#75. The Princess Is Mean.
“Khalid, look at this.”
Velia smiled prettily as she handed a letter to Khalid, who had just come into the room.
“What kind of letter has you in such a good mood?”
“Hurry and read it.”
Khalid read the letter Velia gave him quickly.
It was from Runes. The letter said the antidote was nearly finished. Exactly the sort of news that would please Velia — she’d been worried lately because the antidote’s development had been dragging.
“That’s a relief. I was worried things were being delayed again.”
“Right? If they sent a letter like this, the finish must be close.”
Khalid brought the paper close to the candle and set it alight. Once the edge had burned, he tossed it into the fireplace and watched it turn entirely to ash, then stepped back toward Velia.
“How many people did we hide inside the Empress’s palace?”
“More than five.”
“…They’d better do a good job.”
“They know how to steal tea leaves without anyone noticing, so I’m not worried.”
They’d secretly taken the Empress’s tea leaves to analyze the poison in order to make an antidote. It was only possible because they’d planted people beforehand at a time when no one was suspicious.
Those people were going to be entrusted with an extremely important task: delivering the antidote to the Empress.
Khalid hugged Velia.
“More importantly, hold me today, Velia.”
There was weariness in Khalid’s voice. Velia looked at him with a worried frown.
“Did something happen?”
“…What did you and Raul talk about yesterday?”
“Oh—did you hear?”
Velia smiled awkwardly, slid out of Khalid’s arms, took his hand, and sat with him on the sofa.
“Well, actually—”
“Shh. Wait.”
Khalid cut her off before she could explain and strained to listen.
For a very long time they’d instructed the servants not to come near the bedrooms at night. They didn’t want to expose their private life to anyone.
So the servants hardly ever went near the bedrooms unless there was a true emergency. But now Khalid sensed someone nearby.
If someone had merely passed by, they probably wouldn’t have noticed. But the sound of a door opening reached them. And there was only one door in this vicinity that could make that sound.
Khalid looked stunned.
“Someone’s entered my room.”
“Excuse me?”
At that instant, the face that popped into both Khalid and Velia’s heads was—
Erze Kinetra.
Velia’s room and Khalid’s room were connected internally so they could move freely between them. There was no need to go outside to reach Khalid’s room.
The intruder probably didn’t know the rooms were connected.
“…Khalid.”
Velia called to him in a worried voice. What if the intruder really was Erze? What on earth had she been thinking to sneak back into Khalid’s room?
“It’s fine. Rest. I’ll handle it.”
Khalid soothed her in a low voice.
But Velia grabbed his hand quickly when he tried to leave — she couldn’t send him alone.
“Come with me.”
Velia rose from the sofa, set her face in a determined expression, and led the way to the door linking to Khalid’s room. She turned the doorknob without hesitation.
As soon as the door opened, they saw Erze sitting astride Khalid’s bed.
Though Khalid hadn’t used his own bed in a long time, he couldn’t tolerate seeing another woman sitting on it.
“Erze. What are you doing here?”
Erze looked a little flustered, as if she hadn’t expected Velia to appear. She sighed in embarrassment and slowly rose from the bed.
“I didn’t know the rooms were connected.”
Erze muttered this while staring at the doorway where Velia and Khalid had come through, then looked up at Velia with a cold gaze.
It was the first time Erze had made that expression since arriving at the palace. It felt slightly unfamiliar.
No — it was a familiar face, actually.
A look full of malice, a crooked smile. That was exactly the expression Erze had worn toward her in the past life.
Khalid looked down at Erze with a cold expression.
“…I told you if you showed up in my sight one more time I’d kill you. Have you already forgotten?”
“Your Highness.”
Erze stepped toward Khalid slowly. She was barefoot, wearing a thin muslin nightgown that was translucent — an outfit anyone would wear to seduce someone.
“The princess is mean.”
She stood directly in front of Khalid and glared at Velia as she spoke.
“I truly liked the princess…”
Velia didn’t understand what Erze was trying to say at all.
“I thought the princess was a good person.”
“Are you saying you’re behaving like this because I scolded you yesterday?”
Velia asked incredulously. But Khalid was quicker to respond than Erze was to speak.
“Velia. There’s no need for you to speak. Toss her out of the palace immediately.”
Khalid stepped forward and struck a bell that stood in the corner. A clear chime rang out.
“People will be here soon, and you’ll be shamefully driven out.”
“I… I did it for Your Highness…!”
“For me? On what grounds?”
Khalid sneered. Erze trembled with suppressed indignation but continued her speech.
“I—I saw the princess talking to the First Prince like lovers… and she didn’t show a definite stance. She’s stringing the two of them along! I—”
Khalid’s expression twisted into a scowl.
“…Not worth my time.”
“The rumors have spread everywhere! People say the First Prince can’t forget the princess because she keeps leaving the door open! I heard that the princess told the First Prince he should make her the Empress because he said he loved her!”
“What an exaggeration, Erze.”
“I hesitated many times about whether to tell Your Highness, but for the princess’s sake I kept quiet. Didn’t I see the princess walking hand in hand with the First Prince the day I first arrived at the palace? Why would you do that? Do you not consider time alone with a man improper just because the maids stand behind you?”
“…You’re making wild conjectures.”
“It’s not conjecture…! Yes, the princess won’t want to admit it. I know—she’ll think I’m trying to ruin her reputation. But I wasn’t trying to do that. I just—”
Tears fell from Erze’s eyes as if in injustice.
If one only saw her tear-streaked, flushed face, one might want to side with her. Her reddened eyes and swollen cheeks made her look pitiable.
But everything she said was delusional nonsense.
“I only wanted to comfort the Second Prince genuinely….”
Erze clutched at Khalid’s collar with trembling hands. Khalid swatted her hand away in disgust.
“Get off me. And I don’t even know what you mean by ‘comforting’ in the first place.”
Khalid’s words were icy. Erze stared at him in panic.
“I, Your Highness… I really—”
“Shut up before my patience runs out and I kill you not by banishment but for insulting the royal family.”
“Ugh…”
At that moment, the servants and knights arrived.
They stared at Erze, who had collapsed to the floor and was weeping, with stunned expressions, then bowed to Khalid and Velia.
“We’re sorry. We weren’t vigilant. We accept whatever punishment you give.”
“…We’ll discuss this later. For now, take her out.”
“Yes, Your Highness!”
The knights grabbed Erze’s arms and hauled her to her feet.
Erze looked at Khalid and Velia with a mournful expression.
But Khalid was merciless.
“Have her driven out at dawn so everyone can see her face, and lock her in a room. Don’t let her set foot outside until I order otherwise. Keep her under watch.”
“Yes, Your Highness!”
After the storm of the night, dawn brought a quiet stillness.
Velia sat on a terrace chair with her legs pulled up and arms around her knees, staring blankly into the breeze as if she had no idea what had just happened.
‘Should I have refused Erze’s request from the beginning…?’
Guilt pressed on her chest as she realized the whole affair had sprung from her own foolishness.
Why had Erze come to hate her? Had she hated her from the start? Had Velia been mistaken in thinking things had changed since the past life?
She couldn’t bear to look Khalid in the face.
“Velia.”
But Khalid wouldn’t leave her be.
He came to her side, draped a blanket over her shoulders, pulled up an empty chair, and sat down facing her.
“…I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“I shouldn’t have let her into the palace.”
“You didn’t know she’d act like this and allow it.”
“Still. It was my selfishness. I let my greed get in the way and granted her request.”
A painful lump rose in her throat. Tears instantly welled in Velia’s violet eyes.
She brushed her hair back roughly with one hand, leaned her arms on her knees, and buried her face. Then, cautiously, she revealed a secret she’d been unable to tell until now.
“…In my past life, Erze shoved me aside and became Empress.”
There was no reaction from Khalid.
Tears rolled down Velia’s cheeks.
All this happened because of her stubbornness and petty pride. Tossing herself about from her own emotions, she’d stumbled and fallen. She felt utterly ashamed.
Velia buried her face deeper so Khalid couldn’t see her.
“She took everything from me. So this time I wanted to show her — to show her that things are different now.”
Velia exhaled heavily.
“It’s all because of me. I’m sorry, Khalid.”
