Chapter 16
“Argh!”
The scream didn’t belong to Laika. It was the deep voice of a grown man. When I opened my eyes, the man who had been about to hit Laika had frozen mid-motion. Karzan was now standing in front of Laika, shielding her, glaring fiercely at the man.
The scream had come from the man, and he was looking at Karzan with absolute terror, screaming as though possessed by fear.
“Die.”
Karzan’s voice fell cold and heavy.
It was strange. Karzan wasn’t doing anything. He simply stood there, staring at the man. And yet, the man trembled with terror just from looking at Karzan’s face.
There was nothing there—so why was he so scared?
Was it magic? Come to think of it, I remembered a spell the Crown Prince had often used on me in my past life. Memories I had almost forgotten came rushing back like a storm.
I used to like the Crown Prince.
It was only natural for a noble lady—who blindly believed she must become the Crown Prince’s wife—to fall in love with him.
But he hated having me near him. One time, when I went to see him, I fainted in front of his office door.
He had placed a large snake on the doorstep just to block my visit. He often did things like that to drive me away. So of course my feelings for him couldn’t remain good.
Later, when I found out it wasn’t a snake but a ribbon made to look like one, I finally realized: he absolutely despised me.
He only married me because he had no choice—because I had already been designated as the Crown Princess.
But once I became the Crown Princess, all I could do was endure. Even if he hated me, ignored me, and treated me coldly…
Even if he used magic to torment me, I had no choice but to bear it.
Why did he hate me so much?
“Ahhh! Save me! Please save me!”
Another desperate scream rang out. Upon closer inspection, the man was staring not at Karzan himself but at a small, cute stuffed doll shaped like a little girl in Karzan’s hand. He was screaming at the sight of that plush doll.
What on earth was he seeing?
“Hoo… Tougher than I thought.”
Karzan threw the doll toward the man, and the man shrieked and jumped up, scrambling away in terror. He ran off like he’d seen the devil, not even realizing his shoes had fallen off, leaving the doll lying limply on the ground.
Laika and Jaynie looked at Karzan with bewildered expressions, clearly stunned by what they had just witnessed.
“D-Did that man just run away because of this cute doll?”
“It’s magic,” I replied—not Karzan—and he looked at me as if wondering how I knew.
Of course I know. You used that exact same magic in your past life to scare me, make me cry, and torment me.
Laika ran to pick up the doll and handed it back to Karzan with a look of admiration.
“I heard only the chosen ones can use magic. You must be amazing.”
Karzan, used to hearing nothing but praise and admiration, didn’t even flinch at the compliment and remained expressionless.
“I’m just a low-level mage.”
Because of Karzan’s noisy display of magic, a crowd of villagers had gathered around us.
Among them, a young girl stared blankly at the doll in Karzan’s hand.
“Um… Mister… Can I have that doll?”
The girl’s eyes were fixed longingly on the doll, but Karzan ignored her completely, as if to say, “Don’t be ridiculous.”
Was he sulking because she called him “mister”?
Frustrated, the girl tugged on Karzan’s sleeve and began pleading in earnest.
“Please! You’re a man, so you don’t need such a cute doll!”
Indeed, the doll was the kind that little girls her age would love. It was strange enough that Karzan carried around such a doll—but what was even stranger was how firmly he refused to give it away.
“No.”
The girl grabbed his arm, still pleading.
“G—”
Was he about to say “How dare you”?
Karzan’s face turned red—an amusing sight. Clearly, he couldn’t admit to being the Crown Prince, and the girl’s bold demands for royal belongings were probably quite flustering for him.
“How old are you?”
“Eight.”
“Then act your age. You’re not a seven-year-old anymore. You’re practically a young lady now!”
The maturity of an eight-year-old commoner couldn’t possibly be the same as that of a royal. The girl, naive and cheerful, began to cry at Karzan’s scolding.
Well done. You made a kid cry.
But even at the girl’s tears, Karzan showed no intention of handing over the doll.
Judging by how he clung to that doll and how determined he was not to give it up even to an eight-year-old, it was clearly something special to him.
And knowing Karzan’s nature, he wasn’t likely to soothe the child either.
If he didn’t throw a snake at her, that would already be a mercy.
Just as I was about to try calming the girl myself, Jaynie knelt to meet the child’s eye level and gently comforted her.
“I’ll make you an even cuter, prettier doll.”
“Really?”
“Of course.”
Jaynie showed the child the floral embroidery on her skirt hem.
“I stitched this myself, too.”
The girl quickly became fascinated by the embroidery, completely forgetting about the doll.
Jaynie, who could take down grown men barehanded, was this kind, gentle, and feminine?
Sometimes she served as my escort knight under Duke Ducro’s command.
I remembered how sweet her smiling face was.
She had often looked at my dresses with envy. How did someone so graceful and skilled at embroidery become a knight?
Maybe it was due to her family situation.
Though her attire was plain, she seemed more refined and poised than most noble ladies.
Jaynie managed to soothe the child, and Karzan, sneaking a glance, turned toward the house and muttered,
“If you want breakfast, come inside.”
It seemed he was going to express his thanks with breakfast instead of words.
I chuckled softly and followed him inside.
Laika’s tiny kitchen had few utensils and barely any ingredients, but Karzan—who was quite skilled at cooking outdoors—quickly turned the remaining corn into a delicious soup and pancakes. Everyone looked at him with amazement.
They were all astonished that Karzan—who didn’t look like he’d ever touched a kitchen tool—could whip up something so tasty.
“Amazing… It’s the same corn, but this soup is so good. I think it’s even better than Jaynie’s version.”
Jaynie, too, was impressed.
“Incredible. What did you add?”
Karzan placed a spice jar on the table and picked up his spoon again.
“It’s a soup seasoning. For outdoor cooking, you need things like this. I’ll leave it. You can use it.”
Jaynie picked up the seasoning and looked at Karzan with eyes full of gratitude.
“T-Thank you, Kar.”
It wasn’t a full meal, but thanks to Karzan, we got to enjoy a warm breakfast.
After the meal, I did something I’d never done before—I washed dishes in cold water.
“Tasha! I’ll do the dishes!”
“You gave us a warm place to sleep, so I’ll do them. You can tidy up the room instead.”
Jaynie hesitated but, seeing I was firm, left the kitchen looking a little guilty.
Though the water was cold and the kitchen small and dim with dark stone walls, the warm sunlight shining through the little window made it feel like a peaceful morning.
“It’s time to part ways. We’re leaving now.”
“Thank you for helping us, Kar. I’ll never forget it.”
“We owe you a lot too, so we’re even.”
“No. We owe you so much more. Thank you, truly.”
The two siblings looked deeply regretful.
Even though we were saying goodbye, I knew we’d meet again someday—as the Crown Prince and his knight.
In my past life, Laika went half-mad after Karzan’s death, devastated by the loss of his lord.
If that same future came again, he wouldn’t be able to protect the one he’d sworn a blood oath to.
The thought made my heart heavy—but it’s okay. This time, I’ll make everything right. He will be able to protect his lord.
When Karzan failed to slip gold coins into Laika’s hand, he poked me in the side as a signal for help.
It would have been best to refuse Karzan’s aid, but I wanted to help the siblings too, so I took the gold and left it in the frying pan in the kitchen.
It was a short and chaotic farewell, but knowing we’d meet again made it less sad. I wondered what kind of expressions they’d have when they saw each other again.
The thought that I’d be parting ways with Karzan tonight brought a small—really small—twinge of regret. The past few days with him flashed before my eyes like a lantern slide.
Getting into my carriage, meeting him in front of Baba’s restaurant, camping outdoors for the first time, meeting Sir Laika, who would one day serve him, and Jaynie, a knight of Duke Ducro.
It had all gone by like a whirlwind, like some epic adventure out of a fairy tale.
Karzan, as always, was reading a book in the carriage, while I had nothing to read and wasn’t sleepy, so I stared out the window.
The world was full of autumn scenery. If I opened the carriage door, the cool fall breeze would probably brush my cheeks along with the swirling leaves.
But as we neared Kubaran, that beautiful autumn landscape slowly gave way to winter. The trees, once ablaze with color, now stood bare, skeleton-like.
“We’re almost there.”
Karzan spoke, watching the setting sun. It was still October, but the northern weather felt like full-on winter. The sun sinking over the frozen land looked more lonely than beautiful.
Maybe that’s why Karzan’s face, bathed in twilight, looked so lonely to me.
