TSTRP 11

Chapter 11

Before long, the maid pointed toward a door. Normally, the doors at the back of the palace were meant for servants, but with the main entrance blocked off, it seemed that everyone, servants and guests alike, used this door instead. In other words, the imperial family and mere servants were using the same entrance.

Considering how he had deliberately blocked off the perfectly good, luxurious main entrance and made everyone use this shabby little door, Crown Prince Lynel was certainly an eccentric man.

“Secretary, you can go in this way. There isn’t a single vine here!”

“That’s a relief.”

And so, I safely entered the First Imperial Prince’s Palace.

Unlike the Albre residence, the servants here at least had the courtesy to bow their heads once in greeting when they saw me. Of course, there were a few maids who neither acknowledged nor even pretended to notice me, and some even snorted contemptuously. But compared to what Alice had done, it was nothing more than laughable.

It was strange that I was receiving a warmer welcome in this gloomy, bizarre First Imperial Prince’s Palace than in the mansion where I had lived my entire life.

The person who seemed happiest to see me, in particular, was Damian, the attendant who had visited yesterday carrying a mountain of letters.

“Good morning, Secretary Albre!”

The moment I arrived at the office, Damian came running over as though he had somehow known I was coming. He greeted me with a broad smile.

“Ah, yes. Good morning.”

My voice trailed off as I looked at the tray Damian had brought over. Just like yesterday, it was piled high with letters.

“Fortunately, you didn’t run away… I mean, you came early!”

So he was happy because I hadn’t run away.

Well, if I ran away, this mountain of letters would become Damian’s responsibility again, so I could understand his feelings. I chuckled at his shameless remark and answered,

“I barely managed to avoid being late.”

As if to prove my words, the bell announcing the start of working hours was ringing outside.

“Either way, you came, didn’t you? Then you came early.”

Since I was already there, Damian began helping me sort through the letters. While doing so, he also gave me bits of useful information, such as who was important and which letters could be dealt with rather casually.

Since these were letters addressed to a prince, even the people sending pointless love letters were all from high-ranking families, which made things rather difficult for me.

“If you pay attention to every single person simply because they have a high social status, Secretary, you’ll collapse. His Highness can’t read every letter himself, either. You need to think about His Highness’s status, not your own. Remember that you are His Highness’s representative.”

Damian picked up one of the letters from the enormous pile.

“Then I don’t necessarily have to reply to a letter like this one, right?”

The letter was an invitation to a ball hosted by a powerful count’s family. It was the kind of invitation that every family in the empire with an unmarried daughter would dream of receiving.

Was this what they meant by the changing of the times?

If Alice had received this invitation, she would probably have been willing to pay a fortune for it. But to the First Imperial Prince, it was nothing more than a piece of paper that could simply be thrown away.

“His Highness receives quite a lot of invitations.”

That was surprising, considering the rumors that he was a good-for-nothing.

I had been thinking something disrespectful when my eyes happened to meet Damian’s. Only then did I realize that this was the First Imperial Prince’s Palace, and that what I had just said was rather inappropriate for a place like the imperial palace.

Saying that it was surprising for the prince to receive so many invitations could easily be interpreted as looking down on him.

“Ah, well, I just thought that people wouldn’t dare send invitations to someone as highly placed as His Highness.”

I desperately racked my brain for an excuse, breaking out in a cold sweat. Fortunately, Damian seemed not to have noticed my mistake, as he nodded.

“His Highness is exceptionally handsome, so people often invite him in hopes that he’ll grace their events with his presence. Whenever His Highness appears, a lot of beautiful young ladies come as well.”

In other words, the ball became a place filled with eligible women.

“If I were in their position, I wouldn’t send an invitation even after hearing the rumors about His Highness. Quite surprising, isn’t it?”

“……”

He understood.

Of course. Damian was a servant in the imperial palace, a place where political schemes and intrigues were everywhere. There was no way he could fail to notice my careless mistake.

“Shall I tell you an amusing story?”

Is he about to warn me that I could die if I make another careless remark?

At Damian’s meaningful question, I swallowed nervously and held my breath. After a tense silence, Damian lowered his voice as much as he could.

“There was once a secretary who sold one of these invitations for money. Ha ha!”

“Ah…”

“Contrary to the rumors, His Highness doesn’t just go around killing people indiscriminately, so you don’t need to be so nervous. I doubt there’s a single servant in the First Imperial Prince’s Palace who hasn’t cursed His Highness at least once.”

“Is… is that so?”

Is this palace really going to be okay?

Seeing my uneasy reaction, he laughed cheerfully once again before adding,

“Oh, and for your information, that secretary who sold the invitation disappeared.”

“Disappeared…?”

“There have been a lot of disappearances lately. It’s quite a problem. What on earth is the security force doing? You should be careful too, Secretary, just in case.”

As far as I knew, all the victims of those disappearances were former secretaries of the First Imperial Prince.

After talking enthusiastically for a while, Damian suddenly exclaimed and said,

“Ah! Right. I forgot to tell you. His Highness told you to visit him sometime this morning.”

“This morning?”

Shouldn’t that have been the first thing you told me? That’s the most important part!

Perhaps Damian was embarrassed that he had forgotten, because he cleared his throat and offered an excuse.

“It’s breakfast time right now, so you can go a little later.”

Yesterday, His Highness had refused to receive my greeting, and today he wanted me to visit him so we could see each other?

I couldn’t understand the psychology of Crown Prince Lynel, but having a superior whose moods changed as unpredictably as boiling porridge was exhausting enough. I was already worried about what life in the palace would be like from now on.

Well, anyway, am I finally going to see the man at the center of all those rumors with my own eyes?

The newspaper articles I had read about Crown Prince Lynel flashed through my mind.

[A Count’s Family Reduced to Tears Over a Ruined Ball. Is the First Imperial Prince to Blame?]

[Screams Ring Out from the First Imperial Prince’s Palace Every Day. What Is the Secret?]

[Shocking! A Sword Fight Breaks Out in the First Imperial Prince’s Plaza!]

The weekly papers were hardly reliable, with truth and lies mixed together indiscriminately. Still, even if only half of those stories were true, Crown Prince Lynel was someone no sensible person would want to associate with.

Ever since I received my appointment letter, I had repeated these words to myself countless times, and now I muttered them once again.

Still, he is, after all, the First Imperial Prince of the empire. There must have been a reason behind all the chaos he caused.

I swallowed nervously and steeled myself for my now-imminent meeting with Crown Prince Lynel. Even if he really was as terrible as the rumors claimed, all I had to do was endure it for a few years.

I had worked in a company amid the fierce competition of the twenty-first century. Working as a secretary in this backward era, where people still carried swords, should be a piece of cake.

Besides, there was no reason for Crown Prince Lynel to find any particular fault with me. It wouldn’t be difficult.

I clenched my fists tightly. Perhaps sensing my resolve, Damian tried to reassure me.

“His Highness is a little unusual, but he really isn’t as bad a person as the rumors make him out to be.”

See? I knew it.

The things the weekly papers said really couldn’t be trusted. Reassured by the words of an attendant who had observed Crown Prince Lynel for quite some time, I sighed in relief and rubbed my chest.

“Then will you come into His Highness’s room with me?”

“No? Why would I go into that dreadful— I mean, why would I go into His Highness’s room?”

“……”

Excuse me? You just said he wasn’t as bad as the rumors claimed.

Perhaps because I had started working early today, I managed to finish most of the letter-related work before noon. The tricks Damian had taught me that morning had been quite helpful.

After sorting the letters once more and placing them on the tray, I checked the position of the sun outside the window. In a world where clocks were expensive luxuries, the best way to estimate the time was to look at the sun.

It’s already gotten pretty late.

Judging from how high the sun was in the sky, it seemed to be close to noon. I should have felt relieved after dealing with so many letters during the morning, but instead, my heart felt even heavier.

Now I really had to go to Crown Prince Lynel’s room.

After preparing myself mentally, I left the office carrying several important letters that needed to be delivered to Crown Prince Lynel, along with a report briefly summarizing their contents.

Crown Prince Lynel’s bedroom was on the fourth floor. I had to climb several more floors from where I was.

Considering that the master of a palace usually stayed on the second or third floor, where it was easier to come and go, the fourth floor was an unusual location.

It was high enough that even someone with poor stamina would be panting after climbing all those stairs.

Why does he stay on such a high floor?

Even the number itself was the number four—the number associated with death.

I soothed the ominous feeling rising within me and began climbing the long staircase.

At last, I arrived in front of Crown Prince Lynel’s bedroom.

For a prince’s room, the door looked more modest than I had expected. I took several deep breaths before carefully raising my hand and knocking.

Knock knock—

“Your Highness, I am Solana Albre, the secretary who began working yesterday.”

Even after waiting for quite some time, there was no answer from inside.

After hesitating for a moment, I spoke again.

“I heard you summoned me. Are you perhaps not inside?”

Once again, silence followed.

I pressed my ear against the door.

Is he really not inside?

Then, from somewhere within, I heard the faint sound of a bell.

Jingle—