A man upright and steadfast enough to bow his head even to a sinner accused of threatening his lord’s position.
Ioret had chosen him because she believed that someone with such convictions would at least not violate her or assassinate her without reason.
Besides, the Black Eagle Knights were a royal unit composed only of the kingdom’s finest knights, directly under the king’s command.
The current commander of the Black Eagle Knights was nearing retirement, which meant that within a few years, the man standing before her would likely ascend to the position himself.
In other words, Lucian was the greatest knight in Elovis, a powerful figure destined to hold the immense authority and responsibility of overseeing the security of the entire royal family in the future.
On top of that, his silent loyalty had earned him widespread praise as the very model of a knight.
“You may not like it, but I’ll be in your care, Sir.”
“Yes, Princess.”
When Ioret extended her hand, Lucian obediently pressed a kiss to the back of it.
However, there was not the slightest trace of goodwill in his eyes toward her.
Still, there had never been anyone in this castle who held affection for Ioret to begin with. The familiar reality left a bitter ache in her chest.
Ioret returned to her residence with Lucian.
Lucian looked somewhat startled by the gloomy state of the tower’s interior. There was only a single steward serving the entire tower.
“Do you not have any maids?”
“I did. Not anymore. She was thrown out today.”
It was not nearly as trivial as she made it sound.
Even a glance from outside the door made it impossible to imagine this place as a princess’s residence.
Dark stone walls, old furniture, and a freezing floor that radiated cold. There was not even a fire lit in the fireplace. The room was so small there was barely any distinction between bedroom and sitting room.
The only thing remotely presentable was a splendid wedding dress hanging from a clothes rack in the corner. Even that looked absurdly out of place in such a shabby room.
“Your room is downstairs. Bring whatever you need yourself. Sorry, but there aren’t any servants or attendants here to wait on you.”
Then what exactly was here?
Lucian was dumbfounded.
“Then who attends to Your Highness?”
Ioret, who had already walked into the bedroom, stared at Lucian blankly.
Her gaze only made him more flustered.
Who… don’t tell me it’s me?
Ioret answered calmly.
“I told you. The only person who handled those things was kicked out today.”
“The only one? Surely you do not mean you keep no other servants?”
“Mm. You just need to light the fireplace and heat bathwater. I’ll handle the rest.”
“…A guard knight freely entering the princess’s residence could easily invite misunderstandings.”
Lucian’s tone stiffened.
What Ioret did not know was that rumors of immoral acts taking place in the tower had quietly spread among the royal servants since last year.
The leading theory was that the reason for her sudden broken engagement with Duke Valer and the Crown Princess’s insistence on marrying her off to the elderly Count Castlane were both due to the princess’s conduct.
After all, even Princess Charlotte’s mother, Queen Charlotte, had been expelled because of a scandal involving a guard knight. For that reason, not a single knight in the royal castle wanted to become entangled with Princess Ioret.
“There’s no one here to spread rumors anyway. Even the steward barges in whenever he pleases. Benedict always…”
Ioret trailed off mid-sentence.
An unnecessary memory had surfaced.
An awkward silence settled between them.
It was not one favorable to Ioret.
Lucian’s voice became noticeably sharper.
“Indulging Your Highness’s private curiosities is not within the scope of my escort duties. I have no wish to tarnish Your Highness’s dignity, nor lower the prestige of the knight order. If you truly wish it, I shall summon servants from the main palace.”
“Private curiosities? Are you afraid I’ll drag you into bed?”
Lucian answered by not answering.
Ioret let out a hollow laugh.
Ah, Catherine.
‘That wretched bitch…’
She steals someone else’s fiancé, yet spreads filthy rumors about me?
It was obvious that although the rumors had not reached the king’s ears, every noble entering and leaving the castle must already know them. Rage began to boil inside her.
“Sir, how old are you?”
“Twenty-five.”
“I’m eighteen. I haven’t even had my birthday yet.”
“…Pardon?”
“Are you shameless enough to see a princess who hasn’t even reached adulthood as a woman?”
For perhaps the first time in a long while, Lucian found himself speechless. The princess was looking at him as though he were trash lying in the street.
“Believe it or not, I have no desire to involve myself in anything vulgar with anyone.”
“Vulgar…?”
“Besides, if I had truly been doing obscene things with someone in a cold, cramped place like this, do you think it would have been by my own will? This is a place where I can’t even bring in a servant without my sister’s permission. Unless you mean I was forced into it.”
“Pardon? What do you mean by that…?”
“Sir Peraine. Are you the same sort as those perverts and deviants? Did I choose the wrong person?”
Pervert. Deviant—
Lucian could not answer immediately.
Born into a noble family and raised as an elite knight, he had never in his life experienced—or even heard—such treatment. Though he did not show it outwardly, his thoughts were in complete disarray.
More importantly… what did she mean by forced?
Could it be…?
Perhaps interpreting his silence differently, the princess strode past him and out into the corridor before he could stop her.
“Fine. I’ll go to the main palace right now and ask Father to change my escort. Sir Peraine seems far more low-class than the rumors suggested—”
“I!”
Lucian hurriedly interrupted her.
The moment the words left his mouth, he realized he had fallen into her trap. But it was already too late to take them back.
“I… spoke out of turn. Please forgive me. I will gladly accept punishment.”
The princess stood silently for a moment.
Lucian could not guess what thoughts were swirling through that small head of hers.
Not long after, Ioret slumped her shoulders and muttered gloomily,
“Then just light the fireplace. I won’t ask for anything more.”
“Yes. I will prepare bathwater immediately as well.”
“…Fine. Thank you.”
Ioret returned to the room and sank into a worn armchair. Once she buried herself against the flattened cushions, her small frame was almost completely hidden.
Lucian found himself unable to look away from her exhausted back.
‘She was only eighteen…’
A bitter sense of regret filled his mouth.
He had said unforgivable things to a girl who had not even come of age yet.
By nature, Lucian was righteous to the core. He was endlessly weak toward the vulnerable, and that was both his greatest strength and his greatest flaw.
After hesitating for some time, Lucian finally stepped past the doorway.
There were only a few things Lucian had to do as the princess’s escort knight.
At sunrise, he knocked on the princess’s bedroom door, entered to check the fireplace, and quietly left again.
Surely the fire must have gone out at least once during the night, but it seemed the princess relit it herself. If the maids of the main palace saw such a thing, they would faint in shock.
Princess Ioret spent nearly all her time inside her room except when she went downstairs to the dining room to eat. During those hours, Lucian stood guard outside her bedroom.
“There’s really no need for you to work so hard, Vice Commander. That princess doesn’t have anything to do or anything she can do anyway. She spends all day without saying a word.”
The steward yawned loudly while glancing sideways at the bedroom door. The way he kept lingering around the princess’s room irritated Lucian.
“Do you have business with the princess? I can pass it along.”
“Ah, nothing much. I was thinking of bringing her some snacks. Duke Valer used to bring tea treats himself, but ever since the engagement broke off, visits have become rare.”
“I’ll take them in myself, so prepare them.”
“Oh, come now. I’ll report to Her Highness the Crown Princess anyway, so why don’t you at least step out for some fresh air…?”
From the sound of it, the steward was one of the Crown Princess’s people as well.
When Lucian remained unmoved, the steward clicked his tongue and walked off down the stairs, grumbling.
Watching the man’s retreating figure, Lucian sank into thought.
‘So aside from Duke Valer, no one comes here. And even he hasn’t visited in a long time. Then why did rumors about the princess being promiscuous spread? Unless someone intentionally spread them…’
Just before Lucian came to the tower, Crown Princess Catherine had summoned him and given him an order.
“While guarding Ioret, observe every one of her movements carefully. Watch whether she does anything suspicious, whether she attempts to meet with anyone, or whether she writes letters to someone. Observe everything. Then report directly to me the moment your duty as her escort ends.”
He had assumed it was merely an order meant to protect her beloved younger sister’s reputation.
But from the beginning, everything happening in this tower had been occurring under the Crown Princess’s permission and silent approval.
The princess had described everything that happened here as something she had suffered.
Then perhaps something that should never have happened… really had happened?
Had she been violated—or at the very least forced to live under constant threat of it?
And had the Crown Princess truly stood by and ignored such circumstances all this time?
A blasphemous suspicion reared its head.
Lucian clenched his jaw tightly.
He needed to observe the situation carefully over the next week.
At the very least, while he was her escort, he would never allow such disgraceful things to happen again.
Never.
