Chapter 101: Everything Went Wrong

That night.

“Who died?”

Princess Jenesha glared at the knight standing before her. As if he were the one who caused this.

“Princess Jasmin has passed away.”

“Ha.”

However, when the knight repeated the same words, Princess Jenesha couldn’t ask her next question.

‘Things went wrong.’

According to Latte’s plan, Princess Jasmin should have killed Bliss. No, that’s how they should have made it appear. The original plan was for Latte to use Princess Jasmin’s collections to dispose of Bliss while taking down both of them at once.

If that happened, Latte could have claimed Marquis Adrian who lost his wife, and she herself could have taken Karhen from Princess Jasmin.

That would only have been possible if Bliss had died. If it was just a noblewoman’s death, things would have ended at that level, but this was a royal. A royal had died.

Princess Jenesha drummed on the table and brushed away the hair tickling her face. Still feeling the itch, she scratched her cheeks and neck with her nails. Though she would never do this normally, right now she barely noticed anything else due to her anxiety. While roughly touching her face, Princess Jenesha spoke to the knight.

“Tell me the details.”

“A servant passing by Princess Jasmin’s room heard a strange sound and went to find the guard on duty. Then the guard had a maid enter the room first, and they discovered Her Highness collapsed. There are signs of being stabbed by something sharp, and they’re investigating what it was now.”

“…The culprit?”

“We haven’t caught them yet.”

Princess Jenesha threw her aimless gaze somewhere random while processing the knight’s words.

‘So no one witnessed the crime.’

They only saw Princess Jasmin after she had collapsed.

“What about her maid? She always has a maid by her side.”

“We’re looking for her.”

“Looking for her?”

Princess Jenesha asked as if finding it strange. The knight nodded.

“By His Majesty’s order, all gates to the palace have been closed. He ordered us to find out what everyone was doing and who they were with at the time of the incident.”

So the reason the knight had come was to carry out the Emperor’s orders to see if Princess Jenesha might be the culprit.

“So you’re saying you suspect everyone in this palace? Even me?”

“I apologize. He ordered us not to skip even a single person.”

Princess Jenesha expressed her exasperation with a forced laugh. Though the smile didn’t come out pretty at all, what did it matter?

She could tell how great the Emperor’s rage was, having favored Princess Jasmin so much. If they were investigating even herself, a princess, would the Empress be any different?

Princess Jenesha found herself pathetic for feeling jealous that Princess Jasmin was receiving the Emperor’s favor even in this situation.

“What was Your Highness doing three hours ago?”

“I was in this room. I couldn’t sleep so I was drinking tea, and my maid can confirm it.”

Princess Jenesha turned her head. Since she had indeed been here, there was no need to mince words.

“I understand. Please rest.”

Seeing the knight withdraw so readily, Princess Jenesha clicked her tongue. He wasn’t taking her word for it but would verify with her maid.

“What exactly is going on?”

Left alone, Princess Jenesha spoke irritably. Though she knew who had caused this, she couldn’t ask how it had happened. She wanted nothing more than to drag Latte before her and demand answers right now.

“What was she thinking with Jasmin… or did things go wrong?”

Princess Jenesha’s words trailed off strangely, reflecting the inexplicable turn of events.

***

“Huff, huff.”

Latte was running hurriedly down the corridor when she saw a knight walking from the opposite direction and quickly crouched to hide behind a flower bed.

When the knight’s footsteps grew louder, her heart seemed to pound in sync and felt like it would jump out of her mouth. Latte covered her mouth as if to keep her heart from escaping and held her breath until the knight’s footsteps gradually grew fainter.

Once the knight’s presence was far enough away to no longer be felt, Latte gasped for the breath she’d been holding.

“Haah, huff, cough!”

Perhaps because she couldn’t breathe properly, Latte coughed and thumped her tight chest with her fist.

Then, catching sight of her hand, Latte startled. Her hand was covered in blood.

“Princess Jasmin…”

It was the princess’s blood. Though Latte rubbed her hands hard against her skirt, her usually pristine white hands remained stained red. As if marked with an indelible brand…

“How did things turn out like this?”

Her plan definitely wasn’t supposed to go this way. She had gotten Princess Jenesha’s help to sneak into the palace. While trying to steal the princess’s collection to go find Bliss, she unexpectedly ran into Princess Jasmin.

[What are you doing here?]

Faced with Princess Jasmin’s suspicious gaze, Latte hid what she was holding behind her back and lied.

[I came to deliver a message from Princess Jenesha.]

[From Jenesha?]

Though suspicious, the princess nodded as if accepting it for now. Then, as if another doubt occurred to her, she tilted her head.

[But why? You’re not even Jenesha’s maid.]

[One doesn’t have to be a maid to deliver a message.]

She just needed to get away from Princess Jasmin somehow. Only then could she go find Bliss…

[Princess Jenesha invites Your Highness to an upcoming gathering.]

She muttered whatever came to mind. Though she would need to add why it had to be delivered secretly at this hour to convince Princess Jasmin, the initial approach didn’t seem bad.

But that was Latte’s misconception.

[I won’t ask why such a message needs to be delivered at night, and through you of all people. There must be a reason.]

Princess Jasmin acted as if she would bring up and accept the matter herself. So Latte thought things would work out more easily than expected.

[But she wouldn’t have ordered you to steal my belongings.]

At her muttered words, Latte’s body froze. Though she should have acted natural, she had already revealed her agitated emotions. That must be why Princess Jasmin’s eyes showed amusement as she smiled.

[I don’t know what you’re planning to do, but this is quite a good opportunity. The moon is high, perfect for stealing my collections, and Bliss is in the palace, perfect for killing…]

At Princess Jasmin’s mocking words tinged with laughter, Latte’s hand twitched.

She should have said she didn’t know what the princess was talking about. She needed to show that she wasn’t going to do anything wrong, but the words wouldn’t come out. Perhaps it was because of Princess Jasmin’s gaze.

That calm gaze that seemed to know exactly what she had stolen and what purpose she intended to use it for.

This wasn’t right – everything was about to go wrong because of Princess Jasmin.

[Why don’t you put back what you stole first?]

Princess Jasmin held out her hand. Latte felt cornered with nowhere left to run.

Latte gripped tightly what she had hidden behind her back. She had chosen it because it was sharp enough to stab and was an unusual item. But when faced with having it taken away, Latte stepped back.

[Your Highness.]

[I don’t know who you’re planning to kill with that, but it would put me in an awkward position…]

Princess Jasmin closed the distance Latte had created.

[If you won’t hand it over willingly, I’ll have to call someone.]

And just as Princess Jasmin was about to call out loudly for someone, Latte lunged into her arms.

She stabbed Princess Jasmin’s body with what she was holding, then fled after watching her collapse.

Having caused this incident, Latte was now trapped in the palace, unable to escape through the deserted passage Princess Jenesha had arranged. People were now moving through that passage, and anyone who saw her blood-stained state would be suspicious.

Moving while hiding herself like this, she couldn’t escape the palace.

“I can’t keep going like this.”

Latte clenched her trembling hands. She had to do something somehow.

The best option was to wait for attention to be diverted to whoever was causing trouble outside.

“But where the hell is that Bliss?”

She hadn’t been able to find even a single strand of her hair until now.

“Pinning everything on Bliss would be best.”

About to raise her voice unconsciously out of frustration, Latte crouched down again at the sound of people approaching.

“Who did they say killed her?”

“I heard it was Marquis Adrian’s wife.”

“Really? Are they sure she did it?”

“They say someone saw Bliss leaving that room after Princess Jasmin collapsed.”

What was this? She hadn’t had the chance to frame Bliss yet, but she was already under suspicion.

Latte leaned in to eavesdrop on the conversation.

“But is that enough reason to say she’s the culprit?”

“Would she run if she hadn’t done it?”

“That’s true.”

“I don’t know much either. We’ll have to see when she’s caught. Though we haven’t found where she’s hiding yet, how long can she hide in this palace? She’ll be caught soon.”

“Right. My goodness, killing a royal. What is this coming to?”

As the two women’s voices grew distant, Latte emerged from her hiding place.

“They’re saying Bliss killed her?”

If that’s how the situation was developing, she might be able to use this.

The anxiety on Latte’s face had disappeared, replaced by composure.