IRMDH 19

Chapter 19

The jingling boutique door opened, and a rather cool air greeted me.

Lily widened her eyes, asking if we were heading back to the imperial palace now, but I shook my head slightly.

“I have somewhere to go.”

“Huh? Where?”

Since becoming crown princess, Ariel had practically cut ties with her family.
So, I wasn’t going to say I was visiting them.
And Ian Harmel?
Is that a joke?
After all, it was because of him that I was suffering like this.

The place I wanted to go was…

“The Information Guild?”

“Mm-hm.”

Since I was already out, I decided to leave a request with the guild as well.

Lily tilted her head curiously, wondering what kind of information I was after.

But I was planning to go inside alone, leaving Lily outside for a bit.

The two escort knights, who made no effort to hide how bored they were, would also stay with her.

From their faces, it was obvious they thought: What kind of danger could a crown princess from commoner origins possibly face?

‘Something feels… off.’

From the moment we left the boutique, I had the strange sense that someone was persistently following me.

There was this odd, indescribable gaze on me, but since the street was crowded with people, I brushed it off.

Probably just nerves, after being stuck in the palace for so long and finally going out again.

Pushing aside the uneasy feeling, I was just about to open the guild’s door when someone burst out from inside.

“Ah!”

Shoved roughly, I fell helplessly to the ground.

Startled, Lily rushed over, but the man who had pushed me muttered curses instead of apologizing.

He had a rough face, his breath reeked of alcohol, and his nostrils flared violently.

When his eyes fell on my clothing, realizing I was probably a noble, he flinched.

Then he mumbled a half-hearted, “Uh, sorry ‘bout that,” and scurried away.

“Are you all right, Your Highness? How unbelievably rude! That man looked like a commoner… Should I drag him back and teach him a lesson?”

“No, it’s fine. I was just startled.”

With Lily’s help, I stood and stared down the street where the man had run off.

Honestly, the escorts hiding their indifference behind their visors, watching me without a shred of concern, felt more troublesome.

I must’ve been too distracted, caught up in that strange sensation earlier. My fault, really.

Shaking my head, I told Lily I’d be quick and stepped into the Information Guild.

Well, in other novels, information guilds were all secretive… you had to go in quietly, use codes and passwords, things like that.

But in this story, the Information Guild was big, refused illegal business, and didn’t even require passwords.

They didn’t seem particularly interested in confirming my identity either.

Maybe they already knew who I was—after all, my face was famous enough as the crown princess.

What I requested from them was an invitation to Count Espero’s secret salon.

The Espero family was Empress Temia’s family, one of the wealthiest houses in the Empire.

And Count Espero’s hobby was collecting rare creatures.

“The next secret salon at the Espero household is scheduled for after the Golden Valley Festival.”

“Yes, please get me one of those invitations.”

I had to stand in for the missing Seria, after all.

To find the hidden mana stones in Orion’s abandoned mines, I needed a rare creature—the blue-spotted butterfly.

Of course, having the butterfly alone wasn’t enough…

It wasn’t until much later in the original story that it was revealed: the fluorescent substance collected from its wings reacted to mana stones.

“How is it, Your Highness? I condensed the substance taken from the butterfly and made it into a jewel-like form.”

Once one of Blake’s supporting nobles succeeded in this, everyone clamored for it, and it became a trend.

The already rare blue-spotted butterfly skyrocketed in value after that.

So, before it got that bad…

Why not use it myself first?

I would condense the substance into a jewel-like ornament, wear it, and then accompany Blake to the abandoned mines he was distributing.

If it glittered, Blake would know mana stones were buried there.

And naturally, the story behind it would catch attention.

Since I had been stuck in the crown princess’s palace ever since transmigrating, all my allowance had just piled up untouched.

The guild took the large payment I handed over without question, simply giving me a receipt and telling me to come back in a few days.

It ended faster than expected, almost anticlimactic.

When I stepped outside, I noticed a large crowd gathered on the street.

“Sorry to keep you waiting. What happened? Why are there so many people?”

“Your Highness… His Highness the Crown Prince is in the palace right now, isn’t he?”

“Huh? What kind of random question is that?”

Lily gave me a worried look, and before she could say more, a scream pierced the air.

“Kyaaah! Murder!”

“W-what?”

“Your Highness, I’ll explain on the way. We should hurry back to the palace.”

Flustered, I nodded as Lily urged me, her panic evident.

Even the two knights, who had stood idly by earlier, now looked unsettled.

Only once we boarded the carriage did Lily explain why the crowd had gathered and the scream had rung out.

“Someone was killed?”

“Yes, they say someone was killed. In broad daylight. On a busy street like Revilla, no less…

I only caught a glimpse, but the victim looked like the very same man who shoved you earlier, on your way into the guild.”

“What? In that short time…?

That’s horrifying. Was the culprit caught?”

“No, they vanished almost instantly.”

“I see… And earlier, you asked me if the Crown Prince was at the palace. What was that about?”

“That… ah, it’s nothing.”

Lily trembled with anxiety, clearly holding something back.

I didn’t press her.

It’s not like death is ever a pleasant topic.

I had no interest in digging into it.

And so, I returned safely to the palace.

The next day, however, strange rumors spread.

“…That doesn’t even make sense.”

“Exactly! Everyone’s whispering about it, like it’s some bizarre mystery.”

“Maybe just a rumor. Or perhaps Prince Alec’s side is spreading slander.”

“But it’s so odd.

How can so many people give the exact same testimony?

It’s hard to believe that many witnesses could all be bribed or coerced…”

The courtiers’ hushed gossip faltered as their eyes darted toward me.

They usually looked down on me, the commoner-born crown princess, and spoke carelessly.

But even they knew better than to openly gossip now.

Still, it seemed the outlandish story had already spread far.

“What do you mean, the Crown Prince killed someone?”

“Well… you know how yesterday someone died on Revilla Street.”

The piercing scream, the gathered crowd, Lily’s urgent face urging me back—all of it came to mind, and I nodded.

Her face still tense, Lily cautiously continued.

“They say the one who killed that man… was His Highness the Crown Prince. Too many people saw it.”

“You too? Lily, you saw it as well?”

“…Yes. I saw His Highness holding a bloodstained sword.

When the crowd swelled, he suddenly disappeared…”

My eyes narrowed.

A murder witnessed by many, the alleged culprit—the Crown Prince.

“But that makes no sense, does it? His Highness is an exceptional swordsman, but he can’t use magic. How could he vanish in front of everyone like that?”

“Right.”

“On top of that, at that very time, His Highness was attending the council meeting in place of the Emperor.”

He had an alibi, sitting in on a government meeting.

This incident never happened in the original story. My head spun.

So this wasn’t Alec’s faction setting him up.

Then what was going on?

I gulped and looked at Lily, sinking deep into thought.

If the one in the palace was a fake, and the real Blake was out there killing people…?

But Blake wasn’t the kind of protagonist to suddenly murder random drunken commoners in broad daylight.

Wait… rationality?

My mind flashed back to all the zombie movies I’d ever seen.

What makes them terrifying?

That one day, the family, lovers, or friends you once spoke with suddenly lose their reason and become monsters trying to eat you.

Then… could something have happened to Blake too?

Lately, he barely managed to get any rest at all, snatching only scraps of sleep by my side.

If his incomplete body was starting to fail…

What if he was losing his reason, attacking indiscriminately like a true zombie?

My mouth went dry.

It seemed absurd, yet the possibility gnawed at me with unease.

Surely Blake must’ve heard these bizarre rumors too?

If I asked him and he tried to hide it…

Or insisted he knew nothing…?

Wouldn’t that mean it might be true?

So, in any case…

I needed to ask him directly.