The Hollow Crown Princess

“The Crown Prince won’t be returning to the palace today, either?”

“I regret to inform you, Your Highness, but yes. His Highness the Crown Prince has sent word that he wishes to extend his inspection of the border.”

Even the knight delivering Kincaid’s message wore a troubled expression. It had been nearly a month since Kincaid left the Crown Prince’s palace for his border inspection. Normally, he should have returned to the palace by now.

‘He’s not still sulking, is he?’

Hailey grumbled inwardly. It was true she and Kincaid had quarreled over where Prince Lysa should reside. This was a sore spot between them. Normally, Kincaid would agree to almost anything Hailey asked, but when it came to Lysa, he always showed a streak of stubborn discontent.

Child of a traitor or not, Lysa was a legitimate heir of the Emperor’s bloodline. Hailey could understand Kincaid’s desire to keep him close and watch his every move. But…

‘Still, I can’t just leave things as they are.’

Hailey’s goal was to secure a solid foundation for Lysa before he came of age. If he continued living as the royal family’s unwanted stepchild, she was certain he’d never have a proper life even as an adult.

‘He knows full well why I’m doing this, so how petty can he be?’

Sensing her irritation, the knight shifted uncomfortably. Knowing all too well the pain of serving a temperamental superior, Hailey decided to step back for now.

“An inspection of the border is important, yes, but His Majesty the Emperor’s birthday celebration is nearly upon us. With the Crown Prince absent at such a time, the preparations could suffer.”

With that, Hailey opened a drawer and took out fine stationery.

“I’ll write a letter explaining the situation. Deliver it to His Highness the Crown Prince. And please tell him I hope he returns to restore the Crown’s discipline as soon as possible.”

“I will, Your Highness.”

Hailey began writing. Truthfully, she wanted to fill the letter with complaints about her petty husband, but…

‘Keep your dignity, keep your dignity…’

If she wrote that, Kincaid would sulk twice as much. What mattered most was giving him a reason to cool his temper and come home.

‘Once he’s back, I’ll make sure he gets it back twofold.’

After sealing the envelope with the Crown Prince’s emblem—an eagle—Hailey handed it to the knight. He bowed deeply, took the letter, and stepped out of her office.

The very moment the door opened—

“Oh! I’m so sorry, Sir Knight!”

A flustered maid’s voice rang through the hall. Through the open door, Hailey caught sight of the deep blue uniform of a senior maid and instantly understood what had happened. The woman must have been eavesdropping at the door and bumped into the departing knight.

‘How tiresome.’

Hailey already knew some maids in the Crown Prince’s palace were deliberately spreading rumors about the royal couple. To make matters worse, Chief Maid Marilyn—who normally kept the maids in line—was currently assigned to the main palace to attend to the Emperor, leaving the Crown Prince’s household discipline in shambles.

“At this rate… the rumor that the Crown Princess sleeps alone will be all over the palace.”

Hailey let out a short, incredulous laugh. Originally, the Crown Prince’s palace was staffed with loyal, incorruptible maids who served without personal ambition. But before Kincaid’s marriage, the Emperor had ordered them reassigned to other palaces, fearing that long-time staff might not welcome a new mistress after years without a lady of the house.

Their places were filled by maids from elsewhere… but the Emperor’s “consideration” had backfired badly.

Some of the new maids were not loyal to the Crown Prince or Princess at all. In fact, a few were loyal to former masters and leaked information from the Crown Prince’s household. Even now, there were people in the palace who refused to acknowledge Hailey as Crown Princess simply because she had been born a commoner.

“I’ve been letting things slide for the sake of peace, but…”

Hailey was not the type to fight with enemies on all sides. She had no intention of declaring all-out war on the rigid, pompous royals and nobles. Having lived through two lifetimes, she knew well that such behavior was nothing but a pointless waste of energy.

Since she had already joined the imperial family, her plan had been to slowly change her surroundings with patience. But…

“Ha, they just won’t let me live quietly.”

Hailey clicked her tongue. If it had come to this, she might as well turn the entire imperial palace upside down.

***

“Your Highness, your command of ancient grammar is truly remarkable. If my other students could write in the ancient tongue as well as you, I would have nothing more to wish for.”

The professor, invited from the Academy, praised the composition Lysa had submitted, looking at it with satisfaction.

“Thank you.”

Lysa replied briefly and curtly to his teacher. Once the lesson ended and the professor left the library, Lysa relaxed and slumped heavily into the chair.

Truthfully, it was nothing to be praised for. Ancient language, history, politics—he had already learned them all from an early age; now, he was merely reviewing. The Grand Duchess Eleonora had secretly invited tutors from the moment Lysa was old enough to understand, having him study every possible subject.

“It’s all for your future. Never neglect your studies.”

Now, he understood his mother’s true intent. The Grand Duchess Eleonora had wanted to raise him as a candidate for the imperial throne.

“Perhaps I was born for that very purpose.”

To fulfill her mother’s and the Simodel Duchy’s treasonous ambitions, Lysa had been forced to hide his gender, conceal his true self, and live like a puppet. Remembering those painful days still made his chest ache. The pain felt even greater than the wound of losing his mother.

“Peep–, peep!”

As if sensing his gloomy mood, the Java sparrow in the cage chirped loudly and flapped its wings. Realizing it was asking for food, Lysa stood and refilled the feeder.

The bird had been a gift from the gardener last spring.

“Perhaps keeping a pet will help Your Highness feel better.”

As he had said, he found comfort in the quiet creature that followed him. And yet… the sight of the bird trapped in its cage, destined to know only that narrow space for its entire life, made him feel sorrow—it was too much like his own situation.

“You can eat slowly. There’s still plenty of food.”

He gave the advice to the small bird pecking at the grain with its tiny head buried in the feeder, though of course it didn’t understand a word. Watching it, Lysa gave a small, wry smile before returning to his seat, picking up one of the books in the stack, and beginning to read again. For a bird locked in a cage, that was about the only thing it could do.

***

“It seems the Crown Prince and Crown Princess’s relationship is not in good shape.”

“I heard that too. They say His Highness refuses even to return to the palace. With His Majesty the Emperor’s birthday celebration right around the corner, isn’t this a serious matter?”

The rumor that began in the Crown Prince’s palace spread uncontrollably. The couple’s discord was now accepted as fact, and even baseless gossip arose that the Crown Prince intended to depose the Crown Princess.

“I knew this would happen!”

Those most pleased by the rumor were the Emperor’s concubines. No matter how much imperial favor they enjoyed, they could never become full members of the imperial family, and so they had always begrudged the fact that Hailey—a commoner and former lady’s maid—had been made Crown Princess.

Moreover, the budget allocated to the concubines had recently been drastically reduced, and they blamed the Crown Princess for it without proof. In such a climate, the news of discord between the Crown Prince and Princess brought them open delight.

“So she really was just a hollow title of Crown Princess.”

So concluded Baroness Priya, who then dared to commit an act she wouldn’t have even dreamed of before.

“Wh–what is the meaning of this…?”

The senior maid attending the Crown Princess spoke in a tone of dismay. At the picnic hosted by Baroness Priya, all the other concubines were dressed in green, as if by prior arrangement. Only Hailey, the Crown Princess, stood out—clad in a radiant pure-white dress.

“Your Highness, did you not know there was a dress code for today’s picnic?”