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Chapter 13
“Your Highness.”
A strange voice was heard from far away.
Hearing the soft, gentle voice, Schwen shifted in her sleep, then suddenly opened her eyes.
The moment she saw the red canopy blocking the sunlight, her mouth fell open.
“Your Highness, you must wake up.”
Schwen jolted upright, only to clutch her forehead as dizziness washed over her.
Only then did she realize she was still holding a candlestick.
“Your Highness.”
Memories from the previous night came rushing back.
“Mmm…”
“Did you cough?”
“Mm-hmm…”
It was already afternoon. Sleeping in late wasn’t unusual for her, but waking up this late in an unfamiliar place—especially in the Duke of Raniard’s villa—was a first.
Which, of course, made sense. Still.
“I have brought the maids who will assist with Your Highness’s bath and dressing. May we come in?”
“Huh? Ah, no! No—don’t come in!”
Schwen shouted urgently, afraid the door might open, and quickly wrapped the blanket tightly around herself.
“Why is that?”
The puzzled voice of a maid drifted in. Schwen sat motionless atop the canopied bed, wrapped like a cocoon.
‘What do I do?’
She frantically felt around under the blanket and glanced around the room, but everything was exactly as it had been before she fell asleep.
Esselian was gone—perhaps he had already left the room.
“I—I’ll take care of it myself.”
“Pardon?”
“I’ll handle it myself, so you don’t need to come in.”
“Is something troubling you?”
“No, nothing like that.”
The maid did not leave. After a brief pause, just as she was about to ask for permission to withdraw—
“Your Highness.”
“I’m embarrassed.”
“…Pardon?”
“I’m embarrassed, that’s all. Please leave.”
Embarrassed.
There had been something embarrassing between Esselian and Schwen last night…
But not the kind of thing others were imagining.
Which meant Schwen absolutely could not show her body to the maids.
‘It can’t become a rumor.’
If word spread that the two hadn’t shared a bed, it would be a disaster.
Of course, Esselian would silence the gossip—but one never knew.
Schwen trusted people easily, but she was careful in her own way.
Or at least, she tried to be.
She’d become even more cautious after realizing she was living inside a grimdark novel.
“…Ah. I apologize.”
The maid’s voice, now tinged with awkward understanding, suggested she had grasped the implication.
Soon, however, her tone grew firm again.
“Still, it may be difficult for Your Highness to manage on your own. After last night, your body cannot be in perfect condition—”
“No!”
Schwen cut her off.
Last night. Body.
The blunt phrasing made her voice rise sharply.
Ahem. Schwen cleared her throat.
“I’ll call if I need help.”
“…Very well. Please call anytime.”
After being refused repeatedly, the maid could not press further.
When she said she would leave the bathwater at the door, Schwen finally let out a relieved breath.
‘All you have to do is protect me, Your Highness.’
She’d said that almost without thinking, but she had no intention of relying on him completely.
The only person she could truly trust right now was herself.
Which meant she had to protect herself.
‘…Are they gone?’
After a while, Schwen climbed down from the bed, still wrapped in the blanket, and pressed her ear to the door.
Hearing nothing, she cracked the door open just enough for one eye to peek through.
Thankfully, no one was there.
Schwen went to the bathroom and brought back some hair oil.
‘This should be enough, right?’
She smeared the oil onto her hands and flicked it onto the blanket as well. Once it dried, it would leave stains and look convincing. Even if she lacked experience, she had common sense.
“Sophie…”
Unlike her previous life, Schwen had never bathed alone since birth. Before Sophie, Sophie’s mother had bathed her.
Bathing alone turned out to be easier than she’d expected.
After finishing her bath and putting on her chemise, the next problem arose—she couldn’t put on a dress by herself.
Just as Schwen stood there in a panic, shifting her feet—
“Your Highness, a maid sent from the Imperial Palace has arrived. What shall we do?”
“What? From the palace?”
The steward announced himself with a knock and spoke.
A maid from the palace?
She hadn’t heard anything about that—but the emperor was never considerate to begin with.
“Let her in. Just the maid.”
This worked out perfectly. A palace maid would keep her mouth tightly shut and wouldn’t spread rumors about the first night.
‘There’s no reason she would.’
Feeling embarrassed to meet a stranger in just a chemise—and knowing it was improper—Schwen wrapped herself in a blanket and received the palace maid.
“Princess—gasp!”
Waiting close to the door, Schwen reached out the moment she saw her.
She grabbed the maid’s wrist, pulled her inside, and slammed the door shut.
Bang!
The sound echoed loudly as she hurriedly closed it, afraid someone might see.
“……”
“……”
The startled maid, Jenice, stood awkwardly as she scanned Schwen—wrapped in a blanket with only her face showing—from head to toe.
After glancing once at the door and once at the empty bedroom, Jenice guided Schwen away from the entrance and closer to the bed.
“His Majesty sent me. You may call me Jenice. I will accompany you to the North.”
“His Majesty…?”
Jenice offered no further explanation to Schwen, who was full of questions.
She scanned the empty room once more.
“Did you send the other maids away, Miss?”
Water dripped from Schwen’s soaking wet hair, leaving marks on the floor.
True to her role as a palace maid, Jenice was quick to grasp the situation. Schwen nodded.
“I had my reasons, so I bathed alone.”
“I see.”
“But why would His Majesty—”
“Before that, we should dry your hair. Please sit.”
Schwen obediently sat on the sofa, looking up at the maid the emperor had sent.
“Please face forward.”
“Ah—yes!”
A soft towel wrapped around her hair.
Whether this was good or bad, Schwen couldn’t quite tell.
But one thing was certain.
‘Ah… this feels nice.’
The gentle touch as her hair was carefully handled felt wonderful.
Jenice combed through her hair with her fingers, then applied the scented oil kept in the room from scalp to tips, pressing firmly as if massaging her head. Goosebumps rose over Schwen’s body.
‘Ah… it feels like all the fatigue is melting away…’
As Jenice continued easing her tension, she asked curiously,
“Where is your dress?”
“Ah, well… I’m not really sure either…”
“You don’t know?”
“…No.”
Since arriving at the villa, everything had been chaotic.
She’d been washed without explanation and sent to the bridal chamber, and after that she’d had to protect herself from Esselian.
She hadn’t had the luxury to think about anything else.
So when the maid narrowed her eyes and questioned her in disbelief, Schwen shrank back.
“You are a princess. Please act with that in mind.”
“…Yes.”
There were ranks even among imperial maids.
Jenice served the emperor directly. Schwen had seen her a few times from afar—and her rank was higher than Schwen’s.
She was also a noble.
The authoritative tone crushed Schwen’s spirit.
“Speak casually to me. A princess does not use honorifics toward me.”
“Y-Yes—no, okay.”
Unlike Schwen, Jenice was utterly confident.
Accompanying her to the North meant participating in this deception, yet she acted as though being exposed wouldn’t matter.
‘Are all palace staff like this?’
Then Schwen realized she herself had worked at the palace until recently.
In any case, after finishing her preparations safely, Schwen let out a relieved breath and headed to the dining room.
Seeing the servants preparing a late breakfast, she sat down feeling a bit sheepish.
‘It seems His Majesty sent Jenice because he doesn’t quite trust me.’
That was the conclusion she reached after wondering why the emperor had sent a palace maid at all.
If it were discovered that Schwen wasn’t actually a princess, the emperor would be ruined as well.
For now, they were in the same boat.
‘Maybe it’s a good thing. I’m not confident either.’
As she thought that, the food was served: beef stew and lamb steak.
The fragrant aroma made her swallow unconsciously.
“Um… where is the Duke?”
Schwen paused, knife and fork in hand, and asked the steward.
“He is in the study.”
“Has His Grace already eaten?”
“Yes.”
So he’d already eaten.
Feeling lighter, Schwen quickly finished her meal and, pleasantly full, headed toward the study.
‘First, I should talk about what we couldn’t yesterday. Then meet Sophie… and greet my parents. After that, will we head straight to the North?’
She stubbornly pushed aside the heaviness trying to settle in her chest and followed the steward closely.
After the steward announced her arrival, permission to enter came shortly after.
Before opening the door, Schwen took a deep breath.
Esselian was a beast.
A man always at the top of the food chain in a world ruled by survival of the fittest—and therefore a tyrant without restraint.
Schwen was the weak one who would be devoured by him.
A weakling could never defeat the strong.
So she chose a different approach.
‘Tame him.’
She remembered a documentary from her past life—one where carnivores and herbivores, believed incapable of coexisting, lived together.
Schwen had thought the small herbivore was merely emergency rations for the starving beast.
But reality had been different.
The impression had stuck with her to this day.
She needed to find a way to survive, and her options were limited.
Fortunately, in her past life, Schwen had raised a very large dog.
Naturally, she knew how to approach big animals.
With a trembling heart, she stepped into the study.
Esselian asked,
“Is your stomach feeling better?”
“Yes. Thanks to you.”
As she sat down, Schwen gathered her thoughts. So first—
“Let’s start by drafting a contract.”
Esselian, who had been standing by the desk organizing documents, glanced her way.
Only then did Schwen realize she’d spoken out loud without meaning to.
She’d been too hasty.
“Straight to the point,”
Esselian murmured, nodding as if he understood.
He sat across from her, dressed in uniform.
Each time he moved, the fabric pulled taut across his broad shoulders.
“Before that, do I have any reason to trust the princess’s words?”
“That’s—!”
She had none. Damn it.
The contract had been a shot in the dark—just something she’d thrown out because it seemed like it might shake him in that moment.
She’d thought that if she pushed through, she might actually seal the deal.
‘…This won’t be easy.’
“Lucenia does not lie.”
“His Majesty lies to me every single time. Strangely enough.”
“……”
“There is no evidence for your claim that the one behind the attempted kidnapping is someone close to me.”
He muttered as if to himself.
“Even if I tell you, you won’t believe me. It’s just… a hunch. Sometimes I get feelings like that…”
Esselian seemed to dismiss her words as half nonsense.
“I will pretend I never heard what you said last night. That will be best for both of us.”
Schwen realized this approach would never work.
Making up a story about seeing Mercelli signal to a mercenary at the wedding would be pointless. She needed physical evidence.
So she changed tactics.
Once again, aiming for something that would shake him—this time mixing in a small lie.
“You don’t intend to sign this contract?”
“It doesn’t seem necessary.”
Schwen clenched her fists tightly.
Lying to a terrifying male lead made her afraid it would show on her face, so she forced her gaze downward.
“There’s something you don’t know.”
This lie is only for me to survive.
“Contact alone isn’t enough for the treatment.”
Six months.
A period she would have to endure alone, without anyone’s protection.
She needed a safety pin—something to secure her survival during that time.
“……The purification effect only activates when I recite the activation phrase.”
Just in case, Schwen had prepared this lie in advance.
She didn’t know if it would work—but she had nothing to lose.
