***
****
While Ellea was away at the invitation of Chaylen, the palace workers were also resting in their rooms earlier than usual.
However, there was a person, moving in the quiet corridor with her footsteps killed to the utmost extent.
She was especially alert in the vicinity, making sure that no one else was around, and was going up the stairs. Marie’s face was tense as she appeared under the small light in the hallway. But, unstoppably, she stepped up.
‘This is my chance, now that the Princess is away.’
Marie waited with trembling heart for today, as soon as she heard the fact that Ellea was going to the banquet. And when the palace was quiet, she started to move.
Perhaps because Ellea was away, she was able to arrive in front of her room easier than usual. After carefully examining the surroundings, she went inside before anyone could see her.
Leaning against the door for a moment to catch her breath from the relief of coming in safely, Marie quickly looked around the room.
It was dark because she couldn’t turn on the lights, but she didn’t know when Ellea would be back, so there was no time to delay.
‘I need to hurry.’
Marie opened a drawer of the vanity table once she saw it and checked inside. There were some accessories in there, as this was where Ellea usually dressed up, but other than that, she didn’t find anything suspicious.
Without any time to be disappointed, she went to Ellea’s desk.
‘There might be something in here.’
Mari opened each of the books that were stacked neatly on the desk and looked through them, but didn’t find anything hidden.
If there was anything strange, it was that these were not books that the Princess would read, but basic books that were only for children.
‘Is there anything else besides these?’
Next, turning her gaze to the bottom drawer of the desk, Marie opened it, wiping a cold sweat from nervousness, and found letters that were neatly placed at the bottom.
Her eyes lit up as she began to unfold the torn letter, thinking that there was definitely something in it.
At first, there was nothing special about the letter that was sent from Zevenica, so she looked at the next one, and at that moment, Marie could only be puzzled.
“Huh? What the hell are these letters?”
As she said it, she could not read the letter itself.
Because it was the first time in her life that she had ever seen letters written in such a way that it was impossible for her to read or even decipher them.
Marie hurried to check the next letter, but she still couldn’t read a word of it.
“What the hell does it say?”
For a moment, Marie could not contain her anger and threw the letters she was holding hard on the floor.
“I should have something to report to Lady Shanil, but this is…….’
However, she didn’t want to be found out, so she picked up the letters on the floor and, after arranging it neatly as they were originally, and closed the drawer. She then quickly looked at the drawers on the other side, but it was full of things like books and writing materials.
‘There’s nothing?’
Just as Marie was about to give up and close the drawer, she saw a box hidden behind the books.
‘What’s that?’
Marie was convinced that it was something significant this time as it was hidden so well. Reaching deep into the drawer, Marie finally pulled out the box.
With a nervous heart, she undid the clasp of the box and opened the lid with care. Then, she checked the inside.The anticipation disappeared from Marie’s eyes as she looked.
‘What the hell, it’s empty? What in the world was in there?’
Contrary to her inflated expectations, the box was empty.
***
The intruder confirmed by her voice that Ellea was a woman, and he thought she was an easy target. He was expecting to see her fall, spraying blood from under his sword, but the reality was quite different from what he had imagined.
Because Ellea was still standing straight in front of him.
“The Duke sent you, so I had high hopes, but you’re not very good.” (Ellea)
Ellea looked at the intruder’s sword, which was blocked by her own, and gave a coy smile. She then pushed hard on his sword, and the force of it caused her opponent to fall back helplessly.
It was the dagger that Ellea was holding in her hands. The one that Chaylen had given her.
‘I brought it with me, hidden in my dress, just in case. I never thought I would have to use it like this.’
Her gaze then turned to the person in front of her when she heard his voice.
“Who are you? I don’t think you have the same purpose as me…”
Listening to the voice, it seemed to be a man, but with the darkness in the room, she couldn’t see his face clearly.
“No, so don’t mistake me for an ally. I have business with you today. You, Duke Raymir sent you, didn’t he?”
At Ellea’s mention of Raymir, the intruder looked visibly surprised. It was even clearly visible to her eyes.
“Your body’s language answered it. It’s Duke Raymir who sent you.”
The man couldn’t take it any longer and took up his sword again, angry that she’d ignored his abilities earlier.
“Yes, that’s how it should be.”
Ellea had no reason to avoid him either, so she raised her dagger to firmly subdue him.
The intruder didn’t notice the color of her eyes, which had sunk coldly in the darkness, unlike earlier.
They showed no mercy.
“I’m telling you now, but I have no intention of going easy on you.”
“Do you think I will be frightened if you say it softly? Then you’re mistaken.”
Ellea was bothered by the cumbersome dress, but since it was a limited space, it was not a problem. She was rather enjoying the current situation.
Perhaps he saw the relaxed appearance, the opponent’s sword was fast approaching. However, as Ellea was confident, not even a single strike of the intruder was able to touch her body.
As if she knew what the man was thinking, Ellea blocked the sword precisely with only a brief movement. She even smiled faintly which did not match the current urgent situation.
With swords clashing against swords and only sharp sounds to be heard, Ellea decided to stop dragging the time at the man’s boring abilities than she thought.
”Well then, let’s just end the pranks here, shall we?’
Always defending his sword and showing only defensive moves, Ellea instantly changed her momentum and swung her sword aggressively. The intruder gradually started to retreat backwards due to the stronger force and faster speed than before, and he couldn’t hold out any longer, and with just one blow from Ellea, the sword the man was holding flew far away.
The intruder urgently said when his back was blocked by a side table and there was no longer a place to escape.
“Wait! Please listen to me.”
Ellea said, pointing her dagger at the man’s neck.
“What?”
“I’m only here at the request. I’m going to get out of here nicely, and I only want my life…”
“I believe you saw something in there.”
‘’I was just about to look for it when you came and I didn’t see anything. It’s true.”
At his desperate pleading, Ellea lowered her dagger that was aimed at his neck.
At that moment, the man grabbed a vase on the table and swung it at her. And the sound of the vase breaking in the darkness rang in the room.
****
Returning to the banquet hall after her conversation with her father, Shanil was looking for Terban and found the three ladies approaching her.
“Lady Shanil……ummm…..”
At their hesitation, Shanil couldn’t help but wonder what was going on.
“What’s wrong with everyone?”
“That’s………..”
After Terban was so angry and left, the three ladies were worried about the aftermath and just moved their heavy feet.
After much deliberation, they decided to ask Shanil for help in resolving this matter.
But they were so busy talking about their frustrations that they didn’t notice that Shanil’s expression had stiffened, unlike before.
“So it seems that His Majesty has misunderstood something.”
“What should I do about this?”
Shanil was very angry inside at the actions of the ladies who made mistakes without knowing any better. Because now, Terban might misunderstand her.
“You talked like that in the presence of so many people.”
“It was for Lady Shanil, but it seems that His Majesty has misunderstood.”
Shanil could clearly see that they said it was for her, but in reality, they just wanted to belittle Ellea. After barely suppressing her anger, she gave them a disappointed look.
“I’m sure you’re horrified. But you know it’s your fault, right? As Terban said, she is the Princess of Zevenica.”
“Yes.”
“I understand this, and I also understand that the ladies are worried about me. Still, it doesn’t change the fact that you made a mistake.”
Shanil soothed the ladies for the moment and decided to hurry to look for Terban.
‘It’s because of these fools that I have to work.’
Leaving the ladies who had ruined her work behind, Shanil walked away with a displeased and cold expression on her face.
***
‘I guess there’s no reason to tolerate you anymore.’
Ellea was still standing in front of the man with an unconcerned expression despite the broken vase. The moment the man threw the vase, Ellea lowered her body and easily dodged the attack. In the end, the vase hit the wall and shattered. Fortunately, she covered her head with her arms so there was no injury.
‘This is how you do surprise attacks.’
Ellea had already noticed that the man was moving his hands behind his back while he focused his gaze on the sword.
“Please………..”
Despite the man’s pleas, she grabbed him by the chest and drove him back against the wall, pointing her dagger at his neck.
With a little force from Ellea, the blade sank into his flesh and he bled a little.
“Wait a minute, please!”
Tell me if you don’t want to die right here and now! What are you doing here?”
The man struggled to breathe, but Ellea only gave more power to the dagger aimed at his neck. The man hurried to confess, feeling like he was really going to die at this rate.
“They told me to find out everything about Duke Chaylen. Anything that might be a weakness or something he’s hiding. That’s really all there is to it. They said I was going to get paid for it.”
The man didn’t seem to be lying, so Ellea lowered her dagger.
“So I guess that means you’ll let me live……….”
“Well, I don’t know, but I don’t think the master here has a different opinion.”
“What?”
With those last words, Ellea struck the man hard on the neck with the handle of her dagger. The man fainted and fell straight to the floor.
For now, she decided to tie him up tightly so that he would not be able to move when he woke up.
‘I’m in an urgent situation right now, so I’ll borrow it for a moment, Chaylen.’
Ellea went into the dressing room, apologizing to Chaylen, who was not here at the moment, and grabbed some ties.
Then, after tying the man’s hands and feet to the bed, she made sure to cover his mouth.
“Is this enough?”
She was going to leave the rest for Chaylen to handle.
‘Obviously, he said he received the commission from his own mouth, so there’s nothing else I can find out.’
Ellea looked at the unconscious man, took her dagger, and then left the ruined Chaylen’s room without a second thought.