Chapter 04
Dressed as the Prince
It had been two months since I took refuge at the Drien Lake villa.
The Emperor had been quiet.
So I assumed that the Emperor had abandoned the idea of my engagement to the Prince.
But…
“It’s the Emperor’s command! I said, it’s the Emperor’s command!”
The chamberlain and the imperial knights who brought the Emperor’s decree burst into the villa one clear afternoon, when the transparent Drien Lake rippled gently in the breeze.
After all, the Emperor was still the Emperor—Ternut, Emperor of the Graciana Empire, had tracked me down despite my family’s attempts to hide me.
Leo, who was dealing with the chamberlain, bristled.
“Isn’t this going too far? I clearly told you that Rose isn’t well and needs to rest for a while.”
I, who was heading toward the front hall for a walk, stopped on the stairs.
At the same time, Gelion, walking from the opposite corridor, also froze as if sensing the tense atmosphere.
But something was off.
The imperial knights were armed.
‘Of all times, the Grand Duke is away in the capital…?’
A sense of inexplicable unease made my heart pound dangerously.
“How can I trust you, holding swords, to hand over my sister?”
“Are you refusing the Emperor’s command?”
“Then, is the Cowell family being disregarded by the imperial house?”
Leo’s azure eyes flashed, and the once-confident chamberlain flinched. There was a reason for his hesitation.
In the Graciana Empire, where minerals were a key resource, the Cowell family owned all the major mines and was extremely wealthy.
Moreover, as a founding family with private soldiers rivaling the imperial army, they were militarily formidable.
The Ternut Emperor desired to make the Cowell family his vassals for this reason.
He liked strong people.
Also, the Emperor had been excessively fixated on the Grand Duke, who had helped him become Emperor.
He even wanted to become allied with the family through marriage…?
The Grand Duke had grown weary of such obsession, but my brothers had secretly overheard discussions about the Emperor’s knowledge of the Grand Duke’s weakness, which prevented him from acting recklessly.
I had accidentally overheard part of this conversation, but when I realized they were listening, I quickly ended the discussion. So even now, I didn’t know what that weakness was.
Raising my head from deep in thought, I noticed the chamberlain staring at me.
Suddenly, the corner of his mouth lifted.
‘…What?’
Just as I was about to frown, the chamberlain turned to Leo.
“They say the Cowell family is overly protective of their youngest daughter.”
“Better keep that to yourself…”
“But is it normal for a family to oppose their sister becoming engaged to the Empire’s prince so fiercely? There isn’t some other… relationship, is there?”
“Other relationship?”
“I wouldn’t know. Perhaps one that could violate the Empire’s laws on incest…”
Thwack—
It was instantaneous, leaving no time to intervene.
Leo’s firm fist struck the chamberlain’s left cheek. He flew in a shallow arc and crashed into a corner of the front hall.
For a knight, witnessing the family being insulted and doing nothing would have been dishonorable. Leo’s reaction was perfectly natural.
What was unusual, however, was that as soon as Leo’s fist connected, the imperial knights all drew their swords simultaneously, as if ignoring the chamberlain’s provocation.
It was as if it had been planned all along.
“Hyah…!”
One of the knights charged at Leo.
“Leo!!!”
Leo dodged and kicked the knight in the shin, knocking him down, then seized the knight’s sword.
And the real battle began.
Leo clashed endlessly with the knights, the villa floor stained red with indistinguishable blood.
It was a fierce fight where survival was at stake.
Knowing how to handle a sword, I wanted to help Leo and rushed down the stairs.
But in the next moment, I was lifted from behind with immense strength.
“Gelion, put me down!! If you don’t—?!”
Against my will, I was carried away from the chaotic battlefield where Leo and the knights were entangled.
“Leave the rest to Leo.”
Gelion carried me swiftly into a room at the far end of the corridor.
Then he locked the door.
Clinking sounds of swords clashing faintly echoed from beyond the locked door.
“Ugh…!”
Intermittent groans, indistinguishable whose, also came.
“…What do I do…? What if Leo gets—hur—hurt…?”
I couldn’t bring myself to speak the word “death.”
The thought of losing Leo, who had become my true family, was unbearable.
“Don’t worry, Leo is strong. He’s the best swordsman in the Empire. So… he’ll be fine.”
Gelion tried to console me.
He was right.
Leo was indeed the Empire’s finest swordsman—officially.
But I, knowing the original story, also knew of another sword master like Renard. So I couldn’t relax.
Renard didn’t seem to have come, but was it possible the Emperor had someone like him?
“….”
I was afraid.
Afraid of losing Leo, my real family.
Then, suddenly—
“Ternut, this bastard…”
Gelion, who had been listening outside, swore at the Emperor.
Not the chamberlain, but the Emperor himself.
Could he be thinking the same thing as I was?
It didn’t take long to confirm the truth.
“Welcome, Grand Duchess. Thank you for accepting my invitation.”
The Emperor’s sun-like smile was radiant.
“I came because if I didn’t, Leo would have been arrested. Despite my fragile health, I am here. So should I collapse, I hope your merciful majesty will understand.”
I spoke with polite sarcasm.
After the villa incident, the Emperor had attempted to arrest Leo.
The charge: treason.
Because Leo had annihilated the Emperor’s knights, it was considered a rebellion against the imperial authority and a threat to the Empire’s security.
But in truth, the knights had risked their lives because they could not avoid fighting Leo.
The answer was simple: the goal had been death from the start.
It could have been out of loyalty to the Emperor, but there was likely some hidden deal.
Indeed, some families of the knights who died had settled debts and vanished afterward.
The chamberlain who disappeared during the fight was also nowhere to be found, despite the Grand Duke searching. Clearly, the Emperor was hiding him.
The Emperor’s condition for pardoning treason? Nothing other than this:
“Engage the Grand Duchess to Prince Ollendo.”
It made no sense—accusing someone of rebellion while offering engagement as a pardon.
But the Emperor didn’t care about logic.
From the way his sky-blue eyes were fixated on me, it was clear why my brothers said he was mad.
The ultimate punishment for treason was death.
By charging Leo with treason, the Emperor was sure I would be forced to come to him.
And here I was, visiting the Emperor alone, defying my Grand Duke and brothers.
“Edward hid you so well. I went through so much just to see that beautiful face. And yet we finally meet… Was it fate, Grand Duchess, that the imperial family and you were meant to be?”
His gaze and voice were deceptively gentle.
To an outsider, he might seem like a kindly father-in-law.
“Welcome, Grand Duchess. The Graciana Empire welcomes you. You have not yet met the Prince in person, right?”
His gaze pierced me.
And he had no hint of guilt over the knights he had sacrificed. I lowered my head in disgust.
The Emperor laughed.
“Hahaha, Grand Duchess, are you nervous to meet the Prince? How cute. The youngest daughter of Edward will be my daughter-in-law… Delightful.”
“Since you’ve come all this way, why not see the Prince? I’ve already told him, so don’t feel pressured. The Prince is now yours.”
‘…He calls his own son mine?’
Clearly, he was not sane.
“Your Highness, the Grand Duchess of the Cowell family has arrived.”
A chamberlain whispered as he guided me to the heavily adorned door.
A knight guarding the door loudly announced my arrival.
The Prince’s room was located in a secluded wing of a separate palace, far from the main palace.
Even within that palace, one had to pass through several complex corridors to reach this secretive location.
The Prince’s face was hidden deliberately.
Before Ollendo was officially the Crown Prince, his face was unknown.
This was Ternut’s precaution to prevent assassination attempts against his son, having killed his own brothers and their families to become Emperor.
A young Prince would not be able to protect himself, so hiding him was reasonable.
‘But now that Ollendo is an adult, does he still need protection?’
Probably not.
Yet Ternut still kept him hidden—a practice that would continue until Ollendo was made Crown Prince.
The reason Ternut hid Ollendo before his coronation was mentioned in Side Story 2, but I hadn’t read that yet.
As I pondered, a voice called from inside:
“Come in.”
I had imagined countless ways to behave upon meeting Ollendo.
Yet none of them seemed certain as the right approach.
Squeeeak—
The door opened, making me swallow nervously.
But something was off.
‘Black hair… reddish-brown eyes…’
“Re… Re…?”
In the Prince’s room,
dressed in the Prince’s clothes…
Renard.
