Raising the Princess to Overcome Death Chapter 58

58. Childhood Friend - Harie Guidan

After thinking for a moment, Leo easily answered Lena’s suspicious look.

“We caught a cocoren, didn’t we? But wasn’t that longer ago than just two years? It was when the village priest had just arrived. He said he had never seen a cocoren before…”

“And then what happened?”

“We got in big trouble. The village chief scolded us, my brothers scolded us, and your parents scolded us too…”

“Was there anything before that?”

Lena asked, her face brightening a bit.

“Hmm…? Oh, when the cocoren was parasitizing a tree stump, and we tried to feed it water by putting it in the water bucket? Its belly almost burst. Is that what you mean?”

It was an idea born of ignorance, but children’s pranks can sometimes be frightening.

Lena was horrified back then.

Leo feigned innocence as Lena’s face lit up.

“Why are you asking about that?”

“Oh... heh, just reminiscing about old times.”

Lena smiled sheepishly.

It seemed she had been mistaken. She had suspected that Leo had been affected by something since that day, but it was just an unnecessary worry.

This was a memory only the two of them knew.

‘Well, both Leo and I are about to become adults, so it’s natural to change.’

She nonchalantly shifted topics and handed Leo some snacks she had discreetly acquired while working, as a way to make up for her suspicion.

Leo accepted them gratefully, exhaling a small sigh of relief through his nose.

‘That was close again.’

During their journey to Nevis, Leo had many opportunities to hear stories about the past. He had offered Lena drinks and asked about past events.

He enjoyed the feeling of becoming the ‘real Leo’ the more he heard about their shared memories.

Fortunately, Lena became talkative and loud when drunk and happily recounted many memories in her tipsy state.

It was lucky he had listened carefully back then. If he hadn’t been able to answer her question just now, how would Lena have reacted?

‘She would have doubted my identity. She might have stopped trusting me and returned to the village...’

The thought of losing his only friend made his stomach churn.

And if that happened, this childhood friend scenario would become hopeless for future attempts as well.

Repeating scenarios didn’t necessarily make things easier.

He was becoming more different from the Leo Lena knew, and this Lena noticed the changes.

Lena, as his childhood friend, was more perceptive than the other Lenas.

She was not only kind but also smart and curious, never letting anything strange slip by easily.

‘It’s admirable, but...’

Leo had a feeling that one day, he wouldn’t be able to move with this Lena. He thought there might be only one way to clear this scenario.

[King] - In this game, where status elevation was a condition for clearing, the king was the only one who could determine status.

If he could become king, clearing the scenario would be easy. He could designate Lena as a princess.

Even if Lena wanted to become a priestess, everything would be fine if he made her a princess first. Princesses could also become priestesses.

The problem with this plan was that becoming king was an almost impossible feat.

Compared to ascending to the throne, making Lena a princess was much easier, but this Lena was too perceptive...

Leo shared the sweet snacks with Lena.

The man hiding secrets and the woman observing him. They were eating the same snacks, but they tasted different to each.

The click of shoes on a white carpet laid on a smoothly paved path marked the arrival of a noble lady.

The carpet, cleaned diligently by Lena and other maids, glowed under the sunlight, but the lady had no mind for their hard work.

She passed by the servants lined up on either side.

On a normal day, she might have left a critical remark about the excessive hospitality, but ‘Harie Guidan’ was in a tumultuous state of mind.

‘...This is my last chance.’

Resolute in her determination, she was the daughter of Margrave Harvey Guidan, who guarded the eastern frontier of the Right Kingdom.

“Welcome. You must be tired from your long journey. Please, this way.”

The overseer of Bospo city, bowing his head, greeted her at the lord’s castle entrance and led her inside.

Until recently, the castle had been barren, but it was now decorated with numerous banners and curtains, meticulously prepared by the overseer. The walls were almost entirely covered, and not a speck of dust could be seen.

The overseer asked, outshining even the steward,

“Would you like to have a meal first?”

“No. I’m tired and would like to rest. Just bring a simple dish to my room. Can I meet the others this evening?”

“Of course. We’ll prepare a banquet for dinner. You can meet the staff then. Allow me to show you to your room.”

Harie followed the overseer with silent grace.

Upon reaching her room, the overseer opened the door for her, welcoming her to Bospo and assuring her that she would not face any inconvenience. He bowed deeply and left.

Having immediately become the esteemed guest and mistress of the lord’s castle upon arrival, Harie quickly surveyed the room.

The room was neither too large nor too small, with the humidity and temperature perfectly adjusted.

Additionally, the antique furniture was tastefully arranged to combine convenience and charm.

‘Well done...’

Reinvigorated by the overseer's courteous demeanor and the room decorated in her favorite sky blue, Harie Guidan sank onto the bed with a thud. She let out a deep breath and gazed at the ornate ceiling.

Harie Guidan was undeniably beautiful, even to a stranger’s eye. With a round forehead that would have shone brightly even without makeup, thin arched eyebrows, and lips that evoked sympathy, she was the type of woman anyone would want to protect. Her green eyes, though shadowed with melancholy, added to her delicate charm.

Moreover, she was at the age where an arranged marriage was imminent, destined to meet another man soon, whether she liked it or not.

She had come to this distant eastern region from the capital to escape such an arranged marriage.

Or rather, to seek a different one.

Harie was a lady acutely aware of her position.

She had never washed a dish, took a warm, plush bed for granted, and could taste the finest delicacies of the continent whenever she wished. She had always known she would have to pay the price for such privileges someday.

The duties of a noble lady were simple: keep herself beautiful, maintain harmonious relationships with other noblewomen, and eventually marry to benefit her family. Harie was well aware of this.

But...

‘No matter how it is, I don’t want to meet such despicable men. Either of them.’

Harie shivered as she thought of the two princes.

The two heirs of the Right Kingdom’s Lognum royal family, Athon de Lognum and Elzeor de Lognum, were twins who had recently come of age. Shamefully, they had grown into consummate wastrels.

From a young age, their overly mischievous antics had caused widespread concern. There was hope that their personalities might improve, but that hope was shattered when they reached adulthood.

The princes began indulging in drinking and revelry, using their noble status to harass noble ladies at gatherings.

At social events, they delighted in trapping their chosen ladies with elegant etiquette and lewd words.

The unfortunate ladies who couldn’t handle their advances were dragged to secluded spots and had their breasts groped, or had no choice but to flee, abandoning their dignity.

If they ran away, the princes laughed loudly, mocking them as graceless and humorless.

Harie Guidan herself had once been ensnared by their schemes, almost forced to give in.

However, she had managed to escape with her calm and clever speech, hearing the princes snicker behind her back, impressed by her wit.

As this behavior persisted, nobles in the Right Kingdom stopped inviting the princes to gatherings. Yet, somehow, the princes always found out and crashed the parties, causing chaos.

Eventually, sensible and decent noble gatherings dwindled, leaving the Nevis social scene dominated by sycophants clinging to the princes.

‘Disgusting scoundrels.’

If there was a sign of the kingdom’s downfall, it was the behavior of its princes.

Moreover, their claim of a rare brotherly bond in the royal family was even more repulsive.

They bought sex slaves and...

She couldn’t even bear to think about it.

Her mood thoroughly spoiled, Harie kicked off her shoes and lay down on the bed. But thoughts of the princes continued to plague her.

Of all things, she had to choose between those two for marriage.

Harie had pleaded tearfully with her father.

“Please don’t send me to those brutes.”

“Father, please. I beg you.”

“Can’t I marry into another family? I’ll go anywhere. It doesn’t matter who.”

“Why! Why was I born into the Guidan family to meet such dreadful men?”

Despite her desperate pleas and anger, her father remained unmoved.

Or rather, he pretended to be unmoved.

Though a warm-hearted man who cherished his daughter, as any noble would, he was surely hurt by her words.

Her father, too, disliked the princes. Yet he was preparing to marry her off to them, not because he had changed, but because the situation had changed.

The Margrave of Guidan was losing political ground.

Though she understood her father’s position, she detested the princes.

After days of tearful protest, refusing food and vowing never to see her father again, she came up with an idea.

‘Why does it have to be someone from our country?’

Harie had run to her father and shared her thoughts.

Margrave Harvey Guidan had closed his eyes tightly and then said he would think about it. Shortly after, a decision was made. Her father summoned her and, with a resigned tone, said,

“I contacted the Duke of Tertan. Apparently, there’s a successor around your age... you should meet him.”

Harie thanked her father sincerely and bowed gracefully.

She wanted to run to him, hug him, and thank him like she did when she was a child, but she refrained.

Such behavior was unbecoming of a grown noblewoman, though she had thrown a tantrum earlier...

Lying on the bed, Harie bit her lip.

So, she had come here to meet the heir of a foreign duke’s family, praying he was at least a decent person.

And hoping he would take her away...

Harie did not want to miss this last chance. She had told her father she’d rather die than marry one of the princes, but that was a lie.

If she couldn’t form a bond with the duke’s heir, she would have to marry a prince. It was her duty as a noble daughter to marry for her family’s sake.

So this really was her last chance.

- Knock, knock.

At that moment, the ‘simple’ meal she had requested arrived.

Harie sat up abruptly and allowed the maids to enter.

Five maids filed in, laying a white tablecloth on the table and carefully setting down the items they carried.

Expensive porcelain and silverware, well-aged fruit wine, tangy appetizers to whet the appetite, and splendid dishes that combined style and flavor...

Harie sat down with a reluctant expression. Her posture was impeccable as she dined with grace, but her demeanor was somber and melancholy.