Chapter 6
‘Where should I go?’
At first, I thought about walking around the streets and buying something.
But I couldn’t park a carriage with the imperial seal in the middle of the road.
After a short moment of thinking, I decided to take a light walk in the forest outside the city.
“Let’s go outside for a bit.”
“Outside? You mean the forest?” Lina asked.
“Yes. Just for a walk.”
There wouldn’t be many people in the forest.
It would be a good way to kill time while avoiding my father’s eyes.
Lina quickly understood and told the coachman.
Meanwhile, I opened the carriage window and spoke to the knights.
“I want to go to the forest outside the city for a moment. Is that okay?”
“We are here to protect you, Princess. As long as you leave us space to guard you, anywhere is fine.”
Seeing the knights answer calmly while staring ahead, I smiled.
“Thank you, as always.”
“It’s nothing. This is our duty.”
Sir Cedric waved his hands and told me to rest since I must be tired.
Just then, Lina peeked into the carriage.
“Princess, the coachman says there’s a back road where not many people pass.”
“A back road?”
After thinking for a moment, I nodded.
“That way, the carriage will stand out less, right? Let’s go that way.”
“Yes. Oh, and he said he’ll take the longest, slowest route.”
The coachman must also know that if I returned too early, my father would scold me.
“That’s good.”
I smiled slightly and leaned back against the carriage.
Soon, I heard the horses kicking off the ground. As the carriage started moving, the scenery outside the window blurred past.
“Lina.”
After watching outside in silence for a while, I spoke.
“Yes?”
“I heard that couples around here often go on dates in the forest we’re heading to.”
“Oh, yes. It’s pretty famous.”
“Then… is my lover you, Lina?”
I laughed softly as I said it, but Lina didn’t answer.
Finding it strange, I turned to look at her. She wasn’t smiling.
“Lina?”
When I called her name in surprise, she looked at me with a deeply upset expression.
“The Duke is really awful.”
Suddenly, tears began to fall from her eyes.
“Why would he treat such a beautiful Princess like this? Why… Why would he never even take you on a single date outside? What kind of engagement is this?”
Oh no. I was just joking.
Her strong reaction made me flustered. I smiled awkwardly and quickly took out a handkerchief.
“There, there. Stop crying. It was only a formal engagement anyway.”
“But still! He doesn’t have to be so cold! He’s really terrible!”
Lina wiped her tears and spoke angrily.
She had been by my side ever since the day I got engaged.
She knew how coldly I was treated, and she truly hated Alphius for it.
Seeing me leave the Duke’s estate today without even staying an hour must have hurt her deeply.
“I’m fine. Don’t say things like that outside, okay? It would be dangerous.”
As I gently comforted her, she sniffed and suddenly asked,
“Princess… do you want to marry the Duke?”
“Marry?”
“Yes. Lately, His Majesty has been slowly—”
“That’s right. Father has been pressuring me about marriage.”
Recently, my father had asked several times what I thought about getting married.
“Are you really okay with marrying the Duke like this?”
Lina was worried that I would have to marry Alphius without love.
“Whether I want to or not, I’ll end up doing it. My opinion doesn’t really matter.”
“Still, maybe you could talk to His Majesty—”
“Father is the one who wants this marriage the most.”
I shook my head.
He was desperate to suppress the noble faction opposing the imperial family.
Because of that, he would never let go of Alphius, whom he had bound with the name of engagement.
“We’ve known each other for a long time, so it’s natural that marriage comes up. It’s already been seven years.”
I was fifteen. Alphius was eighteen and had just lost his parents.
Not knowing anything, we were engaged.
At that time, my father didn’t miss the chance.
Seeing Alphius confused after suddenly becoming Duke, he forced the engagement immediately.
“It’s been such a long time.”
Seven years of engagement had already passed.
I thought we would break it off within a year because Alphius hated me so much.
But somehow, we had walked together for seven long years.
“Marriage…”
I tried to imagine what it would be like if we got married, but I couldn’t.
Would anything really change just because we married?
Our relationship had always been cold.
While I was thinking, Lina asked,
“If you could choose freely… would you still want to marry the Duke?”
I blinked at the unexpected question, then answered,
“If I had to marry someone… I’d want it to be Alphius.”
“But the Duke—!”
“Lina.”
I cut her off and smiled.
Feeling awkward for saying it, I pressed my fingertips together and laughed softly.
“You know it too. I like Alphius very much.”
From the moment I first saw him, it was like I was engraved with love.
Even though he didn’t love me, I trembled at his smallest gesture.
I got hurt. I broke down.
“Princess…”
Lina looked at me sadly.
She had always watched me cry and laugh beside her, so whenever I showed my true feelings, she looked even more hurt than I did.
As I smiled back at her—
Bang!
“What was that just now?”
A loud crash came from outside.
Crash—Screech!
“Ahh!”
The sound of the wheels scraping against the ground made us scream and cover our ears.
The carriage shook wildly, unable to stay steady.
“Princess! Do not come out!”
From outside, Sir Cedric shouted for me to stay inside.
Who are they fighting?
The carriage kept shaking violently, and I could hear the sound of swords clashing.
Then suddenly—
Crash!
The carriage tilted to the side.
Heavy luggage piled in the corner fell onto me as the carriage toppled left.
“Ugh—!”
I curled up, crushed under the weight.
Lina, who was sitting on the opposite side, wasn’t crushed, but her voice was shaking.
“P-Princess, what do we do? Oh no… blood—Princess! Are you okay?! What do we do?!”
The carriage had flipped, and on top of being crushed, it felt like my head had hit the window hard.
I could feel blood flowing.
“I’m okay—”
My whole body hurt too much to move, but I forced my voice out to calm Lina.
But my words never reached her.
“Princess!”
The carriage flipped violently again, as if everything before had been nothing.
Darkness.
The world turned completely black, and I closed my eyes.
* * *
My vision was blurry.
After blinking several times, I barely managed to focus.
“…I feel like I’m going to throw up.”
My stomach churned, even though I hadn’t eaten much.
My head hurt so badly it felt like I might die.
“What… happened?”
I licked my dry lips and called out,
“Lina? Sir Cedric?”
“……”
“Sir Eden? Sir Josh?”
I called the knights’ names one by one with a hoarse voice, but there was no answer.
Is my voice too weak?
I couldn’t see outside at all.
And worse, I couldn’t move because the luggage was pressing down on me.
After a moment, I realized I couldn’t stay like this.
“I’m going to die…”
Just pushing the weight off my upper body drained all my strength.
“What is this… blood?”
I touched my head without thinking. When I pulled my hand back, it was wet.
Realizing I was bleeding and it made my head spin.
My legs weakened, and the pain became unbearable.
“…My head hurts.”
Had I ever been in this much pain before?
My head felt like it was going to burst.
My arms, legs—my whole body ached far worse than before.
“I have to get out of here.”
Gritting my teeth, I began pushing the luggage away one by one.
My arms barely had strength, but once I moved the biggest piece, it became a little easier.
“The exit.”
After repeating the same motion countless times, I finally saw it.
Using all my remaining strength, I crawled toward the opening.
The moment I half-pulled myself out—
I froze.
“No way…”
Not far from the carriage, the coachman and the knights lay motionless.
Forgetting my pain, I stumbled out of the carriage and limped toward them.
The sight was horrifying.
Their bodies were torn open, their insides exposed.
Some were missing parts of their bodies entirely.
“Ugh…”
The smell of blood filled the air.
They looked like they had been torn apart by wild beasts.
My body reacted, and nausea surged.
I barely managed to hold back my vomit and swallowed my tears.
“…What on earth happened here?”
