The Prince in the Garden

The carriage that had passed through the spatial gate settled onto soft, level ground before long.

From the Grand Duchy's northern territories to the imperial capital, it was a distance that would take a full fortnight of relentless travel by carriage.

But thanks to the imperial family's private gate—which devoured expensive mana stones with every use—we had made it in a fraction of the time.

The sun had already set completely. Beyond the rattling carriage window, the palace's colossal spires glittered under the moonlight.

So that's the imperial palace……

With my face pressed against the cold glass, I gazed out at the scenery. Before long, the Grand Duchy's knights escorting the carriage came into view.

This was the road leading into the heart of the empire, the imperial palace itself—yet there wasn't a trace of excitement on the Grand Duchy knights' faces, nothing like men invited to a banquet.

Black cloaks, silver armor, the steady rhythm of hoofbeats like a beating heart, and the stone-hard faces of knights staring straight ahead without the slightest waver.

Even at a glance, they radiated grim resolve—men bound not for a banquet hall, but for a blood-soaked battlefield.

Well, to the Grand Duchy's people, the palace might as well be a battlefield.

My gaze drifted to Varkan, seated across from me. Every time the lights outside the window swept past, deep shadows fell across and vanished from the Grand Duke's sharp jawline.

Whether the carriage had been jolting over rough mountain roads or sliding across treacherous snow, he had read his documents from start to finish without pause.

As if he had erased my very existence from his field of vision—oblivious to the fact that he'd been thrown into the flow of a tragic original story.

Watching that careless, frost-cold face left an uncomfortable weight sinking into a corner of my chest.

He doesn't know, does he.

That the place he would breathe his last breath was that very palace.

I swallowed a sigh and turned my eyes back to the window. Before long, the carriage arrived at the imperial palace.

By the time we reached the palace, midnight was drawing near. The carriage glided smoothly to a stop before a magnificent guest palace.

Because the hour was so late, our audience with the Emperor was postponed until the following morning. We were escorted instead to the detached palace, a short distance from the main residence.

"Wow."

The moment I stepped into my assigned bedchamber, admiration poured out of me.

A massive crystal chandelier, as though an entire night sky of stars had been set into the ceiling, blazed with dazzling light, while the floor was carpeted in the finest weave. Radiant gold-leaf patterns embroidered across the walls, rare crafted ornaments gracing the mantelpiece—

And this wasn't even the main palace where royalty resided. The luxury was beyond imagination.

Celine clapped a hand over her mouth and let out a small gasp.

"Goodness."

Even to a child's eyes, this opulent bedchamber was apparently impressive.

Tracing the delicate gold inlay carved into the bedposts with my fingertip, I murmured under my breath.

"They've really slapped their money around for everyone to see."

Looking around this splendid chamber, I was reminded anew that the Grand Duchy's circumstances had never been particularly comfortable.

At the time I had nothing to compare it to, so I'd thought my room in the duchy was quite fine.

The Grand Duke's estate did have its own antique charm, distinct from the palace's splendor. It was well maintained by seasoned servants, and its long history gave it an air of dignity.

Its furnishings, however—aside from the potted plants, a few statues, and several paintings lining the corridors—were nearly nonexistent. What furniture there was had grown old, and even the curtains and tableware leaned toward practicality rather than luxury.

Compared to the palace, it was worn and rough-hewn.

Come to think of it, the way Varkan dressed was similarly far removed from extravagance.

Perching on the plush mattress, I tilted my head.

Grand Duke's family or not, are they struggling more than I thought?

The original novel had never gone into detail about the Grand Duchy's finances.

Granted, I might simply have forgotten—but at least in my memory, nothing of the sort appeared. Yet with only a little thought, I could tell something was off.

The Grand Duchy's knights marched to the northern front day after day without a single day of rest, hunting down monsters. The pelts, monster cores, horns, claws, and the many other byproducts they harvested were precious crafting materials that sold for high prices anywhere on the continent.

They slaughtered monsters without pause—so why was the North's treasury so barren?

And as the Empire's shield, they should be receiving a tidy stipend from the royal family too……

Was money quietly leaking out somewhere?

That was when it happened.

"My lady!"

Celine came over, holding out the nightgown she'd prepared.

"You must sleep early tonight. You have to be up early tomorrow morning."

She laid out tomorrow's schedule in full, insisting that only by rising early and getting ready could I avoid being late to dine with the imperial family.

"Absolutely no big yawns! And don't you dare pick something up off the floor and eat it like you did at the duchy! And above all, tearing leaves off the palace's potted plants and eating them is completely forbidden! Do you understand?!"

Celine's nagging, brimming with worry, carried on for quite a while.

I gave a small laugh and changed into my nightclothes.

"I know, I know. My Celine, who did you take after, being so sharp?"

"I take after you, my lady."

"I see. So that's why your nagging always feels like getting scolded by Mom."

When I stroked Celine's round little head, she grinned brightly. "Hehe."

Once I'd changed, I burrowed under the covers. Celine pulled the blanket up to my chin and said,

"Good night, my lady!"

"Good night, Celine."

With one cheek pressed into the soft pillow, I quietly closed my eyes.

It was my first night at the imperial palace.

The next morning.

Creeeak.

The instant I woke, I opened the bedside table drawer—just in case. There sat the potion bottle.

The draught that kept Helbine at bay.

Hmm. I rolled my eyes around.

Apparently one of the servants or knights who came along from the duchy is a watcher the Guild planted.

Or had a spy embedded in the palace delivered it here instead?

These people's reach is incredible.

Fiddling with the bottle for a moment, I hastily tipped the potion into my mouth before Helbine could stir awake.

I'll hunt down whoever's watching me from the duchy—or spying—when I get back.

Starting today, I would be living in the imperial palace for a week.

Please, let everything go smoothly, without a single hiccup……

Before long, Celine came to my chamber. Despite her young age, her hands moved with practiced skill as she began to prepare me for the day.

"Ah, my lady! I told you not to touch your hair ornament!"

She had seated me before the vanity and now rose up on tiptoe, fussing over my hairpiece all over again.

"It's heavy, Celine."

"You'll have to bear it for a while. Of course, our lady would be beautiful without a single one of these decorations—but I want them all to see. How beautiful our lady truly is!"

……

Right. Have it your way.

For some reason, I let Celine—positively blazing with enthusiasm—have her way with me.

While Celine worked through my hair, one of the Grand Duchy's servants who had followed us to the palace entered carrying a dress.

Hm? Who is that? She looks familiar.

Then a voice surfaced in my memory.

"Princess, my foot. Abandoned by her kingdom, and even His Grace can't stand the sight of her—that's why she never sets foot in the duchy."

Ah. The maid from back then.

No wonder she seemed so overly wary of me—she was one of the maids who'd been muttering about bringing me a mop or whatever when Varkan first ordered her to attend me.

Ena, was it?

I flashed a smile at the maid.

"It's been a while, hasn't it, Ena?"

"Ah—yes……, my lady."

I couldn't tell whether she'd been disciplined since then, but it was clear my greeting was unwelcome.

Still, the fact that she'd been brought all the way to the palace and posted at my side despite all that could well be considered a form of punishment itself.

Even as she laid down the dress, Ena couldn't hold my gaze. Watching the peculiar caution in her fingertips, I could roughly guess how Rayna, the head maid, had trained this girl.

Whew. Our head maid is terrifying.

Head maid indeed, I thought, nodding to myself as I changed into the dress.

It was a full, flowing gown suffused with a soft blue glow, its elegance emphasized by silver embroidery along the bodice and cuffs.

Celine's instruction continued uninterrupted as I finished dressing and put on my accessories.

"You must not speak first unless His Majesty the Emperor addresses you."

"Mm."

"You must show proper courtesy to His Highness the Crown Prince and all the other members of the imperial family."

"Mm."

"You must not climb onto the window sills!"

"Mm."

"And you must not snatch the mops from the servants who pass through the palace corridors!"

"Celine, what do you take me for? Why would I steal the palace servants' mops?"

"Well, because you're you, my lady?"

……

With a record like mine, I couldn't exactly open my mouth to argue.

Finally, easing long gloves up past my elbows, Celine added gently,

"But please don't worry too much. You came here as a symbol of peace, my lady. His benevolent Majesty will surely overlook a small mistake or two."

At Celine's words, I tilted my head to one side.

His benevolent Majesty, is it.

I snorted inwardly.

Fortunately, it was Varkan alone who went to pay the morning's respects to that benevolent Emperor. Thanks to that, I had a brief window of rest until the luncheon. While Celine and Ena tidied the disheveled room, I headed for the garden adjoining my assigned bedchamber.

It was a private garden attached to the guest palace, so at every entrance, the Grand Duchy's knights stood their formal watch. I gave them a vague hand gesture promising to keep my stroll within sight, then stepped into the garden.

The air itself felt different from the gardens of the North.

Unlike the duchy's grounds, frozen solid all year round, every variety of rare flower bloomed here in a riot of color. It was as if the season of spring had been plucked whole and transplanted into this place.

Red and blue petals caught the morning sun and sparkled like jewels, and a pleasant sweetness of blossoms gently tickled the tip of my nose.

But in the end, I still preferred the bitter, rough scent of nameless herbs and poisonous weeds—trampled underfoot and growing anyway—to this deliberately cultivated, sweet and cozy fragrance.

Then, suddenly, my eyes fell upon a particular flowering tree, and they went wide.

"Huh? What's that? What's that doing here……?!"

It was a plum blossom tree.

Plum blossoms were a tree of the Eastern continent—rare in the Western continent. No, not just rare. Impossible to find at all.

Only then did I understand what had felt so off about the guest palace's garden.

It's true—the atmosphere here really is different from the Western-style gardens I've always known.

And not just the plum tree. Plants that could never grow in the West were scattered here and there, lending the garden an exotic air.

I'd have to look more closely to be sure, but there was a good chance the other flowers and trees had come from the Eastern continent as well.

That was when it happened.

"That flowering tree is a plum blossom, brought with great difficulty from the Eastern continent."

An unfamiliar voice sailed in from behind me. Feeling a stab of foreboding, I turned around slowly.

And there they were—eyes like finely cut rubies, gazing straight at me.

Damn it.

I recognized the man at a glance and swore quietly under my breath.

Sunlit golden hair, straight and striking features, and a grace and warm smile that seemed bred into his very bones.

Crown Prince of the Castillo Empire—and the male lead of this novel. Caine.

The protagonist of this world had appeared right before my eyes.