Chapter 3

Chapter 3

After that incident, the princess seemed completely dispirited.

She stopped complaining about food and no longer grumbled about her bed. She didn’t snap at the maids or give rude orders to the knights.

However, her excessive quietness worried Owen even more.

People don’t change suddenly for the better.

He had seen the eyes of those who had given up on life many times on the battlefield.

From that day on, Owen had kept his nerves on edge, meticulously observing the Princess’s every move.

And finally, today, they had safely reached the Grand Duke’s castle.

“She seemed noticeably downcast after she woke from fainting. It appears the shock of losing those who had been by her side since childhood, all at once, was profound.”

“That woman?”

At Lionel’s mocking retort, Owen silently gazed at his liege.

Lionel lightly brushed the tip of his raised eyebrow with a fingertip, then said sarcastically,

“She didn’t seem the type to care for her people.”

Veronica Marguerite Ruadel.

Lionel had known that name for a long time. More precisely, he knew the sordid rumors attached to it.

The Ruadel Royal Palace’s most dazzling jewel.

And also, its most depraved princess.

A woman who hosted lavish banquets every night, unreservedly invited any young noble or knight she fancied to her bedchambers, and depleted the royal coffers buying expensive jewels and dresses.

When he first heard the rumors, Lionel hadn’t thought much of them.

The capital’s social circles were, by nature, accustomed to exaggerating others’ flaws. Someone jealous of a beautiful princess might have spread malicious gossip, or those embroiled in political strife might have intentionally sullied her reputation.

But three months ago.

Lionel had met Princess Veronica once and realized.

The rumors were, in fact, generous.

His first encounter with Princess Veronica was at a banquet arranged by King Ruadel.

Throughout the dinner, the King had looked at Lionel as if he were a juicy, desirable cut of meat.

Outwardly, he spoke of strengthening ties between the Royal Family and the Northern Faction, but his true intentions were obvious.

What King Ruadel wanted was the Monsel Ducal House. More precisely, it was the vast iron ore and coal buried in the northern mountains, and Lionel’s influence to command the northern nobles.

The Ducal House’s vassals unanimously opposed it.

The moment royal blood entered their line, the Monsel Ducal House would have to endure the Royal Family’s blatant surveillance and interference. The King’s influence would extend to the Grand Duke’s marriage, succession, and even the internal affairs of the North.

This political marriage was a contract confirming the Grand Duke’s submission to the Royal Family.

However, Lionel ultimately couldn’t refuse the King’s proposal.

He, too, needed the South.

The barren North had powerful soldiers and strong walls, but it lacked fertile granaries. Every long winter, the wheat and barley imported from the South were nothing short of a lifeline, allowing the North to breathe.

The King held that very lifeline in his grasp.

So, Lionel decided to endure the humiliation.

If he could secure food, he could go through any number of mere political marriages.

He had thought that way until then.

Until he met Veronica Marguerite Ruadel in person.

Sitting beside the King, Princess Veronica, with a haughty expression, simply drank wine, as if she had no interest in the banquet.

Occasionally, she would glance at Lionel as if he were some dirty barbarian.

There wasn’t even the slightest effort to conceal her contempt in that gaze.

Lionel was accustomed to such looks.

To the capital’s nobles, Northerners were always crude and unrefined. They were barbarians who had survived rolling in the snow, knowing neither etiquette nor dignity—nothing more, nothing less.

But Veronica’s eyes were more blatant.

It was the look one might give if a muddy foot were placed on a precious glass table.

Just then, a servant carrying dishes made a minor mistake.

As he set a plate on the table, a little sauce splattered onto the princess’s hand.

The servant instantly turned pale and knelt on the spot.

“I apologize, Your Royal Highness! I have committed a great disrespect!”

Veronica slowly looked down at her hand.

A maid quickly brought a clean cloth and wiped the sauce from her hand. The offending servant simply trembled on his knees.

The princess looked down at him indifferently, then said as if it were nothing.

“Since it’s a useless hand, it would be best to cut it off.”

“Your Royal Highness! Please, have mercy! Your Royal Highness!”

The servant was dragged out by the knights like an animal.

The air at the table froze.

King Ruadel smiled awkwardly, and the other servants avoided eye contact, pretending not to see. No one stopped the princess.

At that moment, Lionel withdrew even the slightest expectation he had held for the woman who would be his wife.

He was the ruler of the vast Northern lands.

He was not so irrational as to reject a marriage proposal purely out of emotion.

The Northern winters were too long, and grain storages could not be filled with pride.

From that day on, Lionel decided to regard Princess Veronica as merely part of a transaction.

But now, that woman had tried to escape in the middle of the night, unable to even fulfill her duty.

She had even foolishly caused the deaths of her nurse and maids.

“Have knights thoroughly guard the princess until the wedding.”

Lionel commanded coldly.

“If the princess escapes from my castle, I might have to wage a bloody war with the King.”

“Understood.”

Owen replied with a firm expression.

Lionel, trying to control his boiling frustration, pulled out a cigarette box from a drawer.

She wanted to apologize for her mistakes.

He’d wondered what she was going to say, dragging things out so unexpectedly, but in the end, it was just an obvious ploy.

A princess would never truly apologize to his knights, not even if she died and came back to life.

Lionel scoffed.

He quickly believed he had seen through Princess Veronica’s reason for trying to appease him.

It must be her way of asking him not to tell the King that she had abandoned her sacred duty and tried to run away.

The King would be furious if he found out.

Since the princess herself had undermined the plan to tie the North with a marriage alliance, the King’s anger would surely not be light.

On top of that, the princess’s reputation in high society would plummet.

No matter how noble her royal blood, dealing with such a scandal would not be easy.

He wasn’t used to the roundabout way royals spoke, but somehow, he felt he could see right through the princess’s mind.

She’s foolish and audacious, too…

Lionel felt intensely annoyed as he put a cigarette to his lips.

Just then, Owen cautiously spoke.

“Your Grace.”

“Speak.”

“After losing her nurse and maids, the princess seemed a little different than before.”

Lionel’s puzzled gaze turned to Owen.

“Different?”

“Yes. I don’t know about other things, but she at least seemed to deeply mourn their deaths.”

“Owen.”

Lionel’s voice lowered.

“You’re tired from searching for her all night, and the princess was merely frightened.”

“…”

“Even beasts can seem docile when cornered.”

He tapped the unlit cigarette with his fingertip.

“A person’s true nature doesn’t change easily.”

Owen did not argue further.

Lionel leaned back in his chair and looked out the window.

A deep darkness had already settled over the Northern sky.