Chapter 87

— Anonymous Constellation: Didn’t she say she was going to get revenge on her dad?

— Anonymous Constellation: Can’t you see how this is gonna play out? Her, get revenge? It’ll be a miracle if she doesn’t just give him everything he wants.

— Anonymous Constellation: That personality of hers, falling for anyone who’s just a little nice to her, never changes, tsk tsk.

— Anonymous Constellation: Seriously, she’s the perfect type to be taken advantage of. What’s the point of a tough exterior when she’s a total softie on the inside?

‘Ah, right.’

I had made a promise to Astell.

That I would get revenge not only on the emperor, but also on Duke Ruthius and Alex.

I could let Alex slide since I understood his side of things, but Duke Ruthius was a different story.

He was a parent who had abandoned his child.

In my past life, everyone around me, myself included, was an orphan.

No one knew better than I how children abandoned by their parents lived, or how terrible and cruel such parents were.

That was why I could never forgive Duke Ruthius for abandoning Astell, no matter the reason.

But when did I start to forget?

My desire for revenge against Duke Ruthius had faded, and in its place, a strange feeling had begun to sprout.

‘Is this… camaraderie?’

We had fought together, and he had even been injured in my place. I suppose I’d grown fond of him.

But fondness was one thing, and revenge was another.

My intention to get revenge on Duke Ruthius, in one form or another, remained unchanged.

For now, at least.

“You all know backseat driving is banned, right? Keep meddling in my business, and you’ll get the boot.”

I scoffed at the constellations crying, ‘But we’re practically family!’ and left the bedroom.

‘He waited for me to get back? Seriously…’

That was something even Shinwoo, who was closer to me than family, rarely did.

“How cheesy.”

I cleared my throat and headed for the dining room.

For some reason, my steps quickened.

* * *

After having dinner with Duke Ruthius and Alex, I finished my bath.

Zenia had added a whole concoction of things to the bathwater, saying they were hard to come by. Thanks to that, a pleasant fragrance wafted from my body.

“Well then, Princess, please sleep well.”

“Alright.”

The mansion, shrouded in night, was silent. Chirp, chirp. The faint sound of insects echoed in the stillness.

“Tomorrow’s finally the day.”

The grand opening of the Guardian Guild. The key was how many Hunters would show up.

“Don’t tell me not a single person is going to come…”

That would be incredibly embarrassing.

I talked such a big game, but if no one shows up… what would I do then?

“I don’t know. I’ll think of something when the time comes.”

— Anonymous Constellation: Should we help?

— Anonymous Constellation: Just promise us that one thing and it’s a piece of cake.

— Anonymous Constellation: We can totally promote the guild on the forums.

— Anonymous Constellation: We can even go to other channels and tell people to join Guardian.

— Anonymous Constellation: GG?

Were they asking me to beg them to recruit members?

“Don’t even dream of it. If I catch any of you doing that, I’ll ban every last one of you.”

— Anonymous Constellation: Tsk tsk, so much pride.

— Anonymous Constellation: Haha, isn’t that stubbornness, not pride?

— Anonymous Constellation: ??? How is that stubbornness? Our Astell didn’t say anything wrong.

— Anonymous Constellation: Yeah, a Hunter should have that much pride.

— Anonymous Constellation: I’m saying she needs to know when to be prideful and when not to be.

— Anonymous Constellation: And why are you the one to decide that?

“Hey, let’s not fight at night. I’m going to sleep now, so please be quiet.”

I was tossing and turning with anxiety when I finally drifted off.

Thud.

I quietly opened my eyes and waited. A moment later, I heard the sound again.

Thump.

The sound was coming from the wall with the window.

It was getting closer.

Someone was climbing by kicking or touching the wall.

‘Climbing the main mansion’s outer wall in the middle of the night, without any handholds.’

It was a feat impossible for anyone but a highly skilled individual.

‘An assassin? Who’s the target?’

Duke Ruthius’s bedroom was on the third floor, mine was on the fourth, and Alex’s was on the fifth.

The target was one of us three. My back stiffened with tension.

‘Ah, they passed the third floor.’

So at least it wasn’t Duke Ruthius. The tension drained out of me, and a sigh escaped my lips.

“Phew…”

Just then, the sound stopped on my floor, the fourth.

‘It was me?’

Did the emperor send someone again?

How did he expect to handle me with just one assassin?

The man was a remarkably slow learner.

I relaxed my entire body and slowly closed my eyes.

A moment later, I felt a faint, cool breeze.

‘They opened the window.’

The sound of footsteps on the carpet followed. The intruder was heading straight for me.

I breathed slowly, as if in a deep sleep.

Suddenly, the footsteps stopped nearby. The intruder was standing in front of me.

‘What are they doing?’

Just as I was debating whether to open my eyes, I felt a warmth on my cheek. The intruder was gently caressing my face.

‘This crazy bastard…’

I immediately grabbed their arm.

“Ugh!”

I yanked the groaning intruder and threw them onto the bed.

Then I twisted their arm up behind their back, pinning them, and whispered quietly.

“Are you a pervert? If you’re an assassin, just attack like one. Why are you touching a sleeping woman?”

“I wasn’t touching you. I was waking you up.”

That voice…

“Don’t tell me… Your Highness, the Second Prince?”

“Yep. Good evening.”

For a moment, I was so dumbfounded that I couldn’t speak.

“Couldn’t you… visit like a normal person?”

“I had things to do during the day.”

“Then you could have visited tomorrow in the daylight! What was so urgent that you had to climb someone’s wall at this hour? I thought you were an assassin!”

“What was I supposed to do? They said it wouldn’t taste as good after a day.”

“What are you talking about?”

“That.”

He gestured with his eyes toward the table.

On the table next to the sofa sat a box I hadn’t seen before.

“…What is that? Is it a cake?”

“Jean gave it to me.”

“Jean…? Oh! That’s it!”

It was the cake Jean had promised to give me as a gift.

I had been so startled by the magic video that I’d left it behind.

“Are you going to let go of my arm now? I think it’s about to break.”

I quickly released Dante’s arm, which I had twisted behind his back, and stepped away.

Dante, who had just been a crazy intruder, suddenly seemed wonderful.

“Thank you. I was really upset that I left that behind.”

Dante rubbed his sore arm and let out a deep sigh.

“Honestly, if someone doesn’t look after you, you always leave something behind. Do you have a hole in your hand or something?”

“Noona, if I don’t look after you, you always end up losing something. You got a hole in your hand or something?”

Suddenly, Shinwoo’s voice overlapped with Dante’s.

When I fell silent, Dante tilted his head.

“What’s wrong?”

It must have been my imagination. It wasn’t a special phrase; anyone could say it.

“Ah, it’s nothing. But…”

My voice trailed off as I studied Dante’s face, illuminated by the moonlight.

“Have you been drinking? Your face looks a little red.”

“I don’t drink.”

“That’s surprising. You seem like the type to always be drinking. Is there a reason?”

“Because I don’t get drunk, no matter how much I drink.”

“Not even a little?”

“Not even a little.”

Right, there was someone like that in my past life, too. He used to say he’d get full before he could get drunk.

Was his face just appearing red because of the moonlight? I shrugged.

“Is there anything else?”

“Anything else?”

“Well… it’s just strange that you came all this way just to deliver a cake.”

“Because it’s your birthday.”

What was he talking about? Astell was born in the fall.

The slight excitement I’d felt from the unexpected gift fizzled out.

“Your Highness, I don’t know who you’ve confused me with, but today is not my birthday. You came all this way for nothing.”

“…”

I expected Dante to argue brazenly, but for some reason, he was quiet.

“Why aren’t you saying anything? This is ominous.”

“You smell nice.”

“…So what?”

“It’s nice.”

Dante flopped down on my bed, hugged my pillow, and rolled around.

He said he hadn’t had a single drop of alcohol, but he was acting just like a drunkard.

“Are you crazy? What are you doing lying there? Get up! Ah, hurry!”

Dante buried his face in the pillow, took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled.

“Just a little longer.”

“Wow…”

It was truly amazing. How could his perverted actions not be creepy at all?

‘Looks really are everything.’

He lifted his head slightly, his eyes lazily opening to look at me.

“Can I sleep here tonight?”