“And she went out alone, without a single maid? Why did Dain let the Princess go?”
Clear displeasure laced the Emperor’s voice.
“Just as Dain was about to accompany Her Highness, the head maid hastily assigned her another task. According to the report, Dain chose to exercise caution because the head maid has been acting suspicious lately.”
The Emperor listened in silence, his expression entirely blank.
“How long has Dain served in the Princess’s palace?”
Known for his sharp memory, the Emperor didn’t truly lack the answer.
Orion tried to read his intent as he answered quickly,
“For three years.”
The Emperor nodded wordlessly, then followed with another question via a slight gesture.
“And what about the rumors concerning the Princess?”
“None so far… however—”
Orion trailed off mid-sentence, and the Emperor raised his eyes toward him.
Faltering under that piercing gaze, Orion resumed speaking.
“Rumors concerning Your Majesty have begun to spread.”
The Emperor signaled with his chin for him to proceed.
“Word is spreading that the Emperor brought a mysterious woman into the main palace, and that the rumors about Your Majesty having no interest in women were nothing but lies. It seems several nobles saw Your Majesty carrying Miss Herdlan in your arms. Fortunately, her face was covered, so her name hasn’t been mentioned.”
The Emperor gave an understanding nod, and Orion’s eyes brightened.
“Furthermore… I believe we have finally uncovered Miss Herdlan’s true identity. It also seems the love letter Hart reported relates to the very same matter.”
Orion had been watching the Emperor’s reactions closely the entire time, but now his shoulders squared with unmistakable pride.
Gray took the letter Orion handed him, and the moment he opened it, his eyes widened slightly.
“In the Wyvern Kingdom, there is only one princess named Rose, and she is four years old.”
“Where was this found?”
“Near the shore of the lake. At first, I assumed it was a letter left behind by Her Highness the Princess, so I read it.”
With every word, Orion’s voice grew quieter and more subdued.
He must have feared that the Princess had done something reckless.
Gray looked back down at the letter, running through the facts he knew.
“Lia… Dalia. Princess Dalia of Wyvern, who lives in the secluded palace.”
“Yes.”
How had he failed to make the connection the moment he heard the name Lia?
She was a princess shrouded in such mystery that not even the nobles of Wyvern knew her face.
Yet she had stepped out from her secluded palace and come all the way to the empire.
Only then did her audacious behavior make sense—how she had shown no fear, not even before him, the Emperor.
Still… what had driven the Princess to approach him in the first place?
From the Wyvern Kingdom’s perspective, there was no reason to pursue a marriage between them. On the contrary, they would have avoided it for fear of Wyvern being treated as a vassal state of the Lucifon Empire.
Why, then, had she hidden her identity to get close to him?
Why had she insisted on visiting a lake he had never set foot in?
And how had she saved young Viviana with such impeccable timing, as if she had known beforehand that the child would fall into the water?
He had peeled back one layer of her secrets, only to find far more hidden beneath.
Hart approached Annie with caution.
Annie was sitting at the head of the bed, where she hadn't moved all day.
“Miss Annie, aren’t you going to eat something?”
“I’m fine. I’ll wait until Lia wakes up and eat with her.”
“Mr. Cole said the exact same thing.”
Annie’s crimson eyes turned toward Hart.
“Neither of you has eaten all day. If you go now, I’ll stay right here and look after Miss Lia carefully.”
“I told you, I’m fine.”
“Still, Miss Lia will be heartbroken if she finds out later.”
Only then did Annie’s gaze waver.
If the Princess learned they had starved themselves on her account, she would undoubtedly feel miserable, perhaps even blaming herself for not waking sooner.
That was simply the kind of person she was.
Hart astutely noticed the shift in Annie’s expression and pressed on.
“I promise you, I won’t take my eyes off Miss Lia for even a second.”
Annie studied Hart for a long time.
With nearly ninety-nine percent certainty… this woman was one of the Emperor’s people.
She didn’t know why the woman had approached them, but one of the Emperor’s agents wouldn’t harm a member of a diplomatic delegation regardless.
“Can you swear on the Emperor?”
“What?!”
Hart’s eyes widened in surprise, pure bewilderment written across her face.
“You’re a maid of the Imperial Palace, aren’t you? And the master of this palace is the Emperor. Can you swear on your master that Lia will be safe even while we’re gone?”
“Yes, I can… I swear it!”
Hart nodded, a strained smile touching her lips.
“Fine.”
Annie took one last look at the sleeping princess’s serene features, then rose to her feet.
Cole stood slumped against the wall with his head down, looking completely broken.
Ever since learning that the Princess had lost consciousness, his dark amber eyes had lost their focus, sunken in an empty daze.
The man, resembling an overgrown bear, was undoubtedly punishing himself inside for failing to protect her.
Was there anyone who understood what he was going through better than she did?
When they lived in the secluded palace, neither she as a maid nor he as an escort knight had needed to shadow the Princess’s every single step.
Even here in the Imperial Palace, she had never imagined genuine danger could strike.
Yet their desire to let the Princess—who had known nothing but isolation—freely enjoy this new place had brought disaster upon them.
They had paid a bitter price for their complacency.
“Cole.”
“Yes.”
He answered without lifting his head.
“Let’s go eat together.”
“No, I’ll stay… While you two go—”
Annie cut him off firmly.
“If Lia finds out we went hungry because of her, she’ll be heartbroken. You know how she is, don’t you?”
Unless she dragged this bear along herself, he would merely pretend to eat and come right back, so neither of them could go alone.
“…Right. You’re right.”
Their eyes met in the quiet air.
It was a shared feeling known only to those who had served the Princess closer than anyone else.
Then both turned their gazes toward Hart at once.
“If she wakes up, let us know immediately.”
“Yes, of course. Please, go have your meal.”
After seeing them off, Hart waited by the bedroom door until their footsteps faded completely. She then produced a whistle no larger than the tip of a finger and blew into it.
It emitted a sound ordinary mortals could not hear, discernible only to the Rooster and the Emperor.
Moments later, the door swung open, and the Emperor stepped inside.
“I am honored to greet Your Majesty.”
The Emperor spoke in a low voice, his eyes fixed on the bed.
“There is no longer any need to investigate Miss Herdlan. From now on, focus solely on protecting her.”
“I obey your command.”
Hart quietly withdrew and closed the door behind her, leaving the Emperor alone with the young lady.
Gray approached the Princess, who lay peacefully upon the wide bed.
Her face was still pale, her long lashes still, her lips softly closed.
As he quietly took in her features, a vague unease came over him, as if something terrible were about to happen.
Without thinking, he held a finger beneath her nose.
Only when he confirmed the steady rhythm of her breath did that unfamiliar tightness in his chest ease.
As he moved to pull his hand back, he caught sight of a stray strand of pink hair brushing the corner of her eye.
He gently brushed it aside, and the Princess murmured, her voice heavy with sleep.
“…I’ll save her.”
Did she mean the Princess?
“You already saved her, Princess Dalia.”
At that, her lips curved into a faint, peaceful smile.
To think she could smile even in her sleep…
“I… saved her.”
“Yes. You are the one who saved her.”
“What a relief… what a relief. This time, I managed to save her…”
A single clear tear tracked down from the corner of her closed eyes.
This time?
‘Has she experienced something like this before? Just who are you?’
Her tears continued to fall in silence. Gray pulled out a handkerchief and gently wiped them away.
“Don’t cry, Princess.”
After weeping soundlessly for a long while, her breathing finally settled back into a calm, steady rhythm.
