Chapter: 1
<Prologue>
Rustle.
Clutching what she held tightly to her chest, Linette glanced around.
The corridor of the mansion was dark. Normally, lamps powered by mana stones would brightly illuminate the hallway, but now only oil wicks crackled softly as they burned.
“…Where… should I… go…?”
“That way… be sure to capture—”
As the noisy footsteps faded into the distance, Linette lowered her gaze to what she was holding.
Something wrapped tightly in a checkered quilt squirmed.
“Shh. Not yet. It’s dangerous.”
At her words, the bundle wrapped in cloth went still.
“Good. That’s a good girl.”
Smiling, Linette brushed aside the strands of hair that had fallen over her face.
If he caught her, this tiny baby’s life might end right there. She couldn’t allow that to happen.
“Françoise.”
A gentle voice flowed from her lips along with a soft smile.
“Just hang on a little longer. I’ll take you somewhere safe soon.”
“And I’m quite curious as to where this ‘safe place’ might be.”
With the man’s voice, a long shadow stretched from behind her, slowly creeping over her head like the shape of a demon.
“…Ghk!”
Linette sucked in a short breath and instinctively hunched over, trying to shield what she held in her arms.
Perhaps finding the gesture amusing, a quiet chuckle escaped the mouth of the man who was clearly standing close by.
“So, what do you intend to do with what you’re holding, Princess?”
“……”
Linette pressed her lips tightly together. It felt as though he might snatch the small thing from her arms at any moment.
Calm down. Stay composed.
After steadying her breathing, Linette slowly rose to her feet and turned around.
A tall man stood there. Though the corners of his lips curved smoothly upward, the temperature in his deep blue eyes was cold enough to make even a demon burst into tears.
“Good evening, Derbel.”
“Well, I can’t say I agree with that greeting… Did you enjoy your little escapade?”
“An escapade? I’m not sure what you mean.”
At Linette’s feigned innocence, the man—Derbel Crisian—slowly folded his arms. Then, smiling even more sweetly, he spoke.
“Running away while suspiciously hiding something like that—if that’s not an escapade, what is?”
“……”
“If you were to leave just like that, no one would even notice what you’re holding.”
“Ah.”
As if she finally understood, Linette tilted her head slightly, a deep smile spreading across her face.
“This child is innocent.”
“Innocent, you say….”
He took a step toward her.
“Yes, that thing is innocent. It’s just that the role it plays by being born is what it is, Princess.”
“How rude. Françoise was born to be loved.”
“Françoise?”
The man’s eyebrow lifted slightly.
“And what might that be?”
“It’s this child’s name.”
Linette raised her chin and lifted her head proudly.
Seeing her stand tall and look up at him so defiantly, Derbel narrowed his eyes.
“You’ve already given it a name?”
He let out a hollow laugh, as though dumbfounded.
For a moment, the man looked as if he were staring at some bizarre creature that didn’t even speak the continent’s common tongue. Then he quickly put on a gentle expression and extended one hand.
“Hand it over, Princess Linette. If you cooperate quietly, I’ll pretend nothing that happened tonight ever occurred.”
“No, Duke Crisian.”
Linette wasn’t fooled by that smile. Instead, she took a step back. The cold sensation of brick seeped slowly into her back.
Sweet on the outside, twisted to the core on the inside.
Derbel Crisian, as known to the public, was a man gentle enough to melt others away. But Linette knew better than anyone just how cynical he truly was.
Of course she did. She had experienced it firsthand.
When he had proposed a contractual engagement, his sarcasm had been so biting she had almost thrown the entire plan away.
So there was no way she could hand Françoise over to someone so ill-tempered. Once in that man’s hands, this child would surely die.
She might not have known before, but now that the child was already in her hands, she couldn’t give it up.
Linette Igrain—First Princess of the Holy Kingdom and the temporary fiancée of Derbel Crisian—tightened her grip.
“I know this may sound strange, but I don’t want to see this child follow the future that’s been decided for it, Duke. So just this once—”
“Give it to me.”
Apparently fed up with the prolonged standoff, Derbel finally frowned in irritation.
Seeing that, Linette clamped her lips shut, her eyes filled with resentment.
According to the unknown voice, this child was someone who would help her.
With that fox-like man having returned—leaving her unable to freely roam in search of the ‘Star of Fortune’—losing even her helper would surely throw all her future plans into chaos.
So she absolutely had to protect this child—
That was when it happened.
“Puu….”
The checkered bundle in Linette’s arms wriggled, and before long, something pale pink emerged.
“No, Françoise!”
Cutting through Linette’s sharp scream, a pale pink baby pig—Françoise—pushed aside the checkered cloth and popped its head out.
“That man might kill you. Let’s run!”
With a desperate cry, Linette hugged the piglet tightly and took off running.
Derbel watched the pitiful escape attempt in silence for a moment.
Then, when they looked no bigger than cufflinks in the distance, he flicked his finger.
The captain of the guard, who had been watching nearby, hurried over and prostrated himself. His gloomy expression suggested he was well aware of his own fault.
“How many did you station up ahead?”
“Three.”
“If you let them slip again, I’ll have you all tied up and hung upside down from the city walls.”
“I will do everything in my power to ensure such a disaster does not occur.”
At the resolute pledge, Derbel patted the man’s shoulder a couple of times in encouragement.
“Capture them and bring them to my office.”
Leaving his vigorously nodding subordinate behind, Derbel turned away.
They’d be here soon enough. He could just go and wait.
That aside—
“Why would you bother giving a name to a pig that’s meant to end up on the dinner table, anyway?”
A voice filled with irritation and annoyance trailed after him like a tag.
