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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 28
Chapter Title: An Unexpected Face
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Sometime after everyone had left, Lamia slipped into the room. In her hands was not food, but a bucket full of warm water.
“What about the food?”
“I figured you’d freeze to death before the food was ready, so I brought this. Look, your lips are turning blue. I told the innkeeper you looked like you were on death’s door, and he rushed to get this for me.”
Lamia chuckled like a rascal.
She soaked a towel in the water and wiped my face, then had me dip my feet into the bucket.
“Dipping your feet in warm water warms up your whole body in no time.”
Her gentle touch felt so awkward that I wiggled my toes and muttered.
“It wasn’t long ago that you were putting me in danger...”
“Still on about that? I had to save my own skin back then. We’re on the same side now, aren’t we? It’d be a real pain if you suddenly died before I made my escape.”
“Tch.”
Her words were cheeky, but for some reason, I didn’t find them annoying.
While I had my feet in the bucket, she flopped onto my bed without so much as asking.
She acted so naturally, and it was the first time anyone had ever stolen my spot on the bed, so I was just dumbfounded.
I couldn’t tell if she was ignoring my glare or genuinely didn’t notice it. Propping her head on her arm, she looked at me and grumbled.
“I’m so hungry my stomach’s touching my spine. I couldn’t eat properly while I was hiding in the palace.”
“How in the world did you hide without getting caught? The guards must have searched the palace from top to bottom.”
Lamia shrugged, answering nonchalantly.
“Oh, you know, here and there. It’s a trade secret, so don’t ask. I’m too hungry to waste energy talking.”
For someone who claimed to be so drained, she looked far more energetic than I did.
Mindful of the knights standing guard in the hallway, we continued to whisper.
“When are you planning to run? Shouldn’t you be leaving soon?”
“Ah, but I have to eat first. Earlier, I saw the innkeeper carving a hunk of meat. Mmm.”
She licked her lips, her mouth watering.
I found her fascinating.
“I’m sure you already know this, but... wanted posters with your face are all over the empire, right?”
How could she be so carefree when Cavalla had dispatched so many soldiers to find her?
“Of course. That’s why I took the time to dye my hair while I was busy hiding. Stealing the dye was a real pain, you know.”
Then she shot me a glare.
“Besides, those wanted posters are all your fault! You framed me for the theft!”
“That’s not what happened...!”
“What do you mean, ‘that’s not what happened’?”
“I’ve been wronged.”
“Wronged how? Unbelievable.”
“...”
I fell silent, having no way to explain that the wanted posters would have gone up even if I hadn’t stolen a thing.
Lamia’s eyes suddenly lit up, and she leaned in close.
“We’re partners in crime, and I’d say I got the short end of the stick. As a matter of principle, don’t you think you should share some of the treasure you stole that day?”
I narrowed my eyes at her.
“You should think long and hard about what you did to me that day.”
“Was that an admission that you stole the treasure?”
“I’m saying that you have some nerve.”
“How much did you get? Can’t you just give me one little piece?”
“When exactly are you planning to leave?”
“I need money for the teleportation circle. Just one gem, please?”
“You said you were leaving after you ate.”
“I never said I’d leave *right* after. I just said I’d eat first.”
The conversation went around in circles.
The water I had my feet in was growing cold, but I kept the conversation going.
It felt strange, having such a light and rambling conversation with someone.
Talking with Lamia was different from talking with Kal, and different still from talking with Calius.
“Don’t you want to go home? Your family must be worried.”
Lamia swung her feet as she replied.
“Whoever I’m with is my family, and wherever I lay my head is my home.”
Suddenly, I remembered what the guard had said when I first met Lamia.
“How dare a mere gypsy speak Her Highness’s name, you worthless vermin!”
It had been strange, the way the guard spoke as if he knew Lamia.
“Are you... a gypsy?”
Lamia grinned.
“Please, call me a romantic wanderer.”
So she was a gypsy.
*So Cavalla’s soldier did know her... Does that mean she really isn't a thief?*
I asked calmly.
“Then why would a romantic wanderer sneak into the imperial palace?”
“Sneak in? I was kidnapped, I tell you!”
“...By whom?”
“By the Royal Consort!”
“Why?”
“How should I know? I was with my troupe, and I think one of the bastards sold me.”
“Sold you?”
“Yep. He said he’d gotten some good liquor and offered to share, so I had some, and the next thing I knew, my head was all fuzzy. When I came to, I was locked in a crate. You can’t imagine how shocked I was to find myself in shackles!”
Lamia recounted this incredible story with a completely straight face.
Her expression was so nonchalant, it was hard to tell whether she was lying.
*A crate...? Why smuggle someone into the palace locked in a crate?*
I wanted to ask her more, but a knock came at the door.
*Knock, knock.*
“Who is it?”
Lamia sauntered over to the door and asked. A voice replied from the other side.
“I’ve brought your meal.”
Lamia’s previously listless face instantly lit up.
She threw the door open.
A servant stood there, holding a tray of food. Judging by his attire, he worked for the inn.
“Here, I’ll take that.”
Lamia said cheerfully, taking the tray from him.
As the servant handed her the tray, he lifted his head and glanced at me.
Our eyes met.
In that instant, I froze.
*That man...!*
The peculiar shape of his eyebrows was familiar.
I recognized him, but he clearly didn’t expect me to recognize him.
Of course. In this life, we had never met.
He was Viscount Felsus’s lackey, the one who handled all the viscount’s dirty work—murder, kidnapping, torture, and the like.
*Why is he here?*
What was going on? Was Cavalla involved? Was this Andrea’s doing? Was he here to kill me? Or Calius?
The man, acting perfectly nonchalant like an inn servant, handed the food to Lamia and disappeared.
My heart hammered against my ribs.
*I don’t know what’s going on, but I have to tell Calius about this without the maids finding out.*
“Princess? Are you all right?”
Lamia shook my shoulder.
I grabbed Lamia’s wrist. My hand was pale and trembling uncontrollably.
“Don’t eat that.”
“What’s wrong? Are you sick?”
“Don’t eat that food, Lamia.”
Confused, Lamia glanced between the food and me.
My heart began to pound even more erratically. A sharp pain shot through my chest, as if something inside was tearing apart.
“Ugh...”
In an instant, a torrent of memories exploded in my mind like fireworks.
Rough hands dragging me away, the darkness of the cellar, the feeling of being kicked, the terror of death—it all came flooding back in a dizzying rush.
“*Gasp*...! Hah... hah...!”
My breathing grew ragged.
“Should I call the knights? Or someone? H-Hold on, just a moment!”
Lamia started to dash out of the room.
I grabbed her before she could.
“No...! Don’t, don’t... Stay here, please...”
Seeing me clinging to her, gasping for breath, Lamia fretted anxiously.
I held on to her with all my strength.
With my other hand, I clutched at my hair, trying desperately to shake off the terrifying, sickening thoughts.
Just then, Lamia, who had been fidgeting nervously, pulled me into a tight hug.
“It’s okay.”
“...!”
“It’s okay. You’re okay.”
A hand patting my back. The warmth of her body. The pressure of the embrace.
As I focused on these unfamiliar sensations, my breathing miraculously began to slow.
“You’re okay now.”
Her words—*you’re okay now*—brought a sudden rush of tears to my eyes.
“*Hic*...!”
I buried my face in Lamia’s shoulder and wept silently.
But my sobs were short-lived as I fought to stifle them.
There was no time to cry.
“Lamia, can you use that magic again? The one you used to change my face.”
“Huh? Um...”
Tears blurred my vision, making Lamia’s bewildered face shimmer.
I wiped the tears away with the back of my hand and gripped her by the shoulders.
“There’s no use hiding it. I saw what you did. Please, can you use that magic to pretend to be me, just for a little while?”
“What?”
“It’ll only be for a moment. Just lie in bed and pretend to be asleep, in case the maids come.”
“What are you planning to do?”
She eyed me with suspicion. One moment I was deathly pale, trembling and gasping for air, and the next I was making this sudden request.
“Are you sure you’re okay? Have you really come to your senses? Do you know where we are?”
“I’m perfectly sane. Please.”
I swapped my outer clothes for Lamia’s and pulled up the hood to hide my hair and face.
*I have to warn Calius.*
