Me, a Princess? My Lord! - Chapter 5

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 5

Unlike yesterday, the study was brightly lit.

Desion gazed thoughtfully at the taxidermied bird decorations on the wall, lost in contemplation.

Shortly before his father, the previous Count Haizen, died in an accident, there was a story he had suddenly brought up when he called Desion to him.

It was a story about cuckoos.

“Cuckoos secretly enter other birds’ nests, push out one of the original eggs, and lay their own egg in its place. When the nest’s owner returns, they carefully incubate and raise it without knowing the egg has been switched.”

“Then what happens to the pushed-out egg?”

“It would fall from the tree and break.”

“That’s too cruel.”

“Nature is often brutal. But it’s always humans who commit the most terrible acts, Desion.”

“It’s always humans who commit the most terrible acts…”

What was his father’s expression like when he said those words?

Desion tried to recall his father’s face looking down at him, but the distant memory remained hazy as if buried in fog.

Desion turned his head to stare at his father’s portrait hanging on the wall. The face of a man who bore a subtle resemblance to him gazed back with a stern expression.

After matching eyes with the painting for a long while, Desion slowly parted his lips.

“…Did you perhaps notice it too, Father?”

His sunken voice echoed hollowly through the empty space.

“That a cuckoo dared to slip its egg into the Royal Household’s nest.”

Red eyes gleamed fiercely in the darkness.

Three years ago, Desion had finally realized it.

Anastasia Janette de Panther.

A woman who wielded absolute power as the King’s only daughter.

That very princess who controlled public opinion with her refined appearance and distinctive eloquence.

His one and only disciple and heir to the throne, who had directly received all knowledge, discernment, and rhetoric from Desion himself.

That she was not actually the King’s biological daughter.

***

Learning that fact for the first time was purely by chance.

From childhood, Anastasia couldn’t resist anything that sparkled. Pretty clothes, flashy jewelry, and such.

“Anastasia, you’ve been indulging in luxury again!”

“But Father, I’m going to be the king of this country someday, aren’t I? I need to establish my authority…”

“A king’s authority is not established through such adornments! It hasn’t even been twenty years since the war ended, and you should be setting an example with a modest appearance first.”

For someone who could have anything they wanted, her material desires were oddly excessive to a puzzling degree. He would kindly advise her, and sometimes sternly lecture her, but it was rarely corrected.

That day too, Desion had to go find Anastasia, who had entered the Royal Archives without permission.

“Anastasia!”

Anastasia, who had been fiddling with an ornate tiara placed in the center of the basement, startled and turned around.

Upon spotting Desion, she flashed him a mischievous smile.

“Teacher.”

“I must have warned you countless times. The Royal Archives can only be accessed by the King and officially recognized heirs to the throne. Since Your Highness has not yet been announced as heir in any public setting, you have no authority to enter this place.”

Anastasia shook her head as if she didn’t want to hear Desion’s rigid lecture.

“Oh, how strict you are. It’s just that the announcement hasn’t been made yet – who else could be the heir besides me? Father has only one child, and that’s me. Isn’t that right?”

“Even so, rules are rules.”

“You’re really too much, Teacher.”

Anastasia, pouting her lips, lifted the ornately decorated tiara from the marble surface with her hands.

“This is the crown Mother wore at her wedding, right? How can it be so dazzlingly beautiful? I’ll get to wear such a pretty tiara when I marry later too, won’t I?”

It was the moment when Desion slightly frowned at her attitude of carelessly picking up royal treasures.

“If you handle it carelessly…”

Desion’s words, which were meant to caution her as always, abruptly stopped. His eyes widened slightly.

His gaze was directed toward the ornate tiara resting on Anastasia’s white hands.

The tiara, sparkling golden in the flickering candlelight, was dazzlingly beautiful just as Anastasia had said.

But that wasn’t why Desion was surprised.

‘The crown isn’t glowing.’

It was because the large red gem embedded in the crown in Anastasia’s hands wasn’t emitting even the slightest light.

The crown Anastasia was holding was no ordinary object.

It was a gift sent from the Grand Palace to celebrate the marriage of the King and Queen, embedded with a gem that contained a drop of the King’s blood.

It was designed to react with divine power and emit brilliant light when touched by someone with royal blood.

‘But why…’

Why was the crown remaining silent in the hands of Anastasia, the King’s only daughter?

Desion, who had been staring at Anastasia’s back with a pale face, hastily composed his expression.

‘…Anastasia isn’t His Majesty’s bloodline?’

It was an absurd suspicion.

But why didn’t that thought feel entirely far-fetched?

Desion immediately went to the Royal Archives and pulled out the historical records.

Carefully turning the pages one by one, Desion muttered.

“The Princess’s birthday was at the end of next month.”

Year xxx, Month x, Day x.

Desion’s finger, which had been slowly moving while pointing at the densely written dates, hesitated and stopped in the middle of the book.

“…No records at all? For ten whole days?”

In any dynasty, every move of the king is meticulously recorded. But Panther’s historical records, documenting 500 years of history, were renowned for their thoroughness and accuracy.

Yet there were no records left about the birth of the only princess.

Of course, there was a reason.

At the time, Panther was at war with the neighboring country of Mozen.

It was the end of the war, a period when Mozen, thoroughly enraged, was desperately making their last stand with all their might.

After losing important battles one after another, Mozen’s forces advanced near Norington, Panther’s capital. The Queen, who was heavily pregnant at the time, had to endure the humiliation of fleeing.

The princess, who should have been born amid everyone’s blessings and caused a stir throughout the kingdom, was thus born quietly, without anyone knowing.

The only record left in the historical documents was that ten days after the princess was born, the Queen passed away.

‘Ten days of blank space. Something must have happened during that time.’

From that day, Desion began moving to resolve the mysteries surrounding those ten blank days.

He inquired about everyone who had been there when the Queen gave birth, but he couldn’t meet any of them.

Neither the physician who delivered the princess, nor the midwife, nor the lord who provided refuge, nor the royal maids who cared for the Queen.

‘They’re all dead?’

Desion felt something ominous.

***

That Anastasia wasn’t of royal blood meant that the real princess born from the Queen existed somewhere outside the Royal Palace.

During the three years away from home, what Desion had been searching for was the whereabouts of that very princess.

‘I wanted to find at least her grave. But I failed in the end.’

Finding a princess who had disappeared twenty years ago with only a few clues was more difficult than finding a needle in a haystack.

He questioned witnesses and toured orphanages across the country under the noble pretext of charity work. Though it was fruitless every time.

The only characteristic he could guess about the princess.

Whenever he heard rumors about a woman with violet eyes, he would rush there no matter where it was.

But contrary to it being called a characteristic of Panther royalty, there were more people with such eyes than expected.

Like Eloise’s maid he had seen earlier.

The silhouette of the young maid vaguely came to mind. She seemed to be a rare beauty, but what caught his eye were her eyes.

Clear and vivid eyes like embedded amethysts.

They had such an impressive light that he couldn’t look away. If Eloise hadn’t been there, he might have detained her and bombarded her with sudden questions.

‘But she seemed to have family. I almost had pointless expectations.’

Desion smiled bitterly and wiped the corner of his mouth.

Knock knock.

The person outside the door didn’t even wait for Desion’s answer and flung the door open.

“You’re still the same as ever.”

A man with a tall, slender silhouette strode in with the corridor light behind him. As he approached the desk, his golden hair glittered in the candlelight.

“What are you doing alone in such a dark place? So gloomy. Live a little brighter, will you?”

Deshion raised an eyebrow at the unexpected guest.

“What brings you here at this hour? I thought you weren’t arriving for several more days.”

“That’s quite a lukewarm reaction for meeting after so long.”

The one who had barged into Deshion’s study was Noah Heights, the late queen’s cousin.

With bright golden hair, delicate features, and a cheerful, humorous personality, he was in many ways Deshion’s complete opposite, yet surprisingly, the two got along well.

Having grown up together like brothers since childhood, he was the only person who knew Deshion’s secret.

Noah plopped down in a chair and leaned back against it.

“Terrible hospitality. How about offering a cup of tea? A meal would be even better.”

Deshion let out a small snort and replied stiffly.

“If you want to be treated like a guest, act like one. Don’t come barging in late at night.”

“Isn’t that a bit harsh for someone who came all this way thinking of you? I wanted to take my time too, you know. Sightseeing here and there, enjoying the scenery.”

After grumbling for a while, Noah leaned toward the desk.

“But I couldn’t do that. I heard such an interesting story, you see.”

“An interesting story?”

Deshion wore an indifferent expression as if he had no interest whatsoever. Noah nodded and continued.

“On my way here, I stopped for dinner, but since it was such a remote area, there was only one restaurant. I had no choice but to sit down, and the food was absolutely terrible.”

“Just tell me what’s necessary. Not your pointless commentary.”

“It’s an objective assessment, I tell you. Everyone at the tables near me was saying the same thing. That the taste completely went to hell after the restaurant owner changed.”

Deshion frowned at the random food talk. Noah tapped the desk as if telling him to just listen.

“But that old restaurant owner couple, they had a pretty daughter, didn’t they?”

“If you want to talk about some trivial woman story…”

“Twenty years ago, they found a baby abandoned in a secluded alley, nearly frozen to death, brought her home and raised her with loving care.”

Twenty years ago?

Deshion instinctively reacted sharply and straightened his back.

“Nothing particularly special about that. Just a kind-hearted couple, I was going to let it pass at that. But here’s the thing.”

Noah’s lips curved smoothly.

“I couldn’t just ignore the part about their daughter being a beauty with bright golden hair and violet eyes. What do you think? Does my story still sound trivial to you?”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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