.jpg)
The shout was so loud it echoed through the empty street, drawing everyone's attention toward the man.
Not only the captain and vice-captain of the royal guard guarding the main gates of Duke Martir's estate, but even the passersby—who pretended to be indifferent while going about their business—had their ears pricked in that direction.
Since the early passing of the Duchess of Martir, this street had been devoid of any wind of gossip. Now, it was quietly buzzing with the arrival of high-stimulation content for the first time in nearly ten years.
Among them, there was one person in particular who was pouring all his concentration into the suddenly appeared man.
‘Jackpot... this is a jackpot. This will definitely be a scoop!’
It was Jason, a rookie whose career was so embarrassing he could barely be called a journalist. He had absolutely no connections to noble families, and the only article he had ever written was a single line: “Let us be grateful for His Majesty the Emperor's grace!”
Last night, while visiting a tavern to escape his bleak reality, Jason had overheard a very intriguing story.
A drunkard, who claimed to be the son of a craftsman who had received a medal thanks to the Emperor's grace, had been shouting his father's story to the entire tavern in a thick dialect.
At first, Jason thought it was just drunken boasting, but the story unfolded with an astonishing amount of dynamism.
Having forgotten to even sip his drink as he became immersed in the drunkard's tale, Jason's quick wit sparked a brilliant idea: ‘What if I turn this story into an article?’
Stories praising the Emperor's grace always sold well, but because of that, they often lacked fresh material.
The story of the apple seller who rose to success after the Emperor from three generations ago picked up an apple for him during a secret outing was so famous that even a five-year-old could recite it word-for-word, punctuation and all.
In such a climate, a provocative and new story like this would surely earn him a proud section in his newspaper.
‘I... I have to be the first to interview him! I can't let some other newspaper hack steal it!’
Using the alcohol as a shield and pretending to be a friendly soul, he approached the drunkard and set up an interview appointment for the next day—which was this evening.
If that interview had gone well, Jason wouldn't be wasting his time here.
‘He said the medal was at home and that he'd interview me while showing it, but I searched the house for hours and didn't see so much as a gold flake of a medal.’
After leaving a lukewarm farewell to the drunkard—who claimed the medal might be at his estranged wife's house and promised to contact him if he found it—Jason had set out.
Feeling that paying for a hired carriage was a waste of money and needing time to recover his ruined mood, he had intentionally taken a route that passed by the beautiful ducal estate on his way home.
While staggering along, pretending to be drunk and blankly admiring the gardens of the estate visible beyond the main gates, that man appeared.
A commoner claiming to be the lover of the Empire's only Imperial Princess!
‘My god, my hands are shaking.’
As if by instinct, his body moved, pulling a notebook from his coat and scribbling furiously.
For a title, [The Heart-wrenching Love Story of the Beautiful Princess Martyr] should do.
Not just any noble, but the Imperial Princess Martyr herself had a commoner lover?
There wasn't a single newspaper company that wouldn't risk being shut down just to publish this.
However, since it could be dismissed as mere rambling, he needed concrete evidence.
‘Once that man is kicked out, I'll sneak up and ask for an interview...’
Just then, the man, who had been practically wrestling with the middle-aged knights at the gate, pulled something out of his pocket.
It was too dark and far to see clearly, but fortunately, the man—whose voice was truly impressive—began shouting again.
“This is a token... a token that Zhenya, my lover, gave to me! She said it was a necklace left to her as a gift by her late mother, and she pressed it into my hand because she worried that I, a commoner, would be caught up in the schemes of other nobles...!”
His voice trembled slightly, enough to make any listener feel pity.
Listening to the story, one couldn't help but nod and think, At this point, just let him see her once! It was incredibly appealing.
‘A necklace gifted by the late Duchess, a token from a pitiful Princess who worried for her commoner lover...’
While he was filling his notebook with keywords, the sound of galloping hooves began to echo from afar.
Simultaneously, the area beyond the firmly closed gates of the estate became noisy.
As Jason wondered which way to turn his head...
Fortunately, the gates swung wide open faster than the carriage arrived.
The timing was almost scripted, but then again, isn't life often more dramatic than a play?
With eyes wide and flushed, Jason looked at the pure white figure standing right in the center of the open gates.
Seeing the long hair fluttering and the white, long fabric swaying in the wind, that person must be...
‘...Princess Martyr!’
Scribble, scribble, scribble.
Jason's pen began to move even faster.
Would the Princess acknowledge or deny the existence of her commoner lover?
If she were a typical noble—especially a Princess at the very peak of society, closer to the Emperor than to any commoner—there was a high probability she would deny the existence of a commoner lover entirely.
Then that poor man would be seized immediately, dragged away by the royal guard, and likely face a summary judgment by tomorrow afternoon.
But...
‘She even gave him the late Duchess's gift as a token! Would she really just let him die?’
He was more excited for the next moment than when reading a serialized novel.
The silver lining was that this wasn't a story tucked into a monthly magazine, but reality, where the situation unfolded immediately.
The atmosphere, which had briefly calmed with the Princess's appearance, ignited once more shortly after.
The pale, slender figure threw herself straight into the commoner's arms!
“Princess! You must not do this!”
The knights dared not touch the Princess, nor could they roughly tear the commoner away.
Thus, the beautiful young lovers were able to embrace each other tightly without interference.
To Jason's great relief, the Princess also possessed a magnificent voice.
“Leave us alone! Touch a single hair on my lover's head, and I'll show you what a living hell looks like!”
‘Ooh, how scary...’
Scribble, scribble, scribble.
While it was a provocative and interesting line, from the perspective of the commoner listening, it must have been spine-chilling.
“Ah, Nox. My love, my destiny, my one and only man. I simply cannot give you up!”
“Zhenya, please don't say that. Just the thought of you giving me up makes me feel as if my heart is tearing apart!”
Following this, a series of confessions more desperate than any famous ancient play poured out.
The knights, unable to do anything but watch the lovers whispering love—though their voices were far too loud to be called whispers—began to whisper among themselves.
But there was no need to be disappointed about not hearing them.
The loud-voiced couple would recite everything for them!
“Raymond Larsen cannot stop my love! In this Empire, Larsen was the only man fit to be my fiancé, but I simply could not love him!”
“Ah, Zhenya...!”
“I am sorry to my father and my late mother, but I can no longer deceive myself! If I entered into an engagement with this heart, I would surely die!”
...of a broken heart, she added, but the relatively small voice was easily drowned out.
Thanks to this, Jason's notebook was turning pages—one after another—without the ink even having time to dry.
‘She was preparing for an engagement with the Larsen Ducal Family? And in the midst of that, she couldn't give up true love, which led to this?’
In truth, commoners had no way of knowing the engagement status of high nobles.
Unless it involved the Imperial Family, who received unconditional support, they had no interest.
‘But with a narrative like this, it's a different story!’
.jpg)