Chapter 13
She hadn’t slept well last night.
Prina mechanically peeled the mountain of potatoes stacked before her.
Honestly, what happened yesterday almost felt like a dream.
It was even more shocking than the moment she saw Hugo in the Black Forest.
“Prina, I’ve always wanted you to be happy.”
Even before he lost his memories, Hugo had wished for her happiness.
And she felt the same way.
She had hoped he would live well somewhere far away—not die!
‘Declin often makes his knights hide their identities.’
So that was why he concealed his real name, Dreven, and introduced himself as Hugo instead.
And why he looked somewhat similar to Declin…
‘To use him as a double, they deliberately recruited a knight with a similar appearance.’
Maybe even the work Hugo had been doing in the Black Forest… had been under Declin’s orders.
‘Just what kind of life have you been living, Hugo?!’
“Prina, why are you sighing so much?”
As Prina let out another sigh, one of the Daisy Hall workers peeling potatoes beside her asked with concern.
Her name was Hannah, a longtime coworker who had worked with Prina at Daisy Hall for years.
“Is it because that chef was only snapping at you earlier? Seriously, that bastard’s weird.”
Ah. Right, that had happened earlier.
A chef had yelled at her for being too slow while she carried a sack of flour.
But she didn’t even have the energy to think about him right now.
Her mind was completely occupied with Hugo…
“Are you upset because of your ex-boyfriend?”
“Huh?”
Prina blinked in surprise when Hannah suddenly guessed correctly.
“W-Was it that obvious?”
“Oh my god, Prina! You need to forget that trash immediately!”
“N-No, I can’t forget him that quickly…”
Tomorrow might be the anniversary of my ex-boyfriend’s death. How could I forget that?!
“Oh, Prina. You really loved him deeply.”
“No, it’s not like that…”
She couldn’t exactly explain the truth, so while she struggled for words, Hannah looked at her sympathetically.
“Prina, after the victory banquet ends, I’ll introduce you to a genuinely good man, okay?”
“Huh?”
“I’ll find someone who won’t ghost you and who actually keeps in touch. That guy was seriously suspicious. Breaking up with him was the right choice. There are plenty of good men in the world.”
There probably were many men better than Hugo. As long as they didn’t do dangerous things, they already passed.
The bar was remarkably low.
…Seriously, what should she do?
In the original novel, after Hugo died, Declin carried out a massive purge under the pretense that there had been an assassination attempt.
Many innocent servants died unjustly because of it.
‘…But if Count Seiton’s assassination attempt never happens at all, then none of that will happen.’
Most importantly, she could save Hugo too.
And Hugo had…
saved her once in the past. At a moment when no one else had stepped forward for her.
Maybe now was finally her chance to repay that kindness.
Prina made up her mind.
She would save Hugo.
“Hey, Hannah. Do you know if they’re short on workers in the banquet hall?”
At last, the final day of the banquet arrived.
And today was also the day Hugo would… be assassinated.
“Prina, you better know how hard I worked for you, okay? I practically begged the chef, saying our Prina is too delicate to carry something this heavy all the way to the banquet hall alone, so that’s why I came with you.”
Hannah, carrying food alongside Prina, reminded her repeatedly on the way to the banquet hall.
“Thanks, Hannah.”
“If you’re thankful, then let me introduce you to a man. Seriously, forget that ghosting piece of trash already.”
Hannah was still misunderstanding the situation.
She seemed convinced Prina was depressed because she’d been ghosted, and she’d apparently even prepared a list of decent men to introduce her to.
She really was a good friend.
“You’re listening to me, right, Prina? After the banquet, no complaints—you’re going on that date.”
“Mm, okay.”
Prina answered absentmindedly.
The moment they entered the banquet hall, her attention had already shifted elsewhere.
‘I have to stop Hugo from dying!’
Together with Hannah and the other servants, Prina silently carried dishes throughout the hall.
She overheard the nobles whispering among themselves.
“Where is Grand Duke Caesar?”
“He’s been shut up in the VIP room on the second floor for a while now.”
So Declin was in the VIP room. Then was Hugo there too?
“Let’s go now, Prina.”
Just as Hannah and the workers quietly turned to leave—
“Hannah, I still have one more thing I was ordered to do. You go ahead.”
“Hm? Another task?”
“I was told to leave something upstairs on the second floor.”
“Really? Okay then, hurry back.”
Without much suspicion, Hannah left the banquet hall with the other servants.
The moment Prina confirmed they were gone, she quickly changed direction and climbed the spiral staircase leading to the second floor.
Toward Count Seiton’s VIP room.
According to the narration in the original novel, on the final day of the banquet, Count Seiton had never entered his room and had remained in the banquet hall all day.
Probably because he had been watching his target, Declin, with eyes full of vengeance.
Prina tightly gripped the wine bottle and opened the door to Count Seiton’s VIP room.
As expected, no one was inside.
At the center of the table sat a bottle of expensive wine.
The poisoned wine meant for the assassination.
Prina intended to switch its contents.
She had even deliberately stopped by Daisy Hall to bring a cheap bottle of wine with her.
Even if it was cheap, it still tasted fairly decent.
‘Hurry.’
When Prina came upstairs, there had been no one on the second floor. And hardly anyone would approach Count Seiton’s VIP room in the first place.
Trying to calm her violently pounding heart, Prina quickly swapped the wine.
‘Done!’
Now I need to get out of here!
If someone saw her here, they might question her unnecessarily.
The moment she left the VIP room, Prina hurried down the hallway as quietly and quickly as possible.
‘Oh… this place…’
As she rounded the corner, breathing hard, she saw a frighteningly familiar door at the end of the corridor.
Declin Caesar’s private VIP room.
‘Since Declin isn’t in the banquet hall right now…’
He must be inside.
Which meant she needed to pass by even more quietly!
Prina quickened her pace. Of all places, this was somewhere she wanted to pass as quickly as possible.
And just as she reached the front of Declin’s VIP room—
Bang.
The firmly closed door suddenly swung open without warning.
And for one brief moment, Prina died inside.
“…Miss Pelt?”
Then a familiar voice reached her ears, and she came halfway back to life.
‘It’s Hugo?’
The person who emerged through the door was none other than Hugo himself.
Just as Prina’s gaze drifted past his shoulder toward the slightly open gap in the doorway—
