Chapter 4
“Neroli.”
It was a voice like a beast’s growl.
I turned my head and saw a man with blazing red hair and blood-colored eyes staring at me.
“Where have you been all this time?”
He growled menacingly, cornering me against the wall.
“You weren’t in your palace all day. Where were you?”
“Darien.”
My half-brother, Darien Helta Rornord—the prince who most resembled the emperor.
Of course, he was an unwelcome guest, and the wrist he had grabbed hurt.
I expressionlessly slapped his hand away.
“That hurts.”
Darien blinked in surprise at my reaction.
“Hah, looks like you’ve finally dropped that pathetic innocent act of yours.”
He actually looked pleased as he said that.
I ignored him and quickly scanned my surroundings.
Some attendants were huddled at the end of the corridor, too anxious to approach, just fidgeting among themselves.
‘They’re too far to make out my voice or facial expressions clearly…’
At that moment, Darien grabbed my chin tightly.
“Where do you think you’re looking? When you’re with me, you focus on me.”
His voice revealed an unmistakable possessiveness.
Yes, this was what Darien was like.
He resembled his father not only in appearance but also in temperament.
‘That obsession with beauty—it’s madness.’
The emperor had been so obsessed with my mother simply because she was the most beautiful woman in the empire.
As the emperor’s son, Darien had been obsessed with me since childhood.
‘What a disgusting family.’
If my nanny were still alive, I’d show her this.
She had always warned me of the Rornord madness—not hallucinations or delusions, as people commonly believed.
‘This greedy obsession is the real madness of the Rornords.’
I hid my true thoughts perfectly as I whispered,
“Drop the act? Why would I do something that benefits you?”
“What?”
I purposely put on a pout, and just as I intended, tears welled up quickly, blurring my vision.
Then, I shoved Darien’s chest.
“I said it hurts!”
Loud enough to be noticed even from afar.
“I’m already struggling because Mother passed away, and now you show up being rude?!”
“Neroli!”
“You came into my quarters even though you knew I wasn’t here? And stayed this late?!”
“Neroli Miban Rornord!”
“You still don’t respect me, do you? I thought maybe you’d changed after all this time, but…”
At that last line, Darien lost his temper and slammed his fist down.
Bang!
A deafening boom rang in my ears.
“You think I disrespected you?! You’ve always been the one looking down on me!”
He shouted with burning eyes.
I cowered and shrank as if terrified, just as I had planned.
“Eek!”
Only then did two knights stationed behind the attendants rush forward—one shielding me and the other blocking Darien.
“Princess, are you alright?!”
“Please calm down, Prince Darien!”
I clicked my tongue inwardly at the sight of them.
They were the emperor’s appointed guards for me—supposedly.
They were proper in manners and neat in appearance, as palace knights should be, but that was all.
Their loyalty to me was shallow, and they were utterly obedient to power—mere decorations.
‘At least they didn’t bother me, so I let them be.’
Now that Darien had returned from a war zone, it was time to use them properly.
Darien, with veins bulging in his neck, roared,
“Who said you could touch her?! Get your hands off Neroli immediately!”
The two flinched hard at his threatening tone.
True to their nature, they were clearly intimidated by Darien.
‘Well, he is the commander of the prestigious First Order of Knights, with the powerful Helta duchy as maternal backing.’
He was also much taller and more muscular than most, exuding intimidation in every way.
‘Whereas my maternal family is on the brink of extinction.’
Perhaps they realized this and subtly began to distance themselves from me.
But they were forgetting one thing.
“Gentlemen…”
I called out to them in a pitiful voice. Their heads turned to me reflexively.
Then, I let a tear fall from my eye as I softly asked,
“Aren’t you my guards… here to protect me?”
No one has ever resisted my tears.
These knights were no exception.
They blushed, inhaled sharply, and stammered.
“Princess…”
“That’s… not it…”
They couldn’t take their eyes off me, gulping hard.
I was used to that gaze.
Darien, restrained by one of the guards, ground his teeth.
“Neroli, you…!”
“What happened today—!”
I cut him off, raising my voice clearly.
“I’ll report everything to His Majesty tomorrow…!”
That snapped the guards out of their trance.
Tension immediately stiffened their bodies.
Yes, the thing they forgot.
My mother had been the emperor’s favorite consort.
‘The emperor’s affection is a form of power entirely separate from the Helta family.’
Outwardly, the emperor adored me quite a bit.
Which meant I had more chances to meet him than my siblings—just like tomorrow.
In other words…
‘With just one word, I could have their heads cut off tomorrow.’
Of course, I hadn’t done that before, playing the part of the sunlit, innocent princess.
But now? I didn’t care.
Everyone in the palace just saw Darien fail to protect me, so I had plenty of justification.
Sniffling, I suddenly lowered my voice and whispered,
“Even now… you’re just going to stand there and watch someone threaten me?”
The sudden change in tone made the knights’ eyes widen.
I stared at them coldly and gave a quiet order.
“What are you waiting for? Throw him out.”
That was when Darien, finally losing all self-restraint, shoved aside the knight blocking him.
Without a word, he reached straight for me.
Startled, the remaining knight quickly moved to stop him.
“Prince!”
“Ghh, please calm down!”
The other knight, who had been thrown to the ground earlier and was now bleeding from his forehead, also tried to restrain him.
As the play neared its end, I buried my face in my hands and lowered my head.
Sob.
My mournful whimper echoed through the corridor.
At that, the attendants watching from afar suddenly surged forward, kneeling in front of Darien.
They clung to his legs and pleaded.
“Prince Darien! Please, stop!”
“It hasn’t been long since the empress passed away! Please consider the princess’s feelings!”
“Your Highness, please!”
The attendants, who cherished and followed me, risked future consequences to desperately plead with him.
Maybe thanks to their self-sacrificing pleas, Darien’s rage began to cool.
He glared at me for a long moment before spitting out his final words and turning away.
“I won’t fall for the same trick twice.”
Like a wildfire, he left my palace in shambles.
Only then did everyone visibly relax. The knights slumped to the floor, and the attendants sighed in relief.
Supported by maids, I slowly stood up.
“Princess, are you alright?”
“We’re so sorry, Your Highness. We should have escorted the prince out sooner.”
“It’s not your fault. I’m okay.”
I mumbled and let out a deep sigh.
My head was spinning, worse than before.
‘I need to rest… quickly.’
Thanks to the medicine from the apothecary, my body wasn’t burning with fever, but I still felt like I could collapse at any moment.
Noticing my poor condition, the maids hurriedly helped me to my room.
Once in the bedroom, I quickly changed and got ready for bed with their help.
“Please rest well, Princess.”
“Thank you, all of you.”
The maids bowed respectfully and left the room—except for one who lingered and hurried over to me.
“Um, Princess. This…”
She held out a small vial filled with yellow liquid.
“What is this?”
“Prince Darien said to give this to you.”
I didn’t take it. I just stared at it in silence.
The maid bowed even lower and added,
“He said it’s just cold medicine.”
“Throw it away.”
“Pardon?”
My voice had turned cold, startling the maid.
I gave her a faint, sad smile.
“I don’t want anything from Darien. Please.”
“Princess Neroli…”
Tears welled in her eyes at my fading voice.
Then, she nodded fervently.
“Understood! I’ll take care of this. Please rest easy!”
The maid quickly packed up the vial and left the room.
Thud.
Only when the door shut completely was I truly alone.
I lay down quietly and thought.
‘Cold medicine, huh.’
Now that I thought about it, Darien hadn’t taken his eyes off me once during the days of the funeral.
Not even yesterday, when it rained.
‘Maybe that’s how he noticed I was unwell.’
Which made it all the more disturbing.
If it were a healing tonic, maybe. But cold medicine—for a royal of Rornord?
This could mean one of two things.
One: He’s mocking me, calling me weak.
The other…
‘He’s testing me.’
My mother believed no one knew the secret of my birth, but that was naive.
In this palace of lies, covering up one person’s truth is an everyday affair.
‘Even I’m doing it.’
And Darien had animal-like instincts.
‘So maybe…’
I buried my face in the pillow.
The medicine I had already taken kicked in all at once, and my eyelids grew heavy.
Just for now, I wanted to sleep without thinking of anything.
