CHAPTER 26: SHE TAKES AFTER ME

It was six days before the Kingdom’s first family party.

Hwan-Seok said to the King, “Father, the little girl has done something unthinkable for a girl.”

The King, cupping his chin in thought, could guess what his son was referring to.

“I know. She decoded an ancient text. She has a natural gift.”

He seemed proud as if to say, ‘She takes after me!’ In this world, where the King is credited if a boy were born and the queen was blamed if a girl were born. Yet, a king would still take credit for his daughter’s talents.

“But why do you have to inform me of the girl’s deeds.”

“It is so strange that a girl is able to do this. I feel that there should be some acknowledgment.” Hwan-Seok said that piqued the interest of the King. He was willing to give any reward—with one exception.

“I refuse to have her masculinized in order to use magic.”

Making Hwan-Seok nod in agreement, “That would be too high an honor to waste on a little girl. Perhaps you can give her an honorary title.”

Oh my~ the firstborn brat grew up well ufufu~ 

After a few other small talks, the King dismissed his son. He did not give any thought to giving her a proper title but instead decided to order a scholar to give her one when he suddenly received a message from his eldest son, who was being held captive by the empire, Hyeong-Seok

The long letter began: “My beloved Father, Treasure of the Kingdom.”

A sudden inspiration hit him and now, he knew what name he would give to Sang-Hee. It had not even taken him five seconds of thought when he issued the command. I will call Princess Sang-Hee, treasure and I will convene a family gathering.

*****

Sang-Hee had almost no interaction with the other Princess after her coming-of-age ceremony or rather, to be accurate, Suyeong’s execution.

We were at Princess Sang-Hee’s residence. It was the Repository of Records, which housed the history library. Princess Sang-Hee’s room was on the eleventh floor.

“Sorry, you can’t pass.”

“That is out of the question, by strict order of Prince Hwan-Seok.”

Seventeen-year-old Princess Heeah Kang had no choice but to turn back. With the King’s approval, Prince Hwan-Seok had given the order that the entrance is to be guarded fiercely. As a boy would have been able to float up to the eleventh floor while girls were unable to do this, however, and they were not even able to use an elevator to get to the eleventh floor without a knight’s help. Nor could they open the gates operated by magic. They were completely unable to travel through the building without a knight’s aid.

“Look out, Princess Sang-Hee’s coming out now.”

“Geez. Give me a little more warning.”

The two knights who had been guarding the entrance vanished into thin air. A girl would be unable to detect their presence in their state. This was also one of the reasons why Princess Sang-Hee had almost no contact with the other princesses. And she was, of course, oblivious to the reason that no princess ever came to visit.

After being denied entry, Princess Heeah encountered Prince Hwan-Seok as she saw walked towards Princess Sang-Hee’s building.

“How do you do? I’m the ninth born princess, Heeah.”

“Out of my way!” Not even batting an eye at her, Hwan-Seok pushed past her as Heeah’s body went stiff. Although all Hwan-Seok had said was “out of my way” Heeah had suffered a bout of freezing and shaking as she helplessly stared after Prince Hwan-Seok’s retreating back.

She was about to leave when she saw a startling scene and could scarcely believe her own eyes.

“Brother!” Princess Sang-Hee, who had three years to go before her woman’s coming-of-age, caught sight of the Prince and hugged him. How could she dare? I-I have to stop her! (T/n:  Noooo…DON’T! GIRL YOU’LL GET YOURSELF KILLED!!)

There were four princes. The first was named Hyeong-Seok, the second was Hwan-Seok, the third was Hwan-Seong, and the fourth was Hwan-Hyeok. Hyeong-Seok who was held captive by the Empire was mild-mannered, but he was hardly ever around, so one needn’t worry about him Hwan-Seong was not very threatening either, as long as you behaved around him. Little Hwan-Hyeok was still an unknown because he was so young.

But this was none other than Prince Hwan-Seok himself!

She was not mistaken—it was Prince Hwan-Seok. He was the most intimidating of the four princes. He saw the princesses as subhuman. Rumors made the rounds that he was the coldblooded prince who had the most decisive role in Princess Suyeong’s execution. (T/n: for those who don’t remember what crime did this cannon fodder do, she tried to poison/kill Sang-Hee by placing poison on her letters/stuff)

Prince Hwan-Seong would give you a few slaps if he found fault with you in any way but Prince Hwan-Seok was just likely to have you killed or so what was informed to her.

Princess Sang-Hee was running toward him and embracing him. This was suicide!

“Pri-Princess Sang-Hee!” Heeah’s mind went blank then. It was too late! Princess Sang-Hee was running headlong toward her certain demise. She tried to stop her, but it was no use.

What’s gotten into her?

The might bring bloodshed again in the palace. For a princess to dare to embrace a prince was unthinkable. She would most certainly be executed for her presumptuous behavior. Princess Heeah raced to them and knelt before Prince Hwan-Seok.

“Your Majesty, please pardon her. Princess Sang-Hee still has not had much contact with the princesses and was thus unable to receive proper training on etiquette.”

But strangely, Prince Hwan-Seok did not seem enraged and just glared at Heeah coldly and cast a spell which threw Princess Sang-Hee into the air.

He’s going to kill her!
(T/n: GIRL RUN!! I TELL YAH RAN!  YOU should run, TToTT)

Yes, he definitely was going to kill her. The Repository of Records was a fifteen-story building. She flew to the very top of the building. The impact of the fall would kill her. It would go down in the history book as an accidental death.

“Who are you to ask that I pardon my Mutt?”

Princess Sang-Hee did not hit the ground. Heeah was terrorized. Perhaps she was already dead. She couldn’t fathom how Sang-Hee had done something so stupid, even if she had not been trained by the other princesses.

She replied, “Oh, it’s not that.”

Hwan-Seok laid his hand on Heeah’s shoulder and rammed her into the marble statue as she pants for air after the impact. Hwan-Seok then said, “Don’t you forget this. You have no right to beg for pardon on someone else’s behalf. Get lost.

**

I spied First-Born Brat. I expected he’ll be coming here because Hwan-Seok had me to come meet him. I still had no idea why, but he was a prince. I detested First-Born Brat the most cause he feigned an air of invincibility even though he was still a little boy, himself. I longed to hit him in the stomach, but I smiled as if I were pleased to see him.

When I saw him, I beamed as if I couldn’t be happier and raced into his arms.

“Your Majesty, my esteemed Brother, I’ve missed you! I know you are performing great works but I wish your visits were more frequent.”

Then, I heard a girl’s voice defending my behavior.

My memory was jogged. She was the ninth-born princess. Heeah Kang, she was seventeen, five years older than I, she had likely had her woman’s coming-of-age ceremony and was of marriageable age. But what was she doing here?

I did not speak much with the other princesses, so I had forgotten that Hwan-Seok struck terror in their hears. Anyway, he was the most bad-tempered of all the princes.

I soared upward suddenly. I was used to his. I hated to say it, but I was used to this sensation. You’re not Scumbag! What are you doing?

I couldn’t help but shriek, as I shot upward. I was subjected to flying spells occasionally by Scumbag. He flicked his finger to and fro nonchalantly, making me whiz about a while I shrieked. He clearly found this all amusing. Given the behavior of his father, it was no surprise he would take after him. All these nobility were batty, each one with his own eccentricities.

I soared upward and then arrived with a plop on the eleventh floor. That hurt.

So he tosses people around whenever he feels like it. You’ll pay for this someday! I couldn’t risk even saying this to myself. He was able to hear from out of earshot while he was casting spells. I just cursed him inwardly instead. I could not even curse him to myself.

He definitely can hear me.

I didn’t dare curse him. I knew better than that. I lied again. What depths had I reached, that I was lying even to myself! My life was pathetic!

Oh, I’m so thankful for His Majesty! I whispered and tried to control my dark thoughts.

Thankful my ass.  I made my mind blank.

“Aaah, I’m so thankful!”

After the ‘ride’ was over, “I have to go downstairs so I can see Hwan-Seok again.”

Meanwhile, the Knights who had cast concealment spells on themselves had left their posts and were whispering to themselves.

“Prince Hwan-Seok clearly was smiling wasn’t he?”

“Oh did you see it? I did too. I thought my eyes were deceiving me.”

No, it had definitely happened. Prince Hwan-Seok’s lips had twitched upward in a smile, ever so slightly, when Princess Sang-Hee had embraced him

“So he threw her to the eleventh floor so she wouldn’t see him smiling?”

“I used a spell to check if she’s hurt but there’s not a scratch on her.”

They exchanged looks and then nodded.

“That’s impossible if he didn’t use magic to protect her right?”

“Of course, if she had ascended to the fifteenth floor and then landed on the eleventh floor, she would at least be somewhat hurt?”

“Did you use a protection spell?”

“No. I didn’t. Did you?”

“No…”

“Could it really be?”

They nodded. “But how could it be!? It takes an incredibly powerful spell to cast a protection spell in the absence of physical contact put the prince even made her fly!”

“That’s true. The second-born prince would never do anything so extreme.”

Princess Sang-Hee, who had flown up to the eleventh floor, came downstairs to the first floor again but this time she changed her clothes to take up some time.

“I’ve changed my clothes because I wanted to look nice for you, Brother.”

Hwan-Seok, who was seated near the fountain, didn’t even look at Sang-Hee and said, “You look ugly anyway”

“I know I do, but I am still so happy to be with you, Brother”

Princess Sang-Hee stood shyly beside him. She didn’t ask him why he had come and thinks that he wouldn’t have come without a good reason.

“You’ll receive a good news in a few days.”

“I will?”

“Yes, just keep that in mind.”

Hwan-Seok turned and left, as if to say, “There’s no need for you to know the details.”

Why did he personally come all this way to tell me that I would receive good news?

Sang-Hee didn’t know. He certainly wouldn’t have sought her out as a show of respect. She puzzled over it. (T/n: Oh my, our MC is quite dense herself isn’t she? >.<)

Princess Heeah who was watching from a distance still could not believe the scene in front of her.

Impossible! For Prince Hwan-Seok to converse with a princess!

What had only been rumored before was now confirmed. Everything about Princess Sang-Hee was mysterious. It had even been rumored that she had received the honor of being masculinized.

That was the only logical explanation for this situation. Six days elapsed, Princess Sang-Hee had been given the honorary title and a family gathering was planned. She felt more certain of her suspicions.

I thought masculinization was just a myth. They must have succeeded!

Everything made sense now. This explained why Princess Sang-Hee had been isolated, and why she had not had any contact with the other princesses. She had been an experiment. The masculinization experiment must have succeeded. This was why she was able to speak with the prince and why she had not been put to death for daring to embrace him.

Perhaps at the family gathering, Princesses will be selected for masculinization.

Her spirits were lifted ever so slightly. How wonderful it would be to be given at least some magical ability.

The family gathering would be on the next day. Perhaps they would announce the selection for masculinization.

I’ll be the very first to apply! She thought, her hopes soaring.