Chapter 17
“What do you mean? What do you mean you can’t find the princess?”
“I beg your pardon, Your Majesty.”
Inside the inner chamber of the imperial palace.
A knight knelt before the Emperor, bowing his head with a dark expression.
“We have confirmed that she left the capital. However, it appears she deliberately changed carriages several times. The trail was lost midway. At present, we cannot determine her exact location.”
“Does that make any sense?!”
Bang!
The Emperor slammed his fist against the armrest of the sofa. At his furious shout, the knights all held their breath.
“Are you saying the princess intentionally shook off her pursuers?”
“……”
“I asked you if that makes any sense!”
“Please, punish me with death.”
“Ha.”
The Emperor raked a hand roughly through his hair, as if exasperated.
Her trail had vanished.
Whenever she was in a bad mood, Lorea would leave the palace as if staging a protest—but she had never once erased her tracks.
Of course she hadn’t.
She enjoyed the sight of the imperial knights dropping everything and scrambling to find her.
‘What in the world is this absurd stunt?’
It had already been ten days.
Normally, she would have returned by now, pretending to have been persuaded. But not only was there still no news—she had shaken off pursuit?
It was far too strange.
“However, Your Majesty.”
“What is it?”
“That is…”
The knights exchanged troubled glances.
“Speak at once!”
At the second thunderous command, the captain of the knights hesitated before opening his mouth.
“I humbly report that the location where Her Highness disappeared was on a road heading toward the northeastern region.”
“…What?”
The Emperor’s gaze darkened.
“There is only the Carter Grand Duchy in the northeast of the capital, is there not?”
“Yes, that is correct.”
His brow creased instantly.
“The Carter Grand Duchy?”
“It is only a speculation.”
The Emperor fell silent in confusion.
‘Why would that wench go there?’
What kind of woman was Lorea Frize?
A foolish and arrogant wretch, intoxicated by wealth and power, who became a puppet of the imperial family—without even realizing she carried the tainted blood of the Carter Grand Ducal House.
For twelve years, believing without doubt that the Emperor was her father, how many acts of cruelty had she committed?
‘And now you’re saying she suddenly headed to the Carter Grand Duchy? Even hiding her tracks?’
It was absurd.
Unless Lorea Frize had turned into a sage overnight, there was no way she could have discovered she was their blood relative.
They had burned the Grand Ducal carriage that fell off the cliff that day, erasing all traces.
Other than Edgar, the Emperor’s most loyal hound, no one knew of Lorea’s true birth.
The secret had been that thorough.
“No, there’s no way that wench headed to the Carter estate…”
The Emperor shook his head reflexively.
“That cannot be.”
Lorea Frize must never learn the truth of her birth.
At least not until the Carter Grand Ducal House had completely fallen.
“…Your Majesty, whatever the reason, at present the possibility that Her Highness has gone to the Carter estate is the highest.”
“Silence! Shut your mouth!”
At the Emperor’s sharp shout, the captain pressed his lips tightly together.
A question flickered across his face.
‘Why is His Majesty so anxious over that half-blood princess?’
The imperial family’s troublemaker.
The half-blood disgrace.
Lorea Frize had been called that for over a decade.
Yet only one person—the Emperor—had always been strangely indulgent toward her. She was an odd illegitimate child who received the Emperor’s attention over even the Empress’s legitimate heirs.
Even now.
The Emperor’s bloodshot eyes and the way he chewed on his lips made him look almost panicked.
‘Is there something I do not know?’
Doubt surfaced in his eyes, but only for a moment. At the Emperor’s murderous glare, he lowered his head again.
“We cannot leave this as it is. I cannot rely solely on these incompetent knights…”
The Emperor muttered obsessively, then suddenly widened his eyes.
“Summon the First Prince at once.”
A sinister smile twisted his lips.
“If he will not come on his own, drag him here.”
At last, it was the tenth day of training.
“Take your stance.”
At Damian’s words, I spread my feet shoulder-width apart, bent my knees slightly, and extended my clenched fist forward.
At first, I couldn’t even maintain this posture without trembling.
But now, it was different.
I wasn’t shaking. My balance was stable. It was hard to believe this was the same body that had been panting after running half a lap ten days ago.
Damian circled around me, examining from every angle. After a moment, he nodded.
“At this level, you won’t hold us back.”
He tossed the comment out indifferently.
…Wait.
Was that a compliment?
It was a compliment, right?
I suppressed the corners of my lips that were about to lift. Don’t show it. You’ll look smug.
‘But it’s a compliment.’
Inside, I was practically bursting with pride.
“You’ve worked hard. We depart tomorrow morning. Make your preparations.”
“Yes!”
A small cheer slipped out of me before I realized it.
Damian’s gaze turned oddly cold.
“…Are we going on a picnic?”
I could handle this level of provocation now. I’d heard it every day for ten days.
“I told you. I have something to do.”
Damian looked at me strangely. As if he wanted to say something—or maybe not. Lately, he had been looking at me like that more often.
“Be at the main gate at five in the morning.”
That was all he said in the end.
“If you’re even one minute late, I’ll leave you behind. Do not be late.”
You really have a way with words.
But I had no intention of being late anyway.
“Then that’s all for today.”
With that, Damian began tidying up the training ground.
The sun was still high in the sky. It was the first time in ten days we’d finished this early.
I glanced at him briefly, then hurried out of the training yard toward the main building before he could tell me to help clean.
‘Today, I’m leaving first.’
Finally getting my petty revenge, I thought with satisfaction—until my steps halted in the corridor.
Someone stood at the far end.
Carlos, dressed in a robe.
Pale face. Dry eyes. That bloodless complexion of someone tormented by demonic energy.
It was a chance encounter, yet for some reason my feet wouldn’t move.
Carlos also stopped.
An awkward silence settled.
“Has your training ended?”
He spoke first.
“Yes.”
I nodded.
“They said at this level, I won’t be a burden.”
“So you’re at least somewhat useful now.”
A short reply.
That was all.
We stood there, looking at each other. It almost felt like a confrontation—or maybe we were simply standing blankly.
Then my gaze caught on his pale face.
A body corroded by demonic energy.
A body that couldn’t survive even a day without purified stones.
A man who endured pain every day without showing a single sign of it.
It was the Emperor who hated this man. Because he might threaten imperial authority. He had sent poison, seized assets, slowly tightened the noose.
And yet, the one who gave strength to that Emperor—
Was me.
In the name of the princess. As the Emperor’s daughter.
The one who led the harassment against the Carter Grand Ducal House.
It was me.
The me before regression.
Foolish and arrogant.
The idiot who believed the Emperor was her father, who thought everything he said was right.
‘…Without even knowing this man is my real father.’
I treated him as an enemy.
Used him for the Emperor’s sake.
Pushed him toward ruin.
If I hadn’t regressed, I would have never known. That he was my true father. That I had been used by the Emperor.
After swallowing dry breaths for a long moment, my mouth opened on its own.
“Please make sure to eat properly.”
“What?”
Carlos frowned slightly.
“I taught Mia most of the recipes. The ones good for detoxifying demonic energy. Just don’t skip meals.”
“That is not something the princess needs to concern herself with.”
“I won’t be able to bring you lunch for a while.”
“I can manage on my own.”
I narrowed my eyes.
‘If you could manage on your own, you wouldn’t be in this state.’
I thought it, but couldn’t say it aloud.
I had no right.
Carlos looked at me for a moment, then turned as if to leave.
“Wait.”
I called out without thinking.
I didn’t even know why. The word had slipped out on its own.
Carlos glanced back at me. His face was still expressionless, and the red eyes that resembled mine were dry and distant.
I hesitated.
I didn’t know what to say.
“…I’ll be back.”
That was what came out in the end.
A short farewell.
To him, I was an unwelcome guest. The Emperor’s daughter. An enemy. It might not have been a greeting he wanted to hear.
But I still wanted to say it. That I would return.
“……”
Carlos did not answer.
He only looked at me for a long time.
At last, his gaze shifted away, and he turned to walk down the corridor. He said nothing until he disappeared from sight.
I stared blankly at his retreating back.
‘He didn’t respond. Of course not.’
That was the kind of existence I was to him. He had no reason to say such words to me.
And yet, for some reason, a corner of my chest ached.
‘…I’m sorry.’
I whispered the words only in my heart.
