Chapter 10
“You—what exactly are you?”
The voice whispering by her neck was sharper than the blade pressed against it. Though low, it was chilling enough to make her blood run cold.
Haon couldn’t move. One wrong twitch and her head might fall to the floor.
Only her eyes shifted slightly.
Prince Si, who had been behind her, was no longer visible.
When did he get here?
A shiver ran down her spine, and cold sweat trickled down her back.
This time, she truly felt like she might die.
“P-Prince Si…”
“You were suspicious from the beginning.”
He pressed the sword even tighter.
Haon craned her neck upward as far as she could. It was a desperate attempt to move even a fraction away from the blade, but the frigid chill of the metal didn’t waver.
“You dared to act so brazen and arrogant, not even flinching in front of me.”
Indeed. To an ordinary maid, Prince Si—the cold and merciless commander of the imperial military—was a figure of dread. Most couldn’t even meet his eyes, let alone converse with him.
“How could a lowly, insignificant maid know so much about the imperial family?”
“I-I’m not sure…”
“If you lie one more time, I’ll start by cutting out that tongue.”
The blade dug in deeper with a sharp swish.
She was sure there’d be at least a scratch on her neck now.
Haon’s mind raced desperately. She hadn’t even done anything yet—she couldn’t die this meaningless death.
To die at the hands of her favorite prince? No ending could be more unfair.
“What did you say when you looked at that portrait?”
Terrified by the threat to cut out her tongue, Haon blurted the truth.
“I said it was Prince V.”
“And how could you know it was Prince V just from the portrait?”
Because I read the entire novel, obviously. But there was no way she could say that.
Haon wet her dry lips and scrambled to explain.
“Well… the only ones in the imperial family with purple hair like Her Majesty the Empress are Prince V and Prince Q, but Prince Q is still a child. That portrait shows a fully grown man, so I assumed it had to be Prince V…”
“Purple hair, huh.”
Was he buying it?
Haon still couldn’t relax, not with the sword refusing to leave her neck.
“Still suspicious.”
Oh, come on! I explained it the best I could! What more do you want?
Haon cried internally.
She wanted to grab Prince Si by the collar and plead for the answer he wanted to hear.
“For a mere assistant maid, you know far too much about the imperial family.”
Keeping the sword in place, Prince Si stepped around to stand in front of her.
Haon forced herself to meet his gaze, trying not to flinch. Her sparkling eyes silently begged him to read her sincerity.
Should I just tell him the truth? That this is all a novel, and I know everything because I’ve read it?
With a sword at her throat, even insane ideas started to feel plausible.
But what would a fictional character do if you told them their world was just a made-up story? Best case, she’d be locked up as a lunatic.
So Haon pushed her brain harder.
“It’s… a maid’s duty to know everything about those she serves…”
“Shall I cut out your tongue?”
“N-no.”
She immediately shut her mouth.
“Who’s behind you? Are you a spy for the Empire? Or maybe someone else’s pawn?”
Now Prince Si was convinced she was some kind of spy.
If it went on like this, she wouldn’t just die—she’d be tortured first, no doubt.
The situation was spiraling toward disaster. She had to find a way out.
Then, a wild idea sprang into her mind. Without time to second-guess, Haon shouted—
“I did it because I like him!”
“…What?”
“I’ve always liked Prince V! I secretly followed him around, that’s why I recognized him the moment I saw the portrait!”
Prince Si didn’t interrupt.
Is it working?
Hope flickered, and Haon started rambling with renewed energy.
“Because I like him, I got curious about him, and that led me to learn about the imperial family too. Wanting to know everything about someone you love—isn’t that natural?”
One of Prince Si’s brows crept toward the center of his forehead. He seemed to be considering it.
Just as she began to feel relieved—
“Weren’t you the maid who came from Checoran with Princess Piraione?”
Ugh, damn it. Her overly loyal act toward the princess was now backfiring.
But there was no need to panic. It wasn’t even true!
“I’m a maid from the Heosen imperial palace.”
“But didn’t you say you belonged to Princess Piraione?”
“They needed more maids for the princess, so I was assigned to her. From that moment on, she became the one I serve. That makes me her maid, doesn’t it?”
Fortunately, Haon had a knack for spinning nonsense into convincing arguments.
“If you’re still suspicious, go check. Ask the princess. Or better yet, ask her personal maid Anten—she’s the one who picked me herself.”
Prince Si glared at her. Haon met his eyes with an innocent and confident expression.
“You’re from Heosen, and yet you’re that loyal to Princess Piraione?”
He wasn’t convinced yet.
But once Haon got going, she couldn’t stop. Her mind crafted stories with ease.
“After Prince V passed away, I was in deep mourning. Then I met Princess Piraione. Finding someone new to devote myself to—I’ve simply been doing my best ever since.”
Yes. In the novel, Prince V had died by suicide last year.
He was the firstborn of the Emperor and Empress, and heir to the throne. After his death, the royal family fell into turmoil, and the key to succession became marriage to Princess Piraione.
That was the basic setup of The Queen of Thorned Roses.
“Prince V…”
Prince Si’s expression twisted with pain.
Oh no. Did she go too far? Should she have stopped at just the unrequited love part?
Regret flooded in. She shouldn’t have brought up his suicide.
Trying to salvage the moment, Haon decided to match his mood no matter what.
Then Prince Si finally spoke again.
“He didn’t kill himself.”
“…I—of course. Wait, what?!”
Haon had been nodding automatically when the words hit her.
Prince Si lowered his sword. He turned away, walking up to the portrait of Prince V with a conflicted expression.
Somehow, her excuse had worked. Haon let out a shaky breath.
Prince Si’s face as he gazed at the portrait was sorrowful. His eyes shimmered with grief, as though tears might fall at any moment.
“You truly adored him, didn’t you?”
“Yes, I did.”
Now Haon had no choice but to stick with the ‘maid who loved Prince V’ persona. Getting caught would mean losing her head.
“You’re pitiful too.”
Haon slowly approached his side.
“No one can truly understand the pain of losing someone they love.”
“Someone they love…?”
Prince Si stared at the portrait.
“W-wait a minute.”
Haon gasped, slapping both hands over her mouth.
“You were in love with Prince V?”
“He was the only one who acknowledged me. The only brother I ever followed.”
“Oh.”
Only then did Haon snap out of her spiral.
Her anticlimactic response made Prince Si turn, sensing something was off.
“…What were you thinking just now?”
“Nothing at all!”
Haon quickly played dumb.
She wiped her mind clean of the forbidden romance she had just imagined between Prince Si and Prince V.
So they were close.
It was new information.
In the novel, Prince V was already dead when the story began, and Prince Si wasn’t even a main character. There hadn’t been a single mention of their relationship.
The only clue she had was the purple hair in the portrait.
Well, at least I managed to survive thanks to that.
She reflexively touched her neck. Sure enough, there was a shallow scratch.
Still, because Prince Si had genuinely admired his older brother, he had been quick to believe Haon’s story about unrequited love.
It’s empathy, she thought.
Shared grief over losing someone you love.
The fact that Prince Si could feel that way surprised her.
In the novel, he had been described as a cold, merciless ice wolf.
People only get hurt when they have soft hearts, after all.
And if his closest brother had died, how deep must that wound be?
Even though her confession of love for Prince V had been a lie, Haon now found her affection for Prince Si deepening.
“How deep is your love for Prince V?”
The sudden question made Haon’s mouth flap open.
“W-well…”
She looked into his blue eyes—clear and piercing under his silver hair. She felt like she might fall into them.
“My feelings…”
She began to speak, but it wasn’t Prince V she was thinking about—it was Prince Si.
“My old life felt meaningless. It was full of pain and never brought me joy. But when I thought of Your Highness… I mean, Prince V, I could finally feel happy. Even now, I don’t miss my old life. I just want to stay here and live for the prince.”
It was the truth.
She hadn’t once missed South Korea, her old reality. Too many wounds had driven her into isolation, locked in her room, obsessed with The Queen of Thorned Roses.
And now, she stood face-to-face with her favorite character—Prince Si.
Even if she was just a maid, she was truly happier now.
Prince Si stared at her. His blue eyes were pure and clear, yet unbearably cold.
But Haon didn’t look away. She met his gaze head-on, hoping her sincerity would reach him.
Silence lingered.
Finally, he blinked and turned back to the portrait.
“Even now—would you do anything for Prince V?”
“…Yes!”
Haon answered confidently.
She didn’t know why he was asking, but in this situation, it was the only right answer.
“If you try anything foolish, I’ll cut off your head.”
At his warning, Haon reflexively wrapped her arms around her neck.
This damn wolf prince is obsessed with cutting off heads.
She glared at the back of his head.
“Prince V didn’t commit suicide.”
“You said that earlier. Then what happened?”
Could it be… he’s still alive?
But then Prince Si said something even more shocking.
“He was murdered.”
“…What?”
Haon gaped, stunned.
There had been no such plot in the original story. Not even a hint.
“What do you mean? Murdered? Who would do that to Prince V?”
The crown prince had been assassinated? That was beyond scandalous.
“Prince V wasn’t the kind of man who’d give up on life.”
Ah. So that was it. Maybe he just couldn’t accept that Prince V had taken his own life.
Haon began to relax.
“That night, someone else was in Prince V’s chamber.”
Prince Si tore down the curtain that covered one of the walls.
Behind it was a lavishly decorated room—and in the center, a tall man hung by the neck, his long purple hair trailing down.
Creaaak. The rope twisted, and the corpse slowly turned to face them.
“Kyaaaa!”
Haon locked eyes with Prince V’s corpse and collapsed, screaming.
