Baby Prisoner of the Winter Castle

The floor of the execution site was cold.

Clarisse sat with her eyes closed and listened to the sounds coming closer.

Slash–! 

A huge sword cut a man, followed by the sound of swallowing painful breath.

Clarisse didn’t know if that was her father’s last breath or the breath of the queen waiting for her turn next to him. 

But one thing was certain.

That she’ll never know the answer, it’ll be her turn soon.  

Even if she wasn’t treated properly in the palace, she was definitely the princess of this land. 

Since they lost the war, it was only natural for the royal family of the defeated country to die.

Slash–! 

Someone died when the sound of the sword being swung again was heard. And when the sound of quiet footsteps drew closer to the girl. 

Clarisse knew that her body was shaking to the point of pain. 

‘…I’m scared.’

If they ask her if she has any lingering feelings for her life so far, in fact, she doesn’t really have that.

A powerless nine-year-old girl with no mother or mother’s family has lived her entire life with scars from adults’ cruelty.

‘Still.’

Clarisse was afraid of dying and was just happy to live.

She liked the moment she wiggled her cold feet in the cold winter and slid into her old, thick blanket.

She liked a book she had read so many times it fell apart and a round pebble friend she found in the garden and picked up one at a time. 

With her head bowed low, the girl hugged her small body tightly with both arms.

“I want to live….” 

When she murmured so quietly, she wondered if she should beg for her life from the knight or king of the enemy country.

It’ll be better than doing nothing and dying like this. 

Clarisse gently raised her head.

But someone grabbed her by the back for a while and forced her to bow her head. 

“…Ugh!”

“You want to live? Shame on you.”

It was her brother. 

Even at this moment, his tone made it clear that he didn’t like Clarisse. 

He never stopped pressing Clarisse to the floor. 

As if begging for her life would never be tolerated.

Just then, the two legs of the knight holding the sword stopped right in front of her.

Clarisse intuitively knew that now it was her turn with her brother.

The girl’s delicate shoulders began to tremble visibly when the thumping heart filled her ears.

She heard her brother’s powerful shout.

“This comes first.”

He finally relaxed his grip on Clarisse. She lifted her head and looked back at her brother. 

“The last survivor of the Grezekaia royal family cannot be this illegitimate child. Even if it is only for a few seconds.” 

He was looking at the knight with his sword pointed at him and his chin up.

He was so confident and intimidating that he didn’t feel like a Prince of a ruined country who was about to die.

“Only the heir of pure blood is qualified to be the last royal descendant of this kingdom.”

And he glared at Clarisse with a cold expression. 

The girl, who was startled, quickly turned her head away and saw a knight with a sword looking down at her.

He was a male adult who felt far too big.

Clarisse looked at him involuntarily and thought, ‘The black man.’

Maybe it’s because his long hair and eyes are all deep black.

It was so dark that even the bright red blood dripping down his cheeks seemed blurry—.

Clarisse instinctively thought that he wouldn’t be an ordinary knight. 

Clank.

Soon he fixed his sword.

Clarisse was startled and sat upright.

Does he really intend to kill her first?

“Go first, you low bloodline.”

Soon, she heard the words of her brother laughing lowly from behind.

‘No, I…’

Clarisse thought of an impossible wish.

Her father, who boasted of his power, died.

The queen, who always stared at Clarisse with sharp eyes, was also lying with him. 

The bodies of the strong kingdom knights who tried to protect them until the end were also lying all over this wide hall.

Even such great men couldn’t escape this death. 

Therefore, little Clarisse, who has neither strength nor ability, will not be able to escape this death.

‘Then… at least, I hope it doesn’t hurt.’

And if there is a world after death, she hopes it’s a better place than here—.

When she straightens her back, thinking like that.

A thin wind was felt near her.

It seemed to be the sound of a man wielding a sword a moment ago.

She clutched at the hem of her old dress with her frozen fingertips.

Slash–.

She heard the sound of a deep cut. Something hot poured over her face.

‘Am I… dead?’

She thought about that for a while. But she didn’t feel any pain, so she didn’t realize it.

“I thought it was a good offer to accept.”

Then, she heard a man’s voice from a little distance.

“Isn’t that so? The disgrace of an illegitimate child becoming the last royal would be more terrible than death.”

Just then, she felt the body of her brother, who was next to Clarisse, fall to the floor. 

The black man didn’t accept her brother’s request. 

“Well, my older brother has always loved mixed blood like me.” 

The stranger’s voice stopped right in front of Clarisse.

She looked up at him with narrow eyes.

The man who approached her with a sarcastic tone was very beautiful.

Even in this situation, it was enough for Clarisse to just stare at him in amazement.

Come to think of it, she had heard that the King of Saphers, who invaded them, was a man gifted with extreme beauty. 

The person who faces him in person will inevitably fall in love with him. 

The king’s jewel-like eyes briefly turned to Clarisse.

“Take care of it quickly and get back.”

At the words he spat out, she quickly lowered her head. The word ‘disposition’ must have referred to Clarisse’s death.

‘Now really…’

The fear of death, which had been lessened for a while, came back. That red sword that cut through her brother will pierce her body.

“….” 

Clarisse sat upright, barely keeping her body on the verge of collapsing.

If that was the case, she wanted to greet him like a royal princess at least one last time.

The appearance of a black man came right in front of her.

She closed her eyes more tightly at the sound of the clanging blade.

“The princess is young, Your Highness.”

But what she heard in her ears wasn’t the cruel sound of cutting through her body. 

Even so, it wasn’t a voice that sympathized with her or hesitated to kill her. 

“The death penalty for those who are under 18 is not executed.”

The black-haired man was reciting the laws of Saphers in a calm voice.

“No king in history has ever broken this law.”

“That kid is a prisoner of war.”

Soon, King Saphers’ disgruntled reply came from a few steps away.

“Yes, but the execution of children is illegal.”

There was a strange obstinacy mixed in his tight reply. The king, who had turned away, approached Clarisse again.

“So, you’re going to keep the prisoners of war alive?”

“The law.”

The black man put his sword on the sheath and bowed his head before the beautiful king.

“That’s right.”

“….” 

Clarisse’s heart filled with hope as she watched their conversation.

Maybe, she might not die right here—.

 “I didn’t expect to have such a useless argument with my older brother, but this is the king’s seed. Although it seems to have a little bit of lowly blood mixed in it.” 

The King of Saphers patted Clarisse’s pink hair with his palm.

“It will be difficult if she talks about justification later and say she will take revenge.”

“R, revenge… I, I won’t do it!” 

Clarisse quickly joined their conversation.

She was afraid that the black man would change his mind and try to kill her if she didn’t do this.

Soon, the gazes of the two men turned to her. They seemed surprised by the girl’s sudden protest, but Clarisse didn’t notice it.

“R, really…” 

The king smiled crookedly.

“Then would the princess hold a grudge instead? Cursing me all my life? Or maybe you will have ambitions to rebuild the kingdom.”

Clarisse shook her head. She was sincere

She would never hold a grudge against him because of the fall of the royal family, which had only caused her pain.

“No! I, I…” 

Although Clarisse’s eyes were frightened, she looked directly at the two men.

“…I just want to live!”

In the cold season, she seeks the warmth of a blanket, caresses her only book, and makes friends with the pebbles she has carefully picked out. 

Even though she has a life that seems lowly to the noble, it is her only life. 

“I will live quietly as if I were dead. Even if it’s several years, no, even if it’s just a little bit more…please let me live.” 

She spoke earnestly again. 

The king just stood there and stared at it blankly. He then looked back and forth between Clarisse and the black man before laughing.

“…Seriously, it seems like there are so many interesting things constantly twisted around you.”

“….” 

“Do whatever you feel like.”

When the king stepped back and said this, the black man reached out to Clarisse.

His hands were stained with her blood, but to her, it was the only rope that came down from heaven.

She quickly grabbed his hand when a large hand led her to stand up. 

After a few steps away, the king turned around and looked back as if he had just remembered something.

“Don’t forget, brother.”

The king said that with a smile.

“The day that child turns eighteen, you must bring her neck to me.”