“Evelyn!”

Without so much as a knock, the door burst open.

Though it was a rude intrusion, for Evelyn, it was nothing surprising nor unusual. This was simply her everyday life.

Standing at the doorway was a middle-aged woman.

Her attire was more refined than that of a maid, yet plainer than what nobles typically wore.

She was Glenna, the royal governess to Princess Ophelia and Evelyn’s mother.

“What is it all of a sudden, Mother?”

Evelyn instinctively lowered her gaze as she asked.

She knew all too well what would happen if she met her mother’s eyes.

Glenna walked straight toward Evelyn.

Her steps were light and lively, almost as if she were dancing.

“You should go, Evelyn.”

Glenna spoke in an affectionate tone, a stark contrast to her usual cold demeanor.

Hearing such a voice for the first time in her life, Evelyn almost nodded on impulse.

“…What do you mean, Mother?”

Evelyn took a deep breath to steady herself, then set aside the embroidery needle she had been working with before looking up at Glenna.

Glenna approached her slowly, smiling brightly.

“You are going in place of Princess Ophelia.”

Sitting beside Evelyn, Glenna firmly grasped her hand.

Unlike Evelyn’s rough and calloused hands, worn from hard labor, Glenna’s were smooth and delicate.

But Evelyn had no time to dwell on the contrast.

“I am to go in the princess’s place?”

Evelyn barely managed to move her lips, which had fallen open in shock.

Glenna had clearly said she was to take Princess Ophelia’s place.

Evelyn understood exactly what that meant.

“Surely you don’t mean I am to go to Bait?”

Bait was a neighboring country that shared a border with Hesta, the land where Evelyn had been born and raised. The two nations had once maintained an amicable relationship.

Until two years ago.

Back then, the newly crowned Emperor of Bait had been deemed laughable by Hesta’s king. Seizing the opportunity while the empire was still in disarray from the coronation, Hesta launched an attack on Bait.

This act irreparably severed the ties between the two nations.

Hesta’s king, blinded by his own overconfidence, was convinced it was only a matter of time before Bait would kneel beneath his feet.

However, things did not go as he had expected.

The new Emperor of Bait, who had ascended to the throne after slaughtering his own family, was no pushover.

Hesta’s army lost every battle except for two.

Believing Bait would soon be under their control, Hesta instead found itself on the defensive, losing seven key strongholds before ultimately surrendering.

As a gesture of reconciliation and goodwill, Hesta agreed to send the king’s only daughter, Princess Ophelia, to Bait.

Upon learning of this, Princess Ophelia wept for three days and nights. But there was nothing to be done.

Rumors claimed that the Emperor of Bait had horns, his body was covered in bristly fur, and his mouth was grotesquely torn to his ears.

No human could look like that—or so people thought. But then again, why else would the late Emperor of Bait have hidden his son so well?

The rumors spread like wildfire.

Moreover, whispers claimed that the Baitian army, under their emperor’s command, tore people apart with monstrous strength and devoured newborn babies alive.

Faced with such tales, people could not help but shrink away in fear.

It was no wonder Princess Ophelia cried.

“In three days, all the preparations will be complete.”

Glenna lowered her voice so only Evelyn could hear.

“You and Princess Ophelia share the same hair and eye color. No one in Bait will be able to tell the difference. So you must go in her place.”

For a moment, Evelyn pictured the Emperor of Bait, rumored to have the appearance of a monster.

But she could not easily form an image in her mind.

“No,” Evelyn whispered, trembling with fear.

“I don’t want to go.”

“Evelyn!”

Glenna’s face twisted into a scowl as she hissed her name.

Startled by the sharp tone, Evelyn flinched and shrank back.

Since childhood, her mother had always been domineering.

No matter what Evelyn did or said, Glenna would always respond with anger, irritation, and raised voices.

Seeing Evelyn’s anxious expression, Glenna reached out with her other hand and gently smoothed Evelyn’s platinum hair.

“This is a good opportunity for you as well. If you stay here, you will never rise above the status of a mere maid. You know this, don’t you? But if you go to Bait in the princess’s place, things will be different.”

Glenna continued with a soft smile.

“You will go to Bait as the princess of Hesta. There, you will receive the respect and treatment you were denied here. Think about it carefully. If you gain the Emperor of Bait’s favor, you could become the mistress of the Western Continent.”

It sounded appealing.

Evelyn was, at best, the daughter of Glenna, who was merely Princess Ophelia’s governess. Without a father, Evelyn’s life was destined to be that of a maid, nothing more.

Thus, Glenna was suggesting that instead of living out her days in servitude, Evelyn should go to Bait as Hesta’s princess and enjoy a life of privilege.

For once, Evelyn could tell that Glenna was genuinely thinking of her future.

But the issue was the Emperor of Bait.

“I—I could die,” Evelyn’s voice trembled.

The danger was the real problem. If she were discovered, she would be executed on the spot.

And if that happened, the fragile peace between Hesta and Bait would surely crumble.

“If we break our promise to send the princess, all of Hesta could be wiped out.”

“And if I’m found out? If my deception is exposed, it won’t just end with my death. It will mean war.”

“What is there to worry about? Just don’t get caught.”

“Mother!”

Yet Glenna remained unmoved.

Frustrated, Evelyn raised her voice, only to realize her mistake and quickly clamp her mouth shut.

Evelyn, frustrated, raised her voice, then quickly regretted it and shut her mouth.

Fortunately, Glenna showed no particular reaction.

“I am your daughter. Must you really send me to my death?”

‘Was it not enough that she had always been so cold to me?’

Words she could not bring herself to say hovered in Evelyn’s mouth.

“Before being my daughter, you were also a subject of this country. Taking the princess’s place and going to Bait is the greatest loyalty you can offer.”

At Glenna’s cold words, Evelyn bit her lip.  Glenna’s priority had always been Princess Ophelia.

Even when Evelyn returned after suffering great misfortune, Glenna had not spared her a glance. Yet, if Princess Ophelia pricked her finger while embroidering, she would weep as if the world were ending.

In her twenty-one years of life, Evelyn had never once felt love from Glenna. She had always harbored resentment toward her.

And yet, a part of her had clung to the faint hope—was it possible that Glenna did love her deep down but simply refused to show it?

That was why, at this moment, her heart crumbled at Glenna’s words, leaving her speechless and unable to argue back.

Seeing Evelyn fall silent, Glenna smiled.

“In truth, this argument is meaningless, foolish Evelyn.”

Evelyn looked up at her mother, unable to grasp the meaning of her words.

“Whether you want to or not, you have to go. I have already informed His Majesty that this is a viable course of action.”

“…Mother?”

“Yes. The decision has already been made.”

Evelyn was merely one of the many excess members in the palace. 

The king had no desire to send his precious only daughter, Princess Ophelia, to the infamous land of Bait. Though he had proposed the idea himself for the sake of the future, when the time actually came, he found it impossible to follow through.

At that moment, Glenna’s advice must have seemed quite appealing.

“His Majesty was delighted, calling it a solution he had never considered.”

Glenna whispered, her voice unusually gentle.

Evelyn squeezed her eyes shut, unable to steady her wavering gaze.

“So, stop wasting your breath and start preparing for your departure.”

Leaving the tormented Evelyn behind, Glenna leisurely exited the room. The door closed, leaving only Evelyn and silence in its wake.

Alone, Evelyn slowly raised a hand to press against her feverish forehead.

What Glenna had just said was not a request. It was a unilateral, coercive decree.

In Glenna’s counsel and the king’s decision, Evelyn’s will had never been considered—not in the slightest.

She had never even had the right to refuse in the first place.