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Chapter 5
Ayla waited anxiously for permission to see the Crown Princess.
How long had she been pacing the waiting room, back and forth, her heart pounding?
At last, the summons came. She hurried forward in a rush, skirts swishing, until she found herself standing before the Crown Princess.
The princess was surrounded by her ladies-in-waiting, a few guards, and nobles who had already finished their audience.
Still, Ayla did not hesitate. She dropped to her knees before her.
“Oh my, Lady Ayla. What brings you here?”
“Your Highness, I beg you. Please, I have a request.”
“And what would that be?”
“Please cancel the deployment order for Luka Ioran and Sada Ult. If Your Highness were to call them back, they would surely return.”
“Oh my.”
The Crown Princess laughed sweetly.
Ayla clasped her hands together tightly, staring up at her.
“Please. I beg of you.”
“But, Ayla…”
The Crown Princess snapped open her fan with a flutter, hiding her lips as she tilted her head, feigning distress.
“Those two are your childhood friends, aren’t they? I heard you’ve known each other for over ten years. If they won’t listen to you, why would they heed me?”
At those words, Ayla’s ears burned hot.
Around them, nobles giggled and whispered, eager for the spectacle.
“They would listen… to Your Highness,” Ayla forced out, her voice trembling.
“Please… I beg you, Your Highness.”
The Crown Princess waved her fan lazily.
“Oh dear, Ayla. You don’t seem to have much faith in your friends.”
Ayla bowed her head and repeated her plea once more.
“Please, Your Highness.”
Just then, a chamberlain rushed in and handed the princess a sheet of paper.
“Oh my.”
The Crown Princess unfolded it, a smile curving her lips.
“Ayla, come here. I think your worries will soon be over.”
Hesitant, Ayla stepped closer. The princess tapped the armrest of her chair.
“Here, sit by me. Come closer.”
Heart pounding, Ayla obeyed, drawing near. The princess crooked her finger, a signal to lean in.
Ayla bent down, and the princess covered her lips with her fan and whispered—
“Luka Ioran has fallen in battle.”
Her vision went blank—white, black, then nothing at all. Like the world had been sucked away.
“…W-what?”
Her voice escaped in a hollow breath. The Crown Princess’s eyes sparkled with delight.
“Isn’t that fortunate, Ayla? One less thing to trouble yourself over.”
The world collapsed. Ayla lunged forward.
Instead of her throat, her hand seized the princess’s pearl necklace—
and with a snap, the string broke, pearls scattering across the floor.
At once, a guard seized Ayla by the hair and slammed her to the ground.
“How could you—! How could you say such a thing?!”
Pinned to the floor, Ayla screamed, but everyone rushed only to the princess’s side.
“My goodness, she’s gone mad.”
“Your Highness, are you hurt?”
The Crown Princess gazed down at her. Her eyes shimmered—red and pink.
Heterochromia. The mark of a demon.
Ayla’s breath came ragged, her surroundings fading into black.
“Once the notice of Sada Ult’s death arrives as well… then there will be no more need to worry.”
Fish ornaments.
“!!”
Ayla jolted awake, kicking her blanket aside.
“A dream? It was a dream…”
Her heart pounded violently. She clutched the quilt to her chest with trembling hands.
“It’s fine. It was just a dream.”
She looked down at her hands, touched her own face.
Still ten years old.
Those things hadn’t happened yet.
Not yet.
Taking a deep breath, she pushed herself upright.
On the nightstand, a candle still burned—for Ayla hated to sleep in the dark.
The flat wooden wick crackled faintly, like fire eating through twigs.
Ayla began to organize the vivid fragments of her dream.
In truth, I was already imprisoned before the Crown Princess revealed herself as a demon.
Dragged away by the knights, she had become the first noble daughter ever thrown into the palace dungeon.
It was there, alone in the dark, that the Crown Princess had revealed her true nature and whispered those words.
Back then, Ayla had shrieked curses, rattling the bars until her throat bled—earning herself two more days of confinement.
Helen was the one who bailed me out…
Now, Ayla could only sigh deeply, burying her face in her hands.
Oh, Ayla, you fool.
Of course she’d been slapped.
Who wouldn’t, after attacking the Crown Princess in broad daylight and calling her a demon in front of everyone?
And after losing both of my childhood friends to her…
How must that have looked to the others? Even to Helen.
Helen didn’t believe me either.
When her sister had demanded,
“Tell me what happened. Explain it properly.”
Ayla had clenched her lips shut, refusing to answer.
After that, she was confined to the Solalune estate, her mind consumed by one thought only—how to assassinate the Crown Princess.
Her sister and brother visited her in turns, tried to comfort her about Luka and Sada…
But she ignored it all.
Truthfully, she remembered nothing of that week except planning murder.
“I was pathetic,” she whispered, tears pricking her eyes.
Back then, she had cast herself as a lone hero, the only one resisting the demon when everyone else was enthralled.
Once I kill her, everything will return to normal. They’ll all thank me. They’ll cry and say, ‘Ayla, you saved us.’ And I’ll smile humbly and say, ‘It was my duty as a Solalune.’
But reality had been different. She hadn’t slain the princess. She had been the one slain instead.
The thought of what followed made her stomach twist.
Shoving on her dressing gown, she stepped out to the balcony for air.
Leaning against the railing, she stared across the Lake of Moonshadows, beautiful even at night. The faint murmur of water reached her ears.
When autumn comes, the migratory birds will return…
Then, her nose caught the scent—tobacco. Sweet, perfumed tobacco.
Who’s smoking at this hour? Wait… sister? Helen smokes?
From her second-floor balcony, Ayla could see the terrace below. Helen stood there, a shawl over her shoulders, cigarette in hand.
So she didn’t go to the party tonight…
At this hour, Helen was usually at some grand ball. But instead she exhaled a long plume of smoke, then crushed the cigarette into an ashtray. Her shawl lifted to dab at her eyes.
She’s crying…?
The sight stunned Ayla. Helen never cried. She seemed too perfect for such things as sorrow or pain.
Yet here she was, wiping tears in secret.
Ayla shrank back when Helen suddenly turned, though from that angle Helen could never have seen her. Reflexively, Ayla crouched down.
“…It’s fine. I’ll be fine. Let’s go,” Helen whispered to herself, and stepped inside.
Only then did Ayla breathe again.
She had always thought her sister untouchable, flawless. But now—seeing her cry—Helen felt closer somehow. More human.
Once Helen disappeared indoors, Ayla crawled back to her own bed.
The blankets were still warm, comforting. She buried her face in the pillow.
There’s so much I don’t know. So much I never noticed.
She shut her eyes.
“From now on, I’ll learn. I have to. I will protect everyone.”
