What Your Majesty Desires - Chapter 1.3

“Your Majesty, you must not ignore the prophecy.” As always, it was Kaulus who rashly stepped forward. To call the words of a crazy old woman a prophecy was truly pathetic.

“That’s right. That old woman was undoubtedly the goddess Nike in disguise.”

“How about we arrange a royal marriage with Dextin, as the old woman said? I hear Dextin only has one princess, so we should quickly arrange an engagement before she’s courted elsewhere.”

The problem was that he wasn’t the only pathetic one.

“I agree with the Count.”

Kaulus also put on a serious face and looked at Emperor Asterion.

“How can we find the blue diamond said to be hidden somewhere in the Dextin Empire? I believe that arranging a royal marriage to quell the ominousness is the simplest and most reasonable method.”

Hernis could clearly see the sly smile leaking from Kaulus’s lips, who was cunning beyond compare.

That bastard’s intentions were obvious.

His target was always…

“Hernis?”

It was Hernis.

“My beloved brother, it seems you’ll have to step up.”

“…”

Is this bastard crazy?

If he was so bothered by the old woman’s words, he could just get married himself. Instead of selling off his innocent brother.

Despite Hernis’s murderous glare, Kaulus wore a triumphant smile, as if the outcome was already decided.

The Crown Prince of the great Glare Empire could not possibly have a royal marriage with a princess from a small land like Dextin, so there was only one person left.

“Hernis, what do you think?”

When even Emperor Asterion asked for his opinion, Hernis barely managed to keep his eyes from rolling and slowly bowed his head to the Emperor.

“If that is Your Majesty’s will…”

He came to celebrate his birthday, and now he’s getting married.

The western stone tower of the Dextin Empire.

‘What’s that sound?’

Marilyn stopped the hand that was holding the gauze and wiping her body and looked at the bathroom door beyond the curtain.

In this small castle tower, which no one ever visited, there was rarely any loud noise.

Could it be that the maid tripped and fell while tidying the bedding?

Or that a mouse suddenly popped out from between the stone walls, or that a bug crawled out from the bouquet Aiden had picked for her yesterday?

Yes. It must be a bug.

Even after narrowing down the possibilities to only the less terrifying and insignificant things, she still felt uneasy.

After hesitating, Marilyn eventually quietly put down the gauze and stepped out of the bathtub.

She absolutely wasn’t coming out because she was scared, she told herself, but because her bath had ended early.

‘I think I hear something.’

Or maybe not.

Using the curtain as a shield, she carefully watched the bathroom door.

If something had happened outside, the maid would have rushed in to nag Marilyn, but for some reason, it was too quiet outside.

She calmly walked towards the motionless bathroom door and lifted the cloth placed next to it.

She unfolded the large cloth and wrapped it around her body like a blanket, then backed away and sat on the chair in front of the curtain.

The bathroom door did not open until she had thoroughly dried her hair.

Only then did the tension in her heart loosen.

Nothing was really happening outside, Marilyn thought with relief, and draped the towel she had just used to dry her hair over her shoulders.

She just had to wait here for a while until the maid brought her clothes.

Crash. Thump.

‘What is it?’

She heard the sound again from outside.

At this hour, the maid only tidied the bedding and did nothing else.

It couldn’t be that the maid, who was always ready to finish her work quickly and leave, suddenly wanted to do a thorough cleaning and was opening and closing the drawers.

Outside, she heard a series of crashing sounds, as if something was being thrown around.

Marilyn’s eyes widened at the thought that someone other than the maid, perhaps even many more people, might be outside the door.

“Who’s there?”

She barely moved her lips to ask in a small voice.

“…”

Of course, no answer came back to that ant-sized voice.

Click.

Then someone grabbed the bathroom doorknob and turned it.

Marilyn’s body stiffened in shock.

‘Could it be the Empress…?’

She had always prepared herself for something like this to happen someday.

But why now?

She was leaving this place in two days.

Wasn’t it enough for the Empress to strip her of her princess status and kick her out of the castle?

As if mocking her confusion in this incomprehensible situation, the bathroom door opened all too easily.

At the clicking sound, Marilyn lowered her head without realizing it.

A man’s dark shadow stretched long into the bathroom, as if darkness was filling it.

The huge shadow stared at her for a moment in front of the door, then strode towards her.

Marilyn hunched her shoulders as much as possible and looked down at the floor. She couldn’t bear to see the face of the assassin who was coming to kill her.

Soon, the tips of the man’s military boots stopped in front of her.

Looking down at the man’s black military boots that came up to his knees, she tightly gripped the cloth wrapped around her body with her trembling hands.

Hoping that it would end quickly and painlessly, she forced her trembling eyelids shut.

No. She opened them again.

She couldn’t die like this.

Without even a stitch of underwear on, like this…

“W-wait a moment.”

Although her gaze was still fixed on the man’s black military boots, she mustered her courage and opened her mouth.

“Could you wait outside for a moment?”

Marilyn tried to straighten her back and spoke as if giving an order.

“I haven’t gotten dressed yet.”

Imagining her naked body lying on the bathroom floor after she died was already terrifying and humiliating enough.

To prevent that from happening, Marilyn had to somehow persuade the man in front of her.

“It’s because of the clothes, I mean…”

She wasn’t begging for her life, she swore it was because of the clothes.

For someone about to die, she seemed to have conveyed her meaning quite well without stuttering.

“…”

There was no response from the man.

The man’s cold gaze, which was looking down at her as if observing her, slowly swept over Marilyn’s wet hair.

“Um, so, I…”

Marilyn looked for the man again, as if pleading.

“There’s no need to rush, is there?”

She wasn’t in a position to give orders, but she tried to appear calm, which made her mouth dry.

“Just give me a little time. I’ll be quick once I change…”

“You don’t seem to have any clothes.”

The man opened his mouth.

His voice, which conveyed only the facts, contained no emotion.

“The maid will bring the clothes soon…”

Her words trailed off and she looked up in confusion.

Only then did she see the man’s appearance.

The man did not cover his face with a mask like other assassins or robbers, nor did he wear a shabby cloak.

Rather, the golden epaulettes and medals on his shoulders brilliantly showed his status and numerous achievements.

The black uniform, which she had initially thought was just pitch black, looked luxurious when seen with the gold buttons engraved with intricate patterns.

In particular, the pearl-colored cravat around his neck, though simple, had a subtle sheen and was made of a high-quality fabric that even high-ranking nobles could not easily obtain.

There was no way such a person could be an assassin.

The man was undoubtedly a nobleman, and even if the Empress had given the order, he seemed like someone who would never personally do such a lowly task.

“Who are you?”

His eyes.

“Why are you here?”

His tone.

The nobility that permeated the man’s entire being was as clear as the golden light breaking over his broad shoulders.

“I asked why you are hiding in a place like this.”

“I’m not hiding…”

She was about to continue, but quickly stopped and looked at him again.

She didn’t want to bother correcting his misunderstanding that she was ‘hiding’ and not ‘imprisoned’.

And more importantly, what was his business here?

He couldn’t have gotten lost on his way up to this high place, and he didn’t seem to know her name or identity in advance.

So why was this man here?

“Did the Empress send you?”

If so, it might make a little sense.

The soldiers guarding the entrance to the tower were all under the Empress’s command.

Those wooden soldiers did not allow anyone to pass, whether they were outsiders or insiders, except for a few people who had been permitted in advance.

The reason why this man was able to come up here without much commotion must have been for that reason.

“So, what I mean is…”

There was only one sentence that came to mind.

She didn’t know if she could ask this question as it was.

“Are, are you here to kill me?”

As soon as she uttered the words, she squeezed her eyes shut.

“…”

But even when she opened her eyes again, the man said nothing.

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