Translator and Editor: Effe and Nabi

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Chapter 43 – Coda (1)

It was too far-fetched to be a coincidence.

She couldn’t shake the feeling that everything was meticulously woven together as if running towards this ending. Apparently, a strong wind shook the boat, and at that moment, someone pushed Eleanor’s back.

Sienna and Eleanor, the two of them, fell into the water in an instant.

Most of them were still distracted by the splendid fireworks, and some around them were still unaware of what happened in an instant.

“…Uwaa!”

The first to scream was Xeon, who was beside Eleanor.

“Prin, Princess and Miss Watson!”

“Kyaa!”

Xeon, who couldn’t swim, rolled his feet in front of the railing.

The bottom of the deep lake was pitch black.

No one jumped into the lake hastily.

Pierre, who appeared late after receiving a separate report, quickly recognized the situation. He called Eleanor’s name and headed like a madman to the railing.

“Eleanor!”

“Your Highness!”

“Your Highness, no!”

However, it was soon stopped by the knights. The most important thing to them was Pierre’s safety. Ironically, saving the two people from drowning was delayed in order to stop him from struggling.

“Let go! Let me go! Let go!”

Others who noticed the disturbance at the time of Pierre’s riot also gathered at the scene of the incident.

“What’s going on?”

“Looks like someone fell into the water.”

“Oh my God. Who in the world…!”

As the murmur spread like wildfire, two people appeared on the lake.

“Oh my God! That red hair… Princess?”

“Isn’t it Duke Watson’s daughter to be by your side?”

“What is this…”

Sienna was supporting Eleanor, who had lost her consciousness.

“Princess…!”

Arthur and Dandelion, who had come through the dense crowd, shouted.

She stopped the two men from jumping in at any moment.

“I’m fine. More than that, Miss Eleanor.”

She was confident in swimming, though saving others was a different matter. She was already tired, and she felt a sudden loss of strength from my body. Fortunately, someone soon got a rope and hung it on the railing.

One of Pierre’s knights jumped into the lake and raised the stunned Eleanor.

“Princess! Come on!”

Arthur hurriedly grabbed the rope and cried. Sienna swam with a lighter body than before and grabbed the rope.

“I’ll pull it right away.”

It was the moment Arthur and Dan were pulling the rope in sync…

Her whole body stiffened as if paralyzed, and the landscape in front of her lost its shape and began to distort. She tried to put strength in her eyes and her hands, but the strength did not enter.

The surrounding noise gradually subsided with an unfamiliar buzzing sound, and the hand holding the rope slipped a few times and then loosened.

“Sienna…!”

She must have experienced this feeling at some point.

Everything was playing slowly, and it felt like the sensations in her body are gradually disappearing.

‘Ah…’

She remembered.

She felt the same way when she first met her death…

It was terrifying, but there was no sense of reality.

It seemed like she just let it all go. Even in that moment of endless falling, things she hadn’t been able to do before came to mind. When she decided to see Xeon at Dawn, when she decided to go to see the king in the morning, and what she wanted to ask Dan.

‘Dan…’

It was a mind-bending moment.

“Cough, cough!”

She felt a pain in her nose and throat as she inadvertently inhaled her breath. Sienna let out several harsh coughs.

“Sienna!”

Dandelion forgot where he was right now and called her name.

But, only her breathing, her consciousness did not return. Soon after the ship reached the pier on the other side, he took Sienna in his arms and got off the boat.

“Dandelion.”

Jad, who was waiting for Eleanor at the marina, raised a sharp voice in a serious mood.

What was this commotion, and why was Siena so droopy…

“What…”

Jad, who was less aware of the situation, asked, though Dandelion cut him off.

“Jad. I’ll explain later. She’s unconscious. Call a doctor.”

“Why Sienna…”

Dandelion, who had reached the limit of his patience, passed Jad.

His heart was rushing.

It was the first fear he had never felt before. Frightened and terrified, he took hold of her ice-cold body tightly.

“Sir Mackenzie, guide me.”

“Oh, yes!”

It was an accident at the climax of the festival. Gossips grew around the princess, who had lost her consciousness. Even those who could not get on the ship gathered after hearing the news. Jad, who turned around and strode towards the two people who passed by him.

He blocked his path and took turns looking at his old friend.

Sienna and Dandelion were soaking wet. Drops of water were dripping down his chin without stopping.

“Move.”

Dandelion spoke in a patient voice, then turned and tried to walk past, although he was blocked again by Jad.

“She’s still my fiancée.”

“….”

Dan wanted to show his stubbornness. However, his feet did not fall, as if they were stuck to the ground.

As if he noticed the hesitation, there was confidence in Jad’s voice calling out his name.

“Dandelion Mont.”

“….”

“Don’t cross the line.”

“….”

At that, he could not say anything, and in the meantime, the soldiers who heard the news rushed to form a line.

Anyone could have known.

The festival was over.

***

The lights in Pierre’s office did not go out until dawn. He couldn’t sleep all night, and he called out Harley, stroking his rough face.

“What’s the situation?”

“I explained the situation to everyone in attendance and politely guided them outside the castle. The cleanup is almost finished.”

“How’s the reaction?”

“There were some people who were confused, but generally, it was just a bewildered atmosphere. It’s probably not the first time that a princess has collapsed.”

Harley bit his lip and looked into Pierre’s eyes.

As though waiting, the royal escort knights appeared and wrapped Sienna and Jad in order to sort things out.

There was tension on the shores of the lake as the troops were placed in an orderly manner. The nobles who enjoyed the festival followed the guide and left the castle. It was like lightning in the dry sky. There has never been a case where the festival has been stopped in hundreds of years.

“What about Sienna?”

“His Majesty’s attending physician is staying overnight.”

“Is she in critical condition?”

“I’m sorry. The border around the princess Palace has been strengthened, so more details…”

Tap, tap. The fingers that were regularly tapping the desk stopped.

Pierre let out a short sigh and leaned back on his chair.

“Call Xeon. I’ll have to listen to the situation at the time.”

***

It was two nights later when Sienna woke up.

“Princess!”

“…Anna.”

“Are you awake? Are you all right?”

She nodded her head slightly as a reply.

Anna looked at Sienna’s face, which had grown haggard with tearful eyes, and opened her mouth.

“Shall I call the doctor?”

“….”

“Do you have anything you would like to eat?”

“….”

“No. Shall we prepare a bath first?”

“….”

Anna continued to speak, but Sienna’s voice could not be heard.

She only opened her eyes for a moment, and she soon fell asleep again. She spent almost a week in bed sleeping.

After a week, she hadn’t changed much.

Sienna still hadn’t talked unless necessary. Her daily life consisted of taking the medicine prescribed by the doctor and eating a few spoons of clear soup to take the medicine.

There was a subtle tension in the Princess Palace. From kidnapping to collapsing, great things happened one after another. The Princess, who was like a tomboy, had not spoken, did not smile, and skipped meals for several days.

Anna gave them a strong warning, but the words spread quickly.

That the Princess was half out of her mind, or that she almost got poisoned and that Pierre was behind it. That the struggle for the throne had begun in earnest. There were even rumors that it was a self-made play.

In the meantime, the confrontation between Jad and Dandelion was spreading like gossip. It smelled sweet as if she had moved to a flower garden.

Sienna’s room was full of flowers sent to comfort her in her accident.

They came from well-known nobles and her father, Aden.

All of this was surprising, but the most surprising thing was the fact that Aden had visited several times and returned in vain.

Sienna got out of bed in a slow motion and ran out onto the patio, past the flowers that were about to hit her feet. She squinted her eyes for a moment at the intense sunlight, but she didn’t stop walking.

“Sigh.”

The sight as she leaned against the railing and looked down was enough to make her sigh. She had just heard the servants complaining that the surrounding borders had become stricter.

“They’re not exaggerating.”

Unfamiliar knights were all around the garden.

And only Aden, the King, could do this.

Although she should be reassured, that would be right, but Sienna’s breath choked. The garden she cherished was trampled on by boots and ruined, and the peaceful atmosphere of the Princess Palace was precarious as if walking on thin ice.

‘Is it protection or surveillance?

She found it difficult to accept Aden’s favour, which she had received for the first time since her birth.

She leaned against the railing for a moment to get some air, then stretched out. Since she had been staying in bed the whole time and she had a sore throat. It was spring, the day was sunny, and she was recovering enough to walk for a while.

“Shall we go for a walk?”

— Yes!

Shu Shu, who was only in the room at the same time, warmly welcomed it.

Sienna gazed at the short, blunt tail of Shushu and rang the bell. She finally escaped from her pajamas and changed into light outings, served by the decorating maid.

The attendants were happy to see her energized by their painstaking efforts, but Anna still had a worried face.

She asked cautiously as she put the hat on her Sienna.

“Are you really okay?”

“It’ll just be a minute. The room is so stuffy.”

“It must be windy. What if you have a cough?”

“Anna. May is almost half over. It’s summer.”

As she barely finished her makeup and left the room, a hard voice stopped her, “Where do you want to go?”

An unfamiliar face, not Arthur, was standing in front of the door.

“Go back to your room. Your Majesty has told you not to go out for a while.”

“…It’s the first time I see your face.”

“Ah. Princess, His Majesty…”

As Anna was in a hurry to explain, the knight standing by the door cut her words.

“His Majesty has commanded me to escort the princess closely.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

Sienna then opened her mouth again, as cocky as possible, crossing her arms. Of course, she didn’t forget to smile.

“…Then, would you like to introduce yourself?”

“Yes?”

“You’re my new dedicated knight. Shouldn’t I know who the person protecting me is?”

She was sarcastic about the rudeness of standing in front of the Princess without a proper introduction or greeting.

An earthquake occurred in the pupils of the knight who understood the meaning.

“Th, that’s…”

This time she cut him off.

“It looks like you’re not ready yet. I’ll listen to your introduction next time.”

Saying so, she just walked away.

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