Chapter 8
“Don’t be ridiculous!”
Despite being a royal envoy from her kingdom, Princess Marien skipped both the grand welcoming ceremony and the banquet.
It was all to appeal to First Prince Axel. She had heard he disliked flashy and noisy affairs.
‘It was supposed to be a strategy to show I’m not like his crazy fiancée who throws parties every other day!’
But for some reason, neither the First Prince nor anyone else showed any interest in Marien.
Well, interest wasn’t the main issue.
‘My father only ordered me to secure a royal marriage with the First Prince.’
The problem was that getting close to the First Prince was nearly impossible.
She’d wandered the palace pretending to take walks, but couldn’t even catch a glimpse of him. Her requests for an audience were denied. Even the maids refused to disclose his schedule.
“If you don’t even know that, how can you serve His Highness? Aren’t you supposed to be his hands and feet?”
“……”
“Don’t think I don’t see through your excuses! You just don’t want to help me because you think I’ll never become the crown princess!”
“…This way, Princess.”
The maids were polite but utterly indifferent. Their empty gestures were full of annoyance.
But returning to her kingdom empty-handed would only make her father treat her like a parasite. He was the kind of man who openly favored his children based on their results.
‘I have to make a strong impression on the First Prince. If not him, then at least someone close to him.’
That was the only way to create an opening.
‘But how?’
While she was racking her brain for a good idea—
“What are you talking about?”
She overheard a conversation between Knight Commander Angel and the palace attendants.
“You say you don’t know who left it?”
“When we found it, only the documents remained. There were no signs of forced entry, so we suspect it may have been done by someone on the inside…”
“But that’s just speculation. The fact remains that we don’t know where it came from. Leaving it lying around like this—are you all out of your minds? What if something happens to His Highness in my office!”
“We thought the same and checked it several times. There’s nothing suspicious about the item. It’s just paper. Paper.”
“Yes, but the contents are…”
The attendant handed the documents to Angel.
He began flipping through them on the spot.
“Damn, this is exactly the kind of intel we need.”
“Yes.”
“…I don’t know what kind of righteous person left this behind, but we may as well use it.”
“What nonsense.”
From what she could gather, someone had left behind information that would benefit Axel. Angel didn’t like it, but the documents were too good to waste.
Marien, who had grown up reading people’s faces at court, quickly assessed the situation.
‘This is my chance.’
She didn’t know who left the papers or why, but if Axel’s close aide was this interested…
‘If I claim those papers as mine…’
…She might be able to get Axel’s attention!
Whoever the anonymous informant was, they probably didn’t want their hard work discarded…
‘Yes. This is it.’
“Excuse me.”
“Yes, Princess?”
As Angel turned his gaze to her—
“I left those documents.”
Marien said,
“They’re mine.”
Marsha returned two hours later.
“I couldn’t get them directly into the Prince’s office, so I left them in the Knight Commander’s office as the next best option.”
“Oh…”
“Was that not good enough? Should I try to sneak into the Prince’s office after all—”
“No, I’m just surprised you did so well.”
Back when Jeppetto had her captive, she seemed no different than two years ago. But with her memories back, Marsha moved differently—she’d regained the reflexes of her days as a Holy Knight.
“But… are you really okay with this?”
“With what?”
“You spent two years compiling that. Someone might try to steal the credit.”
“That’s not something I need to worry about.”
I could say it confidently.
“They won’t be able to.”
There are levels to the kind of intel people can gather.
That document included information only the highest insiders could access.
‘I even encoded clues to my identity using secret phrases only imperial investigators would recognize.’
If someone reviewed the contents carefully, they’d know.
Besides—
“We’re talking about Axel.”
He might be icy as a snowfield to his fiancée, but he’s warm to his fellow citizens.
“He’ll recognize it.”
And sure enough—
“It’s up.”
“…!”
Seraphina’s body shimmered, displaying system messages.
– You have successfully captured Jeppetto Leways.
– You have successfully captured Ruwan Leways.
– You have eliminated all involved in the Mart Drug Den.
– The number of drug dealers and addicts in the Empire has significantly decreased.
– The chance of violent crime in the Empire has slightly decreased.
– You have successfully shifted the course of history.
– Calculating curse alleviation based on contribution.
– The Curse of Forgetfulness has been eased by 13%.
– Someone has fully regained their memories.
– Someone has partially regained their memories.
This time, it said “fully” and “partially.”
Now I was really curious.
‘Who remembered me this time?’
Laura’s guess was spot-on.
“So you’re saying you brought this document to assist me?”
“Yes, I only wanted to help Your Highness—”
“Enough lies.”
Marien was now paying dearly for her deception.
“This isn’t the kind of information someone like you could have obtained.”
The documents held a comprehensive exposé of House Leways’ dark secrets.
Their crimes, the scale of them, even the intent—laid bare in excruciating detail. It wasn’t some blackmail ledger, but genuine internal records, compiled for preservation.
Axel knew where such records were kept. A secret vault only accessible to the family head or direct blood relatives.
“So I’ll ask again.”
Axel’s lips curled into a bitter smile.
“Did you really bring these documents, Princess?”
Marien couldn’t answer.
Axel had been able to spot the lie because the documents contained encrypted codes used only by imperial investigators.
‘No way some minor princess would know those.’
These codes were a recent invention—not even Axel came up with them.
[So “the pigeon sat in front of the fountain” means “Leways”?]
[Yes. Of the noble residences in the capital, only the Leways estate has a view of the fountain from the entrance.]
The woman had insisted on adding phrases to indicate tailing, calls for backup, and more.
[I don’t get it. Isn’t it just word games? I don’t see why we’d need to make these.]
[Still, they’ll come in handy.]
Yes, it was a woman.
Shorter than him. Her wide-brimmed hat obscured her face.
Despite that, he couldn’t recall her nose, her jaw—just gray.
Only then did Axel realize—
This was a reconstruction based on his memory.
And the reason her face was a blur—was because he couldn’t remember it.
[It might help ease the investigators’ nerves. Little gestures like this show that the imperial family cares—they can build loyalty. Organizations only function when people are loyal.]
[Is that so?]
[Of course, material support matters most!]
[So you’re just asking for money.]
[After all the money I’ve earned for you, you dare complain? Hand over the treasury funds. Hoarding them now is just asking for trouble.]
Strange, isn’t it?
In his memories, he’d laughed and joked with that woman.
And now, thinking about it—he was smiling again.
“Your Highness?”
That brought him back to reality.
The woman’s image vanished. The floating feeling disappeared, and his feet hit the floor.
Realizing he was in Fel’s office, Axel cleared his throat.
“It’s nothing.”
Chasing after fading memories was a fool’s errand.
“What will you do?”
Still, he felt certain.
“To Leways.”
The fountain hint pointed him to a lead.
“I’m going to the Marquisate of Leways.”
Jeppetto was so frustrated he could cry.
“Damn it! What am I, everyone’s punching bag?!”
And in fact, he was crying.
‘The moment that sharp-eyed witch signed her own expulsion papers, it was obvious. This house is doomed! It’s going down fast!’
The moment he regained his two years of memory, Jeppetto moved.
He hated Laura—but trusted her instincts.
The problem?
“There were only two people who could’ve accessed that kind of intel—me or Laura. And I’m not suicidal enough to betray the family. So it had to be her.”
Axel had simply acted faster.
“So let me ask.”
Jeppetto had been seized at the entrance of his home and dragged back in by Axel himself.
“Where is Laura?”
And when faced with this living nightmare, Jeppetto snapped.
“She’s gone! She ran off first chance she got!”
How many times had he been caught in the fallout of this toxic couple’s lovers’ spat?
