Me, a Princess? My Lord! - Chapter 7

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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 7

What business do I have here?

Anyone could see that the one who didn’t belong in this neighborhood wasn’t her, but him—Desion.

Heidi smiled awkwardly and answered.

“I came to see my family. Our house is over there.”

Heidi pointed toward the hill with her finger.

Then Desion nodded as if remembering, saying “Ah.”

“That’s right, Eloise said she gave you time off.”

“Yes, thanks to that I get to stay home for a few days.”

Heidi smiled politely.

But then.

“…”

“…”

Why wouldn’t this eye contact end?

After an eternally awkward moment passed, Heidi, unable to bear it any longer, carefully parted her lips.

“Um.”

“…”

“What brings you to Everton, my lord?”

“I’m looking for something.”

Looking for something?

Heidi was puzzled by Desion’s answer.

What could he be looking for in this remote place where all that existed were old houses packed tightly together? Even if you turned out all the pockets of the people here and shook them thoroughly, all you’d find would be dust.

“There shouldn’t be anything in Everton that you’d be looking for, my lord.”

“More accurately, it would be correct to say I’m looking for someone I want to find.”

“Someone?”

Desion looked straight into Heidi’s eyes and said.

“So I’d like to get some help from you.”

Heidi readily nodded.

“Anything. Though I’m not sure if there’s anything I can help with…”

“Good.”

Desion answered as if he’d been waiting, then pulled out his pocket watch, glanced down at it, and said.

“I have a few personal questions I’d like to ask.”

“Questions about me?”

Desion nodded. His sharply gleaming red eyes looked directly at Heidi’s face.

“Can you answer them?”

“Of course…”

Before this man who was elegant without a single flaw, Heidi shrank her shoulders. Despite his polite manner, she somehow felt intimidated.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say she’d survived this long on her ability to read situations.

‘I have no idea what he’s thinking.’

The intentions of the man standing before her now, Desion, were difficult to grasp. She couldn’t understand why he would want to know details about her, a mere maid.

“Have you lived in Everton your whole life?”

Heidi shook her head.

“No. It’s been about 5 years, I think.”

“Where did you live before that?”

“It was a nearby village. Not very far from here.”

“A nearby village, you say…”

The neighborhood she lived in. Family relationships. Household circumstances.

Just as Heidi’s head began to spin from Desion’s persistent barrage of questions.

“Where are you rushing off to all by yourself?”

A strange man, breathing heavily, placed his hand on Desion’s shoulder.

“Did you meet someone you know…”

Noah’s eyes gradually widened as he turned his head toward Heidi. Startled, he pointed at Heidi with his finger and his lips began to move.

“…Oh! Oh?”

“Noah. Don’t get excited.”

“How can I not get excited in this situation? This seems to be the person we were looking for.”

Heidi’s eyes widened at the words the man called Noah blurted out loudly.

‘I’m the person my lord was looking for?’

But why?

Heidi’s mind began racing.

She had occasionally received advances when things were urgent, but she currently owed no debt to the Count’s Mansion. She hadn’t caused any major accidents at work either.

‘I’ve been living very quietly though.’

No matter how much she thought about it, she couldn’t think of any reason why the Count would come all the way to this remote place looking for her.

Gathering her courage, Heidi met Desion’s eyes.

“What do you mean by saying you were looking for me…”

Heidi’s shoulders trembled slightly as she faced Desion directly.

A strange expression whose meaning she couldn’t understand. Red eyes that seemed to be swept by complex, intense emotions.

After a moment of silence as if choosing his words, Desion straightened his posture and parted his lips.

“Tomorrow.”

“…”

“It’s late now, so could you come back here tomorrow morning? It might be quite a long story.”

Nodding at his polite suggestion, Heidi had a faint premonition.

The reason Desion had walked all the way to this shabby neighborhood to find her. Somehow, that reason didn’t seem ordinary.

Perhaps tomorrow, a very large storm might sweep through her life.

* * *

But then.

“Pardon?”

“…”

“I’m a princess?”

She hadn’t expected it to be this big of a storm.

Baaah.

They say when people hear something too absurd, they can’t speak, and it was really true.

The story that Desion, who had come early in the morning, brought out completely knocked Heidi senseless.

That she, who had grown up in a poor neighborhood and worked as a maid, was actually the King’s one and only daughter.

Wasn’t this the kind of ridiculous story you’d only see in plays?

‘Why would he tell such a story inside a carriage… Is he joking right now?’

But there wasn’t a trace of humor to be found on Desion’s face as he sat properly in the opposite seat, looking at her.

After sitting there dumbfounded with her jaw dropped for quite a while, Heidi finally pulled herself together and opened her mouth.

“On what grounds are you saying such a thing…”

“…”

“I don’t want to dare doubt you, my lord, but this is too absurd.”

“I fully understand your difficulty in believing this. I feel the same way myself.”

Cough.

Heidi’s face turned pale at the formal speech that flowed from Desion’s lips. Regardless, Desion calmly continued speaking.

“But no matter how hard it is to believe, if all the circumstances point to one conclusion, wouldn’t it be reasonable to think that is the truth?”

“Your father testified earlier, didn’t he? Twenty years ago in winter, he found a baby on the verge of freezing to death in a deserted back alley and took her in. He said it was a week before the new year.”

“The princess was born about two weeks earlier than that, so the timing matches perfectly.”

“But still…”

“I heard this area suffered relatively less damage even during the war. It makes sense when you think about it. It’s neither a strategically important location, nor a region where there would be anything to gain from plundering. There couldn’t have been a better place to drive a carriage to escape the pursuit of the Mosen Army.”

Heidi shook her head vigorously.

“I still can’t accept it. How many babies became orphans that year?”

“A bright blonde baby girl born at exactly the same time. What do you think are the odds that child would also be born with the vivid purple eyes that are the symbol of the Panther Royal Family?”

“….”

At Desion’s logical explanation, Heidi’s lips pressed into a tight line. Her counterarguments were gradually disappearing.

But there were still points she couldn’t understand. After hesitating for a long while, Heidi carefully opened her mouth.

“Then the Princess currently in the Royal Palace is….”

Anastasia Janette de Panther.

No one in the kingdom would be unfamiliar with her name. The kingdom’s only princess was someone who received the attention of all citizens, enough to occupy newspaper front pages with just a brief outing.

If she truly was the real princess as Desion claimed, then who exactly was the Anastasia sparkling brilliantly within the Royal Palace?

It was Desion who completed Heidi’s unfinished words.

“She is not The King’s biological child.”

“…!”

“The babies were switched during the chaos at that time. This is the conclusion I reached after years of investigation.”

Heidi’s eyes widened to their limit. Desion met her gaze directly and continued his explanation in a calm voice.

“The Royal Family possesses a treasure called the Crown of the Sun. It was a gift from the Temple when the current King and Queen held their wedding ceremony.”

“….”

“When someone with royal blood flowing through them wears that crown, it glows brightly with divine power. Even if siblings or cousins wear the crown, it normally emits a faint light. But when Anastasia wore that crown, there was no reaction whatsoever. Why?”

Desion’s red eyes gleamed darkly.

“Because not a drop of The King’s blood flows through her veins.”

Heidi clenched her faintly trembling hands into fists. Her heart began pounding as if sensing the approaching whirlwind of fate.

‘But….’

Watching Heidi, who could neither accept nor deny the truth and remained confused, Desion took something from his coat. It was a neatly folded piece of paper.

“I suppose this must be difficult to accept. I prepared this hoping it might be of some help.”

When Heidi carefully took the paper, Desion nodded as if telling her to unfold it.

Heidi’s eyes widened as she carefully unfolded the paper.

“…!”

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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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