The Kidnapped Prince is Mine Now - Chapter 21

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

Chapter 21
Tension rippled through the air in an instant, suffocating and absolute.
The Holy Knights immediately dropped their burdens and turned their gaze toward us.
More precisely, toward their commander—Wolfgang.
The young Holy Knight Order commander’s playful expression vanished in a heartbeat as he fixed his eyes on the Snowy Mountains, then let out a hollow laugh.
“The timing couldn’t be worse.”
He raised his arm at once, his voice booming across the fortress.
“These creatures are vulnerable to holy power rather than physical attacks. Link up with Graupels’ soldiers and advance to the front lines!”
“Yes, sir!”
A thunderous chorus of affirmation erupted. The knights immediately formed ranks and surged toward the entrance of the City Walls.
Before Wolfgang followed in their wake, he seized my shoulder and spoke.
“Go inside. The omens are unfavorable.”
I nodded obediently at his unusually grave expression. Of course I would. I wasn’t entirely without intuition.
Wolfgang offered me a faint smile at my compliance, then turned and sprinted after his men.
Not far away, the deep, resonant blast of a war horn continued to sound.
…
I walked toward the Main Hall, passing through crowds of shouting soldiers and people moving about in confusion.
I needed to think. Why had a monster wave erupted in the Northern Border now, of all times?
‘Did this happen in my previous life?’
No. It hadn’t.
By the original timeline, this should have been the period of Rotar Eisenrit’s funeral at the Monastery—before I was dragged away to Maximilian’s Imperial Palace and imprisoned.
‘The Holy Temple was quiet then.’
Had a monster wave occurred, the Temple’s personnel would have reacted first. The Archbishop would have dispatched the Holy Knight Order and then deliberated over what compensation to demand from the Imperial Palace.
But if something that never happened before was occurring now…
What had changed?
‘…Because I saved Rotar Eisenrit and came to Graupels.’
I was the variable in this world.
And when the chess piece called ‘Elise’ moved, there was one person destined to respond first.
***
When I entered the Main Hall, the Margrave and Rotar Eisenrit had already left the building.
It was as I’d anticipated. This was precisely the moment for Staufen’s warriors to take action. Both men were seasoned in combat.
That meant I knew exactly who I needed to find.
I navigated past the servants rushing about in the sudden wartime chaos, then touched the shoulder of a man standing in the center of the lobby—his voice raised unusually loud.
“Lord Konrad.”
“Close all the windows and bolt them shut—ah, Your Highness the Crown Princess! You’re here! You must move quickly….”
“I have something urgent to discuss.”
“…Pardon?”
Konrad blinked several times before immediately catching hold of a man who had been rushing past him.
“Listen, Emil. Quickly escort all the women and children we’ve secured to safety down to the basement. If anyone is injured, move them to the kitchen and prepare hot water and cloth. I’m entrusting all other decisions to you. Don’t leave your post for five minutes.”
The expression of the man listening to this rapid-fire stream of orders grew progressively darker.
Regardless, Konrad swiftly led me to a small storage room on the first floor. He locked the door and spoke without pause for breath.
“You heard me. I apologize, but given the emergency, I cannot spare much time. I would appreciate if we could keep this conversation as brief and concise as possible.”
How strange. He’d seemed rather simple-minded standing beside the Margrave. I hadn’t realized he was so capable.
Then again, there must be a reason he rose to the position of the Margrave’s aide despite being of commoner birth.
I pulled over a dusty chair and sat. Konrad seemed too agitated to sit, so I didn’t offer and opened my mouth.
“First, I need to confirm something. Do monster waves occur frequently at the Northern Border?”
Konrad immediately shook his head.
“During winter, starving monsters occasionally descend to nearby villages and injure residents, but monster appearances are extremely rare. An occurrence of this magnitude is even more so.”
“Then, considering Graupels’ location, this is a very unusual situation. Wouldn’t you agree?”
“Indeed.”
I was glad I’d asked. My thoughts became far clearer.
I looked up at Konrad’s anxious face intently.
“Lord Konrad.”
“Yes?”
I was sorry to make an already difficult situation worse for him.
“This is all Maximilian’s doing.”
“Pardon?”
He needed to know. Especially in a situation where he was acting for the Margrave.
“Maximilian borrowed the power of Naksura to summon the monsters.”
The silence was brief. Konrad blinked as though he’d heard something impossible, then immediately asked.
“You mean the First Prince can summon monsters wherever he wishes, whenever he wishes?”
“No.”
I wasn’t saying something so absurd. Perhaps this explanation was even better.
“It means Maximilian has already reached the vicinity of Graupels.”
Close enough to wield the power borrowed from the Demon God. Maximilian had drawn that near.
Konrad’s face paled with shock. He immediately shook his head in protest.
“Your Highness, that’s impossible. No matter how mad the First Prince is, he wouldn’t approach the Northern Margrave’s castle without warning….”
It was an understandable reaction. But I responded firmly.
“Trust me. This is only the beginning. Maximilian will continue to run rampant without restraint.”
I didn’t fully grasp this reality until around the third cycle. A normal human wouldn’t topple neighboring nations just to possess a single woman.
Konrad, who had been studying my expression, nodded and asked again with a grave face.
“Do you have any good ideas?”
My body thrummed with tension for some reason. I began speaking in the calmest voice I could muster.
“He won’t strike immediately. Maximilian will want to keep the Margrave and Rotar Eisenrit as far from the castle as possible.”
“You mean he’ll use monsters to lure away the leadership and forces, then target the empty fortress?”
“Exactly.”
“That won’t be easy. I’ll send word to the Margrave at once. And then?”
“Probably within a day—or by dawn if he’s fast—he’ll appear demanding the castle gates be opened. If we refuse, war begins.”
“…And if we open them?”
“He’ll come for me. I’m the prize.”
At my answer, Konrad fell silent for a moment. Then he replied carefully.
“You know the First Prince with a rather uncanny precision. I’m grateful you haven’t spoken of this before others. How much has the Goddess revealed to you?”
It was understandable to be suspicious. To anyone listening, I’d sound like a spy.
I deliberately glanced at the firmly closed door before speaking.
“We don’t have time for that conversation now. Regardless, the abduction marriage was our best option, but it gave Maximilian a perfect pretext.”
“Ah, yes.”
Konrad didn’t press further. Though he might change his tune once the situation stabilized.
He adjusted his glasses with a serious expression and continued.
“It would be easy for him to make excuses about staying in the castle until he’s fully verified the legitimacy of the abduction marriage. What should we do?”
This is where the real problem lies. I drew a deep breath before answering.
“We just have to hold out.”
“…Pardon?”
“I already sent a letter to the Archbishop a week ago.”
I gave the bewildered Konrad a brief explanation of what had happened.
Not many days after arriving in Graupels, the Archbishop’s messenger bird came. The speed of his response suggested he had someone planted within the Holy Knight Order.
The lengthy, verbose letter boiled down to a simple point.
‘What price will you pay for using forged documents to spirit away the Second Prince and mobilizing the Holy Knight Order without my permission?’
Condensed further, it was just one word: ‘price.’ After all, what the Archbishop wanted was material compensation commensurate with the crime.
“So what did you reply?”
“I offered him the gold mine Maximilian promised, plus the emerald mines of his maternal relatives.”
“Phew.”
Konrad exhaled deeply and began pulling at his own hair. He seemed to think the situation was growing increasingly complicated.
It was essentially the same as publicly announcing the plan to ‘join hands with Rotar Eisenrit and bring down Maximilian.’
“So, did you receive a response?”

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