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Chapter : 12
“Good heavens, Your Highness the Princess!”
During the few days I stayed in the imperial palace, Jane became my temporary maid.
That, at least, was a relief.
“You haven’t had any trouble, have you? You look like you’ve lost some weight.”
“It’s probably just my imagination. It’s only been… a day, after all.”
I said that, but even I could tell my face looked half-dead.
‘After going through all that and still not dying. How exhausting.’
Locked in a cage and running into some pervert, dragged off by Emma and dumped in a potato field.
Not to mention nearly getting stabbed twice.
‘Just kill me already, you bastards!’
And yet, I was still alive.
“The imperial palace is a place where countless empresses, princes, and princesses live together. If a single day passes without incident, that would be the strange thing.”
Marchioness Cal said as she brushed my hair.
The one fortunate thing was that I’d succeeded in getting Marchioness Cal under my influence.
“I hear it’s especially bad these days.”
Her husband was the emperor’s chief attendant.
‘Meaning she knows a lot about what goes on inside the imperial family.’
And yet she was spilling everything to me.
“For the empresses who want to make their own sons crown prince, this is the perfect opportunity.”
“I suppose so. Deep down, they’re probably hoping the crown prince never wakes up.”
I sat quietly, soaking up all this high-level information.
“Yes. And as for Your Highness, you’re an eyesore they’d dearly love to eliminate.”
Lowering her voice, Marchioness Cal continued.
Whatever. I had no intention of getting involved in the imperial family’s drawn-out power struggle.
Aside from the emperor, there wasn’t even an A-rank around here.
“Marchioness.”
At that moment, a maid hurried over and whispered something into the marchioness’s ear.
“What? Viscount Lisys Locke? He’s returned?”
“Yes. He’s already sent a formal request to visit Her Highness.”
“Oh my! Your Highness, what is this? Are you acquainted with Viscount Locke?”
Jane, excited by the news, grabbed my hand tightly.
“You’ve only just arrived in the capital, and this already happens! We need to prepare starting today—no, right now!”
What? Lisys is already here?
Unlike the marchioness, my mind froze solid.
“Marchioness! Please send someone immediately and tell Viscount Locke not to come. Absolutely not.”
“What? Are you saying you’ll refuse him? Why, Your Highness?”
Of course! I already knew how Diel and Lisys would end!
‘He was trash to the female lead and a complete lemon to Diel.’
According to the original story, Diel ends up imprisoned in the Holy Tower, waiting for the day she dies.
‘Lisys Locke—the original male lead and the man who will become Diel’s ex-husband.’
He uses Diel to bring down the Yekaterina imperial family, but…
‘In the end, he betrays Diel for the sake of the female lead.’
With his own hands, he throws Diel—his wife and teammate—into the Holy Tower.
In short, meeting him would only lead to getting stabbed in the back and ending up locked in the Holy Tower.
“In half a year, there’ll be a grand banquet at Count Locke’s private villa. They say even Grand Duke Ferzen may attend, so everyone’s scrambling to get invited.”
Marchioness Cal looked completely baffled, unaware of the deeper story.
“How wonderful it would be to form ties with such a family!”
Wait. A banquet?
‘That’s right. That banquet held on the coastal island.’
Her words sparked a memory.
That was where a murder planned by Lisys would take place.
‘Oh right. Lisys is A-rank too, isn’t he?’
The shift in my thinking was instantaneous.
Then this, too… was a death flag!
“You’re right. In that case, Marchioness, please go to the Locke estate right now and deliver a message.”
Grabbing Marchioness Cal, I spoke urgently.
Yes—this was a far more certain death flag.
“Instead of refusing the visit, tell them that I’ll attend that banquet.”
There was no need to worry about getting entangled with Viscount Locke.
I could just die in my place on that coastal island!
“What? Only those who receive invitations from Count Locke himself can attend. Did you receive one, by any chance?”
“No, I didn’t. Marchioness, please. I really want to attend that banquet. I’m begging you!”
“…Begging?”
Perhaps she was moved by my words. Marchioness Cal’s eyes filled with tears.
“Of course! I, Jane, will do anything Her Highness desires!”
And with that, Marchioness Cal rushed out.
‘Tonight’s the night.’
As I waited for nightfall, I hardened my resolve.
I’d tried to take the simplest, most primitive route to death, but that failed.
The emperor was far more fickle and cruel than I’d expected.
If I rushed in trying to die like before, he seemed like the type who would deliberately refuse to kill me.
“You don’t even have healing abilities. By what means do you think you can save the crown prince?”
“There is a method other than healing.”
“And what do you want from me?”
“If the treatment succeeds, please grant me just one wish.”
Once darkness fully fell,
I slipped out of the Sophia Palace in secret.
‘It’d be faster to just wish outright for death.’
To obtain the Ariyan fruit.
‘Wow, I’m actually pretty good at this.’
Shaking off my escorts and finding the way wasn’t difficult.
After all, how many female leads’ escapes and breakouts had I watched over the years?
Seven years as a civil servant in the transmigration bureau couldn’t have been for nothing.
‘It feels too real, which is kind of unsettling.’
Rustle, rustle…
Everything was vivid.
Even the breeze brushing my cheeks and the sound of leaves swaying.
And yet, this was nothing more than a world of words.
“So this is the start.”
As I went deeper along the forest path, a small fountain appeared.
On one side of the fountain stood a temple; on the other, a forest trail.
‘The Ariyan is that way.’
The forest path! I twisted my body and bolted forward.
Tap, tap-tap!
My legs, unable to keep up with my speed, stumbled repeatedly.
‘I can hear it!’
The sound of water lapping grew clearer and clearer.
“Huff—this trash—of a—body—doesn’t help—at all—huff!”
How long had I run?
A moonlit lake appeared, and my field of vision suddenly opened wide.
‘Oh, that must be the Ariyan fruit. It really does look like a star.’
Among the bushes densely surrounding the lake bloomed star-shaped purple fruits.
“First, let’s save the crown prince.”
I’d briefly thought that deliberately failing the treatment might make dying easier.
‘No. If I did that, I’d be tied up and tortured for life.’
Judging by his nature, the emperor seemed like the type who’d keep me alive just to torment me forever.
Anyway, I was about to hurry and gather the Ariyan fruit before it got any later when—
“Ow! That stings!”
Why were these branches hanging so low?
Every time I moved, my arms were pricked by bone-dry twigs.
“Anyone who saw me would think I’d been beaten.”
The rough forest path left my whole body scratched and stabbed.
‘If the blood dries like this, the marchioness might get suspicious.’
Just as I stopped to wipe off some blood—
Pshing—!
An arrow flew from somewhere and struck nearby with a sharp thud.
‘Who goes hunting at this hour?’
Some nobles enjoyed night hunts, sure, but this was inside the imperial capital.
It’d be hard to find proper game at this time.
“Huh?”
I planned to just ignore it and head back past the arrow.
[Arrow of Deceit, A-rank weapon]
But the interface window hovering over the arrow instantly grabbed my attention.
‘An A-rank weapon means…’
Weapons usually matched their owner’s rank.
Which meant the lunatic hunting right now was A-rank.
‘Who is it? Lisys? Or maybe Arno? The emperor?’
Just then, another arrow flew swiftly and thunk! embedded itself in a tree.
The impact was strong enough to make the large tree sway.
“Nobles are the same no matter the world. What if someone was passing by?”
I clicked my tongue and muttered.
“If that hit someone wrong, they’d die instantly.”
What? Die? Death?
My steps halted completely.
Wait. Come to think of it, since the arrow is A-rank…
‘If I get hit by that, I could actually die, right?’
A person obsessed with death—my so-called death-seeker radar—activated.
