Translator and Editor: Effe and Nabi

────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

Chapter 36 – Unknown (2)

The eyes, which had become accustomed to the darkness, suffered even in the dim light.

Sienna blinked several times before meeting Nathaniel’s eyes as his breathing drew closer to her. Even though his unusually bright black eyes were impressive, more than that, her eyes focused on his hair.

‘Red…’

It was the first red hair she saw after coming here. She found out that there were too few to count in the whole kingdom.

Surprised, she forgot to hide her expression, and she stared at him.

“Are you surprised?”

“….”

“Red is rare. It’s my first time seeing it myself.”

When Sienna shook her head to calm herself down, Nathaniel grabbed her chin with one of his hands and raised the corners of his mouth.

‘It would have been nice if we met in a different way.’

Rumors about the red-haired Princess were well known, so he wanted to meet her.

‘This is very fascinating…’

Even these trivial commonalities incline his heart. He just wants to talk to her for no reason, joke around a bit.

With that thought, Nathaniel smiled at her as she stared at him.

“Oh, my? What to do? The eye covering has come off. Now that you’ve seen my face, the Princess must die…”

Extending his words, he pulled out a small dagger and placed it around Sienna’s neck.

As the cold metal climbed up her neckline and lifted her chin…

“…Now.”

Sienna did not avert her eyes as she replied.

“Put it away.”

As she moved her lips, the sharp blade seemed to cut through her flesh at any moment. Eventually, it was Nathaniel’s side who took a step back in fear.

“Oh no. Dangerous.”

“….”

“Are you not afraid, or are you pretending not to be?”

He threatened her several more times with a mischievous face before taking away the dagger.

“It’s not fun.”

After a moment’s hesitation, he put on the eye cover again and smiled happily.

“I’m joking. Don’t worry. I’ll let you go in a few days. I just wanted to give you advice that it’s better for you to stay calm until then.”

“Thank you so much for that.”

The eye covering that was put on again felt more frustrating than the first time.

Half a day had already passed with her hands and feet tied up.

In itself, it was torture.

She couldn’t get rid of a single hair that tickled her neck, let alone get her body right. Suddenly, a cool hand touched the back of her neck.

“What are you doing?”

“I thought it would be ticklish.”

“….”

He put her messy hair and lowered it to one side.

“One more piece of advice, I suggest you pretend you’re a little scared. That’s what they want.”

“….”

“If you get hit, it hurts.”

‘Do you really have no intention of killing me…?’

If that was true, it was a relief out of misfortune, although it would still be too early to be reassured. As long as he brought her back alive, he could do anything rather than if she was dead and trembling.

But, she couldn’t fully trust this suspicious man, even more so the employer.

Sienna brought out the words that had been floating around in her mouth from the beginning.

“Are you from the magic tower?”

“….”

…Hands too soft to hold a sword.

Moreover, though it looked light at first glance, the tone and accent were aristocratic.

She continued to think.

How on earth could they break into the castle and escape again? At night, a barrier works around the castle. And, only the magicians of the tower can break it.

‘Besides…’

Sienna was asking, but it was more of a confirmation than her question.

“I got caught.”

‘This is really dangerous.’

He added, then sat down on the floor. His interest in this princess has just soared. Maybe, the story was going to be long.

Sienna continued her words calmly.

“Will magicians leave their own mark when they use magic?”

Like a fingerprint…

She remembered reading such a sentence passing by. Nathaniel’s expression hardened for a moment, but he responded with a smirk again.

“Someday, it will be revealed. The tower won’t have only idiots.”

“….”

“Well, it’s going to take some time since I’ve been playing around with this and that.”

“Playing around?”

“I’m more genius than I look.”

Siena moderately ignored the self-praise and questioned again, “Why would you use that great power for something like this?”

“The pay is very high.”

“The risk is great.”

“I like thrills. I have a bad habit of not putting up with boredom.”

“I don’t think you’ll live long.”

“Haha. I don’t think that’s what the princess would say, but…”

She then groaned at the cheeky sound.

“Liar.”

“Yes?”

“You said you’d saved me.”

“Ah. Let’s move on to the trivial things. Will I want to kill the princess? Unless I am really crazy…”

With those natural words, Sienna was already trying to tell that he was insane from the time she was kidnapped.

Creak.

There was a sound of wood twisting, and the two closed their mouths. The door opened, and the husky-voiced kidnapper reappeared.

“Ah ha ha ha ha!”

The creepy laughter grew closer and closer.

“What about this?”

“It seems that our employer’s source of trouble is not us, but the Princess.”

Desire does not necessarily have to be accompanied by a great story.

‘I want it, so I have it.’

Emmett was a person who took it for granted. He was born with noble status, and he had extraordinary abilities. So, he had no difficulties in the world, and life went smoothly according to his plan.

A life without errors to the point of being boring.

There were times when he wondered what it felt like to lose or fail.

He felt there was nothing he could not have.

However, it was only in an instant that the fortress that had been built up for the rest of his life collapsed. Although he was born with all the good things in the world, he was always thirsty.

The highest position he could hold, not born as the son of the King…

At the moment when his daughter, whom everyone praised for being beautiful, was unable to take place, he was blocked by a wall for the first time in his life.

It was from there, Emmett didn’t stop.

It was very easy for him to separate the Prince and the Princess.

And finally, Pierre was born.

He could never forget that day. The cry of a little baby in my arms, a slightly warm body temperature, and golden hair resembling the King. He could feel the life that had been boring, come alive.

It seemed as if the thirst that had been attached to him for the rest of his life had been relieved.

Until Sienna was born…

After a late lunch, Emmett was watering a rare plant that was only found in the Khan Empire in the garden.

He had long forgotten the name since he only remembered that flowers bloom in the moonlight. Although he was not particularly interested in plants, it was very rare, so he kept them nearby.

Just as he was looking at the white flowers in full bloom, someone knocked on the door.

It was Mersen, the butler of the Ludwig family.

“Your Excellency.”

“Yes, is the Princess awake?”

“Yes. Now…? As originally planned…”

“No.”

Emmett put down the watering can and picked up the scissors beside him. It was obscured by leaves, but one more flower bud was forming.

“I have changed my mind.”

Snip.

The flowers that had not yet bloomed were cut off and fell to the floor.

“One flower in a pot is enough, isn’t it?”

***

Nathaniel screamed in surprise without realizing it.

“This is a different story!”

He had apparently joined in the plan after hearing that they would kidnap the Princess and locked her up for a few days.

His job was to open and close the barrier anyway, so he thought he would get the payment and go straight away. However, why was the sword hanging around the princess’s neck now…!

It was clearly different from the prank he had played a while ago.

When Nathaniel stopped him, the man pushed him away as if annoyed.

“Noisy.”

He poked his ear out and grabbed his sword again.

“Ah, you can just leave. Your job is over.”

“Are you crazy? Have you lost your mind? Do you know who you are trying to kill? She’s the Princess of Stern…!”

“It’s such an honor. When will I get to kill the Royal Family again?”

“Crazy.”

“If you disturb me, I will cut you, too. Get out of the way.”

While the two were arguing, Sienna quietly called out Shushu.

— Things are getting weird…

— After all, human life is really interesting.

— What are you talking about now? I will die soon. Your contractor is dying after getting her life back. I couldn’t die like this!

‘Come on, calm down. Now is not the time to argue with Shushu. Even if you go into the tiger’s den, you can live if you keep your senses.’

Nevertheless, as the blade pierced her neck again, her head turned white.

If he gave it a little bit of force, blood would flow immediately.

She knew that this sword was real. It was completely different from the mischievous wizard’s prank earlier. From the moment she realized that it was Emmett’s work, Sienna barely realized the true nature of the anxiety that had enveloped her body.

‘I will be killed.’

If it were Emmett, she had a strange conviction that whatever the initial plan was, he would definitely choose that.

Because that was the surest way…

‘But, why all of a sudden? I’m not supposed to die yet, why…’

Still, the man continued what he had to say without giving her time to think.

“I’m not doing this because I want to, so don’t be too resentful.”

It was a dry voice without any guilt.

‘That sounds funny. I will be resentful and follow you until you die!’

But, Sienna couldn’t get the words out of her mouth, and she swallowed them back.

‘There must be a way. There must be a way… No!’

She had already heard through Shushu that this place was an empty hut with nothing, and there were forests all around.

‘Forest? Tree…?’

At that moment, Sienna groped the wall and floor with her tied hands.

‘It’s all made of wood.’

Besides, it was spring and the air was dry.

— Shushu. Did you mention there are candlesticks before? How many candles are there in total?

— Three.

She suddenly remembered her first meeting with Shushu.

‘Do you think skinny ones will burn better?”

— Shushu.

— Master, please…

— Burn it out. All of them.

She then uttered firmly and nodded her head once.

— It’s a perfect day to play with fire.

Isn’t it?

This hut was made of huge firewood.

When she realized that, Sienna was overcome with a strange euphoria. In general, burning a house with only three candles is, of course, unreasonable, though Shushu was a great spirit and would succeed.

— Shushu. You can do it.

However, Shushu didn’t seem to like it very much.

— But, if you use too much magic, you may be in danger.

— To die like this way, or die like that way.

— However…

— I trust you. Our Shushu is great.

— Yes, still…

— I can never die alone. I can’t do that. It’s unfair…

On the way to the underworld, wouldn’t it be better to have many companions…?

Eventually, Sienna closed her eyes and focused on the magic flowing through her body.

Shushu always pointed out that she was inefficient, though it was in a crisis situation, so it was something she didn’t know she could use adequately or not.

Miracles often happen to humans who are in a tight spot.

Even though she was just an extra, there was no way she wouldn’t have that kind of luck. With that thought, she bit her lip, earnestly hoping that Shushu, who had chosen her, was not mistaken.

‘You can… You can do it.’

She decided to take at least the one who slapped her on the cheek.

────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

Advanced Chapters!

Rate the novel on Novel Updates.

Join our discord to receive the latest updates as soon as possible!