Chapter 16
The man Ariadne had spotted was Fran de Cassius.
The Emperor’s eldest son, born from the late Empress, and now the Crown Prince.
But he was a very weak person.
Although he had the Emperor’s full support, that was all he had.
The political struggle surrounding the Crown Prince was too complicated for Ariadne, and she had no interest in getting involved.
The factions of the late Empress and the current Empress were divided.
The Emperor seemed to favor the Crown Prince as his successor, but the current Empress—who was not his birth mother—could not possibly be pleased with that choice.
Knowing this much, Ariadne tried her best to avoid getting involved with him.
“Ugh…”
Only then did she realize her outfit stood out here.
She regretted dressing up properly for the occasion.
Even though she had stayed in a corner to avoid attention, her elegant noble attire made her easy to recognize.
Fran walked quickly, and the distance between them closed in no time.
They weren’t personally acquainted, but one was the Crown Prince, and the other was the Saint’s sister—both well-known figures. It was natural they recognized each other.
As Fran approached, Ariadne instinctively bent her knees.
“Your—”
Before she could say “Your Highness,” Fran quickly stopped her.
“Ah, wait!”
Startled, he blocked her.
“What are you doing? I went through all this trouble to dress like this.”
“……”
Ariadne paused mid-greeting and looked at the disguised Crown Prince with a strange expression.
Where could one even find such luxurious commoner clothes?
They only looked simple on the outside—the fabric itself was clearly of the highest quality.
As she observed him, she suddenly felt pity.
Without the Emperor’s support, he would be nothing.
How much must he have needed an escape, to come here alone like this?
Unaware of her thoughts, Fran seemed happy to see her and stood close beside her.
“Did you come here to watch too?”
“Ah… no. I’m looking for someone.”
It felt awkward talking to the Crown Prince when they had never properly spoken before.
“Who?”
“Prince Diego.”
“Ah…”
Ariadne continued searching for Diego while standing beside Fran.
At the mention of Diego, Fran clearly showed displeasure.
Only then did Ariadne remember that the Crown Prince and Diego didn’t get along.
But it was too late to fix the situation.
“Diego is… very confident… I wish I could be like that, but I can’t…”
The Crown Prince began comparing himself without being asked, looking like he might sink into the ground from embarrassment.
But Ariadne didn’t have the time to deal with his self-pity.
The crowd kept growing, and now there was barely space to stand.
This place had practically become lawless. If they stayed any longer, something might happen.
She began to feel anxious.
“Hey, move. What are you doing standing here?”
And just as she feared—
Because of the crowd, Ariadne and Fran were standing in a spot that blocked the flow of people.
A large, rough-looking man, already drunk, approached and picked a fight with Fran.
Fran responded gracefully, like royalty.
“Y-You could just move a little and pass… why… why are you shouting like that?”
It seemed the Crown Prince thought noble manners would work here.
But his timid voice, full of fear, had no effect.
Oh no.
Seeing the man’s face twist in anger, Ariadne quickly stepped in.
“Haha, we’ll move. Please go ahead.”
She pulled Fran’s arm.
It was rude, but better than causing a bigger problem.
But Fran didn’t agree.
“Can’t we both move? If we show consideration, why start a fight?”
As expected, he lacked flexibility.
His words only made the man angrier.
“What did you say?! You think you can pass here?! If you were me, could you pass?!”
He shouted loudly, enough for everyone to hear.
His speech was slurred—he was clearly very drunk.
Ariadne just wanted to leave this situation.
She whispered to Fran,
“Your Highness, he’s drunk. There’s no point provoking him. This isn’t the palace—”
“Shh.”
Fran cut her off and stepped forward, as if he could handle it.
Ariadne knew things would go wrong.
Neither of them showed any intention of backing down.
Their argument continued.
Even as people around them grew uncomfortable, there was no resolution.
“Ha…”
One was completely drunk.
The other was a disguised Crown Prince acting like he was still in the palace.
Ariadne gave up trying to stop them and stepped back to search for Diego again.
That seemed more useful.
But then—
“Ahhh!”
A piercing scream rang out.
Ariadne turned toward the sound.
“……!”
The drunk man, unsatisfied with arguing, had pulled out a dagger.
People stepped back in fear.
The Crown Prince, for some reason, stood his ground with bare hands.
“That crazy man…!”
Ariadne quickly looked around.
There were no guards nearby.
Of course… no one would come all the way here.
Her mind raced.
The man looked like he could attack at any moment.
If the Crown Prince got hurt, it would be a disaster.
He was under the Emperor’s protection—and she couldn’t just ignore it.
“Thank you very much… both of you.”
Ariadne pushed through the crowd and approached them.
“I’ll kill you!!”
The drunk man looked completely insane.
His knife skills were terrible—more threatening than dangerous.
But the problem was that the Crown Prince wasn’t very agile either.
Ariadne glanced around.
“Ahhh!”
“Eek!”
The man shouted and swung the knife wildly again.
She couldn’t let this continue.
Ariadne quickly grabbed a water bottle from someone nearby.
“Excuse me! I’ll borrow this!”
“Die!!!”
Just as the man rushed forward—
Splash!
She threw water in his face, blocking his vision, and stepped between them.
Then she kicked his shin with all her strength.
“Ugh!”
“Ariadne!”
The man stumbled and swung his knife in the air.
Fortunately, her attack worked.
Because he was drunk, it was effective.
He dropped the knife and collapsed forward.
The situation was finally under control.
“A… Ariadne!”
Fran rushed to her in shock.
“You…!”
“Yes?”
She smiled, about to move him away—
But her body wouldn’t move properly.
“You… you’re bleeding.”
“…?”
Only then did she realize—
The man’s knife had stabbed into her arm.
Her vision went white.
A dull pain spread slowly through her body.
“Ugh…”
“Ariadne!”
She staggered.
“Ariadne!”
Her consciousness faded.
Someone was calling her name—but it wasn’t the Crown Prince’s voice.
Her legs gave out, and she collapsed.
The last thing she saw—
was Diego’s pale face.
“Ariadne!!!”
He shouted desperately, as if he was about to lose everything.
She felt relieved.
At least she had found him.
Now… she could finally leave the palace.
