Chapter 2
“…Hah.”
A whip, of all things. In all my lives, this was the first time I’d ever had such a dizzying first encounter.
A man holding a whip. And beneath him, a child collapsed on the floor. I might not know everything, but I wasn’t clueless enough to misunderstand what kind of situation this was.
“This is a joke.”
A hollow laugh escaped me at the blatant act of insubordination unfolding before my eyes. At the sound of my laughter, I heard someone behind me swallow hard.
Soon after, voices called out, “Your Highness,” but I deliberately ignored them. I couldn’t even be bothered to answer.
I silently looked down at the one sprawled on the floor. His hair, seemingly uncut for a long time, spread across the ground in pale silver strands.
Judging by his frame, he should have been fairly tall—but he was so thin that he looked smaller than he should have.
And that back of his…
‘This wasn’t just once or twice.’
Keeping my gaze fixed on him, I stepped closer.
On the protruding spine of his back were not only wounds that looked freshly made, but scars of all kinds scattered everywhere.
‘This has happened many times.’
And not just recently.
‘Is it him?’
Of course, everyone in the palace had neglected the Fourth Prince—but the most obvious culprit was that man. Especially since he was holding a whip. The evidence couldn’t have been clearer.
The weak are easily trampled. This law of the jungle was a truth that never changed, no matter which world I possessed.
And if you lived long enough, there were times when you had to protect the weak.
Because if you simply let them die, the consequences would eventually come back to you.
Just like how if the Fourth Prince died, I would die as well.
‘If he could have run away, he would have done so already.’
But this body was far too weak to escape freely. I’d only kicked a maid earlier, yet even that alone had left my ankle throbbing.
Even if I were to run, that would have to wait until I survived and grew stronger.
“Your Highness.”
I called him in a flat voice. But the Fourth Prince didn’t move at all, as if he hadn’t heard me—like he was simply wishing for this moment to pass as quickly as possible.
“Your Highness.”
I raised my voice slightly and called again. This time, I saw his fingertips twitch faintly.
Good. At least he’s conscious.
Feeling a strange sense of relief, I let out a breath and lifted my gaze.
More precisely—
“Did you do this?”
I looked at the man holding the whip.
“…Your Highness.”
Perhaps startled by my sudden appearance, the man completely ignored my question.
Instead, he frowned at the maids standing behind me.
His gaze was sharp—clearly displeased that I was here.
And he was venting that irritation on the maids right now.
Clicking my tongue, I bit my lip.
‘Oh, really?’
No matter how neglected he was, the Fourth Prince was still a member of the imperial family.
And yet this man, who had dared to assault him, still had the nerve to take out his frustration on others.
I’d come here thinking only of protecting my husband, but it seemed there were quite a few obstacles to overcome.
‘An assassin, my foot.’
In an environment like this, he might not be assassinated—he might just get beaten to death.
And if even a prince was treated like this…
“Your Highness doesn’t need to concern himself.”
…What kind of treatment do you think I get, then?
“……”
The guilty one acting indignant. I clicked my tongue again and scratched my head in annoyance, newly realizing just how utterly awful both my position and the Fourth Prince’s really were.
That was why he could say something like that so brazenly. That level of shamelessness almost deserved applause.
But this kind of dismissal didn’t really bother me.
‘Ah. How annoying.’
If it weren’t for the Fourth Prince, I would’ve left this room long ago. Letting out a heavy sigh, I pressed my fingers to my throbbing temple.
“What’s your name?”
“…Pardon?”
“I asked for your name.”
His eyes widened slightly. He seemed surprised that I’d asked for his name at all.
Soon, he furrowed his brow and replied with a displeased expression.
“Chris Ambrotti.”
“Ambrotti?”
Where’s that supposed to be?
From the way he said it, was it some prestigious family? I quickly ran through my memory—but nothing came to mind.
When I looked clueless, the man curled the corner of his lips. Anyone could tell he was sneering.
“Ambrotti is a count family that serves the Verden Ducal House—one of the three families most loyal to the imperial family.”
I didn’t even feel like responding with an “Oh, really?”
No matter how grand he made it sound, they were still just a vassal family.
Then he continued,
“However, since you came from far away and are still at a stage where you require much learning, it’s understandable that you wouldn’t know of our house.”
“……”
“Ignorance is not a sin, so please don’t take it too much to heart.”
‘So he’s basically calling me stupid.’
Why go through all that effort just to say that? I nodded blandly.
Sure. It was normal to take pride in one’s family. I’d met countless people like that in my past lives.
‘Kind of cute, actually.’
If he’d been annoyingly persistent like the maids, I might’ve gotten irritated. But this open hostility was almost amusing.
Even the fact that this was the extent of his insults felt oddly endearing.
‘So what do I do with this?’
That aside—no matter how proud he was of his family, his status didn’t justify beating a prince.
If the Fourth Prince had any power at all, this man would’ve been executed long ago for insulting royalty.
But neither the prince—nor I—had the authority to punish Chris.
So then what?
“Thank you for the explanation. Now then, Your Highness should return to your room—”
“You said your name was Chris, right?”
“…?”
“I appreciate the explanation, but—”
Let’s start lightly.
“I didn’t ask.”
At the same time.
The man who had been working alone in his office pushed aside the documents he’d just finished reviewing.
A breeze flowed in through the open window, lightly rustling his well-groomed silver hair. Removing his glasses, he pressed firmly against his brow.
The documents that had once been piled high on his desk were now completely gone.
Just then, a somewhat noisy sound drifted in from outside the window.
Such noise was rare in the usually quiet imperial palace. Hearing it clearly, the aide hurried toward the window.
“What’s going on?”
Emperor Lambert asked calmly as he set down his quill.
But at that single question, the aide smiled awkwardly. Whatever it was, the emperor disliked sudden disturbances.
Everything was to be quiet. Indifferent. That had been his iron rule since ascending the throne.
But this time was an exception.
Just as the aide was about to give a vague answer while glancing outside, a servant entered with tea.
As the servant placed a cup of hot black tea on the desk, Lambert spoke.
“It’s noisy outside.”
At the clear implication to explain, the servant answered quickly.
“It seems there has been a small disturbance at the Fourth Prince’s palace.”
“A disturbance?”
The emperor focused more on the word disturbance than on Fourth Prince.
Before he could ask what kind of disturbance it was, the servant continued on his own.
“A maid from the Fourth Prince’s palace rushed to the main palace, saying the Crown Princess is assaulting the head attendant.”
“…?”
Lambert’s hand, just about to lift the teacup, froze midair. Showing rare confusion, he asked,
“…Who did what to whom?”
So that’s who he was.
The man who had introduced himself as Chris turned out to be the head attendant of this palace. I learned that only after the maids began screaming one after another.
“Hm.”
So a mere head attendant dared to lay hands on a prince.
That twisted my mood just a little.
“Where did you get this?”
I withdrew my gaze from the fallen Chris and looked at the whip. It was the one he’d been holding just moments ago.
It looked surprisingly well-made. Maybe because it was braided cord, it felt unexpectedly firm in the hand.
As I was absorbed in examining the whip, the head attendant on the floor suddenly shouted,
“Y-You crazy—!”
Clutching his leg, Chris screamed at the top of his lungs, asking if I’d lost my mind. I slowly lowered my gaze.
“You think you’ll get away with this?!”
“Hah.”
I found that line oddly ridiculous. At this point, it felt like a cliché. People really did all think the same.
So then—
“Are you going to kill me?”
“…W-What?!”
“You can’t anyway.”
So what’s the problem?
Seeing him flustered, I let out a scoff. No matter how low my position was, the gap in status between me and a head attendant was undeniable.
Unless he was truly insane, he couldn’t casually kill a crown princess from another nation.
Especially not someone like him.
‘Tsk.’
And to me, a head attendant who whipped a child looked far more insane.
All I’d said was that I hadn’t asked—and he’d blown up over it. That was his problem.
Anyway, I threw the whip as far away as I could.
Having taken a solid hit to the leg with it, he wouldn’t be able to move for a while.
“Honey.”
I poked my still-prone husband with my finger as I called him.
At my words, not only the head attendant but even the maids gaped in shock.
‘What? What’s wrong with them?’
I shot them a glare, and just then, I felt the Fourth Prince’s body tremble noticeably.
Ah. Wait. Is this not it?
“Husband.”
“……”
“My husband.”
“……”
As I continued, the Fourth Prince’s hand began to tremble. I could hear maids gasping for air here and there—but I focused only on the boy before me.
“Can you get up? Or at least… can you answer me?”
When I poked the back of his pale hand with my index finger, he clenched it into a fist.
Still, there was no reply.
“He’s conscious, but…”
Did something go wrong somewhere? I reached out to him again.
But at that moment, multiple sets of footsteps approached—fast and precise.
My head naturally turned.
And then, my eyes met those of a tall man who had stopped at the doorway.
Silver hair, just like the Fourth Prince’s.
“I hear the head attendant has been thoroughly beaten.”
It was the emperor.
At his appearance, the maids at the door quickly stepped aside. I, too, was startled by his sudden arrival.
I stared at the emperor with widened eyes.
“Did you do this?”
A cold gaze descended upon me. With just that one question, the room fell silent.
But after the brief surprise, I began thinking about how to get through this situation—and answered as if nothing were wrong.
“No.”
At my response, the head attendant let out a shrill scream.
The emperor narrowed his eyes.
“Then what happened to the head attendant lying there?”
“Well…”
I looked down at the head attendant at my feet.
Then, quietly, I smiled.
“He fell down on his own.”
