Unlike the firm handwriting, each word and sentence in the letter was heartbreakingly desperate, choking her up.

Her brother Leopold was currently wandering from country to country. Unable to settle in one place, Adeline couldn’t even properly track where he was at present.

Leopold had become a drifter because of their uncle William. He’d been falsely accused of colluding with the crown princess’s home country and leaking royal secrets out of nowhere. The punishment he received for that was exile.

For him, who had been crown prince, it was an indelible humiliation and an irreversible punishment.

However, why Leopold had complied relatively meekly despite the obvious false charges had always remained a mystery to Adeline.

But the reason was in this letter.

The crown princess had been in early pregnancy at the time.

The letter said he had no choice because if William found out, he would never leave the child in her womb alone, viewing it as a source of trouble.

So… so… that’s why he left without a word…

He wanted to protect the child even if it meant abandoning his guaranteed throne and honor.

Her breathing grew shallower.

But in the end, he couldn’t protect that first child in the womb.

Leopold’s anguish could be felt throughout the letter.

“…Hngh.”

They had laid a trap and waited for Leopold. They’d cornered him to a place he could never escape from, making him give up everything himself.

“Mrs. Neumann.”

Her voice cracked as it came from her tight throat.

“I must have been… such an unreliable daughter to Mother…”

Adeline laughed as she rubbed her lips with the back of her hand.

“I didn’t hear a single word about Brother… truly not even one word… Mother always said I didn’t need to know deeply, just to do as I was told. So I felt frustrated. I really couldn’t understand… But I guess it was because she couldn’t rely on me even if she told me…”

That was the moment she finished speaking.

Suddenly her vision turned red.

More precisely, it seemed to turn red. The study lost its original color and turned completely crimson.

“Huk…”

The same chest pain from the wedding struck her.

Her throat constricted and Adeline gripped the armrest of the chair. With enough force in her fingers to show bone.

“Princess?”

Mrs. Neumann’s voice grew distant. Like it was coming from beyond a wall, like it was coming from underwater. Then suddenly she heard drumming. Boom boom boom. It felt like someone was beating a drum crazily right next to her ear.

“I, I know nothing. Your Excellency, please have mercy…”

“Kyaaaah!”

Blood spread across the floor. Bright red blood.

‘What, what memory is this?’

Adeline became confused. The hazy memory was clearly from when Adeline’s father, who had been King of Krauben, was still alive.

Because the images of the king’s physician and maids at the time flashed by.

Adeline had believed all this time that they’d embezzled the king’s wealth and fled. But.

‘…No, that wasn’t it.’

Adeline’s body, which had been gripping the armrest, slid down. Adeline, who’d collapsed on the floor, grabbed the chair leg.

“Ugh.”

“Princess! Princess, are you alright?”

Mrs. Neumann, who’d been shaking Adeline’s shoulders as she leaned against the chair cushion, ran toward the study door.

“Anton!”

Mrs. Neumann called for Anton until her voice was hoarse. But in Adeline’s gasping mind, only the same sentence repeated.

I saw it.

I… saw it. Uncle…

They hadn’t committed crimes and fled. Uncle, Uncle had killed them with his own hands.

As the bolt on the terrible memory unlocked, Adeline’s eyes shook.

Her uncle William still wouldn’t know. That when he’d barbarically stormed into the king’s chambers and dealt with the king’s physician and the related maid, young Adeline had been hiding behind the wardrobe.

That’s right, I saw it. I saw… I saw it but…

Why had she forgotten this all this time? Tears streamed down from shocked Adeline’s eyes.

* * *

When Adeline barely collected herself, Mrs. Neumann was holding a wet towel. Water droplets from the wet towel fell onto her cheeks.

“Princess, are you feeling a bit better…?”

Adeline tried to straighten her back but her body wouldn’t obey.

“…Yes.”

Her voice came out broken.

“What is all this? I thought my heart would fall out. If something happens to you too, Princess, how will I face Her Majesty in the afterlife?”

Why had her mother never told her the truth even once all this time?

Why had she been so harsh?

Why had she always pushed her away with a face that said she didn’t need to know?

Now her long-held questions were finally somewhat answered.

The reason her mother had been cold wasn’t because she lacked affection. 

She’d been trying to protect her daughter in her own way, afraid that the young daughter who’d lost her mind after witnessing a horrific scene would have another seizure. 

Not knowing that protection became a blade cutting her young daughter.

Adeline, who’d been staring blankly at the ceiling, pressed both eyes with her palms. But no matter how much she pressed, again and again, the tears wouldn’t stop.

Love had reached her too late.

Too cruelly, only when things had reached this irreversible point.

* * *

Varsen’s mornings had been particularly noisy these past few days.

Even before the bells rang, the rustling of paper spread through the square first. Piles of newspapers fresh from the printing press were scattered at every street corner.

However, most of them weren’t official newspapers. They were cheap tabloids on rough paper reeking heavily of ink.

People looked at the pictures before reading the titles.

In the middle of the square, on paper spread near the fountain, a large satirical illustration was printed.

It depicted the King of Krauben sitting at the head seat. But it was hardly a dignified appearance. The crown sat crooked on his head, unable to properly rest there, his hands hung limply like a puppet suspended in air, and his eyes were completely empty.

Behind him, a man wearing black gloves held strings connected to the king’s body. Though he wore a mask, anyone interested in how the country was running these days could recognize the face.

Kailen Belliche.

He was pulling the strings connected to the king’s body while laughing maniacally.

“Look at that sight.”

“This isn’t a king, it’s a complete puppet.”

“Is it okay to draw it so blatantly like this?”

People spoke in low whispers, but when those words gathered into murmuring, the square quickly became noisy.

Meanwhile, among the crowd were also those holding different black papers that had spread the day before. They too featured ridiculous satirical illustrations.

A beautiful woman wearing a crown filled the frame, and under her voluminous spread skirt crouched a dog. Around the dog’s neck was a jeweled golden collar, and human eyes were cleverly drawn onto its face.

The woman wearing a crown.

A woman who resembled Adeline.

She was looking down at the dog with her head bowed, smiling. That smile was excessively seductive.

One of those gathered in front of a street stall looking at the newspaper clicked their tongue.

“Representative of commoners? What representative of commoners? With that much money, what commoner is he?”

“They say he’s wrapped up in his wife’s skirts and can’t come to his senses.”

Someone chimed in.

“Really? I guess the princess’s crotch must be something special?”

The talk grew rougher. The tabloids passed from hand to hand. Whether the content of the black papers was true or not didn’t matter at all to people. The image was already solidifying in their minds.

It was when the square was at its noisiest.

From across the square, where government offices were clustered, came a short, dull sound.

Did a passing carriage lose a wheel? At first only a few people noticed and turned around, but when the sound continued several times, most turned their heads toward its source.

Soon an explosion like air being torn rang out.

Bang!

Flames and smoke shot up simultaneously. One outer wall of a government building burst open, and debris poured toward the square. People’s screams followed belatedly.

“A, a bomb!”

“What?”

“A bomb! Run!”

The square instantly became chaotic. Stalls toppled over, and people scattered, pushing each other. The tabloids spread on the ground were trampled and torn, scattering into the air.

Someone shouted from within the smoke.

“We can’t let our sons’ blood be shed in vain!”

“The incompetent king should abdicate!”

“The royal family should step down! Cancel the troop deployment!”

The king, who had maintained silence all this time, had recently announced he would deploy troops to an allied country in the midst of war. That seemed to have drawn great resentment. 

Public opinion boiled over that precious young people couldn’t be sacrificed.

Varsen’s morning, which could have been peaceful, became chaotic with rumors, the smell of ink, and explosions.