14.Prince Wilhelm

The masked man raised a dagger and threatened my neck. Lying face down on the bed, I frantically remembered that my face was still under the veil.

I had already grabbed the dagger under the pillow from the moment I heard the sign of someone being around.

The second deadly threat I felt in my life. Strangely, surprise came before fear. Why was my mind so calm? It must be a result of enduring a few months next to the devil named Richton.

“From now on, only shake your head or nod at what I ask.”

“Ugh…heuk….”

“Are you crying? I already sold the pride of the royal family and everything. Don’t worry, noble lady. It won’t hurt if you keep quiet.”

Contrary to my calm mentality, tears flowed continuously from both of my eyes. I thought it was fortunate that I fell asleep wearing the veil. If I shed tears without any expression, I’d look suspicious.

“Just in case you don’t know, let me tell you. I have a magic tool that can tell the truth of your words, so it would be better to tell the truth as much as possible.”

Berkne said. There’s no man who wouldn’t let his guard down in front of a frightened, vulnerable woman. And the opportunity given to me…All it takes was a moment when the other person was relaxed.

“Nod your head if you are being threatened by Duke Richton.”

I immediately nodded my head. Threat? I bet the intruder didn’t know how I was being treated and how I was sustaining my life. Soon after, I could feel the tears falling from my neckline reaching the back of the intruder’s hand. My current body was the pure poison of Ingord itself. My tears were no different.

“To confirm…Are those words correct?”

Hiss.

Soon, the back of the man’s hand started to smell like burning skin. The intruder’s distorted forehead was seen in the moonlight penetrating from outside the window.

“What is this…?”

I felt the strength that was pressing on my neck weakening.

Let’s be calm. As Berkne said, there’s only one chance. The moment the tension that had been so tight quickly collapsed and the dagger under the pillow was held in my hand.

“Get your hands off her, Jen.”

Not far away, a low-pitched voice was heard. It was a quiet and small echo enough to resonate throughout the air, but strangely, it was a clear voice. At those words, the blade that had been pressing against my neck disappeared.

“Forgive the rudeness, Princess Beatrice. There was no choice but to distinguish the truth from the lies.”

A man walked under the falling Milky Way light. With short, dark blond hair and clear red eyes that could be mistaken for brown at a first glance.

If Richton was a man of cold air that could make a body tremble just by passing by, the man in front of me was the opposite. The man wore a vivid sense of life wrapped around his body that could not be found in mine and Richton even after washing one’s eyes. Did he increase from one to two?

(P/R: Washing one’s eyes means no matter what you do, you won’t see what you’re looking for.)

As I shook my shoulders without responding, he opened his mouth again.

“Calm down. I had no intention of harming the princess at all.”

With eyes as if he was apologizing sincerely, he tried to calm me down from afar. The man’s sleek appearance and attitude were both too much for him to be considered as a criminal. Most of all, didn’t he drive out the intruder who threatened me in a single word?

“We’re here to save you.”

“Save me? You’re casually saying such impudent words. You’re not here to save me but to kill me. If you don’t leave right now, I’ll scream.”

Where the hell is Kean? What is he doing at this time? I opened my mouth several times to shout, but my voice did not come out easily.

The man’s words, who came to rescue me, were like stuffing sand into my throat. It was like the wind couldn’t get rid of it even for several months.

“We’ve been watching Ingord for a very long time. Duke Richton’s ideas, actions, closest aides, and origins of his mistress. I’ve been watching everything around him.”

“Grenferg’s political strife is none of my business.”

“No, it can be anyone’s business as long as you move with him. Especially if someone suddenly appears one day without any keynote, like a royal princess.”

“So you’re saying you’re here to watch over me? Because I’m his mistress now?”

Seeing me saying those words with an indifferent face, the man seemed to have noticed that I wouldn’t shout either. How many women has Richton ever had? Even though it was fully expected, my mood sank weakly. The man shook his head with a serious face.

“Who dares to give the princess the title of a mistress?”

“Ha. I don’t need to hear words you don’t mean. If it’s true, why don’t you make any excuses? What is your reason for raiding the bedroom of the princess of Kale this late at night?”

“Because Duke Richton is our enemy.”

Duke Richton’s enemy. In that short and powerful sentence, the man’s face, which had only been outlined, was seen more clearly.

His straight, upright, smooth, and fine nose. His firm and clear jawline that caught my eye. And above all, his composure and vivid atmosphere were impressive. However, the dark red eyes which supported the air around him were more intense.

‘It’s not enough for such a person to only receive allegiance.’

‘The only hope of the declining Grenferg Empire!’

At the same time the verse in the book came to mind, the blackout curtain that was covering my head was removed.

“Wilhelm.”

The man was the protagonist of 『The River Where The Sun Maneuver』 and the prince of the Grenferg Empire.

If Richton was a predator on his own, this man was the head of the pack. Either way, it didn’t change the fact that I was facing the worst situation possible. At the name I spat out instinctively, the masked man standing next to the bed pulled out his sword again.

“Princess. I don’t know how much you know about the situation of our empire, but don’t mention my name as much as possible. Because you are in danger.”

Wilhelm restrained the man as he warned me in a very calm tone and at the same time proposing something.

“We need you, Princess Beatrice.”

“Why should I believe you?”

“We have already saved several vassals held by Duke Richton. They are now living in freedom under our protection.”

“What if that’s a lie?”

“In the princess’ case, trying wouldn’t do any harm. Don’t you already know the cruelty of the duke through experience?”

“If I help you, I’ll experience that cruelty.”

“That won’t happen. As long as you promise to help us, I’m going to take the princess away at the banquet tomorrow. To a safe place where the Duke’s hands won’t be able to reach you.”

It was strange. In the actual novel, Wilhelm didn’t keep Richton in check so actively. It should be a few more years from now before a bloody wind blows in the empire. But this kind of development… It wouldn’t happen without the intervention of other transmigrators. My head suddenly ached.

“I’m not asking for an answer right now, so don’t worry. I know it’s something that must be carefully considered. I’ll be waiting for you at the banquet tomorrow.”

He threw himself over a window on the half-open terrace without hearing my answer. It was a movement without any hesitation as if he already knew what choice to make.

At that moment, the bedroom door opened roughly. The man, who was about to follow Wilhelm who had just disappeared, stopped in his place. I also stood up reflexively and looked towards the open door.

“Wilhelm’s motherfuckers are busy flocking in without choosing the time and place.”

The visitor was none other than Kean. When I checked his pale, emotionless face, that day in Triviache that I had crumpled into the corner of my memory came again to the surface.

Yes, it was those eyes back then. Kean had a bloodthirsty atmosphere that was incomparable to his usual face.

He seemed to know that the man was from Wilhelm. If so, he might also be aware that they were trying to persuade me. Richton might suspect. I instinctively swung the dagger I was holding under the pillow.

“Ugh!”

Kean’s kick was faster even before the panicked masked man drew a sword. There was no interrogation or anything. Kean slit the man’s neck with a very skillful movement. The carpet began to turn red with blood splashing like a fountain.

I stabbed…I stabbed a person.

“Ha, ha…”

“That was quite a tenacious decision for a beginner. I’ll give you a compliment, Susan.”

It was only a coincidence, but it was a compliment that’s not pleasant at all. Really, I stabbed this man. The heartbeat that was wrapped around the palm was a different sensation from stabbing a hardened corpse. I opened my mouth casually to erase the vivid memories from my fingertips.

“How-how did you know?”

“Because I heard a commotion in His Excellency’s room.”

Kean grabbed the blanket on the bed and covered my head and shoulders.

“What does that have to do with entering my room?”

“Tch. You’re still stupid today, Susan. Do I have to explain it one by one? There’s one thing His Excellency says as a habit. There’s no one in the world who’s so ignorant as to directly target Ingord’s master. So the fact that there’s a visitor His Excellency didn’t invite…You can understand it without me telling you, right?”

It meant that their real target was me. Berkne’s words were right. I thought stabbing people was a waste of time, but it turned out to be useful somehow. An indescribable feeling engulfed my whole body in a hurry.

When I came to my senses, I was already walking down the hall, led by his hand. Kean went into another room at the end of the hallway on the other side.

It was the same size as the room given to me except that the structure was a little different. He threw me into the innermost bed and even gathered all the blankets from the bed next to me to cover my body.

“What are you doing?”

“As expected, you’re unreliable. I’ll guard your room, so shut your mouth and go to sleep.”

“Sleep? Here?”

“Your mission is more important tomorrow than today. You shouldn’t stay up all night and mess things up.”

“That’s very easy for you to say. I stabbed a person for the first time in my life…..”

“Can’t you just accept it?”

With a harsh tone, Kean pressed my body back down onto the bed as I struggled to get up. They glared at each other with an arm’s distance away. It wasn’t the bad-tempered and careless face I had always seen. There was more seriousness than mockery in his voice.

“Surprisingly, there’s completely nothing.”

I just breathed out quietly.

***