Chapter 6
Five years.
Five years was a very long time.
Clang—.
Long enough for Rosaline’s sword skills to improve until she could match me.
The sharp sound of metal cut through the midnight cold palace. Two blades flashed in the moonlight.
“Hey! Look over there!”
Rosaline, now more grown-up, pointed out the window as if startled.
“I’m not falling for that, Your Highness.”
I brushed away her trick with the flat of my sword.
“Then this is my final attack! I’ll win this time!”
Rosaline rushed at me in frustration.
Whoosh—.
“Huh?”
But her best attack failed against my light movement.
As I dodged, I sliced the ribbon in her hair with the tip of my blade.
“Princess.”
The ribbon split in two. Her long, thick blonde hair spilled into the air.
At the same time, Rosaline lost her balance and started to fall. I caught her.
“You’ve lost an earring.”
It was a pose straight out of a movie.
I brushed her empty ear and slowly leaned closer.
“Shall we look for it together, Your Highness?”
With a deep gaze, I tilted my head and whispered into her ear.
Then, as if I couldn’t help myself, I tightly grabbed the hem of her clothes—
“Wow.”
Rosaline made a strange expression.
“I really raised a dangerous creature.”
Of course. I had gone through endless harsh training for five years.
My strict teacher nodded in satisfaction.
“Pass!”
“I passed?”
“Yes.”
I happily helped Rosaline stand straight.
She looked moved by herself too.
“To turn someone as clumsy as my sister into this!”
Clumsy…?
“Hah. Now I really have nothing to worry about.”
Rosaline picked up a pencil from the desk.
She twisted her hair up using the pencil like a hairpin and sat cross-legged on the sofa.
“Rosaline.”
“Yeah?”
“Doesn’t this place feel like your bedroom?”
Rosaline tilted her head from the middle of the sofa.
“Honestly, I’m more comfortable here than in my own room.”
The cold palace, meant for Shabiyan.
It had long become a hideout for Rosaline—and me, especially Rosaline.
“But we’ll have to clear it out soon since Shabiyan will be coming.”
She looked around regretfully.
Old bookshelves, desks, windowsills, shelves—every space was filled with her collections.
“Where should I put all my stuff?”
I walked over to the shelf to take a look.
“But still!”
I was looking at jars of bright red powder when her sudden shout startled me. I almost dropped one.
“I get to see my second-favorite, Shabiyan! I’m so happy!”
Catching the falling bottle, I asked,
“Is Shabiyan your favorite? I thought it was someone else.”
“Oh, that changed. I have a new favorite now.”
Who?
I looked at her while putting the bottle back.
“Hm. There is someone. A really amazing person.”
Rosaline stared at me for a moment, then hummed and lay back on the sofa.
“Anyway!”
Hey—scared me.
I shoved the book back onto the shelf. Just sit, sit.
“A war will break out soon.”
“The war that brings Shabiyan in the original story?”
“Yeah.”
A war… I’d heard it was part of Kallian’s plan.
“No need to look so serious. It’s just a war that passes by quickly.”
A war is never something light.
“I’m in charge of the army. How could I not worry?”
“It’s a tiny war! Neither Kallian nor Shabiyan even appears!”
As Rosaline slapped the sofa, I looked out the window.
‘Then why do I feel uneasy?’
Past midnight, the night sky was silent.
Like the calm before a storm.
***
The imperial palace of the Bahat Empire.
“The crown prince of Hailen lost his father early and already became emperor.”
Bahat’s crown prince—Kallian.
Lying on the outdoor terrace, he ran a hand through his black hair.
“And I still have to go through the trouble of becoming emperor.”
He sat up and gestured with his hand.
The chancellor, who had paused, spoke again.
“How about starting a war with Hailen to keep the Grand Duke and the Second Prince in check?”
Kallian had already taken full power from the emperor long ago.
“Let enemies fight each other and profit in between. A good idea.”
Only the Grand Duke who supported the Second Prince remained.
If that force was wiped out, the empire would be Kallian’s.
‘The Grand Duke is respected by the knights… best not deal with him directly.’
If Kallian killed him himself, there would be backlash.
“Yes. Start a war with Hailen, then bring down the Grand Duke using black magic.”
“Then that idiot Second Prince will lead the army.”
And lose badly.
The Second Prince knew nothing about tactics. His forces would be destroyed by Hailen.
‘And the Berwen Duchy is near the border…’
Kallian leaned against the terrace railing.
“Prepare it.”
As the chancellor bowed to leave, he froze.
“It’s the Eighth Prince.”
Prince Shabiyan entered the garden with attendants.
The chancellor couldn’t help admiring his beauty.
“Prince Shabiyan grows more beautiful every day.”
“That child is still alive?”
Kallian looked at Shabiyan with boredom.
‘How did someone so weak survive without support?’
Kallian smirked.
“Chancellor, do you know why?”
“Pardon?”
“The Bahat royal family doesn’t keep useless royals. Now I see why he’s alive. He can be used.”
The chancellor understood immediately.
Kallian planned to sell Shabiyan off somewhere valuable.
“Where do you plan to send him?”
“How about the Tohor tribe?”
The chancellor jumped.
“To those barbarians?!”
The Tohor tribe was a growing threat at the border.
But—
‘That fragile prince wouldn’t last two weeks.’
It would also damage the royal family’s honor.
“No! He’s still a prince. At least send him somewhere he can live like a human—”
The chancellor swallowed his words.
“Then how about the Hailen Empire? This war is meant to be lost anyway. Send Prince Shabiyan as a hostage.”
He added something tempting.
“There’s an old rumor that the Hailen princess and the Berwen Duke are close.”
“The princess?”
Kallian frowned.
“That’s dangerous. A marriage alliance between them would be bad.”
“Exactly. Send him to Hailen.”
Kallian rubbed his lips, thinking.
“Fine. Hailen it is. If that fails, we send him to the Tohor tribe.”
His black eyes turned toward the flower bed.
‘He is useful.’
A beauty that could shake the continent.
That was how people described Shabiyan.
“If he tried, who wouldn’t fall for him?”
“Who will you send him to?”
“The emperor, or the Berwen Duke. Maybe both.”
The goal was to drive a wedge between them.
With Shabiyan’s looks, it was possible.
“Still.”
Kallian smiled faintly.
“I’d prefer the Berwen Duke.”
“….”
“Who knows? Maybe he’ll be so charmed he’ll defect to Bahat.”
The Berwen Duke.
The only knight Kallian truly acknowledged.
“I’d like to see his face.”
“You mean the Berwen Duke?”
“Yes.”
A strange light entered Kallian’s bored eyes.
“You’re not planning to go to war yourself, are you?”
The chancellor panicked.
“You must not go! This war is for the Second Prince to lose!”
“I’ll go secretly.”
Kallian laughed lightly.
He neither agreed nor denied, then turned his head.
“Your Highness, the Crown Prince is looking this way.”
And for Shabiyan, that was torture.
His long eyelashes trembled as clear blue eyes opened.
Shabiyan blinked nervously and soothed the attendants.
“Roha. Don’t look. As long as we don’t upset him, it’ll be fine.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
The attendants wanted to cry.
‘His mood changes every second!’
But they had no choice.
They finished the flower crown and placed it on Shabiyan’s silver hair.
“Oh! It suits you perfectly!”
“You must be the most beautiful person on the continent!”
Shabiyan lowered his head shyly.
“I heard the Berwen Duke of Hailen is very handsome… and brave too.”
Soft hands without calluses. Like a living doll.
He felt embarrassed, like a decorative flower.
“But you’re more—”
“Roha, you couldn’t sleep for days after seeing his portrait!”
“I-I didn’t!”
Shabiyan stepped in to save her.
“There’s a portrait of him?”
“Yes!”
The maid nodded eagerly.
“It’s rare since he’s an enemy knight, but I’ve seen it passed around secretly.”
“But the head maid confiscated it…”
Shabiyan looked disappointed.
“What kind of person is he? The Berwen Duke?”
The maids eagerly talked.
“His story is famous even here!”
“He saved the princess when she fainted in the forest, and she fell in love at first sight!”
“They even made secret love words just for each other!”
It was all romance.
‘I prefer hero stories.’
But Shabiyan kept quiet, afraid of being laughed at.
‘I’m no hero.’
Just a beautiful distraction. That was his role.
‘The Berwen Duke must be very strong.’
A butterfly landed on the crown.
‘I want to meet him.’
Shabiyan wished innocently—
Without knowing how that wish would twist his fate.
