TFPHS 22

Chapter – 22

“Of course!”

Nina answered confidently, then added,

“But there’s nothing to worry about. Cinderella, the heroine of the fairy tale, only took off her shoes on the first night, right? You’re the main character, unlike some Vivian.”

Main character…? Cinderella?

None of that had anything to do with my situation.

Nina, who was obviously a lifelong single and four years younger than me, was giving advice as if she were a master of romance.

“Since His Highness didn’t get to fulfill his intentions, he’ll invite you again soon. When that happens, do better. And don’t pretend not to notice when His Highness shows subtle interest! Don’t worry about diplomacy!”

Feeling embarrassed, I tried to make excuses.

“B-But His Highness said it was just a joke in the end, and that it could actually become a diplomatic issue…”

“You idiot!”

Nina snapped, speaking rudely even though I was supposed to be a foreign princess.

“Don’t you know that you marrying His Highness would be the greatest diplomacy Bristol could ever have? Honestly, if rumors spread that you stayed even one night in His Highness’s palace, he wouldn’t be able to marry anyone else but you!”

She really was sharp…

Of course, since I wasn’t a real princess, I had never tried to marry him in earnest—and likely never would.

Anyway, before I could refute even a single word after being swept along by Nina, we arrived at the residence of the new imperial princess.

On the way to buy candy, I pretended to look around the street and stopped by Jane’s place, where we discreetly exchanged small folded notes.

I had something I wanted to ask Rafael, and I assumed Rafael’s note would just be a short, polite four-character message.

But after parting ways with Nina and secretly unfolding the note, I found it much longer than expected.

I can’t write much, but the situation is bad. I’m changing the plan to find M and get out immediately. Because of that, I might not be able to contact you for a while. I can roughly guess what Request No. 3 is, so delay carrying out No. 2 as much as possible. Please stay safe.

—Your R.

This was not the kind of note I could simply throw away.

After reading it once more to fully memorize its contents, I tore it into tiny pieces, put them into my mouth, and chewed.

It tasted disgusting.

Still, he could guess what Request No. 3 was about? Hey, you too…?

Even without knowing the exact details, it was clear the request would head in a very bad direction for the Crown Prince.

This strange fake identity, the pouch stained with traces of poison, the peculiar atmosphere among the nobles—

All of it ultimately pointed to a single person: the Crown Prince.

If only the man I’d seen up close had been a hopeless, debauched scoundrel, I might have felt at ease.

But he was nothing more than the beautifully shining morning star of Yustini.

So all I could do was wait for the complete request, trapped in fear.

Back in my room, I confidently explained my future plan—thought through over the course of the day—to Jwibangul.

“First of all, I’ve come to the imperial castle and attended the banquet starting from the very first day, so I’m faithfully carrying out Item No. 1 of the request. And I’ve completed Item No. 2 as well, right?”

As far as Jwibangul knew, that was true.

“Well… yeah.”

His answer was lukewarm, but his lack of cooperation was nothing new.

“So now I need on-site investigation for Item No. 3. Since Young Lord Hübner is taking me along for hunting practice, I’ll go with him and look over the hunting grounds.”

Jwibangul nodded reluctantly.

“I think we’ll find out the exact contents of Request No. 3 soon anyway… but fine, do that.”

“Right. Either way, I need to check the magical control barrier at the hunting grounds in advance. No matter what kind of request your master sends, if I can use even a little magic, the difficulty drops drastically.”

Ugh—if I’d had magic when hiding the pouch, I wouldn’t have even needed to leave my room.

Just then, while we were talking, a letter slid quietly through the gap beneath the door.

It wasn’t unusual, so I wasn’t particularly surprised. I simply watched absentmindedly as Jwibangul jumped up, opened the door, and picked it up.

But as soon as he unfolded the letter and started reading, his arms began to tremble like an aspen tree.

“Jwibangul?”

Before I could even approach him after standing up in alarm, his face turned deathly pale and he collapsed.

“C-Clementine!”

When I rushed over and shook the fairy, who lay sprawled like a corpse, the letter slipped from his hand.

It was the complete request sent by his vicious master.

Commission Request

From ○ month ○ day, the subject shall attend the Imperial Charity Banquet for one month under the identity of a princess of the Duchy of Bristol.
By the day of the final banquet, before the hunting event is held, the subject must empty the enclosed leather pouch and hide it in the Crown Prince’s bedchamber within the Crown Prince’s palace.
On the day of the final banquet, during the hunting event, the subject must assassinate Crown Prince Kalishion Peñafort Lefebvre Yustinia without leaving external injuries.

What… assassination?

Assassinate the Crown Prince?

Damn it—this vicious bastard finally went this far…!

I forgot all about moving the unconscious Clementine to the bed as my knees gave out and I sank to the floor.

I was honestly envious of fairies who could conveniently faint.

Late at night, leaving the fairy—still unconscious—lying on the bed, I paced the room in a frenzy, wracking my brain.

That Request No. 3 would target the Crown Prince had been obvious.

But I never imagined it would be this extreme. Within the empire, the Crown Prince’s popularity was immense, and he was also the last remaining legitimate heir of the imperial line.

Think, A. Think.

If Rafael was talking about finding Millie and pulling out, then he had clearly guessed the request’s contents—and had likely found a lead on Millicent’s whereabouts as well.

But finding Millicent would take time, and I was still stuck here.

In the end, I had to consider the worst possible outcome.

The case where I fail to rescue Millicent until the very end—and end up fully carrying out the request.

It was unimaginable. The gentle face of the morning star who had been so kind to me flickered before my eyes.

But even setting my conscience aside, Request No. 3 was no easy task.

It wasn’t just assassination—could you really kill someone without leaving external injuries?

Yet if I abandoned the request, I would lose Millicent, and I simply couldn’t allow that.

At the same time, I couldn’t just hand this request—upon which Millicent’s life depended—to the imperial family. That would break the contract.

That wicked client must have calculated all of this before driving me into this hell.

The fear of losing Millicent, the suffocating dread that my own death might be approaching, and the guilt of having smiled and spent time with the morning star without knowing I was meant to kill him—all of it twisted together and tightened around my throat.

Millie, Raf…

What… what am I supposed to do?

My cheeks burned, and only then did I realize—

That even after losing Millicent and running down this single path alone, I hadn’t shed a single tear until now.

“Wake up, you damn Jwibangul.”

Swallowing my tears, I shook his shoulder. Even now, I didn’t have the luxury of crying.

“Wake up, you minion of the devil. Wake up and say something. Tell me what I’m supposed to do.”

That was when—

“Cough, cough—!”

Jwibangul woke up, coughing like a dying patient.

“Hey!”

But after cracking his eyes open and glancing at the request by his bedside, he immediately started retching again.