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"Are you over there?"
"No!"
"Are you over there?"
"She's not here, Lady Rozalina! What do we do!"
The maids and Rozalina trembled, their faces pale. They had been playing a lighthearted game of hide-and-seek with Evelyn, but then Evelyn had disappeared. They couldn't find Evelyn anywhere.
Before they knew it, the sun was setting. It had been over an hour since Evelyn had disappeared.
Rozalina swallowed hard, her face pale.
'This wasn't part of my plan!'
If Evelyn disappeared or didn't show up, of course, it would be good for Rozalina. But that could lead to unnecessary misunderstandings. Rozalina looked around.
She felt the blood chilling in her veins.
Rozalina was the only noble here, and everyone else was a maid. That meant Rozalina had the most responsibility. Rozalina might have to answer for Evelyn's disappearance.
"Your Highness, the Crown Princess! Your Highness! Please come out! Where are you!"
Rozalina raised her voice, on the verge of tears. That's when they were searching all over the Imperial Palace.
Veronica, noticing the commotion, came outside as well. Veronica flinched when she encountered Rozalina. The two of them weren't on very good terms.
But right now, Rozalina needed all the help she could get.
"What do you mean Evelyn has disappeared?"
"Exactly what I said. We were clearly playing hide-and-seek, but no matter how much I look, I can't find her!"
"Have you searched the entire palace?"
"Yes. Please help me, Lady."
Veronica nodded with a serious expression. Rozalina was uncomfortable, but Evelyn's disappearance was a serious problem, so she was willing to lend a hand. Veronica was about to order her servants to search for Evelyn when.
"We, we found her!!"
At someone's shout, Veronica and Rozalina turned their heads at the same time. It was towards the path leading to the Crown Prince Palace. Veronica and Rozalina quickened their pace, neither wanting to be the first. The maid who found Evelyn pointed to the dense bushes with a pale face.
"E, Evelyn?"
They found a masked man passed out on the ground, and Evelyn, with wide eyes, was crushing the masked man. Evelyn smiled brightly.
"I got caught! Aww, so now Evelyn is 'it'?"
"No, no. You should go back to the palace now! So, you've been hiding all this time?"
Cherryna asked with a pale face. Evelyn widened her eyes and nodded.
"Yup! Because it's hide-and-seek."
"Haa. But what on earth were you doing? Who is that man?"
Rozalina pointed at the masked man lying on the ground. Evelyn smiled brightly and answered innocently.
"Uung. I was trying to hide, but he kept bothering me! So I punished him!"
"Pu, punished him? How...?"
"That!"
Evelyn pointed to a rock with a bright face. Come to think of it, there was blood smeared on the rock. Evelyn puffed out her cheeks.
"Yo, you hit someone with that?"
Rozalina said with wide eyes. Evelyn shook her head.
"Nuh-uh. I tried to grab him because he kept trying to go outside! But he fell over! Thump!"
Evelyn blinked innocently like a cow. Of course, the truth was far beyond that.
'Haa. It was a fierce battle.'
I hit him in the head with a rock, I hope he's alive...? He needs to be breathing.
Of course, there was no mercy to be shown to a guy who came into the palace to harm others. So I swung the rock with all my might.
It was a masked man I found after days of intense hide-and-seek. I had Cherryna and Rosie, Rozalina hide, and I hid too.
I finally found one and barely caught him, what if he's a dud?
As soon as the suspicious masked man was discovered, the reactions were divided into two categories.
First, Rozalina.
"Oh my, oh my. What should we do? I think we should tell Your Highness, the Crown Prince, right away! I'll stay here and watch, so Cherryna, hurry and bring Your Highness, the Crown Prince!"
She was the type who was eager to take credit. Her face was filled with obvious joy, clearly wanting to get into the Crown Prince's good graces.
I was the one who did the work, but she was thinking of taking all the credit, what an X-like face. She needs to be hit a few more times to come to her senses.
And then there's Cherryna and Rosie.
"Ahem, ahem. Wh, wh, what are you talking about? How could we bother Your Highness, the Crown Prince, with something like this? I think it would be better to inform the guards and handle it quickly."
Rosie said in a trembling voice. Judging by the fact that she was talking about the guards, it seemed like there was already a guard who was in cahoots with her. Otherwise, why would she bring up the guards herself?
"Rosie is right. I'll go and get the guards quickly..."
"No."
"Ye, yes?"
"I don't like strangers. This mister is a stranger too."
I pointed to the unconscious masked man with my finger.
I pouted and shook my head. Trying to look as innocent as possible.
The masked man who encountered me was clearly flustered.
'What are you doing here?'
'Hide-and-seek. Are you playing hide-and-seek too, mister?'
'......Yes. So please leave before you get caught.'
'I don't want to. I want to hide with you too, mister.'
I clung to the masked man who was trying to push me away and move, which led to a physical fight. The masked man didn't seem to have any intention of harming me. That's why he was only hit by a rock.
I guessed that he was either instigated by the Duke Spelman family, or by someone close to the Duke Spelman family.
"As expected, Your Highness, the Crown Prince...!"
"Mister is hurt!"
"Yes?"
"We need to call a doctor! Call a doctor right away! A hurt person needs a doctor. Don't you even know that?"
It seemed much better to have the story go through the doctor's mouth or another servant's mouth than to call the Crown Prince right away. If I call Cerden now because I found a stranger, how much more will Cerden suspect me?
I'm already scared to death these days because I feel like I've been caught.
I need to secure as much plausibility as possible.
"Hurry! I'm going to get angry!"
"Ye, yes!"
Cherryna ran away in a panic. She'll probably try to contact the guards she wants and find a royal doctor in the palace who can be bribed as much as possible.
But while the masked man is being treated, the other maids will definitely suspect this situation. There's no way Cerden wouldn't have assigned me a maid, right? It doesn't make sense.
If not, Rozalina, who's sparkling her eyes right now, will try to call Cerden somehow. All I have to do now is watch what kind of fruit the seeds I've sown will bear.
* * *
Cerden raised his head sharply. Mortega was just as surprised. A servant from the Crown Princess Palace had delivered the news to the aide.
"You want me to believe that now? You're telling me that an assassin who infiltrated the Imperial Palace was caught by the Crown Princess, who isn't even a knight?"
Mortega said in shock.
"Yes, that's right."
"Ha."
Cerden pressed his fingers to his eyes. He hadn't expected or thought about this situation. Does Evelyn have no limits?
He wondered how far Evelyn could go and what she was thinking of doing.
'She's starting things without any fear.'
Cerden jumped up. He wanted to see Evelyn's face right away and find out what she was thinking.
* * *
As expected, Cerden came to find me.
Cerden saw me and strode towards me. Why? Wasn't he going to see the masked man first? I widened my eyes as innocently as possible and stared at Cerden.
"Wow. My husband really came! Did Rozalina call you?"
"No."
Cerden grabbed my shoulders and pulled me up from my seat. It was forceful enough to startle the people around me. Then he slowly scanned me. A cold voice came from Cerden's lips.
"Are you hurt?"
"I'm not hurt at all! Is husband hurt somewhere? I was just playing hide-and-seek!"
"I heard you caught a suspicious person."
"I didn't do that... I just asked him to play hide-and-seek with me, but he fell over with a thump!"
I pointed to the rock that the maids had brought. Cerden turned his head, stared at the rock, and chuckled.
Be surprised. Stop laughing.
My heart is pounding because I'm scared. It's definitely because I'm scared. Otherwise, why would my heart be beating? I secretly held my breath and then exhaled. Cerden turned his gaze to me. Cerden, who tapped my cheek, narrowed his eyes.
"You're not scared of anything."
"Huh?"
"You have no fear."
"Are you talking about me?"
I tilted my head.
"I'm scared of thunder and ghosts!"
"You don't know what's dangerous."
Cerden pressed both palms tightly on my cheeks and chuckled.
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