The Abandoned Princess, Yet She Is Loved - Chapter 100

Pavel slowly opened his eyes and realized that he was tied up.

 

‘Where… is this? And why am I like this?’

 

He looked down at his body, seated in a chair, and at his hands tied behind his back, his face filled with confusion.

 

He had come to the orphanage to move a child to a facility as instructed.

 

But the moment he arrived and stepped out of the carriage, someone suddenly struck him hard at the back of the neck. The pain felt like a snapped nerve, and he immediately lost consciousness.

 

Who on earth did this? There was no one at the orphanage who would attack him.

 

“You’re awake.”

 

A cold voice reached his ears as he slowly pieced together his memories. Pavel lifted his head. A man with jet-black hair and eyes stood above him, exuding a cold aura.

 

“W-Who… are you?”

 

Pavel didn’t recognize the man. He wore fine clothing and carried a sword at his waist—clearly a noble—but Pavel couldn’t guess anything beyond that. The man’s chilling presence and oppressive aura forced Pavel to speak respectfully.

 

“There’s no need for you to know that. I’ve just got some business.”

 

“W-Why are you doing this to me?!”

 

Was this someone he had met before? Had he made an enemy somehow? He searched his memory, but nothing came to mind.

 

He had never caused personal resentment.

 

“There’s something I want to ask you.”

 

“W-What kind of business could you possibly have with me?”

 

“It’s not really you I have business with—it’s what you know.”

 

Frederick spoke in a calm, flat voice.

 

“For example, where you were planning to take the orphanage children.”

 

Pavel’s face went pale. Did this man know about the facility?

 

“W-Who sent you?!”

 

“You don’t really need to know that. Why are you asking me questions? All you have to do is answer mine.”

 

Pavel trembled, unable to speak. His mind went blank, and he couldn’t figure out what to do.

 

“You’re not planning to talk, are you?”

 

Frederick unsheathed the sword at his waist. The blade gleamed with a deep blue light.

 

“Y-You’re…!”

 

A Swordmaster! Pavel still didn’t know who the man was, but he recognized the blue blade as one imbued with aura by a Swordmaster.

 

“If it even brushes your hand, you’ll lose two fingers. It’s that sharp.”

 

“Ah… ah…!”

 

The fear of losing his fingers consumed him. But the nature of his work was not something that could be revealed lightly. The whole operation was secretive, and he had been promised confidentiality and high pay in return.

 

“Unfortunately, talking seems to get us nowhere.”

 

Frederick raised his sword high. The sharp blade gleamed as if it were about to strike down at any moment.

 

“W-Wait! Please don’t—”

 

“I don’t enjoy long conversations.”

 

Frederick cut him off coldly. Veins stood out on the hand gripping his sword.

 

“I-I’ll talk!”

 

In the end, Pavel had no choice but to yield to Frederick. Whether he lost his fingers and then talked or talked now, the outcome would be the same.

 

“Now we’re finally getting somewhere.”

 

A faint smile crossed Frederick’s face. Looking quite satisfied, he slowly lowered his sword.

 

“Then start talking. Tell me everything you know.”

 

 

The children stared anxiously at the clock on the wall. The hands pointed to 5:30.

 

“They’re not coming.”

 

No one had entered the room.

 

Originally, blood was drawn once or twice a week. But recently, it had become a daily routine, and the number of children taken away had also increased. Sometimes, two or three were taken at once. Usually, someone would come around 3 o’clock to draw blood or take kids away, but today, no one came even though the time had long passed.

 

‘Could today be safe…?’

 

Afternoons were terrifying for the children. The eyes of those who came to take blood were scary, and no one knew who would be taken next.

 

Some were taken after just two days, others managed to last over two weeks—but in the end, everyone was taken.

 

BANG! A loud noise broke the silence, and the door burst open. Men in gold uniforms rushed in.

 

There wasn’t a single person in a white lab coat, like usual.

 

‘W-Who are they?’

 

The children were startled by the unfamiliar sight. As they looked closer, they noticed that all of the men had swords at their waists.

 

‘They’re going to kill us…’

 

The children’s faces turned pale. They thought these men were going to kill them all with those swords.

 

“……”

 

As the men approached, the children took a step back. They knew running wouldn’t help, but they were trying to buy whatever time they could.

 

“They look frightened.”

 

“A natural reaction. Reassure them.”

 

The two men in the front exchanged words, and one of them turned to the children with a gentle smile.

 

“Don’t be scared. We’re here to set you free.”

 

“Huh…?”

 

“You’ve been locked up here all this time, right? We’ve come to rescue you. Come with us.”

 

The children hesitated. They had followed promises of adoption into noble or wealthy merchant families, only to be locked up. There was no guarantee these people were telling the truth.

 

“Trust us. We’ll never hurt you.”

 

The knights waited patiently. Given that the children had been deceived once and had lived in constant fear of death, it was only natural that they found it hard to trust strangers.

 

‘Can I trust them…?’

 

The knights’ eyes were gentle and sincere. After a moment of hesitation, the children began walking toward them, one by one. In any case, they had no other choice. Waiting here for the people in white coats to come was not an option—that would only lead to certain death.

 

“Walk carefully.”

 

The knights led the children out of the room.

 

“Ah…”

 

The children gasped when they saw the hallway. People in white coats lay collapsed on the ground. Beneath them, bright red puddles had formed and were still spreading.

 

“W-What happened to them?”

 

“They were the bad people who watched over you. They’ve been punished.”

 

Seeing the once-strict adults who had filled them with fear now lying limply, their limbs sprawled out, gave the children a strange feeling.

 

“Blood… Are they dead?”

 

“Yes. As they should be.”

 

The knight answered without hesitation. The children slowly nodded. These people had locked them up and taken them away one by one, never to return. So this was their punishment.

 

“Don’t be scared anymore. This won’t happen again.”

 

“…Okay.”

 

The children nodded. Just like the knights said, they wanted to live safely and happily from now on—with no more fear.

 

 

“They destroyed the facility?”

 

Vladimir’s jaw dropped as he received the report.

 

“Yes, sir. The Imperial Knights stormed in, killed the researchers, and destroyed all our lab equipment. The children were rescued and escaped.”

 

“Damn…”

 

Vladimir clenched his teeth. The shocking reports kept coming.

 

“The head nun and the other sisters were all arrested. They’re being charged with deceiving the children into believing they were being adopted, only to imprison them and lead them to their deaths. Crown Prince Rubens also stated that he plans to expose and punish everyone in the temple connected to the orphanage.”

 

“If it’s the Imperial Knights’ doing… then it must be Duke Winstaine?”

 

“Yes. He apparently used the orphanage sponsorship as an excuse to gain access. It seems someone was captured and confessed.”

 

“Damn bastard.”

 

Vladimir cursed under his breath, staring off into the air.

 

“How the hell did Rubens find out?”

 

They wouldn’t have dared touch the orphanage without suspecting something. Who could’ve leaked information about the facility to them? Was there a whistleblower on the inside?

 

No matter how hard he thought, he couldn’t come up with an answer.

 

“He’s always been annoyingly sharp…”

 

Vladimir ground his teeth at the thought of Rubens. Though he often laughed off everything and acted carefree, when it came to things like this, he was surprisingly astute.