IV: Helper

Edith lay sprawled on the sofa in the exotic room, sighing heavily for days on end.

She had been staying in a guest house, but was forcibly moved into Kazan’s palace for the purpose of surveillance. It wasn’t his personal chamber or the room right next to it, of course, but the situation still made her uncomfortable.

“Everything I say to you right now, Mr. Perry, is going straight back to Kazan, isn’t it?”

“Yes, probably… I’m truly sorry, Edie.”

“It’s fine. It’s not like you’re doing it because you want to, right?”

Perry, looking troubled, apologized helplessly. Seeing him feel guilty about being placed by her side to monitor her, Edith ended up comforting him instead.

Regardless of everything, she was grateful that Perry, at least, was on her side and sympathized with her situation.

‘It’s not like I’ve never been confined before. The only difference from back then is that there’s no one like Kai to help me.’

Still, unlike the Crown Prince, Kazan was relatively gentlemanly about it. There were no shackles restricting her movement, and within the palace, she was free to roam under the condition that Perry accompanied her.

‘But on the other hand, they’ve stationed guards even outside the window, and this is the fourth floor… so I guess they’re being thorough in their own way.’

After that day, she rarely encountered the consort candidates after moving quarters, but now they weren’t just refraining from harassing her—they would turn and flee at the mere possibility of running into her.

Kazan’s warning seemed to have truly frightened them.

But observing them made Edith realize something odd. Given how severe Naila and her group had been, she had half-expected them to ignore Kazan’s warning and come looking for her to pick a fight. But for some reason, since that day, she hadn’t seen so much as a single hair from any of them.

“By the way, do you think Kazan actually feels bad about any of this?”

“Umm…”

Perry scratched his cheek, making a thoughtful noise, unable to answer her question.

Whether he was just acting his age, he had confined her here under the pretense that she couldn’t leave the kingdom until she became princess consort, yet he himself barely came to see her.

Not that he hadn’t visited at all at first.

On the first day, he had asked if she was angry. Edith had merely given him a cold response.

After burning with that initial sense of betrayal once or twice, all that remained was a hollow emptiness. She couldn’t even muster the anger anymore…

After that, he stopped coming entirely.

‘I’m not sulking…’

Thinking about him acting like a child gave her a headache. She pressed her hand to her forehead, a gesture that had become a habit from dealing with the constant stress.

“Then why is Prince Kazan just leaving me here, neglecting me like this?”

“Umm… His Highness has just been very busy lately.”

“Busy with what?”

“He successfully completed his coming-of-age ceremony, and as he’s practically the next king now, the banquets and events never seem to end.”

So basically, he was too busy enjoying parties to come see her. The thought suddenly made her feel a pang of irritation.

He declared he would make her his princess consort, yet he didn’t even take her to any of those banquets or events. He was off enjoying himself alone. She didn’t want to be his princess consort, but his words and actions were so contradictory it was infuriating.

‘Haa, I really don’t know what to do.’

It was pitiful. All she did all day was read books, talk to Perry, and roll around her room sighing.

Today, like any other day, she was growing bored with her meaningless existence, when a servant entered with her meal, signaling it was already evening.

Edith sat up properly on the sofa where she had been lounging and stared blankly at the food being set on the table before her.

“Eek!”

“Oh no…! I’m so sorry, Miss!”

But as the servant set the food on the table, she accidentally spilled it towards Edith’s legs, drenching the hem of her dress in the yellow soup.

Startled, Edith cried out, afraid she might be burned. Strangely, though, the food wasn’t that hot.

‘Was it just brought?’

“Are you alright, Edie?! You should have been more careful! What if she had been burned?”

Perry rushed over, his concern laced with reproach for the servant. At his words, the servant repeatedly bowed in apology.

“I’m so sorry! I’ll help you change clothes right away, Miss…!”

She couldn’t eat a meal in soup-stained clothes. Deciding she needed to change quickly, Edith nodded.

While she changed, Perry said he would wait outside and stepped out. The servant swiftly began helping her out of her clothes.

But in the process of deftly helping her dress again, the woman secretly pressed something into Edith’s hand.

“I’ll take my leave now, Miss!”

Then, gathering the soup-soaked clothes, she bowed and quickly exited the room.

‘What’s this?’

Edith opened the hand the servant had pressed. A small note lay in her palm.

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