Rapunzel, DON’T Let Down Your Hair!

For a month, Erin repeated those words to herself like a spell. Then the soldiers who had gone after William at her mother’s orders returned.

The soldiers hesitated greatly before the king and queen, who were eager to hear news of their son. When they were urged to hurry up and explain themselves, they reluctantly took out something they had kept hidden.

It was William’s cloak. The cloak had been torn to rags as though he had been attacked by some enormous beast. There was blood on it in several places as well.

“We couldn’t find anything else, but…”

They couldn’t finish their report. The king clutched his neck and staggered, then struck his head against the armrest of the throne. Upon seeing her husband’s blood, the queen let out a shriek so piercing it seemed it might tear one’s eardrums.

Fortunately, it wasn’t a serious injury. The king’s wound was treated quickly. But he couldn’t recover from the shocking news of his son. The couple took to their bed together and could no longer leave their bedroom.

“My bloodline has ended like this. There is no hope left.”

Erin approached her grieving father. William might have been an infuriating brat, but he was her only sibling. Hearing that he had died weighed heavily on her heart, but she couldn’t shake the thought that this was an opportunity.

There was still one member of the king’s bloodline left, wasn’t there?

“Father, it’s too soon to lose hope.”

Look at me. She swore that she would never forget William and would do well enough for both of them.

But these parents couldn’t listen to their daughter’s words. As though some kind of wall stood between them, they didn’t hear her voice and simply leaned against each other and wept.

“What are we going to do, Your Majesty? William is dead.”

“I don’t know either. He was our only bloodline and our only hope, so there is nothing more I can do.”

Their only bloodline and their only hope.

For a moment, Erin’s breath caught as though a huge nail had been driven into her chest.

“I have no face to show our ancestors now that I have failed to preserve the family that has continued for so long.”

“Ah, our poor William!”

“Can’t you see me?”

Her mother and father were not people who treated their daughter coldly. They were loving parents. They simply did not consider her an heir.

But if William was their only bloodline, then what was she?

She had always believed they loved their children equally. Erin began to wonder if what she had believed had merely been an illusion.

“I’m your child too!”

Erin struck her chest, pleading with them to look at her. The bloodline had not ended. She was alive and standing right in front of them.

In Grauden, even a princess could inherit the throne. There was no reason Kalis couldn’t do the same. If she gained the support of the lords through a vote as well, the royal authority would not be shaken too badly even if she became king.

“All you need is the will to do it, Father. Make me your heir.”

Erin took her father’s hand. Only then did the King of Kalis seem to notice his daughter’s existence.

“My daughter. My precious daughter. Is there anything I wouldn’t do for you?”

“Father…!”

“I will do everything in my power to find the best possible marriage for you. While you still retain your status as a princess.”

The king tried to reassure his daughter in a tearful voice.

Erin immediately let go of his hand. The sensation of her entire body freezing cold made it difficult even to breathe. Infuriatingly, William had been right.

“No matter what happens, you have no intention of ever acknowledging me, do you? Even though I’m the last child you have left.”

“Erin.”

“Why won’t you even place any expectations on me? Ever since I grew up, I haven’t caused shameless disasters like he did. If anything, I’ve been the one cleaning up every mess he made. I’ve always been a good, dependable daughter!”

“Erin, I do love you.”

The king reached out toward his daughter, whose face had gone white with anger. He looked terribly sorry.

And with that expression, he drove another nail into her chest.

“You’re a princess.”

“Then I’ll show you that a princess can do it too.”

Erin nodded firmly, saying that she understood perfectly.

“I’ll go to Grauden and rescue Rapunzel, the one they say is imprisoned there.”

If she accomplished what even William had failed to do, they would have no choice but to acknowledge her. Telling her father to wait for her, Erin ignored him calling her name and left the king and queen’s chambers.