Chapter 6

“How can a man be so spineless? That’s exactly why you’re still stuck doing nothing but this sort of work!”

“Oh, for goodness’ sake…”

“Hey.”

Just as the argument between the two soldiers was beginning to escalate, Evelyn’s voice rang out from behind the door—a voice roughened from spending the entire day in silence.

The other soldier flinched.

His gaze immediately turned toward the door where she was being held.

“What unit are you assigned to?”

“Y-Your Highness?”

He hurried over to the door and apologized for the man’s rudeness.

“My apologies, Princess. This fool drank too much last night and still hasn’t come to his senses.”

“Hasn’t come to his senses? Since when was insulting a member of the imperial family a crime that could be excused by a hangover?”

“Pfft.”

Unlike his companion, whose face had gone pale, Jack let out an exaggerated scoff.

“Hah. Sorry. It’s just funny watching you throw your weight around because you’re royalty.”

“…”

“Why do you want to know my unit, anyway? You’re locked up in there. What exactly can you do? Even if I told you, is there anything you could actually do about it?”

“Hey! Stop it!”

The other soldier, startled out of his wits, tried to stop him, but Jack showed no sign of backing down.

“They may call this place a tower, but it’s a prison all the same. Whatever your status used to be, once you’re locked up here, you’re a criminal. You understood that, which is why you’ve kept quiet all this time, didn’t you? What, now that there’s someone new around, has your pride finally been wounded?”

“…”

“Heh.”

A low chuckle escaped Jack’s lips.

“You see them from time to time. Prisoners like you, who refuse to let go of their pride no matter how much they’re trampled on.”

His boots struck the floor as he paced back and forth.

Step. Step.

“But do you know what happened to all of them? If you want to stay alive even a little longer, keep your mouth shut and behave yourself. We’re the ones in charge here.”

No response came from beyond the food slot.

Jack took the silence as Evelyn’s submission.

‘So even royalty is no different after all!’

Though he tried to appear calm, the knot in his throat, stiff with tension, bobbed visibly.

‘It worked!’

Could she simply not hear him from inside?

Or had she immediately accepted her circumstances and gone back to sleep?

He had been uncertain because Evelyn had shown no reaction whatsoever until now, but this settled it.

Princess Evelyn simply hadn’t dared talk back to him.

Jack was a man well known in his hometown for his skill with weapons.

He wasn’t a genius, but he was talented enough to earn the reputation of being exceptionally gifted. Confident in his abilities, he had applied to the Imperial Knights—but failed.

Refusing to give up, he instead applied to the city guard and was accepted.

There had been some disappointment, but he had convinced himself it wasn’t so bad.

‘If I’m lucky enough to be stationed at the main gate, imagine how carefully people would have to watch themselves around me.’

‘And if I play my cards right, I could make quite a bit of money on the side.’

But those hopes were shattered the moment the induction ceremony ended.

“Recruit Jack, you will be assigned to prison guard duty!”

A prison guard.

The words struck like a bolt from the blue.

Who would ever recognize the worth of a lowly job that amounted to watching over criminals?

There was no honor in it, and no opportunity to earn extra money, either.

Jack vented his frustrations on the prisoners.

Then, by a stroke of luck, he was reassigned to the Imperial Palace Tower.

After that, his behavior became even more arrogant.

When a high-ranking noble ended up imprisoned, it was usually for a crime so grave that execution was all but inevitable.

Jack filled the void of his own wounded pride by scratching at the dignity of people far above him and dragging them down into the dirt.

Most of those confined in the Tower could barely protest against him.

No matter how noble their status, causing a disturbance and drawing the Emperor’s attention would only hasten their deaths.

That was why he could stand before Evelyn with such confidence.

‘In the end, it’s all a battle of wills.’

If he shrank back the way his fellow guard did simply because she was royalty, he would lose the upper hand.

For the sake of “fairness,” he had decided to treat Evelyn no differently from anyone else.

“So you’ve finally come to understand your position.”

Of course, all of that was merely an excuse.

Consumed by his inferiority complex, what he truly wanted was the thrill of being able to treat even someone as exalted as a member of the imperial family with contempt.

A shiver ran through his entire body.

‘This feels incredible…’

He even found himself thinking that if he could experience this sensation for the rest of his life, rotting away in the Imperial Palace Tower wouldn’t be such a bad fate.

“Making a scene won’t benefit either of us, so it would be wise for you to behave yourself.”

At that moment, Evelyn, who had remained quiet all this time, finally spoke.

“‘Won’t benefit me?’”

“Yes. If anything happens in the Palace Tower, word goes straight to Her Majesty. Surely Your Highness doesn’t want to attract his attention, either.”

Standing behind the iron door, Evelyn slowly curled one corner of her lips upward.

“Then let’s find out. Summon the captain of the guard at once.”

“Did you not understand what I meant? Causing a commotion will only hurt you—”

“Haa…”

Her sigh cut him off.

The sheer annoyance in that single gesture made Jack’s brow twist sharply.

‘This woman doesn’t know her place…!’

His emotions surged. As he drew a harsh breath and his shoulders trembled with anger—

the sound of military boots suddenly echoed up the staircase.

Clack. Clack. Clack.

Someone was coming.

Clank, clank.

At the sound hitting the stone stairs, Jack’s shoulders stiffened.

Before long, the owner of the footsteps arrived.

“What is going on?”

“C-Captain!”

‘How?’

How did the princess know the captain of the guard would come?

No, to begin with, why was he visiting this place?

Since Jack had come here, Captain of the Guard Maron Lake had never once visited.

Just as his whole body was stiffening at the unexpected situation before him, Maron finally reached the top of the tower.

“Hm?”

Slowly approaching, he looked back and forth between the two soldiers.

“Why are you standing here? Your assigned position should be over there.”

“Ah, w-well, Captain…”

Just as his companion was about to make an excuse in place of the frozen Jack, Evelyn’s voice came through the food slot.

“Captain of the Guard.”

“Yes, Princess.”

Quickly turning around, he approached the iron door and bowed his head.

Even though he could not see her face, Maron did not neglect the etiquette due to a member of the imperial family.

“Thank you for granting this request.”

Instead of answering, he lowered his head. Soon realizing that Evelyn could not see him, he replied in a low voice.

“Yes.”

After a brief silence, Evelyn’s voice was heard again.

“There is something I wish to confirm.”

“Please ask.”

“Does being assigned to the Imperial Palace Tower lower one’s original status? Are those soldiers permitted to treat me, a princess, so disrespectfully?”

A fierce pressure rose around Maron, who had remained composed the entire time.

The genuine killing intent of a man who could not even be compared to someone who had merely made a name for himself in a small town.

His gaze, which had been lowered diagonally, slowly turned backward.

The moment their eyes met, Jack and his companion felt their breath catch as though their throats had been squeezed shut.

“Hhk…!”

Turning his head forward again, Maron answered calmly.

“No, it does not. Unless Her Majesty orders Your Highness’s deposition, Your Highness remains a member of the imperial family, unchanged.”

“Then what becomes of the crime of insulting royalty?”

“C-Capt…! Captain…!”

Jack barely managed to force out his voice, but Maron did not spare him even the slightest attention.

“It is reported to Her Majesty, and the offender is severely punished. Alternatively, Your Highness may personally carry out a summary execution.”

“And what does ‘summary execution’ mean?”

“It means they may be executed on the spot.”

“Hm, I see.”

The jaws of the soldiers pressed against the wall trembled.

Unlike the two men, who gasped as though they might stop breathing at any moment, Evelyn and Maron remained calm.

Soon, her judgment was delivered.

“Then report it to Her Majesty. A man named Jack has insulted me.”

“I-I’m sorry! Your Highness! Please, just once, spare me! I was ignorant and made a mistake. N-Never again… this… this will never happen again!”

Jack barely managed to throw himself forward, dropping to his knees and bowing his head to the floor.

His forehead split open against the stone floor, blood beginning to seep out, but Evelyn could not see it.

***

A few days before the incident with Jack, Maron came to see Evelyn after hearing that she was refusing to eat.

“Do you intend to completely stop eating and drinking?”

“…”

“Princess.”

He was a man who had watched Evelyn grow up since she was a child.

Though she had already come of age, from his perspective it could not be helped that she still looked like a young girl.

It pained him deeply that such an Evelyn had lost family members one after another and had been imprisoned in the Tower by her half-sister.

“You must eat.”

What if she truly starved herself to death like this?

Worried, Maron came running at once and spoke through the iron door.

He spent a long time trying to persuade her despite receiving no reply. At last, the food slot opened.

“Captain of the Guard.”

“You must eat, Your Highness. Please…”

What answered his concerned plea was Evelyn’s small voice.

“There is something I wish to ask of you.”

“Please speak.”

“One week from now, after the evening meal hour has passed, would you come and see me again? There is something I wish to show you.”

“…Understood.”

He had expected her to ask him to persuade Her Majesty, or to beg him to get her out of the Imperial Palace Tower, but the words that came from the princess were unexpected.

However, Maron did not ask for a reason.

The weak voice of the already frail-looking princess stirred the compassion of a man who had no children of his own.