Chapter 5.1

After the engagement ceremony, Esha did her best to grow closer to Johan.

Her young fiancé turned out to be far more timid and withdrawn than she had expected. Whatever happened, he seemed to prefer keeping his lips sealed rather than speaking to her.

Because of this, Esha had little chance to understand what kind of treatment Johan received within the palace. At most, she assumed he must feel somewhat lonely and left it at that.

“My apologies, Your Imperial Highness. Prince Johannes has gone out.”

The knight standing guard outside Johan’s chambers spoke stiffly.

Esha shifted awkwardly, scratching the back of her neck as she looked at the basket of sandwiches she had brought to share.

“Since lunch? Where has he gone?”

“That, I’m unsure of—”

“You’re telling me the prince went out alone?”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

At his answer, Esha’s expression darkened.

“Are you not supposed to be his personal guard? Yet not only do you let that boy go out alone, you don’t even know where he went?”

It was absurd. Judging from the knight’s indifferent tone, this wasn’t the first time such a thing had happened. If Esha hadn’t decided to visit herself, they likely would have continued to leave Johan unattended until someone noticed.

‘I knew he was isolated in the palace, but this…’

She let out a short sigh.

The knight glanced at her warily. His complete lack of fear toward her made Esha’s grip tighten around the basket’s handle.

“Your face, I’ll remember it. I’ll decide what to do with you after I’ve found the prince.”

Her anger simmered, but finding Johan took priority. Where could he have gone alone in broad daylight? A sense of unease crawled up her spine.

She searched everywhere within the palace. The library, the dining room, the large bathhouse, anywhere he might plausibly go.

But there was no sign of Johan.

Esha stepped out into the gardens and began searching. After checking the back garden and finding nothing, she turned to head back into the palace, only to hear laughter coming from the direction of the training grounds.

She froze, then pivoted toward the sound.

From a distance, she could see a group of boys holding wooden swords. Among them was a small, familiar figure.

“Hey, hey. Speak properly, will you? What kind of pronunciation is that?”

“Did you hear him talk? It’s hilarious.”

The three boys appeared to be around Johan’s age, but they were all much taller and bigger than him.

Dressed in white shirts under doublets and soft leather boots, they could almost have passed for Johan’s sparring partners at first.

But they weren’t sparring.

They had surrounded Johan and were smacking him on the head with their wooden swords, laughing cruelly as though tormenting a helpless animal.

Johan tried desperately to dodge their blows, raising his own wooden sword in an attempt to block them, but it was useless. The harder he tried to evade, the more fiercely they swung at him.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

Esha’s voice rang out as she tossed her basket aside and strode toward Johan.

The boy, who had looked like a frightened, cornered kitten only moments before, lit up with a bright, clear gaze the instant he saw her.

“I-it’s Her Highness.”

“Your Highness…”

The other boys turned and bowed stiffly when they saw her, but their faces betrayed not fear, but annoyance. Like children irritated at being caught red-handed.

The sight made Esha feel as though her fury had frozen solid in her veins.

Johan was her fiancé. He might be from Atlan, but he was now a member of the imperial family, destined to become the consort of royalty. In Elendor, the authority of the imperial family was absolute. No one, not even the nobility, dared lay a hand on them.

And yet here were mere sons of aristocrats treating her fiancé like this, with not a hint of fear in their eyes.

It struck Esha like a blade to the heart, as though Johan was being tormented because she had failed to project the dignity expected of a member of the imperial house.

“I asked you a question,” she said, her voice trembling. “What were you doing?”

The tallest boy in the group stepped forward to answer.

“Our fathers are currently in an audience with His Majesty the Emperor… so we thought to use the time to train Prince Johannes in swordsmanship.”

“Training? Is it training to surround one boy and beat him senseless?”

“…You misunderstand, Your Highness. We were only practicing.”

As the tall boy spoke, the two standing behind him lowered their heads, shoulders shaking with barely contained laughter.