Chapter 189

Josephine felt the hairs all over her body stand on end.

“Something has happened to Her Highness the Princess.”

Every clue visible in the room was saying so.

The bed, which should have been neatly made, was in disarray, and all the drawers meant for storing personal belongings were left open.

It looked as though a burglar had come and gone.

“But it can’t be a real burglar.”

It wasn’t just anywhere; it was the Royal Palace, which was under the highest security alert due to a recent terrorist incident. There was no way a petty thief could have broken in.

Unless, perhaps, someone had disguised themselves as a burglar to harm the princess.

As that thought reached her, Josephine brushed a hand across her forehead and let out a lament.

“What on earth happened while I was away… I should never have left Her Highness Estelle’s side.”

Tormented by a wave of self-reproach, Josephine soon placed her hand on the hilt of her sword.

As she did, the boiling blood within her cooled as if by magic, and her mind settled.

“First, calm down and assess the situation. I can’t afford to waste time right now.”

Josephine lit a lamp and walked around the bedroom.

She first examined the open drawers.

Although the items inside were somewhat disordered, the boxes containing valuables were still there.

So it wasn’t a burglary after all.

If the culprit had been after money or valuables, those would have been taken first.

“The next thing that stands out is…”

Josephine turned the lamp toward the window.

That area was particularly messy.

Shards of a broken porcelain vase, a paperweight made of colored glass, and the remains of a shattered chair were scattered about.

“Are these traces of a struggle? Did someone try to break in through the window, and she threw objects to resist…?”

Josephine soon shook her head.

If someone had entered through the window, there would be footprints left on the window frame.

But it was clean.

Just as Josephine opened the window to inspect the outside more closely—

Thud.

Her hand seemed to be blocked by something and could move no farther forward.

Even though there was nothing in the empty air.

Shing!

Sensing something, Josephine drew her sword.

It was the blade she had retrieved when she escaped from prison.

Without hesitation, she brought it down.

Thwoooong!

With a strange reverberation, the blade bounced back.

An invisible wall stood between her and the window.

“It’s magic.”

While operating as part of the Candela Knights, one comes to know many things that ordinary people never need to learn.

Though she had never expected to see such a thing in the princess’s own bedroom.

“A spell that traps a person and prevents them from escaping.”

Criminals who kidnapped important figures or nobles involved in human trafficking often used this kind of magic.

At last, Josephine could understand the situation.

“Her Highness was trapped here and tried to escape. But getting out through the window would have been impossible.”

Josephine slowly walked along the wall, circling the room.

Now she stood before the entrance to the bedroom.

On the thick beechwood door, streaks of blood followed the marks left by fingernails scraping against it.

Just like the window, the door must have been sealed with magic.

But when Josephine had arrived, this door had been open.

What did that mean?

“Either Her Highness succeeded in escaping… or the one who imprisoned her here took her away.”

Reaching that conclusion slightly eased the weight pressing on her shoulders.

Whichever it was, there was a high chance Princess Estelle was still alive.

If the enemy’s goal had simply been assassination, they wouldn’t have gone through the trouble of locking her inside the bedroom like this.

“Who took Her Highness? And where should I go to find her?”

Josephine was deep in thought when—

Step, step.

She heard footsteps echoing through the corridor of Isola Palace.

Quickly, Josephine shut the lid of the lamp to extinguish the light, slipped out of the princess’s bedroom, and concealed herself behind a pillar beside the entrance.

A moment later, a pale figure appeared at the far end of the corridor.

There were two of them, walking through the darkness without even a lamp.

By coincidence, they were heading in Josephine’s direction.

Josephine stilled her presence and waited for them to come closer.

By the time she realized the two visitors were a blindfolded prisoner and a guard leading him, she could also hear their muttered conversation.

“You’re really going to pardon me?”

“Yes. As long as you properly carry out what I tell you to do from now on.”

“That sounds unsettling. What exactly are you going to make me do?”

“Something filthy, dirty…something you’d be better off not knowing.”

“……”

The two men passed by the pillar where Josephine was hiding.

Careful not to be noticed, Josephine slowly circled the pillar and repositioned herself behind them.

She could see the handcuffs binding the prisoner and the dagger held by the guard.

The guard spoke.

“I’ll remove your blindfold and cuffs soon. Then you’ll see a door in front of you. Open it, go inside, and violate the woman in that room.”

“What? What did you just say—”

“Didn’t you hear me? I said violate the woman.”

There was only one room ahead along their path.

Princess Estelle’s bedroom.

For a moment, Josephine nearly burst out with her sword in hand, but she barely managed to restrain herself and keep her composure.

The more information she could extract from their conversation, the better her chances of recovering Princess Estelle.

“Don’t overthink it. There’s just a woman who’s fallen out of favor with the person I serve. We’re simply going to ruin her so she can never act up again.”

“Who is this woman?”

“Do you need to know? Once this is over, you’ll be fleeing to another country anyway.”

“Hey, that’s not what I meant.”

“What, are you worried she might be ugly? Don’t worry. It’s dark….you won’t even see her face. And actually, if anything, she’s quite pretty.”

“I’ve about had it with this—!”

Clank!

As the prisoner turned and lunged at the guard, the chain connected to his handcuffs was pulled taut.

The guard took a step back and thrust out his dagger.

“Hey now, stay still. Want to get stabbed to death?”

“Go ahead and try.”

“You think I can’t? You’re nothing. If you refuse to take this job, I’ll just kill you and bring another prisoner. Think about your cellmates. They’d probably be desperate to take it instead.”

“Scumbags!”

Ptui!

The prisoner spat phlegm onto the ground.

Of course, blindfolded as he was, it landed somewhere else entirely.

Unfortunately, it fell right in front of Josephine’s feet, and she bit her lip to keep from making a sound.

Meanwhile, the guard tried to persuade the prisoner.

“Hey, what’s your problem? It’s not like I asked you to do something difficult. …Don’t tell me it doesn’t stand up? Hmm. That’s an issue I hadn’t considered. It’d be awkward to check myself before bringing you here.”

The prisoner ground his teeth.

“Don’t mock me. I can’t understand how you can do something like this. Forcing a helpless woman to be violated….there are some lines people shouldn’t cross!”

“Hah, look at the righteous hero.”

The guard sneered.

“Don’t act all pure by yourself. You ended up in prison because you did something too, didn’t you?”

“You’re right. But do you know what crime I committed to land in prison?”

“Let’s see. If I remember correctly…murder.”

“Killing my superior.”

“Oh, bold. I’ve buried someone myself, so I get it. Must’ve had quite the temper, huh? But is that really important right now?”

“It is. Do you know why my superior died?”

“No.”

“That bastard tried to violate my friend’s younger sister. Just like you’re ordering me to do now.”

“……”

The guard let out a sigh.

“This won’t do. You’ll just have to die here.”

As he said that, the guard silently raised his dagger.

And Josephine finally stepped out from the shadow of the pillar.

Whoosh!

With a long stride forward, the tip of her sword shot out and slashed across the back of the guard’s hand just as he was about to bring the dagger down.

In the same motion, Josephine kicked the prisoner in the stomach, sending him stumbling far away.

“Argh! Who the hell are you?!”

At some point, the guard had drawn the sword at his waist and now stood facing Josephine.

Since the hand that had held the dagger was injured, he gripped the sword with his left hand.

Ambidextrous, it seemed.

An uncommon swordsman. Even among the Candela Knights, there’s only one who can use both hands.

Though they couldn’t make out each other’s faces in the darkness, Josephine wasn’t particularly bothered.

All she had to do was subdue him and learn his identity afterward.

Josephine was the first to break the standoff.

From right to left, her blade fell in a diagonal arc.

Clang!

Even though she had held back her strength to test him, the opponent parried her strike with ease.

Josephine’s gaze sharpened—

It grew as sharp as her focus.

“Hah!”

After five exchanges in quick succession, a curse burst from her opponent’s lips.

“Damn it, who the hell are you? You’re no ordinary fighter……”

“I should be asking you the same. To deflect every attack in this darkness without missing a single one….impressive.”

It might have been a hasty judgment, but his skill seemed comparable to that of a member of the Candela Knights, an order composed solely of the kingdom’s finest warriors.

And being a member of the Candela Knights meant being one or two steps below Josephine.

“Hup!”

Holding her breath, Josephine twisted her body in an instant.

A large step stretched out through the darkness.

Naturally, such a wide movement produced a noticeable sound, and her opponent reacted to it, taking a defensive stance.

And that was exactly what Josephine had intended.

With a single feint, she forced her enemy’s movement, then calmly extended her sword toward the opponent who had stiffened perfectly for the taking.

Pressing down the tip of his blade with her crossguard, she slid her sword along his and thrust forward.

Crunch!

Sharp steel shattered human ribs and drove deep inside.

“Urk! Grrr……”

The sound of blood gurgling.

He had suffered a wound he would not survive.

She had originally intended to capture him and extract information, but his skill had exceeded her expectations, making it difficult to hold back.

Because she had pierced him nearly up to the crossguard, the distance between Josephine and the man was close.

So Josephine lifted her eyes.

She had recognized his face.

The words that followed struck her like a blow.

“You fucking… Captain?”

“Troy.”

“Why are you here, Captain…….”

The guard who had brought the prisoner to sneak him into Princess Estelle’s bedroom was none other than Troy, a subordinate member of the Candela Knights.