Chapter 8

[Hey! Are you shocked?]

The only thing gained from becoming a Stone Killer was the crazy voice echoing in her head. Young Jenna wanted to crawl into a cave somewhere and cry her heart out instead of responding to the Stone Killer’s voice. Naturally, her steps slowed.

“Lady Jenna.”

She didn’t want to respond to any voice. Jenna kept her head down and continued forward until she bumped into a solid wall. 

“Ouch. Your Highness… I greet His Highness Adrian Henrique.”

She couldn’t dare raise her head. The wall she hit was Adrian Henrique. Graham’s closest friend and Jenna’s earnest love. He stood quietly with his attendants and a middle-aged man who seemed to be his tutor, looking down at Jenna.

With his dark blond hair, fair skin, and clear emerald eyes, how could anyone not love this handsome young man? 

“Hello, Lady Jenna. What were you thinking about that you didn’t see where you were going? Hmm? You look like you’re about to cry. I heard there was a Fleur banquet today because of the Lion’s Rite. Did something happen there?” 

Adrian was only two years older than Jenna, but he was taller than most adults and his thoughts were about ten times deeper than his friend, Jenna’s brother Graham. 

Ah… Adrian. 

Jenna had loved Adrian since the chicken coop incident when she was seven. Jenna, Graham, and Adrian were playing hide-and-seek seriously in the Herbon estate, Posys, when an overly excited Graham found Jenna hiding in the chicken coop and locked the door before running off. 

Though she was hidden, the little girl couldn’t move, and an excited rooster flew up to peck her plump bottom. Jenna, realizing for the first time that a flapping chicken could look like an eagle, couldn’t escape and sat on the chicken coop floor, full of chicken droppings, bursting into tears. 

Adrian appeared from somewhere and comforted her. 

“Jenna, Lady Jenna, don’t cry. I’m here now, so you’re safe. Shh… don’t cry.” 

Even though he was only nine, Adrian calmly opened the heavy chicken coop door like an adult. Then, aware of the excited chicken, he carefully took Jenna’s arm and pulled her behind him. Slowly… the two managed to escape the rooster’s grasp. 

As soon as they got out, he gently kissed Jenna’s plump cheek. 

Would he remember that? 

While recalling the fond memory, Adrian approached Jenna and asked. 

“If you’re okay, would you like to go see the flowers in the summer garden?” 

With handsome Adrian looking at her intently, she almost blurted out, “Kiss me!” 

“Ah… no. I have to return to Red Hall as soon as Father comes out of the office, Your Highness.”

Ask me just one more time. Just once more! 

“Hmm, I see. Jenna, please tell Graham I won’t go easy on him in the next chess game. Then…” 

“Yes… yes, Your Highness.” 

As Jenna quickly bowed slightly, Adrian walked away toward the beautiful garden. 

[You like him, don’t you?] 

Ugh, get a clue, Stone Killer, you idiot!

It was a warm, sunny day, five years after Olivia had passed on the Stone Killer to her daughter Jenna. Morgan Herbon sat in his office, which offered a clear view of the summer garden, sipping tea and lost in thought. 

The political landscape of the continental war, which had persisted for centuries and become routine, was rapidly changing these days. 

Because of the Lion Stone possessed by Ingénes. 

Due to its firm military superiority, none of the other three countries had ever dared to challenge Ingénes to possess the sacred relic, only revering it. 

However, lately, the signs from Lucus, which possessed the Red Eye Stone, were ominous. News of skirmishes between border patrols at the White Bloom Mountains, the border with Lucus, was heard almost daily. 

Is the young king of Lucus finally revealing his hidden fangs? 

Morgan Herbon’s worries deepened. 

His greatest concern was the future of his nineteen-year-old twin children. Until now, he had protected them well, but he couldn’t keep them under his wing forever now that they were adults. 

Knock, knock. After a light knock, the attendant standing at the door checked outside and approached Morgan. 

“His Highness the Crown Prince requests an audience.” 

Theodore Henrique. The son of the current Emperor Joseph Henrique, who possesses the Lion Stone, and a man doomed never to become Emperor due to his father’s immortal body. He was also Morgan Herbon’s closest friend. 

“Hmm. Please show him in.” 

Morgan relaxed his previously tense expression and walked to the door to greet his friend, personally leading Theo to a chair. 

“Hey there, Morgan Herbon. You’ve been absent from the seasonal parties lately. Is statecraft keeping you that busy?” 

Despite being over forty, Crown Prince Theo was tall and handsome, and he treated Morgan casually outside official settings. 

“No, Your Highness. It’s just that my daughter, Jenna Fleur, has been busy every night since her debutante, and I’ve been occupied escorting her. Meeting with you is always a delightful pastime.” 

“Haha. You’re still as smooth-talking as ever. By the way, Lady Jenna is already nineteen, isn’t she? Yes, she’s of that age now. I suppose marriage proposals are pouring in?” 

It was true that marriage proposals had flooded in for his daughter Jenna after her debutante ball. However, they were interested in her lineage, family, and estate, not genuinely wanting Jenna or loving her. 

“She doesn’t seem to have a family in mind yet. Haha.” 

Jenna had politely refused all proposals and even detested attending the balls during the debut season. Indeed, even Morgan thought Jenna was more suited to reading dusty books in the White Garden library than dancing at glamorous parties. 

“Hmm. I see.” 

In fact, Morgan Herbon had suspected what Theo would bring up when he visited the office. 

“Then, how about my son Adrian?” 

“……” 

When there was no immediate response, Theodore Henrique let out a bitter smile. 

“Ah, I know. What benefit would a Crown Prince, who can never be Emperor, bring to you or Lady Jenna if betrothed?” 

“How could you say such a thing… My daughter is not fit to be a Princess. So…” 

Morgan Herbon disliked the idea of his daughter being swept away by the tides of power, so he couldn’t grasp Theo’s hand despite understanding the situation. 

“Come on, Lord Herbon. Aren’t we friends? We’ve shared many years together. Is there anything left unsaid? My father, the Emperor, sees me as a thorn in his side. He obtained immortality and has grown increasingly severe. Before power, even a child is just a rival. I’ve been ordered to deploy to White Bloom.” 

White Bloom is currently the fiercest battlefield. Sending the Crown Prince there was akin to saying he shouldn’t return alive. 

“…Your Highness, I could speak to the Emperor…” 

“No, it’s fine. My father currently only listens to Lady Evelyn. Naturally, since she brought him immortality. Her blade is aimed at me this time, but perhaps next it will be Adrian. I’m fine. But Adrian… Morgan, please watch over Adrian.”

Morgan Herbon looked at his friend’s face, which he might not see again for a long time once he went to the battlefield, with a sense of unease. 

* * *

Since Earl Herbon had mentioned the betrothal between Jenna and Adrian, Graham had practically moved into Jenna’s room. He kept watching her and kept talking non-stop about how to make his friend and sister’s marriage happen.

“Jenna, Adrian is a prince anyway. If you marry Adrian, you’ll become a Princess. A member of the Imperial Family, a Stone Killer, the daughter of the Chancellor… how wonderful is that? Hmm?” 

Yeah, wonderful. 

“I don’t want to become part of the Imperial Family. It’s more suffocating than you think. Graham, don’t you have much to do today? Why are you causing a fuss as soon as you change in the morning? If you want to get married so much, you should go first.” 

Graham, who had the same molasses-colored hair as Jenna but brighter and smoother skin and a beautiful smile, was loved by the ladies of society despite being quite the prankster. Perhaps his playful nature made him more attractive. 

“Jenna, why won’t you accept the marriage with Adrian? Why?” 

Adrian, unfortunately, hadn’t proposed. 

Jenna hoped, even if she was less attractive compared to Adrian, even if this engagement was merely a political marriage between the Chancellor’s daughter and a prince, that he would at least propose to her while looking into her eyes. 

But she couldn’t share such thoughts with Graham, Adrian’s closest friend. So she kept her mouth shut, but her clueless younger brother kept pestering her as if he was the one proposing. 

“Graham, no matter how unattractive a lady I am, generally speaking, a woman…” 

She tried to speak indirectly, but the words wouldn’t come out. 

Her dark molasses-colored hair took on a strange greenish tint in the light, and with her short stature, overall plump figure, and freckles scattered across her nose, Jenna herself thought that unless it was a political marriage, a perfect handsome man like Adrian Henrique wouldn’t propose to her.