Chapter 42
‘I am my master’s.’
Even as she cried, her lips curved so prettily. Those trembling lips, the crystal tears that had rolled into her mouth like glass beads—remembering it suddenly made my face burn red.
“Why didn’t you take her to your bedchamber?”
“Huh?”
Francis asked, sounding genuinely curious. I turned to face him. My face must still have been bright red, and that was a little embarrassing, but I forced the feeling away and tried to think about what he really meant.
“Would you like me to?”
“No.”
“Then why ask?”
“You seemed angry, Your Highness.”
Right. Definitely a greyhound—always running ahead on his own. His eyes are always chasing after me, though.
Was he displeased that I punished my sister’s people?
Or… was he really starting to become someone I could trust?
“I am angry. That’s why I’m not going to see you for a few days.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m upset that I couldn’t make you trust me.”
Clink!
“Damn it!”
“Your Highness!”
I almost toppled backward when the status window suddenly popped up in front of me without warning.
Could it not appear normally for once?!
Penalty reactivation!
While the quest was paused, the penalty was temporarily lifted.
Weight on right arm: 50 kg!
Remaining time: 18:18
“Ughhh!”
Seriously, eighteen! 1818!
“Your Highness!”
I turned—and immediately fell as my arm got heavier. Luckily, I didn’t crash face-first into the ground, because I felt something hard pressing against my back—Francis’s arm holding me steady.
Good thing he’s my bodyguard, even if I forced him into the role. Without him, I’d probably be kissing dirt right now.
“Are you all right, Your Highness? It seems the tension’s finally wearing off…”
“Ugh… I’m going to lose it.”
Now that the adrenaline was gone, my whole body felt drained. I couldn’t even lift a finger.
No wonder the sword felt lighter earlier—turns out the penalty had just been paused, not gone.
Damn it!
“Sir Francis.”
“Yes, Your Highness?”
“Carry me again.”
He smiled so brightly, like an eager greyhound that just got a treat.
Strange. When Joshua cries, my chest aches—but when you do, I feel oddly… good.
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Go ahead and tell my sister if you want.
It won’t change anything.
Someday, I’ll take off your leash too—but until then, let’s get along. Try not to tattle too much, okay?
“Finally here?”
Ugh. Why does this day feel endless? I’m dying here.
“What? Why are you here?”
Adrian got up from my empty bedroom, where he’d been lounging as if it were his own.
“Step back.”
“Leave the mutt outside.”
“Who’s a mutt? Don’t talk to my guard like that.”
Okay, fine, I do think of him like a dog—but you can’t just say it out loud! At least not in front of him.
“Why are you being carried? Are you hurt again?”
“I’m going to be, thanks to you. Go away.”
I pressed my aching head against Francis’s back. My limbs felt like jelly.
“I heard what happened.”
“Then tell me who your spy is. Where are you even getting all this information?”
“Do you think they’re my spies? Not the Emperor’s eyes and ears?”
The Emperor actually trusted Adrian more. Despite Clayton’s military accomplishments, it was Adrian he seemed to favor—probably because of me.
Well, he hated Kiira. And since Clayton was tied to her, there’s no way he could’ve liked him much.
It’s true, though—the Emperor cherished me like a jewel. His affection was so excessive that it almost felt foreign to me, something I’d never known in my real life.
In this world, I could doubt everything—but not that. That was my one guaranteed truth.
“Did Father send you?”
“Yes.”
“And why does Father like you so much?”
“Because I’m capable. And loyal.”
Ha. As if I don’t know you’re just using me because you want Kiira.
Still… I am curious what that “proof” you mentioned before really was.
He reached out a hand as if to help me down—but I couldn’t take it. My right arm weighed fifty kilos!
“Why aren’t you taking my hand? Is your arm hurt?”
“Her Highness’s arm is injured,” Francis said smoothly.
“Why?”
“She got a little too excited while visiting the River Ber with Clayton.”
I said it before he could, because he’d find out anyway. He frowned immediately—of course he knew exactly what that meant.
“What’s that weed you’re wearing?”
“Oh, this? Clayton gave it to me.”
He eyed the four-leaf clover still looped around my left ring finger with a complicated look. Was he angry? Hurt? It was hard to tell.
Adrian was one of those people whose expressions were impossible to read.
“You’re wearing trash on your hand.”
“Whatever. Just say what you came for.”
Francis gently set me down.
“Ow!”
My right arm hit the ground, and it honestly felt like it might rip off. My whole body felt light—except my arm, which was being dragged to the ground by gravity like Newton’s apple.
I was a helium balloon tethered by a lead weight.
“Are you all right?”
“Your Highness?”
They both looked worried—and for once, I regretted snapping earlier.
“My arm hurts.”
Quest Activated: The Mirror of Truth II ▼
Oh, come on. Why now?!
“Your guard can leave.”
“I’m not your subordinate. My master is His Imperial Majesty, not Duke Russell. I don’t take orders from you.”
To continue the ‘Mirror of Truth’ quest, call for Lilfei. ▼
“Adrian.”
“Yes.”
“Did you try to kill Lilfei without telling me?”
“…”
He just looked at me quietly, saying nothing. I sighed and tugged the silver thread bracelet on my wrist.
“Why?”
Adrian wasn’t my sister’s man—not yet. If he wanted her to return, I’d need to become crown princess first. Otherwise, his ambitions for the throne—or something near it—would crumble.
In the prologue, he’d let my sister go, yet still come to me. That meant he didn’t look only at her. He wasn’t driven by love—he was driven by something else.
Honor, maybe.
Power, perhaps.
Or something even deeper.
He was difficult to win over—and impossible to fully trust.
He wouldn’t betray without a reason, though. Not like Clayton, who acted purely on emotion. If Clayton ever lost his feelings for me, he’d go running back to Kiira in an instant.
Adrian wouldn’t.
Not for love, at least.
“I already know the truth,” he said. “I was there that night.”
Right—the night we broke the curse. Adrian had been there too.
If Clayton was the type to act with his body, Adrian was the one who used his head.
He’d heard about Lilfei’s strange behavior, saw that I’d broken the curse, and made a swift judgment to eliminate her.
“So that’s why?”
He looked at me with those lazy eyes and smiled faintly.
“Yes. Because now, I’ve decided to trust only you.”
But people should never be trusted so easily. Some show you everything without needing to be tested, like the Emperor. Others—you’ll never fully know, no matter how much you test them.
It was obvious the Emperor trusted Adrian more than I ever could.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have accepted Adrian’s suggestion to execute Lilfei without question.
Adrian probably wasn’t tied to my sister anymore. If he were, he wouldn’t have handled things so sloppily. Being suspected like this didn’t benefit him at all.
“Adrian.”
“Yes.”
“Tell me what you heard about Joshua.”
“I heard the bed slave tampered with his meal.”
“Mm.”
“But you showed mercy because of the slave. That’s all.”
That was it? I expected him to mention the part where I pulled a sword and lost my mind.
“Then why’d you come?”
“Because I was worried.”
“You said you hate when I act sentimental.”
“You’ve lost your memories. I thought, maybe, seeing me might help.”
He took my right hand and held it tightly. The moment he did, the weight vanished.
Ah… this feels amazing.
“What a cute reaction.”
I hadn’t even realized I’d gripped his hand tighter. I didn’t want to let go—because the moment I did, it’d feel like fifty kilos again.
“Why are you smiling?”
“It’s strange.”
“What is?”
“I think… maybe it’d be better if you never got your memories back.”
Well, duh. I’m not that lunatic Princess Gracie anymore!
I’m not the chaos-spreading machine she was—I’m the one cleaning up after her!
“Your smile is the same, though.”
He brushed my cheek with his fingers, then patted my head. When he tried to let go of my arm, I clung tighter.
Not yet! It’s too heavy!
“I like this side of you.”
“Yeah, well—just keep holding it.”
“All right.”
Knock, knock.
“You called for me, Your Highness?”
That familiar voice—it had been a while, but I couldn’t help smiling.
