Chapter 66
“Excuse me? Why my father?”
“It’s not just your father. All the lords of the empire are being called to the capital.”
“The emperor wants to take money from the lords, and the lords want to protect their own wealth while eyeing others’.”
“In a situation like this, it’s smarter to go for one big target than many small ones.”
“So everyone’s going to try to open our family treasure, then?”
“That’s right. If you step into the palace now, everyone will surround you and try to trap you with tricky words.”
My brother shook his head, saying he couldn’t handle being picked on by people like a pack of hyenas. Then he warned me:
“Cecil, don’t go to the palace until your father comes and finishes the negotiations.”
“Yeah. The empress might not let you leave if she wants to keep you there.”
Currently, I was engaged to the Second Prince and taking bridal lessons at the palace. If the empress decided, she could easily hold me there, even if not officially as a hostage.
“It’s probably lucky I’m forbidden from entering the palace.”
“Yes. They can’t force you to go in now. But if you go there on your own, they definitely won’t let you leave.”
I thought about sneaking into the palace, but decided it was too risky.
I promised my mother and brother I’d stay home for now and went to my room.
Soon after, Eunice returned from checking on information in the dark streets.
“Miss, I’m back.”
“Eunice! Did you find anything?”
“Yes. The situation in the north looks very serious. An evacuation order has been issued for the entire area north of the Sernan River.”
“The Sernan River?”
If I remembered correctly, the Sernan River runs through the center of the north. That meant half of the north was already being abandoned even though the monster wave had only just started.
“Are there that many monsters?”
“There are, but more importantly, they don’t know the exact locations of the scattered monsters.”
It seemed safer to retreat than risk being broken through a northern defense line.
“The immediate priority is setting up defenses. They’re preparing the minimum and sending the first support troops within a week.”
“Will Rio be part of that first group?”
“Most likely…”
Eunice nodded carefully, watching my reaction.
“So it’s really going to happen.”
Eunice tried to comfort me.
“Don’t worry, Miss. There’s a prophecy for the Second Prince. He will surely return safely.”
“I… I just need a moment to think.”
“Of course. I’ll be outside. Call me if you need anything.”
After sending her out, I lay on my bed, thinking about what I could do.
In the novel… Rio returned from the north five years later. He defeated the Monster King, but failed to clear all the monsters, so he couldn’t reclaim the north. The First Prince, supported by the Empress, eventually became Crown Prince, and Rio was blamed for failure and sent away to the temple.
I barely remembered these parts because I had skimmed through the monster-fighting scenes—they didn’t interest me. I only remembered the parts where the male lead kidnapped and confined the female lead, which I oddly enjoyed.
I didn’t like dark or tragic stories in general, and even now, I would skip forced kidnapping scenes.
Why did I read the whole novel? Or did I even finish it? I couldn’t clearly recall whether it had a happy ending or not, or how Rio ruled the empire after taking the throne.
It didn’t matter. My goal was simple: prevent Rio from turning dark, and stop him from kidnapping me.
“To do that, I need to help him.”
The emperor had promised that if Rio successfully repelled the monster wave, he would become Crown Prince. Once he became Crown Prince, he wouldn’t be deposed unless he rebelled.
If Rio became Emperor and I became Empress, no one could take anything from him, and his dark turn would be completely prevented.
“Okay, first I need to figure out how to help him.”
Before planning, I wanted to talk to Rio directly, but there couldn’t be anyone else around. Late-night meetings made it hard to approach him. Wait…
“The bluebird is my spirit familiar.”
Spirit familiars can act as messengers. The caster sends their consciousness to the familiar to see and talk to others, like how my mentor spoke to me through Snowy.
“How do I move my consciousness?”
A spirit familiar’s body is made of pieces of the caster’s soul and magic. First, I needed to find the piece of my soul that had separated from my body…
Ah, got it!
Suddenly, I felt my consciousness being pulled somewhere. It flickered like I was passing out.
Later…
I woke up in a dark place.
It didn’t feel threatening—the walls around me were soft, warm, and comforting, like a nest. A familiar heavy scent and the slow heartbeat of the walls made me relaxed.
‘I’m sleepy…’
I leaned back, feeling weightless, like floating. My hands felt strange—they weren’t hands anymore, but small wings.
A gentle pat through the soft wall calmed me, and I felt peaceful even though I was trapped in darkness.
I just wanted to lie down and rest. The rocking motion felt like being in a soft cradle. Very comfortable.
Then I heard a voice:
“Your Highness, do you need anything?”
“Bring cookies. And clean water.”
“Yes, understood.”
The voice echoed slightly through the thick walls.
‘Cookies? Water? Is this a break time?’
I perked up my ears to check if anyone else was around. My body began to float and sway again, but soon, the movement stopped. A large object enveloped me from above.
“Ah!”
I screamed in surprise, and the movement of the large object paused.
