The Princess' Bedroom Doll

“Come back well, Karzen.”

Karzen chuckled.

“As always, you’re not greedy. That’s good.”

He clasped her shoulder with one hand. Raha’s upper body, which had been sitting still on the bed, leaned toward Karzen. The bewilderment was short-lived. Karzen slowly pressed his lips down on Raha’s forehead.

“…….”

The remaining attendants in the bedroom were not breathing properly, their gazes fixed on the floor. In fact, they were mournful.

“Raha del Harsa.”

Karzen lifted his lips very slowly. Except for the gray eyes, he looked exactly like Raha. That twin, whom he sometimes deluded himself into thinking he was looking in a mirror, whispered.

“Stay still until I return.”

* * *

“King, His Highness the King, wants to see you.”

“I will be right there.”

During the short period of dressing, the mirror reflected his undressed body for a while.

No traces of the dark branding remained anywhere. The only other scars were the ones Shed originally had. The sword scar on the thick thigh, which felt hard, was particularly visible to the eye.

“How did you get injured here?”

Shed remembered the thin voice with a soft question in it.

“My uncle did it and died.”

“You, too, lived in a strange family. Everyone does to some extent, it seems.”

The soft face of the imperial Princess who was quietly relieved.

At that moment, looking at that face, Shed felt glad that he had such scars on his body. It was impossible, even though he knew that it was an impression to an excessive degree. At the time, he was just gripped by such a peaceful thought.

Even though he knew for a fact that the imperial Princess who casually made him feel that way was actually colder than the moonlight that streamed in.

How did it feel when she smiled at him once in a while?

The attendants skillfully changed Shed’s clothes. He went to where the King was waiting with his armor and cloak on, as was customary.

“My Lord!”

The head of the Kingsguard of Hildes, who had spotted Shed at the far end of the corridor, came running quickly. It was an agile speed that was unlike his huge figure.

“I was going to see you. I have searched for the documents of the defense treaty with the Delo Empire that we signed five generations ago.”

“Give me.”

“I must show it to His Highness first.”

“I see.”

“No. …..My Lord, I was joking. Didn’t His Highness hand over full authority over this to you? It’s under the condition that we end the local war against the borderline barbarians.”

Strictly speaking, there was no problem with the borders of Hildes. However, the barbarians were growing in power in a land without masters, located between Hildes and the rest of the country. It was not enough to shake the country, but they were affecting the trade.

In exchange for the complete subjugation of that barbarian tribe, whom Hildes armies had been repeatedly sent but could not be swept away, Shed was delegated full authority over this very document.

Shed examined the document, which was intricately stamped with the office seals of the emperors and kings of each country, the following ministers of war, and the three highest nobles in the hierarchy.

“It will be difficult.”

“It will.”

“So ……. Does my lord have to go that far?”

It was a prudent question. The whole continent knew that the Thirteen Kingdoms’s Union had sent a simple response to the Delo Empire, and the enraged young emperor of Delo had responded with a massive military response. Hildes and the distant West were also upset. 

In this rapidly changing situation, Shed wanted to see the long-standing defense treaty with Delo.

What does he want?

Actually, the Commander of the Kingsguard did not know much about the situation before and after. Still, the only person who knew a little more would be the King (Shed’s brother). Perhaps even he did not know everything. Shed read each letter of the document one by one and raised his head.

“Commander. Can I be honest with you?”

“Yes, please tell me.”

“What if all this wasn’t enough?”

“King….”

A name that felt like daydreams circled around his mouth all day. Raha del Harsa. It was the name of that woman. He could not forget nor spit it out at all. All he could think of was that he had to put her in front of him and look at her.

With a faint smile, Shed quickly moved his steps.

* * *

Meanwhile, the palace of Raha.

“My apologies, Lady Winston.”

Raha’s lady-in-waiting said in a courteous manner.

“The Princess is resting.”

“Oh dear. I must have picked the wrong time.”

Jamela smiled graciously.

“Please tell the Princess that I have come to visit her.”

“I will do so. Young Lady.”

Jamela turned around and moved on. This was the new palace of the Princess. Every time she walked here, she felt as if she had fallen into another world.

Perhaps it was because the distance from the center of the palace became more distant as it was moved. Was it because of the overgrown trees? The garden itself was similar in size to the Emperor’s Palace. Of course, it was very large by itself, but the atmosphere was very unique with large trees growing exquisitely.

To get to the main palace, they had to take a horse-drawn carriage. It was that far away.

As the Emperor, the Duke, even the Marquis went to war, Jamela had to stay at the imperial palace. Even in such a situation, I was a little worried.

Although the Emperor often went to the battlefield, the Princess was always healthy. Therefore, there was no place for the previous Emperor’s Queen, who was staying in a separate palace in the outer court, to bother her. Nor could they dare to do so.

However, this time was special, wasn’t it? The imperial Princess was also in poor health and could not show her face at social gatherings, and it was already the third season. Now that the emperor was gone too, Jamela was secretly worried that if the previous Emperor’s Queen came to visit, she might interfere in some way.

However, Jamela’s fears faded and the Imperial Palace became completely normalized. Jamela Winston had a sudden realization of her as she dealt with the affairs of the imperial court. The fact that under the surface of that innocent imperial Princess’s life, things were truly and frighteningly perfectly organized.

‘I thought that only the servants of my palace were able to grasp the discipline well.’

Jamela began to realize again as she set foot in the imperial palace why every time huge banquets or small parties, the Emperor’s birthdays and the New Year’s Balls, could be held with such perfect preparation.

So Jamela was slowly expanding her territory. She had no intention to confront Raha. There was no profit to be gained from fighting.

Moreover….. Jamela knew slowly but very surely that the other side had no intention of doing so from the beginning.

The fact that there were quite a number of noble girls who admired Princess Raha, it was something the Princess did not know. She was such a graceful, beautiful, and supremely impassive imperial Princess. Who has not been captivated by the occasional glimpse of life?

Wasn’t it foolish to fight alone against the noble and seemingly friendly imperial family? In a word, her heart didn’t agree.

It was one day when Jamela, relieved in many ways, held a small tea party at the imperial palace.

“This is a silver bird. It is really a beautiful silver color all over, isn’t it?”

It was a beautiful and rare bird, with a subtle golden color on its tail feathers. Even among the most famous aristocrats, it was rare to see a silver bird in person.

Jamela smiled kindly at the astonished ladies and listened to the bewildering news.

“You didn’t bring the food?”

“I’m sorry, Miss. I was cleaning the cage this morning and…”

It was not just any bird, but a silver bird that the Emperor had given her as a proposal. However, the bird was not in very good health, perhaps injured in the process of capturing it. It was for this reason that the silver bird, which should have been unveiled to the nobles long ago, was now being opened to the public.

Seeing the new caretaker at a loss, Jamela frowned.

“I see we have no choice. I must ask the imperial kitchen to make the bird feed as soon as possible. If I tell them now, they will have time to make it.”

The silver bird that the Emperor hunted ate peculiar food because of its symbolism, but it took a lot of time to make the food.

It was a fact, but….

“Is it done already?”

“Yes, Miss. They had just made some.”

Relieved, the caretaker fed the silver bird.

“…….”

Strange. Jamela didn’t know they would know how to make bird food at the imperial palace. This was the first time she brought the silver bird here.

‘Are they raising another silver bird at the Imperial Palace?’

* * *

A few days later.

Jamela went to visit Raha as usual.

It was still a beautiful palace. She still couldn’t believe that the only noble who had access to this palace was Jamela herself. Thanks to this, Jamela’s status was modestly enhanced at the small tea parties she sometimes had.

It was a few days later that Jamela, walking under the shade of a tree, suddenly stopped.

“Lady Winston.”

The palace officer who had noticed her stopped and bowed. Jamela’s blue eyes turned to the “thing” they were holding. Covered with a black cloth, it was, at first glance, a birdcage.

Thanks to the hundreds of birdcages she had seen and selected in person after Karzen had presented her with the silver bird, she could recognize it even if she only saw it covered with a cloth.

 “Does the Princess keep birds?”

 “Yes, Lady. A gift from His Majesty?”

“I see. Go on.”

“Yes, Lady.”

The palace officer hurried to his feet, and Jamela walked gracefully toward the inner palace, slightly delayed.

“Princess.”

Raha, who had not even shown her face in the social world, and rumors spread that she must have suffered a fatal disease, had a much better complexion. Coincidentally, her face has subtly improved since Karzen’s departure.

“What documents are you looking at without taking a break?”

Raha fluttered a piece of paper at Jamela’s laughing words. 

“It will be spring when His Majesty returns.”

“Yes…?”

“It takes a long time to prepare for the national wedding, so I have to prepare in my spare time.”

 “Your Royal Highness ……!”

Jamela lowered her eyelashes in embarrassment. Raha laughed lightly. The laughing Princess certainly seemed to be in good form.