Raising the Princess to Overcome Death Chapter 87

87. Beggar Siblings - Confession

Leo and five knights were gathered in a decrepit warehouse on one side of the Noyar harbor.

The place reeked of fish and the damp, musty smell of wet ropes and equipment. Bart continued his story amidst the stench.

The royal guards, including Bart, who fled westward, managed to catch their breath only after crossing into the Kingdom of Orun.

Chased by knights of the Tertan family, five of them died, leaving only seven. Even then, they survived only because Tadian Lopero, the leader of the pursuit, realized they did not have the prince and princess and called off his men.

“After that, we searched for you, Your Highness. We scoured villages near the border between the Bellita Kingdom and our kingdom,” Bart said, his face contorted with pain.

“Then we heard the news that you and the princess had died. Prince Eric de Yeriel declared himself the sole heir of the Conrad Kingdom and made the announcement.”

The gathered knights' expressions darkened, reflecting on the despair they felt at that time.

“We foolishly believed it. We swore revenge for you and the princess and rushed to the capital, Lutetia, to gather comrades who would help us. But... they all refused.”

+ + +

In a dark tavern, Bart’s friends greeted him warmly, noting his gaunt appearance and inquiring about his well-being.

However, they showed reluctance at the request for help in seeking revenge. One by one, they gave negative responses.

“If Prince Leo were alive, it would be different. But now, Prince Eric is the only heir. While it’s true that he acted dishonorably and lacks legitimacy, we cannot harm him.”

“Yes, especially now that the regime is stable. There's no telling when the king will recover from his illness…”

There were various reasons, but they all boiled down to one thing: they couldn’t harm the only remaining heir.

An enraged Bart shouted, his voice echoing in the empty tavern.

“Cowards! Have you no honor as knights? The rightful heir of the kingdom has been usurped, and you spout excuses about having no alternatives and maintaining the order’s political neutrality! Aren’t you ashamed?”

His friends lowered their heads in shame at his scathing rebuke.

One knight, waiting for Bart to finish his tirade, spoke in a subdued voice.

“You’re right. I’m ashamed. But I have a family, and I don’t have the courage to throw myself into such a reckless pursuit of honor.”

“Reckless honor? How is this reckless? This is about restoring the dignity of the royal family...”

“Face reality. There’s only one prince left. If we harm him now, it will lead to rebellion. The Yeriel royal family will fall, and a new dynasty will rise. I respect your loyalty, but I hope you won’t become a vengeful ghost that brings harm to the kingdom.”

“Shut your mouth!”

Bart trembled with rage.

Though he silenced his friend with a shout, he knew there was truth in his words. Killing Prince Eric would indeed bring great harm to the royal family, and Bart didn’t want the Yeriel dynasty to fall.

After all, he was a royal guard who had sworn loyalty to the royal family.

This realization only made him angrier.

What about this grudge? What about the command from the king that he couldn’t fulfill, the lord he lost, and the comrades he had to part with?

He slammed his cup down and turned on his heel, stubbornly gritting his teeth.

“I’ve chosen my friends poorly. I was foolish to come to you for help.”

“Wait, Bart! Bart!”

Bart stormed out of the tavern. One of his friends chased after him, but he harshly shook off the hand grasping his collar and disappeared into the darkness.

+ + +

As Bart’s reminiscence grew long, another knight spoke up.

“We couldn’t bring harm to the royal family. So we decided to hold Duke Rupert Tertan accountable. He used his army to put his grandson, Prince Eric, on the throne, and he had to pay for that.”

Leo, who had been listening quietly, interjected.

“But it wasn’t easy, was it?”

“...No.”

The Tertan family was the second most powerful family in the Conrad Kingdom, after the Yeriel royal family. They had fifty knights, but their power didn’t end there.

The Tertan family was a prestigious knight family with countless relatives linked by blood, and each of their swordsmanship skills was exceptional.

Therefore, Duke Rupert Tertan’s mansion in the capital, filled with relatives and knights, was practically an iron fortress.

Even though Bart and his comrades were blinded by revenge, they weren’t foolish enough to rush into that fortress without a plan.

Leo tilted his head, considering their words. If their statements were true, they weren’t as skilled back then as they are now.

That made sense, given it was ten years ago...

“After that, we hid here. This warehouse belonged to my father, who was a fisherman.”

While hiding in this isolated warehouse at the harbor, they trained their swordsmanship, driven by dreams of revenge. Bart’s achievements were particularly remarkable.

Not only did he establish his own swordsmanship first among his comrades, but he also advanced beyond that.

The knights learned swordsmanship from Bart, and last year, all of them completed their own techniques.

“Every time one of us improved, we launched a raid on the Duke. But last year, Bart seemed to have realized something, and his swordsmanship skills improved dramatically.”

“Don’t overpraise me in front of the prince.”

“But it’s true. After that, we made Bart our leader. We managed to infiltrate the Duke’s fortress, which we had never breached before, and successfully kidnapped the butler. From him, we learned that the duke’s grandson had traveled to the Kingdom of Orun…”

At this point, Leo was already aware. They had rushed to the River and killed Philas Tertan, being pursued by the duke. They lost two more comrades during the escape, leaving the group of seven reduced to five.

As the story of their fallen comrades emerged, the knights’ faces grew somber.

But Bart thought differently.

‘It’s divine providence.’

Until recently, he regretted not rushing to the capital to kill the duke. But in hindsight, it was the right choice.

Had they gone to kill the duke, they wouldn’t have met the prince like this, providing solace for the deaths of their comrades, which had seemed merely tragic.

With the knights' tale ending, Bart turned to the prince with a question.

“Prince, how did you find us? We were confident we wouldn’t be discovered...”

It was a tricky question.

Leo paused briefly to choose his words. He couldn’t reveal he followed directions from {Tracking}. Clearing his throat, he replied,

“I was hiding in the Bellita Kingdom and only recently returned to our kingdom. During my travels, I heard about knights who had killed the heir of the Tertan family and fled. It was said they had been raiding the Duke for years.”

He couldn’t completely fabricate a lie. These were now his comrades, and with Lena present, it could cause problems.

“Those with a grudge against the duke and exceptional skills... I thought they might be willing to cooperate with me. Upon further investigation, I learned that these were former royal guards. That’s when I realized they were the ones who had helped me escape.”

The logic was a bit strained, but there was no other choice. He had to trust that the bonds of loyalty would hold.

“But I couldn’t find any trace of you. Initially, I thought you might have fled to the Kingdom of Orun. However, I heard that Lady Guidan, who was with Philas Tertan, was spared. Knowing that you’d antagonized the Guidan family, an eastern border family of Orun, I deduced you couldn’t have fled there. To disappear so quickly from the River, you must have taken a boat out to sea.”

Leo looked around at the knights to see if they believed his story.

“If you took a boat, you’d most likely return to the nearest port, Noyar harbor. So I waited here. Meeting you here like this is sheer luck.”

It was a hastily concocted story, and there was no way to disprove it. How could anyone argue against his reasoning?

{Tracking} was a ridiculously powerful skill. It skipped all the processes and provided a means to find specific individuals.

The knights’ mouths dropped open.

“Y-You found us with just that information? Prince! You’re incredible!”

They were moved, praising the prince with awe.

He was merely a prince trying to follow the king's orders. Living with a stubborn belief and thirst for revenge, his loyalty to the lost prince had only grown stronger.

It was a way to keep himself together.

[Achievement: Master-Servant Relationship - '5', As long as loyalty remains unwavering, those who pledge allegiance will trust and follow Leo.]

But now, things were different.

This wise prince! He truly seemed fit for the throne. It felt as if the divine had made them wait all these years to see this day.

Leo raised his hand to calm the knights, but it seemed their questions were not yet over.

“Prince, where is the princess...? I apologize.”

The knight who hastily asked the question realized his mistake even before finishing his words and hurriedly sought forgiveness. His excitement over the prince's return had led him to ask an inappropriate question.

The knight, shrinking in shame, drew glares from his comrades.

The atmosphere grew tense, but,

"She is well. It's early, so she's probably still sleeping."

The prince's words brought cheers from the knights.

Unable to contain their excitement, they jumped up and down like children.

No longer living as ghosts for the past ten years, they had protected the prince and princess and now looked forward to a glorious future.

No one asked about Barin and Nil, who had fled with the prince and princess. It was understood without saying that they had done their part honorably and died with dignity.

It had taken ten years to learn that.

In a shabby lodging at Noyar harbor,

Lena woke up late as usual and stepped out of the narrow room. Suddenly, she found herself facing men who called her 'princess.'

“Greetings, Princess!”

“Wha-what's with these men?”

Lena widened her eyes and looked at her brother. He was smiling.

“These are the knights who used to serve us. Lena, you are a princess.”

“Stop joking. Who are these people?”

“It's not a joke. You are the princess of Conrad Kingdom. Your real name is Lena de Yeriel.”

“Hold on. I need to think.”

Startled, Lena blinked her pretty eyes and dashed back into her room, muttering to herself, "What's going on?"

Having spent her life scavenging trash bins with her brother, it was hard for Lena to accept that she was a princess.

When her brother taught her royal etiquette, she thought it was just a game. She found learning graceful movements amusing and didn't mind being called a princess.

But to be a real princess?

It was absurd.

She was sure her brother had brought these people in as a prank. If she fell for it, she would be a laughingstock for life.

Lena puffed her cheeks and, with a sulky expression, came out again. “Okay, stop it! You win, brother!” She declared surrender, but her brother and the strange men didn't change their tune.

It took Lena quite some time to accept that she was indeed a princess. She hid in her room for days, hoping the strange men would disappear, but instead, they moved her to a better lodging and stayed with her.

Though Lena was shocked, Cassia was even more so.

The moment she heard Leo was a prince, she turned pale and knelt, begging forgiveness for the insolence of a lowly woman.

Leo tried to comfort her, introducing her as a benefactor to the knights, but Cassia's complexion didn't improve.

She couldn't forget the moment she first saw Leo. Just looking at him made her heart stop, and when he said he was leaving, she followed without hesitation.

She didn't mind spending her severance pay on him. She felt insignificant for not being able to do more and was anxious he might not take her with him.

She had done disgraceful things to protect him in the mountains. She could do anything for Leo.

But a prince...

During the days when Leo discussed future plans with the knights, Cassia prepared meals while shedding tears.

She had dared to love someone unreachable.

‘A lowly woman like me... a filthy prostitute dares to love a prince...’

Cassia found it unbearable.

She still trembled and despaired whenever she looked at him.

It was an impossible relationship. He should never be with a woman like her.

He deserved to meet someone noble and refined. He deserved to be with someone who could do more than just ‘that’ and mend shoes.

Finally, Cassia packed her things in the middle of the night. She didn't have much, so her luggage was light.

She left the shoes she had made beside the princess and couldn't muster the courage to leave the prince's shoes, so she clutched them and ran outside.

She planned to leave secretly.

He no longer needed a woman like her now that he had found knights to serve him.

Tears streamed down her face, but she believed she was making the right choice.

The salty sea breeze from the beach spread her tears across her cheeks.

Thus, she ended her unreasonable love and headed north, toward her father's shoe shop.

But,

“Cassia!”

Leo caught up with Cassia in just one day.

How did he find me?

“Cassia, where are you going without a word?”

“...Prince.”

Seeing the prince out of breath from running, Cassia burst into tears again, thinking her tears had dried up.

“Don’t cry. Tell me what’s going on. I’ll help you.”

“...Let me leave.”

“What do you mean? Why are you leaving?”

“I... I am...”

Cassia hung her head and exhaled. It was time to say what she hadn't been able to say.

In the quiet, rustling grass, Cassia confessed she was a prostitute, even on the day she first met him.

“Your past doesn’t matter. Come on. Let’s go back and talk.”

But the prince seemed unsurprised, as if he already knew.

She had expected him to be shocked and disgusted, but instead, he gently took her hand and pleaded with her to come back.

Cassia's heart warmed.

He truly is an incredible person.

How can I not love him?

But she stood firm and did not move. Such a wonderful person... she couldn't be with him.

“I cannot stay with you, Prince.”

“Cassia, please... Come back with me. I don’t care about your past. It’s okay.”

“Please don’t call me sister, Prince. I never saw you as a brother. I... I...”

Cassia finally spoke the words she had wanted to say since the day she met him.

“I love you.”

In the silence, a breeze swept past them.

Leo did not love Cassia.

He felt pity for her, a mix of complex feelings, and wanted to help her, but there was no romantic love.

“Please, let go of my hand. I beg you.”

“But! Cassia...”

Leo couldn’t easily let go of her hand. How could he just let her go like this? He had done nothing for her yet.

But... Cassia wanted to part ways.

Should he accept her feelings? Should he say he loved her too, even if it was a lie?

He didn’t want that. He had lied so often, but he didn’t want to lie about feelings.

Pretending to break off the engagement with Lena had left him with deep scars and regrets. He would never do that again.

But accepting Cassia’s feelings... even if it was a lie, wouldn’t it be for her sake?

As Leo hesitated, Cassia spoke.

“I know you don’t love me, Prince. You saw me as a good sister, maybe even a strange person.”

“...”

“So, please let me go. I beg you.”

“I can’t. I owe you a debt, Cassia. I have to repay it.”

Leo's plea shook Cassia's heart. A small desire seeped out.

Cassia whispered,

“Then please hug me just once.”