Chapter 2
Step, step, step.
The palace attendants walking along the corridor were startled to realize that the approaching figure was not a knight but the princess herself, and they quickly bowed their heads.
The ill-fated princess who could not die, Nina Arsed.
Now twenty years old, she had already proven her prowess in numerous battles and had been appointed Captain of the Imperial Knights at just nineteen.
Her short blonde hair barely reached her jawline, hardly befitting a princess, yet the combination of her pale skin, long eyelashes, and subtly colored lips beneath her straight, sharp nose made her almost ethereal, reminiscent of a spirit of the snow.
Whenever she appeared in the palace, clad in her blood-soaked battle uniform, the stark contrast only heightened the fear and awe surrounding her.
Especially her transparent blue eyes, always carrying a cold, piercing light, betrayed no trace of emotion.
Rumors claimed she could take a life with a mere touch of her fingers, and paired with that merciless gaze, the whispers of fear spread like wildfire.
A breeze drifting through the corridor’s windows gently ruffled her golden hair, and a young attendant hurried forward, bowing deeply.
“Princess… Your Highness, His Majesty awaits you in the audience hall.”
The attendant briefly glanced at her disheveled appearance and turned away.
The upper armor she had removed left her battle uniform almost unrecognizable, dyed deep red with blood. Cuts and tears ran across the fabric wherever swords and arrows had struck, evidence of the fierce battle she had endured.
But Nina did not change her clothes and proceeded directly to the audience hall.
Clatter.
At the sound of something falling, both she and the attendant instinctively looked down.
It was a single gold-plated button from the collar of her uniform, the last one remaining, which had slipped off.
As they both reached for it, the attendant jumped back in shock.
“My… my apologies, Princess! I was too startled!”
“It’s fine. No need to worry.”
Nina picked up her button and tucked it into her pocket, walking on as if nothing had happened. Only the nervous attendant was left sweating profusely.
“Long live the Light of Arsed, the glory of our Emperor.”
Upon entering the audience hall, Nina knelt on one knee as any knight would, greeting the Emperor and Empress, then rose gracefully.
“Oh, my daughter. Come forth.”
“Captain of the Imperial Knights, Nina Arsed, reporting the conquest of Ordor.”
“How long were you away on this campaign?”
“Just over five months.”
The Emperor’s eyes scanned her from head to toe, noting the blood-soaked uniform that attested to her brutal battle. Yet in his gaze, there was no trace of pity for his daughter.
The suffering of his daughter, born immortal and without a heart, was his glory.
The more Nina fought and sacrificed, the greater his acclaim as the Emperor who expanded the Arsed Empire to unprecedented heights. History would remember him, and so would the empire.
A gentle smile played across his lips, though his words were anything but kind:
“Remain steadfast as the greatest weapon of the Arsed Empire for your entire life. Never forget that this is your sole purpose.”
“…Yes, Your Majesty.”
“And I have excellent news.”
The Emperor, unusually cheerful, gestured to the chief attendant, who brought a document and handed it to Nina.
Scanning its contents, her eyes widened, and she looked sharply at the Emperor.
He laughed heartily at her reaction.
“While you were away, we obtained the submission declaration bearing Emperor Montreger’s seal. By now, the First Prince, Cassian Montreger, should be arriving as a hostage.”
Nina read the submission declaration of the Montreger Empire.
Montreger, the most stubborn of all nations, had suddenly become a vassal of Arsed. While she conquered Ordor, she now had a rough idea of the turmoil that had struck Montreger.
“The Second Prince, Evan Montreger, sent a secret letter to Arsed, requesting me to depose my father and place him on the throne. This must be a scheme devised by that cunning empress. The empress uses her son to wreak havoc, and now even my husband is being pulled into it. Hahaha!”
“….”
“Even the gods favor me, uniting the entire continent. I’ve essentially been granted the largest landmass as my reward. So you must hasten your remaining conquests.”
“…Yes, Your Majesty.”
At Nina’s brief reply, the Empress, Catalina Arsed, who had been observing coldly, clicked her tongue in disapproval.
“I’d rather not see you again. Go. Present yourself in better shape if you wish to be seen without disgust. The smell of blood is nauseating.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Nina bowed slightly and turned to leave.
Though Catalina was her mother, she had never treated Nina as she did her twin sister, Lilien.
In Nina’s memory, at least, this had always been true.
The princess with a burning heart will become Emperor, while the heartless princess will dedicate her life to the empire.
For Lilien, it was a blessed prophecy. For Nina, a curse.
From birth, her mother’s love may never have touched her.
“When she first nursed me, it was chilling—like holding a corpse. How could one call a heartless child human?”
Thus, Nina grew under the care of her nurse, Tilla.
Though Lilien’s attendants looked down on her as a low-born servant, Tilla was everything to Nina—the only person who embraced her and smiled in the palace.
Tilla always noticed Nina’s return first, and today would be no different. She would surely have prepared a bath with mint and eucalyptus to wash the blood from her body.
Nina quickened her pace, eager to bathe. Her residence was far from the main palace, where the Emperor, Empress, and twin sister stayed.
At the end of the long corridor, she saw several knights and two unfamiliar men in foreign attire enter the palace.
One knight spotted her and quickly ran forward, saluting.
“Captain, we are bringing the First Prince of Montreger, Cassian Montreger, as a hostage. He is accompanied by his attendant.”
Even as a hostage, he was a prince, yet he entered so humbly.
Nina turned toward Cassian Montreger and widened her eyes.
A man taller than any Arsed knight, wearing Montreger’s traditional long robe slanted over one shoulder, had a familiar face.
“Remember my face. If we meet again, it will be a terrible twist of fate.”
That was his meaning.
Nina’s blue eyes trembled more than ever.
That day, hidden beneath a curtain of black hair, his face shone like a streak of light in darkness: deep-set eyes, a proud nose, and lips with a faint flush of life, contrasting her own pale features.
Every line of his face was etched in her memory more vividly than reality.
Now, with his hair cropped short, he revealed his proud features completely—Nina could not fail to recognize him.
There had been only one person with such fierce crimson eyes in her life.
Cassian Montreger approached Nina slowly, locking eyes. When he drew close enough that only his broad shoulders were visible, he knelt on one knee, gently took her right hand, and pressed his lips to the back of it.
“…?!”
The princess, clad in bloodied armor, received such a reverent greeting as if she were royalty. No one had ever done this for her before.
The sensation of his soft lips against her cold hand, beneath long lashes lowered in respect, made Nina hold her breath unconsciously.
“Delighted to see you again, Princess.”
He rose gracefully, letting go of her hand, and smiled with an ease unbefitting a prince captured as a hostage.
It struck Nina—none of the knights had ever addressed her as “Princess.”
He knew from the start that I was the princess.
