CH 13

(Eve’s POV)

In fact, I already knew that the Empress would never allow me to attend the Ball.

Still, she must have been so disappointed because I didn’t get much embarrassment today, contrary to what she had expected.

In addition to that, she must have already heard the story about my donations to the temple, which made her even more angry.

It’s not that surprising because I already expected her to at least be in rage, that’s the reason why I sent out the maid at this hour so that I would be rejected right away.

“Okay, well done.”

I dried out my hair without much thought and when I stood up, that’s when I saw the maids with their heads bow down and trembling.

All of them are shaking and pale due to fear.

They must have thought that I would be angry and smash some things inside my room.

“Don’t worry, I’m not angry.”

I walked past the frightened maids and made my way to the bedroom.

“I don’t even have the energy to be angry. I’m so tired after coming back from the temple. I just want to rest early today.”

At my words, the maids all sighed in relief.

“Shall I bring you some refreshments then?”

“No, I should go to bed now.””

I got to let the maids bite on the pretext of me being tired and that I went to bed earlier today.

The maids said that they would stand on watch, but I don’t need it today, so I chased everyone out for me to rest.

Please do not repost our translation. Read only at Pink Muffin Translations.

When it was already dark, the surroundings became as quiet as if there was a dead person inside.

I sat alone in my bedroom and waited for time to pass by.

After a while, I checked the clock, and it was already past 10:30.

‘It’s time.’

I quietly opened the door and entered the dressing room.

Passing through the furniture and clothes boxes hidden in darkness, I opened the wardrobe on the wall.

Dozens of dresses hung in this large closet.

Among them, I picked up the most plain and simple navy blue dress for my get away.

To avoid people’s eyes, a simple attire is required. If possible, dark color is needed since that’s the most inconspicuous.

I changed into a plain navy blue dress, wore a robe over it, and a deep hood to hide my hair.

Thanks to this, I was able to completely hide my unusual red blonde hair.

After preparing everything, I carefully opened the door and went out.

The halls of the palace were quiet and dark.

I walked towards the nearest chapel.

The location and geography of the surroundings were known in advance after I regressed and started living here. In the beginning, I went to the chapel every night so that I could memorize the road.

Fortunately, no one was passing by in the hallway.

I opened the small iron door leading to the chapel and went inside.

The unlit chapel was shrouded in still darkness. The splendid golden torch painted on the ceiling also disappeared into the darkness and was nowhere to be seen.

The pure white moonlight shone through the glass window, scattering mysterious silver on the marble floor.

The statues under the moonlight stood with their backs producing dark shadows.

The chapel was empty.

‘Is no one here?’

I looked around the dimly lit wall to find the Grand Duke. However, there was no human figure to be seen anywhere.

‘Is he not here yet?’

I was so nervous that my stomach churned.

As I waited inside the dark chapel, my mind was filled with anxious thoughts.

‘What if he doesn’t come at all?’

He may not believe me and just completely ignore the letter.

Since he hated me so much, that may be the reason why it would be hard for him to believe me.

‘Or…. Would it be possible that he didn’t see the note at all and just threw the flowers right away?’

Since the note was placed inside one of the buds, I wrote a request to meet him at this time, along with information that the Grand Duke would find interesting.

Please do not repost our translation. Read only at Pink Muffin Translations.

I couldn’t write the full details. Because it was too complicated and too long to explain everything in a small note.

‘Did he see the note?’

When he received the bouquet, I think that he noticed something was strange.

‘Or maybe he just didn’t believe me?’

From the Grand Duke’s point of view, I’m still the daughter of his archenemy, the Emperor.

That’s why it’s risky on his part to meet me, even after seeing the words that were written on such a small note.

Maybe he thought it was better to just ignore it.

It was a plan that was unlikely to succeed from the start, but there was no other way for me than this.

‘What if he doesn’t really plan on going?’

‘Would it be better for me to attend the Duchess’s ball and try to convince him again?’

As I was pondering over my anxiety, I suddenly heard a low voice from the wall.

“Princess.”

I was startled and turned around.

The Grand Duke stood next to the gray pillars that were supporting the ceiling.

“You said that you had something urgent to tell me….” 

Then he slowly approached me.

Purple eyes flashed coolly in the dark.

“I want to hear about what you want to talk about.”

-ˏˋ ━━━━━━ ʚɞ ━━━━━━ ˊˎ-

(Eve’s POV)

The man who was walking out of the darkness gave a terrifyingly dangerous impression.

“I would like to thank you for coming, Your Grace.”

I expressed my gratitude in a very cautious tone.

The Grand Duke then replied calmly.

“I came here first.”

“What?”

When I asked back foolishly, the Grand Duke pointed to the wall clock on one side of the chapel with his chin.

“It’s already past 11 o’clock.”

The minute hand of the clock was tilted to the side by about two centimeters.

‘Did he mean to say that I was 2 minutes late?’

It was shocking yet embarrassing.

I definitely arrived 2 minutes in advance.

It’s just that the greeting was delayed because he was standing there without showing his presence.

Of course, I could guess why he was quietly hiding from the wall.

Maybe he was trying to check if I would be bringing another person with me.

“Forgive me for being late. It took me a while for me to avoid people’s attention.”

The Grand Duke ignored my words and answered calmly.

“It’s okay, I didn’t wait that long.”

“….”

He’s definitely a very hard person to please.

Still, working with this man is the most important thing as of right now. My life depends on it.

“I asked you to meet with me as i bring news that would definitely be beneficial to you”

I started talking as politely as possible, but no response came from him.

I hesitated a little and continued with my words.

“You will be very surprised when you hear what I’m about to say.”

Please do not repost our translation. Read only at Pink Muffin Translations.

“Don’t worry, I came here just right after receiving your note with such tremendous content on it, and I would definitely be angry if this would not be surprising.”

The Grand Duke pulled out a small note from his pocket.

It was the note that I had hidden among the petals.

[That sword was kept inside the scabbard of the West Garden Goddess Statue.]

The Grand Duke smiled as he recounted the contents of the note.

“I didn’t know that the Princess would have any information about the lost relic.”

The lost relic.

He was referring to the “Sword of Ryuken”, which is one of the five sacred objects of the empire.

The sword was originally a heirloom to the family of the Grand Duke. But it was stolen and disappeared several decades ago.

The Grand Duke was so ashamed of it and had been searching for the relic for decades, but still could not find any clue at all.

But I know where the sword is.

Because it appeared in the second half of the original story.

The blade and the sheath were in different places, but the sheath was hidden inside the Grand Duke’s mansion.

In the garden of the Duchy, there was a statue of a goddess who was carrying a sword, and the real sword of the Ryuken was hidden in the stone sheath that was worn around the waist of the goddess.

It looks like he has already found it and checked it.

‘Well if he hadn’t confirmed it, then he definitely wouldn’t have come to see me.’

He may be grateful that I helped him find a part of their heirloom, but the Grand Duke did not seem to be grateful or pleased even in the slightest.

He crumpled the small piece of paper in his hand and came closer to me.

“I am very curious about how the princess knew about this.”

“You want to know how I knew about this?”

I said in a slightly surprised tone.

“I thought you would be curious about the whereabouts of the sword and the sheath.”

“Do you know where it is?”

“Of course.”

The black blade, handle, and the sheath, which are the heirloom of the Grand Duke, have been disassembled and hidden in three different places.

The book describes the locations of the three places in great detail.

The person who found the sword was the Female Protagonist, Sorel.

“I’ll find it for you if you want. It’s a very important matter to His Grace, isn’t it?”

While saying this, I carefully observed the expression of the person in front of me.

Anyone from the Grand Duke’s family must have been shaken after hearing this information from me.

However, the Grand Duke maintained a calm complexion without much reaction.

There were no changes in his terrifyingly handsome face, but a faint anger was revealed in his purple eyes.

“What do you want?”

The Grand Duke immediately brought up the subject.

I took a deep breath and moved one step forward. And stated what I really wanted from the start.

“I want you to help me, because you’re the only one who can do that.”

The Grand Duke just looked at me silently.

I continued to talk nervously.

“Someone is going to assassinate me on the day of our wedding.”

“Really?”

The Grand Duke replied in a calm tone.

“It’s not that surprising. I don’t know who it is, but it’s quite a cynical plan”

“Do you think I’m joking?”

“Who in the Empire would try to assassinate the Emperor’s daughter?”

The Grand Duke laughed a little and added in an arrogant tone.

“How dare they do that towards my fiancee?”

A smile hung over his beautiful face, one with a dangerous glint in it.