Chapter 1 - The Failed Assassination Attempt

The man's eyes suddenly opened and stared straight at Emmelyn. The girl instantly froze in place with the knife in her hand swinging in the air. Her eyes went round so big.

[This is bad.]

Those golden irises glanced at the knife Emmelyn was holding tightly and halted in midair.

"You want to kill me?" His voice sounded sleepy, making Emmelyn swallow hard. Suddenly, the girl's brain refused to function.

She was caught in the act.

Busted.

[Dammit.] Even though she had made sure that this scummy prince slept soundly by giving triple the dose of sleeping potion in his drink, the devil still woke up in time to dodge her attack.

[Why am I so unlucky?] She cursed inwardly.

[I'm done for.]

In her heart, Emmelyn asked forgiveness from her late parents because she had failed to avenge their deaths.

She had infiltrated the enemy's palace and disguised herself as a male servant to serve this bastard prince every day. She prepared his horse, his clothes, his bath water ... and even his sleeping potion for him.

Tonight, Emmelyn purposely tripled the dose to make her plan work. But she didn't know what happened. Just before she swung the knife ... this bastard woke up.

The handsome man sat in bed and leaned on the headboard. His eyes, which were sleepy before, were now super alert.

"Who ordered you to kill me?" asked the prince with narrowed eyes. "Is it my cousin, Harland?"

Emmelyn refused to answer.

"If you confess and tell me who ordered you to disguise yourself into my castle and act as my personal servant, I won't give you a gruesome death. It will be fast and clean," said the man in a firm voice. "Is it the finance minister, Stephano? Or is it Duke Aelholt?"

[Come on, continue, tell me who else hates you enough to want to kill you,] Emmelyn muttered inwardly.

[Later when I manage to escape from here, I will go to them and ask them to work together to destroy you.]

[Ugh ... but I don't think I'll be able to escape from here.] Emmelyn cried silently.

She knew very well how cruel was the man before her. He would not hesitate to punish anyone who dared to defy him by beheading them or cutting them into four, then displaying the heads of his enemies on the city walls.

Emmelyn's hands grew weak, imagining the terrible fate that awaited her.

The knife slipped out of her grasp and fell to the floor with a clanking sound.

"Hmm ... you refuse to answer ..." the man yawned again. "Then tomorrow you will be beheaded in the square."

"Aaaaahhhhh !!!! Die you! Die... !! DIEEEEE!!!!" Suddenly, Emmelyn's brain went back to work when she heard the words 'beheaded in the square'.

Reflexively, she picked up the knife from the floor and immediately attacked the man blindly.

It would be better for her to die now, here, while trying to kill her mortal enemy, than to be beheaded as a lowly servant in the square.

At least, before she died, she would be able to graze the man's body and shed his blood.

[Just like how his army had shed my family's blood…]

The man frowned for a moment as he realized this stupid little servant was once again trying to kill him. He swiftly jumped out of bed, and grappled with Emmelyn to grab the knife.

Not long after, he managed to ward off the knife from his attacker's hand and twisted the servant's arm behind her back.

"Aaaahhhh ... !!!" Emmelyn tried not to make a sound, to face her death valiantly. However, her stupid mouth had screamed, unable to take the pain from her twisted arm.

"You little servant, it will take years of training before you can kill me ..." the man grumbled. He turned Emmelyn's body and let go of his twist from her arm and got ready to grab the girl's neck ...

Somehow… his hand stopped in midair, and he didn't touch her neck. He stepped back a little to see her better.

His golden irises narrowed, then widened, and then narrowed again. He then lowered his hand and walked toward Emmelyn with a look full of curiosity. He was like a cat seeing a new toy and was wondering what that thing was.

Emmelyn was stunned. She did not understand what this enemy of hers was doing.

"Uhm .. what are you doing?" asked the girl finally. The atmosphere suddenly became awkward.

The man studied her carefully. He looked at every corner of her face, then down to her neck, and then to her hair that fell down her shoulders.

[What's wrong with my neck?] thought Emmelyn, confused.

She quickly grabbed the hem of her clothes and covered her neck. She looked disheveled as a result of them fighting over the knife earlier. Did this guy have a fetish that involved other men's necks?

"You're ... a girl?!" Suddenly, the man let out a question that sounded more like a statement.

Shit!

Emmelyn just realized that she did not have Adam's apple like other men. Her cover was exposed. [Stupid neck!]

Everyone knew how much the crown prince of the Draec Kingdom hated women. That's why he was always surrounded by male servants and staff only.

Emmelyn disguised herself as a male servant for that reason. If the prince didn't hate women, Emmelyn would have disguised herself as a seductress to approach the prince and kill him.

Now, her cover was exposed. Beheading in the square awaited her.

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From the author:

Welcome to my new book. I hope you'll enjoy Emmelyn's journey as she tried to avenge her family's deaths and got entangled with the enemy who only wanted her to give him three heirs.