pulled my body back and lay down. This time, Sonya’s face popped up between the railings of the upper bunk. The look in her eyes as she stared at me held a persistent flame.
“Give it up. It goes without saying, but the treatment at Canis Castle is much better than at the townhouse. First of all, the salary difference alone—”
Sonya’s expression, as she expounded on the benefits of this place, was filled with loyalty and pride in the family.
Any naive new maid would have listened wide-eyed, ears perked up at this information.
But I…
“Of course, for a maid like you, on a lifetime contract—”
“Achoo-!”
A single loud cough brought the conversation to an abrupt halt.
“Gosh, what a cough… Oh my! Look at your blue lips!”
Only then did I realize my shoulders were trembling uncontrollably.
It seemed it had been too much to expect just a single nightgown to block the cool air of Canis, comparable to winter even in early spring.
“I-I’m c-cold…”
“Stop shivering and get under the covers first!”
Using the strength honed by labor, Sonya pushed me down by my shoulders and firmly tucked the blanket around me, leaving no gap for the cold air to get in.
Her hand, which she finally placed on my forehead, felt wonderfully cool.
“Hmm, you have a slight fever.”
Did I have a fever? Now that she mentioned it, I did feel a bit foggy. Since when had my flickering vision been so blurry?
“Maybe you want to go back because Canis is cold?”
It was true that Canis, located in the northern part of the continent, was colder than the Euphorian Kingdom.
“Huh? Lacey? Is that it?”
But could it be colder than the Winter Tower?
When I closed my eyes, the memory of the day I left for the Winter Tower came back vividly.
***
Misfortune strikes without warning.
I never imagined it would be an event that would take my beloved father from me.
“The defendant brutally murdered His Majesty, the revered King of Euphoria.”
The soldiers apprehended the criminal at the scene, and witness testimony was secured.
All that remained was the judge’s final verdict.
Unable to bear the solemn air filling the courtroom, my ragged nails dug into my palms.
“Lacey Anarose Euphoria.”
At the call of my name, I looked up. Tears finally overflowed from my reddened eyes.
“Do you plead guilty?”
How shameless, not even offering a chance to defend myself.
I shook my head desperately.
This is a frame-up!
The real culprit is out there!
I had woken up to the sound of a tearing scream to find myself collapsed in my father’s bedroom.
The irony. I had clearly fallen asleep in my quarters, the detached palace.
Why was I here? I don’t sleepwalk.
Before I could even grasp the situation, I was surrounded by the Royal Guard and immediately taken to prison.
It was only after that I heard the news that my father had passed away.
“I’m not the culprit!”
“This is someone’s frame-up! Believe me!”
“Please, I’m begging you, take me to my father!”
I clung to the cold iron bars, pleading desperately, but no one listened.
As if it were all a well-orchestrated play, everything had flowed seamlessly to this point.
*Thud!*
A stone flew from the spectator seats. It became the signal.
“Because of you, His Majesty the King…!”
“To repay such kindness with enmity!”
“This is why we shouldn’t take in baseborn bastards!”
The courtroom seethed violently. As it threatened to turn into a riot, the judge no longer stood by.
“Everyone, calm down! What is this commotion in this sacred courtroom!”
The trial quickly resumed.
“Given the complete lack of remorse, the crime is deemed heinous beyond compare. In accordance with the solemn laws of the Euphorian Kingdom, the defendant is sentenced to death!”
*Thud, thud!*
It felt as if the sky were falling.
No. In truth, my sky had already collapsed the moment my father passed away.
After the trial, the prisoner’s cart did not head for the execution grounds.
The crimes of royalty could never be atoned for by death alone.
That was the supreme principle enshrined in the legal code of the Euphorian Kingdom.
Therefore, royalty sentenced to death were confined to a tower built in the northern forest outside the capital. Isolated from the world, forbidden to set foot outside until their dying day.
There are no exceptions, the thick history books of Euphoria said.
But I had to get out of that tower, by any means necessary.
I had to find out who the real culprit was, why they killed my father, and why they framed me for it.
Until then, I could never close my eyes in peace.
It was called the Winter Tower.
I hadn’t known before why it was called that. I hadn’t cared.
I never thought I’d see the inside of this prison I never expected to visit until my death.
Spiderwebs stretching here and there, rats scurrying away at the sound of footsteps.
Add to that the wind whistling through the gaping window, sounding like a ghost’s shriek, and I often covered my ears.
If it had only been scary, it might have been better.
I suffered from a biting cold, even though it was autumn.
It lived up to its name, the Winter Tower.
Only after begging and pleading the guard for a rag of a blanket to wrap around myself did I understand.
The reason I had never heard of any miraculously exonerated royal’s subsequent story.
They experienced a miserable death firsthand.
***
I was sure I had frozen to death.
“You’ve finally opened your eyes.”
Wasn’t I half-buried in medicinal herbs in some shabby hut?
“Brave, so brave!”
An old woman I’d never seen before hugged me and stroked my back.
Who got me out of the Winter Tower?
Whoever it was, it didn’t matter.
As long as I could catch the culprit.
Perhaps because I had narrowly escaped death, my body was extremely weakened.
I focused on recovery. I thought that was the shortcut to clearing my name of the patricidal charge.
Sometime later, a man visited the hut.
“Let’s see, pink hair with golden eyes. Height, roughly…”
He scrutinized my appearance meticulously. Was he the middleman, taking me to another location?
“You must be Lacey. From the Euphorian Kingdom, I hear.”
I sensed something strange about his words.
“Congratulations on passing the screening. You are now a proper maid of House Canis.”
“House Canis…?”
“Yes. I look forward to your work. A lifetime contract isn’t something just anyone can get.”
A maid of House Canis? Me?
The name on the ID card I found in the suitcase was Lacey Thiel.
Only then did the differences between me, the princess, and the woman reflected in the mirror begin to register.
As if adding insult to injury, I learned that a considerable amount of time had passed since the day I lost consciousness in the Winter Tower.
A full three years.
