Chapter 7
The emperor gripped the gold-adorned doorknob of the bedchamber and took a deep breath.
Don’t come, Patrick. I’ll keep the princess by my side, for life.
The emperor handed the key to the butler.
“Move the princess to a guest room, No.”
He ran a rough hand through his black hair, which had fallen over his forehead.
“Leave her there. Just untie her hands and replace the ankle restraints with leather straps. Treat her with dignity, but don’t ever let your guard down. She’ll be looking for a chance to escape.”
After the emperor finished his meal, the butler set down Earl Grey tea and a sugar bowl.
“Give three gold bars to Ryutist.”
“Your Majesty, the blind old woman left the castle gates last night.”
“She couldn’t have gone far. Find her. Let her stay in the castle.”
“As you command.”
The emperor usually added one sugar cube to his tea before it cooled. But this time, he placed the sugar cube directly in his mouth instead of dropping it into the teacup. The coarse texture touched the tip of his tongue, and it was sweet.
Sweet—very. And smooth like water, those lips were.
Ha… Insane.
As he left the dining room, he saw two maids holding up a pair of men’s trousers and a shirt, laughing. They were the same maids who had attended the princess yesterday.
“What’s that?”
The maids gave a flustered bow, just like yesterday, and replied that it was the clothes of the princess of Tane.
Trying to escape in men’s clothes?
“Burn them.”
Then the emperor ordered the butler to contact the capital and prepare ladies’ dresses and necessities.
“The capital, sire? That will take quite some time…”
“Make sure it’s a sufficient amount.”
“As you command.”
The emperor planned to come up with a pretext to keep the princess detained.
The war-mad Emperor Kazan had, after conquering the kingdoms of the Arkan continent one by one, taken the queens and princesses he fancied as bedchamber slaves.
When Kazan crossed Tane’s border leading his army, King Valentin of the Torun Kingdom greeted him with Princess Aldisha, rumored to be the most beautiful woman on the continent.
In the border duke’s castle, they arranged a royal marriage. In doing so, King Valentin preserved his kingdom through that union.
It was a famous tale from the war chronicles of the Arkan continent.
He had always thought of it as a thing of the distant past, yet now it was unfolding right before his eyes. The twin daughter of that beautiful princess.
Patricia.
The emperor spoke the name aloud and pressed his lips with his index finger.
Kalip stood waiting, the warhorse Khan ready and saddled.
“Any movement from their side overnight?”
“All’s quiet, sire. From what we’ve assessed, about three companies seem to have moved.”
“And they dared invade with fewer than a thousand soldiers?”
“The southern Red Forest of Panaho, the site of the initial skirmish, has not yet been accessed. The areas investigated were the northern part of Panaho and the entrance to Mount Victoire, which were the second and third battlefields.”
Kalip handed over a report listing the number of Tane soldiers killed, as well as the casualties and injuries sustained by Karsik’s forces.
“More than fifty Tane soldiers are confirmed dead.”
“There are likely more casualties near the Red Forest.”
“What about the prisoner we released yesterday?”
“He passed through the Red Forest and crossed the border around 10 p.m.”
“They sent the hidden shadow princess into enemy territory? When both the crown prince and the second prince are still alive? A second wave of forces will come, not a negotiation. Prepare. Capture Kazan’s emperor, the crown prince, or the second prince, whichever comes.”
“Understood.”
“Have the imperial guards captured at Tamil Valley been interrogated?”
“Yes. They believed their commander to be Crown Prince Patrick.”
“What about the deputy commander of Tane?”
“He’s confirmed to be stationed at the Red Forest encampment.”
“All right. Let’s go.”
At the castle gates, the emperor was about to spur his horse forward but stopped and turned back. From where he stood, he could see the window of his bedchamber. The curtains were still drawn.
So peaceful, princess. And so full of sleep.
“Open the gate. His Majesty the Emperor and the warhorse Khan are departing.”
“Harzen, Harzen, Harzen, Harzen!”
The soldiers guarding the gate chanted ‘Harzen’ as they lowered the black chains and opened the castle gate.
The emperor spurred his black warhorse, Khan. Khan reared on his hind legs, then galloped forward, his glossy black mane flying.
*
Harzen, Harzen, Harzen!
Harzen? Patricia, half-asleep, mistook the chant for a familiar song and began to hum along. Then suddenly, her eyes flew open.
“…Harzen!”
As she sat up, the chain on her wrist clinked.
‘Ah, this is…!’
She had been taken to the enemy emperor’s bedchamber.
Patricia berated herself for falling soundly asleep on the plush bed after ten days of dozing off in the military barracks.
‘How could I… with death looming… Patrick!’
“Princess of Tane, are you awake?”
The two maids who had been standing at the foot of the bed approached her bedside.
One of them helped Patricia sit up and placed a large cushion behind her back. Her arm felt stiff from being restrained to the bedpost.
When the other maid pulled a bell cord, the butler entered. He unlocked the handcuffs with a key.
Patricia assumed they would also untie her ankles, but when she saw them being replaced with leather straps instead, she sat up straighter.
“What are you doing?”
“His Majesty has ordered the chains be replaced with leather.”
“Please request an audience with His Majesty.”
“His Majesty departed for the battlefield early this morning.”
How unfortunate. It was a relief that the emperor was gone, but the thought of having to spend the day bound was disheartening.
“We’ll bring your meal shortly.”
After the butler left, Patricia rose from the bed. Fortunately, the leather strap around her ankles was long enough to allow movement. She tested the range by walking around the room.
She could pass through the dressing room to the bathroom and return to the bedroom, even reaching the drawing room window.
The only exits to the outside were the windows in the bathroom, bedroom, and drawing room.
Patricia went to the window and opened it.
From what she had observed yesterday, the room was located on the third floor, southeast side. From the window, she had a clear view of the castle gate. From the outside, the window faced the 8 o’clock direction.
She leaned closer to the window and examined the castle walls.
Two soldiers stood at each turret, and the moat appeared to be just over ten meters wide.
Since there was talk of a snake that had swallowed poison in the underground dungeon, there was a good chance venomous snakes had been released into the moat as well. The castle wall seemed to be one or two meters taller than the width of the moat.
The wall, built from uniformly cut square stones with its gaps tightly filled with shining quartz, glittered under the sunlight. Black iron spikes were embedded along the top edge of the rampart.
At a distance from the wall stood ornamental yew trees, upright like green cones.
Patricia scrutinized the fortified and resplendent castle wall, fitting for the golden empire of Karsik, with a sharp, discerning eye.
‘Perfectly trapped.’
There were four soldiers at the front gate, but in the clearing nearby, at least fifty more soldiers were practicing sword drills with wooden swords.
‘Patrick said the emperor of Karsik, Harzen, had no intention of war. Then why so many troops? Ah… Patrick.’
At the thought of Patrick, unease welled up inside her. But there was nothing she could do right now.
Patricia slowly ate the meal the maid had brought, savoring each bite. She remembered how, at the western tower of the detached palace, after her mother’s passing, Eva would select light, low-calorie dishes for her, and so she ate her fill.
After finishing the sliced fruit and apple pie, Patricia asked the maid if they weren’t supposed to prepare some comfortable clothes for her. The maid hesitated before answering.
“His Majesty ordered the clothes to be discarded. He instructed us to have you wear his shirt instead.”
“When did your sovereign say he’d return?”
“He gave no word, milady.”
After finishing her meal, Patricia examined the spines of the books on the emperor’s bookshelf in the drawing room. She pulled out a few, flipped through them, and returned them to their places.
She sat at the mahogany desk, picked up various quill pens, dipped them into the ink in a bronze pot, and tested them on scrap paper.
She began sketching on the paper, carefully drawing the castle wall, ramparts, gate, moat, and trees. At the 4 o’clock direction from inside the castle, she marked a small arrow at the yew tree.
The maids sat silently side by side on chairs near the drawing room door, quietly watching Patricia.
It was only natural to observe every move of a high-profile prisoner from an enemy nation.
One of the maids, looking uneasy as Patricia casually sat at the emperor’s desk, flipping through things and doodling with his pens, eventually stood up.
She approached Patricia and peeked at the drawing, then left the drawing room to report to the butler.
“She’s been taking out books from the shelf and now she’s drawing at the desk.”
“Well, she’s likely just bored. There are no important documents in there. Even if there were, they’d be locked in the cabinet drawers.”
“She hasn’t opened the desk drawers.”
“Just keep watching her.”
“Yes, sir.”
Patricia dozed off and woke intermittently as she sat leaning on the window frame, gazing up at the sky. Then she turned her head toward the drawing room.
“Are you from Hunjok?” (a lower-ranking noble family)
When the maids confirmed that they were, Patricia told them not to just sit there idly out of boredom and suggested they bring something to do.
The maids exchanged glances and whispered. One of them left, while the other approached Patricia, who was perched on the window ledge.
Patricia shifted away from the window frame and leaned her body further out the window.
‘…Brie! Eden must’ve sent her. Yes… it’s possible!’
Her pulse quickened with excitement upon spotting Brie, the white eagle she had trained herself.
“Princess, it’s dangerous. Please step back.”
“Come here. Do you see that bird?”
The maid stepped closer to the window.
“Yes, it’s quite large.”
“It’s a white eagle. But why is its beak yellow?”
“I didn’t even know it was an eagle, let alone that its beak was yellow.”
“Do you think you could get a little chicken or turkey meat from the kitchen?”
“You’re going to feed the eagle?”
“Yeah, I might try that.”
“Will it come down?”
“Well, let’s try luring it. I’m bored anyway.”
“Princess, when Jane arrives, I’ll go down to the kitchen.”
Before long, a maid named Jane entered carrying a basket filled with fabric, thread, and sewing materials. Lian told Jane she was going to the kitchen and gave her a discreet glance before leaving.
Patricia kept her gaze on the eagle gliding leisurely across the sky as she quickly scribbled a note on the back of the paper where she had drawn the castle walls. She folded the paper vertically into a narrow strip and then rolled it up.
Lian placed the piece of smoked chicken she had brought on the window ledge. The eagle soared with its wide wings spread gracefully, but perhaps it didn’t catch the scent of the meat, it didn’t come down.
“Don’t Hunjok usually handle birds?”
“Mostly the men do. I think they used to make this sound while doing it.”
Jane placed her thumb and index finger on her lower lip and whistled.
Fweee.
The sound came out, but it was faint. Lian and Patricia tried mimicking Jane a few times, but in the end, only the sound of air came out instead of a proper whistle.
Fweee, fweee.
