At night during their journey, Andrew stayed at inns in villages. Each time, he pulled Evelyn into his bed, but he only buried his face in her br*asts to sleep without doing anything else.

“…”

Evelyn found this face-to-face position extremely uncomfortable. Every time he breathed, his hot breath touched her chest.

Once Andrew fell into a deep sleep, she laid him straight on the bed. Then she moved to the sofa. Her maid Sarah said she hadn’t suffered any mistreatment during the journey. That was fortunate. Evelyn had asked Andrew to give Sarah her own room, which he permitted.

On the condition that Evelyn share a room with him.

‘Just a few more days until we reach the imperial palace.’

Life at the border had been difficult as a commoner knight, but she had been free. Evelyn’s mother was a commoner. She had been a maid doing odd jobs at the palace when she somehow caught the Emperor’s eye. After giving birth to Evelyn, she was abandoned.

She had no family to return to, and she had given birth to a princess, not a prince. The nobles wouldn’t support such a mother. With her palace maintenance allowance cut off, everyone gradually forgot about the commoner consort and her daughter, Princess Evelyn. The servants and maids disappeared one day.

Evelyn tried to convince her mother to leave the palace. But her mother gently refused.

“It’s all right. His Majesty the Emperor will come for us soon, okay? Just wait. He loves me.”

“Mother, wake up! …Do you think you’re the only forgotten one among his many consorts? There must be many more. If we stay like this, we’ll starve to death!”

“…Starve to death? That won’t happen!”

Her mother had lived in poverty her entire life. She seemed unable to give up the consort position she had briefly tasted.

However, when the Emperor never came despite their waiting, her mother began blaming Evelyn. She grabbed Evelyn by the collar and shouted:

“If only you, if only you… had been a prince! Then His Majesty would have kept coming to see me!”

“Mother…”

Her mother’s hands trembled, and she collapsed. When Evelyn placed her hand under her mother’s nose, she felt faint breathing. She must have been weak from lack of food. Unknown to Evelyn then, her mother’s illness had progressed to the point where she couldn’t use her hands.

By chance, Evelyn overheard maids whispering that all the princes and princesses had been killed by Crown Prince Hector.

Evelyn felt fortunate to be a forgotten princess. Hector surely didn’t know of her existence.

It was unusually cold that day, but thankfully the well water hadn’t frozen. While drawing water to fill her stomach, Crown Prince Hector appeared before her. With shiny golden hair and deep green eyes, the man was only three years older than Evelyn but tall and handsome.

“…Who are you?”

He didn’t recognize her. Evelyn quietly looked at him. She knew who he was—Hector, the Empress’s son and future Emperor.

Would he kill her if he knew she was a princess? But continuing to live in the Cold Palace meant eventually dying from illness or starvation. So she thought she should make a good impression on her only brother.

I’m your sister. I’m a princess. Nice to meet you, brother. While she was contemplating which to say, Hector came closer. He touched her silver hair.

“What a mysterious color.”

Silver hair was common in the Astia Imperial Palace. All her siblings except Hector had silver hair, so this was the first time she’d heard it called mysterious.

Hector touched Evelyn’s cheek. She thought his touch was truly warm and gentle. Though she had never experienced her father’s love, perhaps this connection was due to their blood relation. It felt incredibly reassuring.

Evelyn smiled at Hector and said:

“Nice to meet you, brother.”

At those words, Hector’s eyes twisted with shock. He immediately withdrew his hand and glared at her fiercely.

“Evelyn? …That commoner woman’s daughter?”

Ah. Would he kill her after all? However, unlike her other siblings, her mother was a commoner with no power. Evelyn nodded.

“Yes.”

But she hadn’t expected that he would remember the forgotten commoner consort and her daughter when everyone else had forgotten them. Hector’s face contorted.

“…I see.”

He left. When he briefly looked back, his eyes held a trace of lingering attachment.

Waking from her memories, Evelyn opened her eyes. She must have fallen asleep briefly, as her body had been moved from the sofa back to the bed. Andrew had apparently moved her. He was nowhere to be seen, and Evelyn stretched as she got up.

She brushed back her disheveled hair that was blocking her vision. Even now, she couldn’t understand why Hector hadn’t killed her.

‘Because I’m useful for a political marriage? That must be it.’

After rescuing her and her mother from the Cold Palace, Hector had provided them with means to survive. If not for the political marriage, why would he have done that? Even without him holding her mother hostage, Evelyn had intended to return to the palace.

Rumors circulated that they weren’t blood-related, but Evelyn didn’t believe them. Hector was her only remaining blood relative. The door burst open, and Andrew said to her:

“You’re up? Come down to the dining hall. We’ll leave after breakfast.”

Evelyn nodded. Andrew stared at her intently for a moment before closing the door again. Left alone in the room, Evelyn changed her clothes and strapped her sword to her waist. Hector had taught her swordsmanship, telling her to protect herself. It had proven more useful than expected.

‘We’ll reach the imperial palace soon…’

What might Jenkins be doing? Lately, she thought of Jenkins every time she opened her eyes. Distance should make the heart grow distant too, but somehow she missed him even more.

‘If I marry into the Peshar Empire, will I be able to see him?’

How ironic.

Knowing how women who married the Peshar Emperor lived.

Once married, they couldn’t leave the palace. Even if they wanted to give up their position and leave, they needed the Emperor’s permission. Even when she was in the Astia Empire, she had begged her mother trapped in the Cold Palace to leave, but it wasn’t something they could do freely.

The Cold Palace was still part of the imperial harem.

She didn’t want to live like her mother, but having been born a princess, she felt destined for the same fate.

* * *

A week passed. By this point, even Harvey, Jenkins’ attendant, began wondering what Evelyn was doing. Jenkins remained stubbornly holed up in the inn due to his pride, but Harvey decided to start investigating Evelyn. It was purely personal curiosity.

Few men could match Jenkins’ looks and wealth, so how could a mere commoner knight reject him multiple times?

Moreover, women who slept with Jenkins clung to him the next day, acting like his lovers to an annoying degree. Yet Evelyn was nowhere to be seen—whether alive or dead.

Harvey entered the Astia Empire’s immigration office. The supervisor there was Thomas Howard, Evelyn’s superior. Thomas was puffing on a cigar and groping women’s b*ttocks when his eyes met Harvey’s.

“Well, aren’t you Jenkins’ attendant?”

Despite being merely a viscount, he used no honorifics when referring to Jenkins. Thomas was rude, filthy, and vulgar. However, Harvey, having something to gain, greeted Thomas respectfully.

“Lord Thomas! I came to ask you something.”

“…What is it?”

Thomas picked his ear and flicked the earwax outside. Harvey clicked his tongue. With someone like this as supervisor, the Astia Empire would soon collapse, he thought. That would be good for him.

“I haven’t seen Lady Evelyn recently…”

“Ah, that arrogant woman?”

Thomas spat on the floor. The middle-aged man disliked Evelyn, who despite being a commoner, completely ignored his orders. He wanted to fire her and had submitted the worst evaluation to the imperial palace, but it had no effect.

Unable to fire her, he could only cut her pay. He couldn’t understand why he couldn’t dismiss a mere commoner knight at will. Her figure and face were pretty, so perhaps she was some high official’s lover? But Evelyn was too rigid for that.

Evelyn was the only one who scolded Thomas and refused bribes, making communication impossible. But recently that woman had left on her own, making Thomas feel like he was floating on air. 

When Thomas didn’t speak, Harvey handed him the gold coins he had brought. Thomas smiled so broadly his mouth nearly split.

“She went back to the capital a week ago.”

However, Harvey couldn’t smile at Thomas’s words. He was so shocked that he wondered if he had misheard.

“What did you just say?”

“She went back! A letter came directly from the imperial palace.”

“…A letter? What…”

“I don’t know. I don’t know the contents, just that it came from the imperial palace. That woman seems to have connections there. Maybe she’s someone important’s little finger?”

Thomas bent his pinky finger suggestively.

“Ah… The imperial palace. Then can you tell me where exactly she went?”

“I told you I don’t know! I said she returned to the capital! It’s been a week since she left, so she should have arrived by now.”

“Ah… Yes. Thank… you. Then. Have a good… day.”

“Haha! Tell Jenkins we should have a drink! I’m in a great mood!”

“…Yes.”

Leaving the office, Harvey unconsciously bit his thumb. His footsteps quickened as he walked.

How should he interpret this? It was completely different from the typical reaction of women who had slept with Jenkins. Whatever Evelyn was thinking, she had thoroughly played Jenkins.

Jenkins seemed to be secretly waiting for Evelyn to appear first. This must be a battle of pride for him.

‘What should I do?’

What would Jenkins do if he knew Evelyn had left? Would he simply forget her and find another woman? Or…

The Astia Empire only allowed merchants to enter, not ordinary foreigners. Evelyn’s existence, receiving letters from the imperial palace, was extremely suspicious. She could even be a spy. Harvey felt they shouldn’t create any more connections between her and Jenkins.

Harvey looked up at the sky and swallowed hard.

He decided not to tell Jenkins the truth. He would simply say that Evelyn had returned to her homeland. Since she was a woman who valued her family too much to seek asylum, Jenkins would understand if told she had gone home.