| 1. Hello, Prince

<The Lady of Beaucater’s Business Philosophy: When selling, let them use it first. Purchases will follow.>

<President Beaucater in Today’s World: Money can solve anything! If you need quick cash, go to 21st Avenue in the Royal Palace…>

<Beaucater’s Young Miss has been persistently courting her ‘Prince’ anonymously, but who is this honored ‘Prince’?>

The Red Rose of Secradion, Daphne Beaucater. A name that frequently appears in the kingdom’s newspapers, with never a dull moment.

‘It’s me.’

<Beaucater’s Young Miss starts support project for single mothers and widows… A true bourgeois!>

<The Kingdom’s Rose Lady Beaucater, slum redevelopment and job creation… She’s truly the incarnation of St. Decael!>

Daphne was rich. Her mother was the owner of almost all civilized establishments in the Secradion Kingdom, and her father was the president of the Russell Bank who managed all the money across three continents. Born with a silver spoon, inheriting a thousand-pyeong¹A bound noun that serves as a unit for measuring an area of land; 1 pyeong is equal to 35.58 sqft gold mine cave, money was literally rotting away.

Her father would joke that if his daughter wanted, he’d buy this kingdom for her. Even if this irreverent joke was made in front of the king, Beaucater would never have their tongue cut off.

‘Those who always win are cheerful in everything, and those who always lose take everything seriously.’

On the unpaved road, there were bloodstains left by rebels here and there, and yellow dust wind blew—whiing whoo. Dust also clung to the hem of Daphne’s green dress. Below the gallows, palace people swarmed like idol fans lined up at the merch booth.

On the opposite platform, the noble royals sat in their extravagant white suits. It was a mockery pretending to mourn the death of the ‘abandoned prince’. Screams insulting and tearing apart the rebels pierced their ears. Daphne blocked her ear holes with her ring finger.

“Execute!”

As the aide lowered his hand as if drawing a line, 3 seconds later, the executioner pushed the long lever. With a creak and thud, the crows gathered under the platform flew up, fluttering.

Daphne stopped for a moment and looked at the oak gallows. Soon she took out a handkerchief from her handbag and gently patted under her dry eyes as if expressing condolences.

Just then, the next ‘prince’ in line climbed onto the platform. Daphne quickly moved her legs.

“Your Majesty!”

“Oh, Daphne!”

The king recognized Daphne and waved his hand personally. Daphne quickly climbed up the stairs. After lowering her hat to her chest, she slightly grabbed her dress hem and bent her legs to pay respects.

“I greet Your Majesty.”

“It would have been better to stay in the salon today. It’s not a good sight for my niece to see, is it?”

He clicked his tongue as he glanced over the rebels covered in blankets. Daphne also looked back to where the king was looking. The executioner tapped the back of the former prince with a long gun barrel. He frowned for a moment, then slowly closed his eyes and put his head between the thick ropes.

‘I’m glad I arrived in time.’

Her fingertips tingled with tension. Daphne quickly looked back at her uncle. She was confident in pretending to be calm.

“Your Majesty, I, Daphne Beaucater, have hurried here with a request for Your Majesty.”

“What might that be?”

The King of Secradion trembles at the mention of Beaucater. What is power? It’s money. And he was especially weak to Daphne’s words. Perhaps it’s because of her face that increasingly resembles the late Queen as she grew up.

“The national debt borrowed from the south, Marquis Beaucater had helped with the repayment, right? Ah, there were also some private loans that Your Majesty drew for gambling. Was it half of my mine that you borrowed?”

The king’s expression immediately hardened. The eyes of the guard knights and the king’s cronies that were around all turned into rabbit eyes, staring at the red-haired girl.

“Your Majesty, not considering the fact that Lady Beaucater is the niece of the late Queen, isn’t this overstepping–no, treason?”

At their restraint, Daphne just smiled brightly. It was exactly like her aunt’s smile in the large portrait hanging in the king’s bedroom.

“Your Majesty, listen. I persuaded my father! I came to tell you that we’ll consider those private loans as if they never existed!”

After chewing on Daphne’s words for a moment, the king’s face suddenly brightened. His unshaven black beard looked prickly. If she had a razor blade, she would have shaved it right away, Daphne inwardly regretted.

“Without conditions?”

“Oh my, of course not.”

“How insolent. To dare in front of His Majesty, the supreme ruler of Secradion…!”

The king raised his hand to stop them, as if telling them to be quiet. Then he put on a benevolent expression towards Daphne, as though he was willing to listen to anything. The so-called cooing.

“Well, what is it, Daphne? Tell me.”

This is the limited informal speech allowed only to Daphne in this kingdom. She sensed that she had gained the upper hand.

“That.”

She stretched her arm behind her and pointed at the top of the gallows.

“Give him to me.”

“Do you mean the executioner?”

Glancing sideways, Daphne’s fingertip was pointing elsewhere. She almost asked for the bald man with the strangely shaped mustache. Daphne, still smiling faintly, slowly moved the position of her finger upwards to point at the right place. At him, who was staring this way without frowning even under the blazing sun.

“Beaucater, surely not.”

“Give me Celestian Teriosa.”

The palace people wouldn’t have heard Daphne’s voice.

“Sell that traitor to me.”

When she spoke with force in her voice, the ministers near the king turned pale. They each rolled their index fingers next to their temples, saying Daphne was really crazy.

“Is that one’s life worth so little.”

It’s a rather sad voice. Daphne smiled back. And pretending to bow, she whispered softly.

“Don’t change your words, Uncle. You already owe me a lot, don’t you?”

The king laughed cheerfully and waved his hand to call the aide. Daphne took a step back and looked around the execution ground where dust was swirling among the crowded people.

‘How much tax does our family pay, this national debt is clearly a bottomless pit.’

Daphne knew it was all because the king embezzled and spent lavishly on luxuries. At that moment, the man who had been listening to all of the king’s words raised his trembling voice like a sheep.

“The execution of the traitor Teriosa is postponed to a later date!”

“Thank you for granting my request.”

Daphne brought all the elegance in the world, raised one hand to her chest, and bent her legs to show respect.

“Your Majesty, what is the meaning of this?!”

“Your Majesty, you must cut off the impure blood!”

The royal people raised their voices, but at one gesture from the king, their mouths closed.

“Our Daphne will take care of it, won’t she?”

The king, who had spoken one word in a pretentiously solemn voice, rose from his seat. The aides and royal people shook their heads as if this whole situation was absurd and ridiculous. And soon they packed up and disappeared.

Only the people gathered in the square continued to shout. Not having expected this commotion, Daphne had prepared goodbye kits for those who came to see the Hang the Prince concert. Daphne, who brought both hands to the side of her mouth to make a funnel, started the announcement cheerfully.

“Everyone! The way out is that way, take one gold coin each as you go!”

The noisy scene emptied in an instant at the mention of money, and it became quiet and deserted. The royal people also packed up and disappeared. Daphne leisurely put her hands behind her back and climbed up onto the gallows. The executioner handed her the key to the shackles with a displeased expression before exiting.

Daphne looked up at the face of the rebel, who was standing straight despite being filthy. She felt so elated that her lungs seemed to swell. She waved her right hand slightly with a confident smile.

“Hello, Prince.”

The pale green eyes looking down at her shone blue, oblivious.

“What makes you think you can dismiss people.”

His voice was all cracked.

“You look like you’d break if someone just tapped you….”

His gaze had been lowered, it was about Daphne’s neck. Celestian erased his expression and stretched out his arm. Daphne, without panicking, took two big steps back. Then she tapped the long lever with the toe of her shoe. He was hanging by a rough rope that was perfectly fitted around his neck.

“Ah.”

Those peridot-like eyes rolled around the whites once and returned to their place. Again his eyes didn’t smile, only the corners of his mouth rose.

“Don’t you have a gun, my lady?”

“What?”

“If possible, I’d like to die quickly and painlessly in one shot.”

Celestian murmured coquettishly, lowering the ends of his eyebrows. Daphne blinked her golden eyes. After all the trouble she went through to to save him, what nonsense is this?

“Besides, dying hanging from a rope is unsightly, isn’t it, miss?”

He bent his knees to hang completely from the rope, then stood up smiling brightly as a bonus. Daphne was stunned for a moment before coming to her senses. Ah, right, this was a crazy bastard. She had momentarily forgotten because of his beauty that shone even though he was filthy.

“If you want to die, bite your tongue and die. You’re not even gagged, right? I won’t stop you. Prince, remember that even if you die, your corpse is mine.”

Daphne said it with precise pronunciation, but fortunately, Celestian didn’t seem to have any intention of doing so. He just looked down at Daphne as if she were a snake performing tricks with flowers in a circus.

So Daphne was a little anxious. She needed to take the upper hand, but he looked relaxed even in this dog-like state. She pretended to check the time by taking out a diamond pocket watch and closing one eye.

“It’s already this late. Sorry, I promised to help choose Psyche’s wedding dress in a little while.”

She emphasized the name ‘Psyche’. The expression disappeared from the beautiful face that had been grinning. Daphne was so delighted she wanted to dance the vertex dance.

“Instead, my friends will take you home. Cele, don’t run away and stay still, okay?”

“Cele.”

He savored the nickname that only Daphne had called him in this kingdom.

“Is that the nickname you call me?”

Gratitude welled up, but Daphne suppressed it well.

“Wait quietly and behave.”

“And what will you do for me then?”

I saved your life. Daphne almost answered like that immediately, but once was enough for showing off. She ignored it and fanned herself. Daphne’s bodyguards, who appeared belatedly, bound Celestian and cut the rope with a knife.

“Well, I’ll bring you an indirect kiss from Psyche. If you wait well, Cele.”

“It’s the first time you’ve called me that…”

“Then what should I call you? Loser bastard?”

When Daphne sneered, Celestian raised his eyebrows in surprise. Then soon he smiled softly and took a step closer to Daphne. The height difference was very satisfactory, enough to say hello? to an enormous chest if she didn’t raise her eyes.

However, the subtle pressure from that difference made the end of the noble lady’s mood a bit unpleasant. So Daphne stepped back first. The red abrasion on his neck looked quite serious.

“Get treated well and behave quietly and obediently.”

Pretending to be as relaxed as possible, she blew a kiss and turned around. Puhh, the man’s laughter stabbed into the back of her head. Daphne got into the waiting car without looking back. Then she grabbed the ends of her silk gloves and pulled them off. After comfortably leaning back on the backrest, she muttered like a sigh.

“Wow, crazy bastard.”

This is not a curse about his craziness.

“He’s f*cking handsome. I must be crazy. I must be insane. I must be crazy. F*ck, I must be crazy.”

The brilliant face still flickering before her eyes was the subject of a 100 percent pure exclamation. A handsome man who touched her heartstrings, even with his nitpicking despite having just escaped death and being unable to distinguish right from wrong. He had finally fallen into Daphne’s palm. And in front of everyone’s eyes, no less!