21.
“Lady Pri, are you okay?”
Cassie hurried after her, patting Pri gently on the back.
“I’m fine, Cassie. I guess something I ate didn’t agree with me.”
“That’s not it, Lady Pri… I just don’t understand…”
“Hm?”
“Why is he bringing someone else? When you’re already here. And the way he spoke—it was awful! How can someone say something so cruel so casually?”
“Cassie…”
“He said it was for fun. I’d heard he was kind, that he was a good man—how could he say something like that so heartlessly…?”
Cassie bit her lip, as if she already knew the truth. Seeing her more upset than herself made Pri feel like something had gone wrong.
“Cassie.”
“Yes?”
“You don’t have to think badly of him. He’s not the bad one—I am.”
“But! I mean… I do like His Majesty, but I just can’t understand this!”
Cassie clenched her fists, looking hurt as if it were her who had been wronged. Pri was the one struggling to understand the situation, yet she raised her tone to comfort Cassie, squeezing her hands gently.
“I’m okay. Really.”
“…If you say so, Lady Pri…”
“Cassie. He’s not a bad person.”
“……”
This time, Cassie didn’t respond.
Even though Pri should have taken his side and said she was the one at fault, she couldn’t cover for him—not this time.
‘Older sister? He said it’s Gaia? That can’t be true. He must be mistaken. But… if he’s unsure, he wouldn’t have told me something like that.’
Confident more than anyone, Gaia would have been the happiest when Pri came here. Because it meant Pri wouldn’t be married off to the barbarian king.
She was destined to become empress, after all.
And now, she was coming here?
‘Why lie like that?’
Pri looked at the tightly closed dining room doors.
If it wasn’t a lie, then there was no credibility in his words. Was he testing her? What answer was he trying to get from her? As she pondered, Pri eventually turned away.
If he wanted something, he’d come to her again.
Inside the dining room she had left, only silence remained.
Argent’s face was twisted with a grim expression.
“Your Majesty.”
Just then, a man emerged from the shadows.
“So it’s true? She’s coming here on her own accord?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Though he had already received the report, Argent still couldn’t believe it.
He had once considered bringing one of the princesses to secure Pri’s future and her freedom. But hearing that Gaia herself volunteered went completely against his expectations.
“How ridiculous. What could she be thinking all of a sudden?”
“They say she made that decision after the Emperor of the Empire visited. They’re now looking for us.”
“…Wasn’t Princess Gaia the woman my younger brother loved? And he sent her here?”
“It appears that may not be the case. According to our findings, the Emperor became furious over Princess Pri’s absence…”
His gaze turned cold.
The Emperor—was he in love with Pri?
“…Could that be the reason he’s sending Gaia here?”
His suspicions began to harden into certainty.
If he truly loved Gaia, he would have no reason to send her away.
“Any word from the Emperor’s side?”
“…Not confirmed, but there are circulating rumors.”
The black-haired knight stepped closer to Argent, whispering in his ear for a long while.
After listening, Argent clenched his fists tightly.
“Ridiculous.”
“What will you do?”
“If she’s coming, we’ll receive her. I’d love to hear her reason for coming here when everyone knows she’s the Emperor’s lover.”
A smile crept across Argent’s face.
Wasn’t this a perfect opportunity for him? There was no reason to refuse it.
‘To learn what my brother is thinking, and to gather the ones who’ve hurt Pri—all in one place. I should pretend not to know and catch them in the act.’
In Argent’s eyes, Pri’s past was nothing short of tragic.
No matter how much he turned back time, he couldn’t return to her childhood. And so, he couldn’t erase the misfortunes she had endured.
She should’ve been a beloved princess, the treasured youngest of her family. But instead, while she wasn’t physically abused, she suffered deep emotional neglect.
“She doesn’t know it, but…”
Even in the moment of her death, Pri remained that way.
—Pri. Even if you die, your dead family won’t come back to life!
—Still, this is something only I can do. Hurting you through my death. That’s why I have to die.
Nothing anyone said reached her.
She had lost her sense of judgment and reality, convinced that dying was the only way to atone for her family’s lives. Even though they were cruel to her, she seemed bewitched by them, incapable of seeing reason.
No matter how often she was told they were wrong, she would insist, “They must’ve had their reasons. It’s my fault. I’m the one who’s lacking.” She’d say it over and over.
“This time, I won’t let it come to that.”
His only love.
A love he could never have. The meaning of Argent’s life.
Even knowing the side effects on his body, he had turned back time again and again. For Pri. He kept making different choices each time—saving her, over and over.
But nothing worked.
So this time, he took a more ambiguous position. He avoided giving her direct answers.
Maybe that’s why…
‘But this time… it’s different.’
Something about her felt unfamiliar.
He had experienced her through nine lives and thought he knew her well, but she moved in unpredictable ways—like a lopsided ball.
Fortunately, it had worked this time.
By saving her family, he ensured that she would be cast out like someone useless.
It hurt. But that was all he could do.
“I give the order. Make contact immediately. But…”
Argent whispered in the knight’s ear for a long time before raising the corners of his lips.
“Understood, Your Majesty.”
Since Princess Gaia and the Ezan Kingdom were already attempting contact, it wouldn’t be difficult.
The future had begun to shift, little by little.
Pri hadn’t rested properly for days due to anxiety.
She pretended to be fine—going about her routine, eating her meals—but in the past two weeks, she had lost some weight.
Argent hadn’t come to see her even once.
“Lady Pri, are you okay? You’ve lost so much weight! You haven’t been eating properly either.”
“…Ah. I’m fine, Cassie.”
“But I’m worried. What if you collapse like this?”
Just then, Ian suddenly walked into her room and held out his hand.
“Would you like to go for a walk with me today?”
Under normal circumstances, he wouldn’t have entered her room, but seeing her so lifeless for days, he had stepped inside.
Pri slowly turned her head toward him.
Strangely, he looked a bit thinner too.
“Ian.”
“I heard you haven’t been going to the library or the garden lately.”
“…Is that so.”
“Shall we go see the sea?”
For some reason, she couldn’t refuse his hand.
Was it the cold breeze blowing in from the window? Or the fact that he mentioned the sea after she hadn’t gone out in so long?
Pri dazedly took his hand.
“Alright.”
“I-I’ll come too!”
“No, Cassie. You stay here.”
“But…”
“Ian is going, so it’s fine.”
She looked tired, but there was such firm strength in her voice that both Cassie and Seth had to back off.
For the first time in a long while, she stepped outside.
They headed to the same hill as before. Having barely eaten for days, Pri was sweating as they climbed.
Ian’s large, rough hand held hers tightly.
Thanks to him, they reached the hill quickly. A cold winter breeze swept past her, and the sweat that had formed instantly dried.
“Ha… it feels nice.”
Enjoying the breeze, Pri sat on a stone nearby.
It felt like an unreal place. Sitting there, the thoughts that had tormented her for days were carried off by the wind.
“Are you alright? You seemed exhausted on the way here.”
“I’ve been staying in my room so much lately, even this was hard.”
“What’s been troubling you so much that you’ve locked yourself away?”
“I’m not sure. What is it that’s troubling me…? I don’t know. I’m just… strange.”
Ian watched her silently.
Sitting beside her, he pulled a small doll from his pocket.
“This.”
It was a bird-shaped doll at first glance.
Though it looked clumsily made from fabric, its eyes were mysterious. The red gem-like eyes were captivating, making Pri reach out unconsciously. She looked at Ian with curiosity.
“What is it?”
“Let’s call it a guardian doll. If you sleep with it by your pillow, it’s said to eat your worries through the night. If you carry it with you, it protects you.”
At his words, Pri smiled softly.
“A guardian doll…”
“So carry it with you at all times.”
“Is it a bird?”
“Uh… probably?”
Though he said he brought it, his words sounded awkward. Still, Pri stroked the doll without saying anything.
“I’ve never received a gift like this before.”
“Really? Didn’t your family give you any gifts?”
“My family… No.”
Did she ever receive anything? No matter how hard she thought, she couldn’t recall ever being given a gift.
‘What was it like again…’
As a child, she may have received some, but as she grew older, her sisters forbade giving her anything, saying they were teaching her proper manners. They claimed it would spoil her or make her vain.
Even though they called it the golden kingdom, it wasn’t because the kingdom was poor.
But her two sisters had always disapproved of her. Likely because of her birth. Even her father had never loved her.
