Prince 47

#47

When I opened my eyes, everything was pitch dark.

I knew it would soon be morning from the sound of birds chirping, and I calmed myself as I looked around. The sky was slowly turning a dark shade of blue, signaling that dawn was approaching.

In the dim light, I barely made out the red hair of the princess just within reach. Disrespectfully, I tugged at her hem and shook it, waking her up. She blinked her eyes sleepily and soon scanned her surroundings with a now sharp gaze, curling her fingers one by one.

One, two, three, four…

The princess’s lips moved slightly. Yes, even in such a situation, Princess Edwina, ever the leader, began by counting to make sure everyone was present.

One, two, three, four…

Again.

One, two, three, four…

Her fingers began to tremble.

All ten fingers curled and uncurled repeatedly. 

As meticulous as our princess was, it was strange that she kept counting over and over again.

Just then, someone next to me suddenly raised their head and stood up.

“Ah…”

It was Tilbert, the one whose tongue had been cut out. He had been left behind but somehow ended up with us on our way to Winterton. Though startled at first, I was soon relieved. If he had stayed there, I doubted he would have survived.

And then I felt even more at ease. The reason the princess kept counting, I thought, must be because she was confused by Tilbert’s presence.

I hurriedly pushed aside the bushes and stood up, thinking I must inform Princess Edwina of this at once. The rustling sound seemed to wake someone slumped over, and a maid slowly raised her head.

I looked at her face and couldn’t scream, though I tried.

It was Remi. Yes, the same Remi who had been executed by beheading in the detached palace five years ago under the orders of the mad emperor, for imitating the princess.

The twilight blue was fading, and the sky brightened. The yellowish glow from the east touched Remi’s pale face.

Her face was blurry, like a watercolor painting, with small and delicate features. It was unmistakably the Remi I had known.

Before I could scream or confront her, my heart pounded uncontrollably, and I collapsed. As I sat there, clutching my chest, others who had been lying on the ground began to raise their heads one by one.

Next to me, Dylan, the servant who had died two years ago after his leg became infected from a small wound, lifted his head. Albior, who had been imprisoned for angering the mad emperor and never returned, was there too. There was also Lenny, the servant who had spoken in a southern dialect so much that he sounded just like our Prince Reiner. And Emilia, who had been executed alongside Remi, also appeared.

All the dead were there.

Although 27 people, including Tilbert, had entered the circle inside the palace, 42 of us arrived at the forest. It was only then that I understood the feelings of Princess Edwina, whose hands trembled as she repeatedly counted. I opened my mouth to say something, but my breath caught in my throat, and I struggled to breathe.

Then I fainted.

When I regained consciousness, I was on Tilbert’s back, and we had arrived in front of Lete Monastery. Brother Beder ran barefoot to greet us. In the chapel in front of the monastery, the annual Winterton Chronicle, painstakingly handcrafted by the scribes, was hanging on the wall.

I realized that we had traveled back five years.

The bracelet Prince Reiner had given us had not only moved us through space but also through time.

Had Prince Reiner anticipated this?

That we would go back five years?

That so many people would arrive in Winterton alive?

That after sending us, he would have to endure everything again alone, going back five years?

Surely, Prince Reiner must have known.

Yes, he must have.

If that’s the case, does Prince Reiner still remember the past five years?

The years of hardship we shared, the final tearful farewells, everything?

Most likely, yes. Since he was the one who turned time back, it’s only natural that those memories remain with him.

And it was clear that those memories would also remain in the mind of the mad emperor, who had watched us and witnessed what Prince Reiner was doing just before we entered the circle.

So, what will the emperor do with all those memories?

Will he marvel at his second son’s ability to turn back time and move space?

Or will he try to restart the failed war?

As that thought crossed my mind, my body suddenly trembled uncontrollably. While I was paralyzed by fear, unable to be of any use, Princess Edwina swiftly carried out Prince Reiner’s instructions.

She took out a piece of paper and wrote a brief letter.

“Thank you for sending me back so quickly.”

Princess Edwina’s hand shook as she wrote, though I couldn’t tell if it was due to fear or anger.

Looking at the words, which were much more crooked than usual, and at her lips as she muttered, “Damn it, damn you, Reiner,” I understood. This was something Prince Reiner had done on his own. The princess had not anticipated it.

A few days later, word came that the letter had arrived in Reutlingen.

“Who received it?”

“The envoy of Reutlingen received it.”

“Did you see the emperor?”

“We did not see him directly.”

“Did you hear anything about the second prince?”

“We did not. But if we send another message to Reutlingen now, we can verify it.”

“That won’t be necessary.”

Princess Edwina asked no more questions. Beder, looking curious, asked me if the prince who had helped us was the one who sent us here. I only nodded. I was too afraid that speaking further might cause trouble. Yet as I nodded once, twice, three times, four, tears welled up.

Tears of gratitude, sorrow, worry, and joy that we were all alive despite everything, mixed with guilt for feeling that joy… 

Those tears carried the same weight of emotion as the day Remi died.

After that, life rushed by in a blur.

The life before and this new one became entangled in my mind, leaving me confused and babbling nonsense at times.

Princess Edwina, though undoubtedly facing a more complicated life than mine, calmly ensured that I and the others who had returned remained silent. Strangely, it seemed that those who had died and come back retained no memories of their former lives.

Less than a year after returning home, I was called back to the royal palace. I missed my old friend, Edwina, but it was also because my family, my brother, mother, and father, were all desperate to marry me off to someone respectable now that I was older and had even been held hostage. I dreaded the prospect of staying at home.

By then, my health had deteriorated significantly, and I was too old and weak to serve as one of the princess’s maids. But my dear friend took me in, even though my body had become so useless.

Even though the threat to our lives had disappeared, the weight of daily life felt heavier and heavier.

Princess Edwina’s situation was no better, and perhaps worse, than mine. King Alfred was hastening to marry her off to Charles Wellesley in an effort to stabilize the crown.

Princess Edwina, however, declared that she would never marry Charles Wellesley and fled to the Lete Monastery.

In my muddled state, I wondered why she was acting that way. Then it suddenly dawned on me.

Of course, Adelle had married Charles.

And Cecilia had been born.

It was about time for Cecilia to be conceived. Only then did I realize why Princess Edwina was so determined to avoid the marriage, even going so far as to run away.

We had all seen it. Adelle and Charles’s loving family and their adorable daughter, Princess Cecilia.

Pretending none of it had ever happened would have been another kind of punishment from the heavens.

While she was at Lete Monastery, we heard news that the war had finally ended. Word came that Prince Albrecht, Reiner’s older brother and the first prince, had killed their father and died alongside him, and that instead of the second prince, their youngest sister had ascended to the throne.

I remember asking this on the day we heard the news.

“What do you think happened to Prince Reiner?”

Princess Edwina gave a faint smile and replied.

“Josephine, can’t you feel it?”

I thought over her words, turning them over in my mind for several more days before I finally understood. From the emperor’s death, to the first prince’s death, to the end of the war—Prince Reiner had likely gone back several times, working tirelessly to change things.

A few days later, King Alfred sent people to the monastery to bring the princess back. As we ended those few weeks of quiet rebellion and prepared to return, I asked the princess a question.

“Prince Reiner turned back time again, didn’t he?”

Princess Edwina answered with silence.

“All this time… the year since we returned to Winterton, how many times has the prince repeated it? And have you felt it every time?”

“I don’t know, Josephine. I really don’t. Maybe it’s because I’m so far away from whatever it is he’s trying to change, but I can’t feel whether time has been turned back or what has been repeated. I just live and think to myself, ‘This has happened once, twice, or maybe even more than that.’”

“Don’t you miss him?”

“I just want him to stop doing this. I want him to leave the palace and live happily somewhere far away.”

“Leave the palace?”

“Yes, I know. He needs to do that to survive. Just like I need to do the same to live.”

No sooner had she said this than the carriage arrived at Arly Palace. The gates, which had always confined our princess like a prison, opened.

And King Alfred himself came out and spoke.

“I will pass the throne to Charles Wellesley.”

“What has changed your mind?”

“Wellesley said this: if he is not deposed and instead inherits the throne, he will take Adelle as his wife.”

“And so, this has been decided?”

“I intend to adopt Adelle as my daughter. Edwina, this has nothing to do with whether I love you or whether you’re my child. This is the only way we can all be happy.”

King Alfred said this with slumped shoulders. If only he had pushed Princess Edwina shamelessly, if only he hadn’t looked so regretful, perhaps our princess could have easily hated her father.

But King Alfred was a man who was ambiguously wicked and weak.

“Did Adelle agree to this?”

“Yes, Edwina. You must forgive her. You have no idea how hard the nobles tried to push me out while you were in the Empire. The only ones who stood by me were Charles and Adelle. It was only natural that love blossomed between them. So you… you wouldn’t understand. You weren’t here.”

Hearing that, I—who wasn’t even directly involved—felt a surge of anger.

“Your Majesty also—”

“Josephine?”

“Your Majesty also wasn’t there. You don’t know how the princess lived, either.”

Even if he were a toothless tiger, a king was still a king. And even though I was the youngest daughter of the Yelling family, I was still just a maid daring to challenge the king. It wouldn’t have been surprising if I were executed on the spot.

The king raised his hand to strike me across the face.

But of course, a younger daughter is swifter than an aging father. The one who took the blow was Princess Edwina.

King Alfred was furious, not knowing how to react to the fact that his own daughter had blocked his strike.

“Do you enjoy selling off your children to protect yourself?”

“Edwina, I—”

“You do seem to feel some shame. After all, you’re quick to anger over the words of a mere maid.”

“You… You truly don’t understand your father at all.”

“Well, now that this child doesn’t understand, will you let me go?”

“So, even tucked away in that monastery, you couldn’t escape the royal decree?”

“A royal decree?”

“Could a parent ever leave a foolish child alone? You must marry a suitable lord like Adelle. Wherever you go, you will remain the Princess of Winterton.”

“What are you saying?”

“My son-in-law will be chosen at the jousting tournament tomorrow. The entire kingdom has been buzzing about it for the month you’ve been hiding away in the monastery. Whoever waits outside your castle for a hundred days will have you.”

Princess Edwina seemed to have lost the will to argue further and just glared at her father.

King Alfred, utterly unaware of his beloved daughter’s feelings, continued with a pure smile, as if he truly believed this was a wonderful idea.

“Oh, by the way, the price for standing outside your castle will be 100,000 crowns. Knights from all over the kingdom will rush to present their fortunes for the chance to stand in front of our beautiful daughter, Anne Edwina. The wealthiest and most patient man will win your hand. Isn’t that a splendid idea?”

———= Author’s Note =———

One, two, three, four…

As I repeatedly count the number of readers who have made it this far,

I ask you, please don’t tire of King Alfred’s despicableness, and press on to the next chapter.

We all know, don’t we, who will appear next?

P.S.: I almost forgot to explain the new cover. It’s a drawing of Prince Reiner sent to me by Hundongbaek on Twitter. I never mentioned that the young man with moonlit hair had long hair (though I thought it), but somehow, they captured Reiner perfectly!

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(6/7)