Chapter 115

Moonlight streamed through the window of the room Princess Florin was staying in. It was a night so bright, the moonlight seemed almost like daylight.

Florin, dressed in her nightgown, paced around the room, clutching the sealed prophecy her brother had given her.

The time had come. She knew she had to open it now, but still, she struggled to summon the courage.

Then, as if making up her mind, Florin stopped walking. She broke the wax seal and opened the envelope.

The letter inside was quite long. It began with her personal details, followed by a detailed record of her life’s journey.

Having never received a prophecy before, Florin finally understood why it had to be opened alone, at this quiet hour of the night.

The prophecy was, in essence, a kind of sacred record—a chronicle of divine foresight. It listed her birth date and significant events that had occurred at various ages. The words of the priestesses who had received divine revelations were recorded in full, and among them were even subtle hints about the future of international affairs.

But what mattered most was the present—her twenty-second year.

Florin quickly turned to the third page, holding her breath as she read the words written there.

What she saw was impossible to believe.

In the year you turn twenty-two, you will marry a man of the Empire. His name is…

Florin rubbed her eyes again and again, unwilling to believe what she saw—as if, by sheer force, she could change the nine letters printed there.

His name is Armin Grey.

He, the fiancé of her dearest friend, Vivian Roha. He, who would become the imperial consort of Gellang.

Even today’s engagement—everything had already been foretold.

How many children she would have, whether the first would be a boy or girl, what events would unfold at what age—each detail had been carefully recorded. The prophecy had predicted every step of Florin’s life, all the way to her death.

A predetermined path. An inescapable fate.

Once again, Florin was struck by the crushing reality that there was nothing in her life she could truly choose.

The hope that Alessandro’s name might appear had been a foolish, empty dream. How envious she had been today, watching Armin and Vivian smile at each other with such affection during their engagement ceremony.

Beneath the shattering moonlight, Florin’s body finally collapsed to the ground.

How much time had passed? Lying on the floor, sobbing uncontrollably, Florin eventually stilled.

‘Crying won’t change anything.’

For the royal family of Gellang, the prophecy was an absolute decree. Yet, for the first time in her life, Florin felt a surge of defiance against it.

She would rather die than be the one to come between Armin and Vivian, who looked so genuinely happy together. But more than that, what consumed her mind was the image of Alessandro, blushing as he looked at her.

‘No.’

Florin shook her head.

She couldn’t bear to part from Alessandro like this. To marry someone she had no feelings for, to live her life as nothing more than a puppet of the prophecy—she couldn’t do it.

Where the courage came from, she didn’t know. But she began to hurriedly change her clothes. She hadn’t had the chance to change out of the bridesmaid dress she’d worn for Vivian’s engagement, having rushed back to the palace.

If anyone else saw this prophecy, it would be a disaster. After a brief hesitation, she made up her mind and hid the letter inside her bodice—no one would dare search there.

It was deep into the night. The ladies-in-waiting standing guard outside her door had dozed off. Florin quietly crept through the halls. The full moon shone brightly overhead, and thanks to it, she could move through the palace’s sleeping corridors without difficulty.

It was as if some invisible force was guiding her. She had expected to lose her way, but somehow, she reached her destination with ease.

It was the royal stables.

There, she quietly led out a small horse she was confident she could manage. Without delay, she climbed into the saddle.

Florin had never been fond of physical activity, but as part of her royal education, she had learned to ride. She wasn’t skilled, and she didn’t know the way—but driven by the single thought that she had to escape, she spurred the horse forward.

* * *

“Stop! Stop!”

Did the little horse somehow read her mind? The one Florin was riding galloped straight toward the gates of the Imperial palace. It was a time when there should have been no movement. Startled by the sudden sound of hooves, the guards waved their arms and shouted for her to stop. When they saw that the rider was a woman in a violet dress, they froze, unsure of what to say.

“Uh… I mean…”

Seeing the guard flustered by the unusual situation, Florin bit her lip. She knew that if she wasted even a moment here, she might lose her chance to get out.

Then, a flash of inspiration struck her. Ever since arriving in this country, she had spent so much time with Vivian that perhaps some of her boldness had rubbed off on her. Somewhere deep inside, courage welled up.

Florin looked down at the guard with a cold, commanding expression—and then spoke. Not in the Empire’s tongue, but in the language of Gellang.

“Step aside. I must pass through here now.”

Most people of the Empire never traveled abroad in their lives. As such, they had little reason to learn foreign languages. Even nobles rarely did—so for a common gate guard, it was practically unheard of.

“W-what did you say?”

“I told you to move. Don’t you understand a foreign language? Hurry and let me through.”

“I-I think that’s not our language, but…”

Florin then deliberately spoke clumsy Imperial, as if she weren’t fluent.

“I am Gellang. Maid of Princess Florin. Open gate. Urgent.”

Her broken words were clumsy, but not hard to understand. The guard stared at her, clearly flustered. She spoke Gellang—so she must indeed be a foreigner. And since it was said the Princess always wore a veil, maybe this really was her maid.

“The princess’s maid? But why at this hour…”

“Open gate. Urgent.”

Florin kept pretending not to understand, ignoring the guard’s attempts to question her.

The guard hesitated. The Princess’s maid, acting under orders, going out at this strange hour… Should he let her pass or not?

If something went wrong after letting her out, he could always claim he was simply following royal orders. But if he refused and something did go wrong, he’d be punished for insubordination.

“Letting someone in might be a problem—but letting someone out should be fine… right?”

With his head spinning from dealing with a foreigner for the first time in his life, the guard ultimately made his decision.

“P-please wait just a moment!”

The massive gate, which had seemed like it would never open, began to slowly creak apart before Florin.

* * *

Even though Florin had succeeded in escaping the imperial palace, finding Viscount Roha’s estate was another matter entirely. The capital was far too vast to wander aimlessly, and time was running short. Relying only on her memory, she headed in what she thought might be the right direction—but uncertainty weighed heavily on her.

Tears welled up in her eyes, but she held them back with determined resilience. She didn’t know where such passion had been hiding inside her all this time, but now wasn’t the time to cry.

As she roamed the capital on horseback, the little horse, unfamiliar with the path, eventually came to a stop in a place Florin had never seen before. It stood motionless, as if it had exhausted its strength. No matter how tightly Florin pulled the reins, it refused to budge.

Just when she was beginning to panic at the horse’s refusal to move—like it was waiting for someone—an unfamiliar clamor reached her ears: the sound of several freight wagons rolling along the road.

“Excuse me? Excuse me?”

One of the men from the leading cart got down and approached her, irritated to find someone blocking the middle of the road.

“You can’t just block the road like this! Move your horse and get out of the way.”

The man who spoke was young. He had black hair tied in a ponytail and wore glasses—an appearance she had never seen in person before, but one that two of her closest friends had often described.

“…Andre?”

“Who are you? How do you know my name?”

In the merchant guild, there was no distinction between day and night. Goods had to keep flowing, and wagons moved even through the dark. The guildsmen were among the first to greet the dawn.

It was an unbelievable stroke of luck. If the horse hadn’t stopped here, if her scuffle with the palace guard had lasted a little longer or ended a bit sooner, if she hadn’t met the wagon at this exact moment—Florin likely would never have found her way to Viscount Roha’s estate.

It was as if the whole universe had conspired to help her, one coincidence after another falling perfectly into place.

“Andre!”

Startled by the beautiful woman on horseback, now tearing up while calling his name, Andre recoiled instinctively. Sure, she was breathtakingly gorgeous, the kind of beauty that could make a man lose his mind—but he had a fiancée!

“W-wait a minute! I’m engaged, so this is a bit inappropriate—”

“Take me to House Roha. Right now.”

“Ro… Roha Estate?”

Her unexpected demand made Andre squint suspiciously as he looked up at the woman on the horse.

He had seen many nobles at Lady Vivi’s engagement party. Though he didn’t get close, he had observed the festivities from a distance. They seemed peaceful and joyful. He’d rushed back to work right after. Now, this mysterious woman was wearing a dress that looked exactly like the one Vivan’s bridesmaid wore.

‘She looks… familiar.’

With some uncertainty, Andre cautiously asked:

“Could it be… Her Highness Princess Florin of Gellang?”