Princess Victoria's Secret |

Torn Sleeves

In that moment, the man's expression transformed to one of sheer terror. Princess Victoria's threat had struck a chord in him, and he could see that she meant every word she had said. He feared that if he continued to falsely accuse her, she would follow through on her promise to make him pay for his lies. The man's face turned pale, and it was as if Victoria was wielding a sword instead of just a hairpin.

Princess Victoria chuckled darkly and continued her line of thought. "It would only take about fifteen minutes, and then your tongue, the one that has gotten you into so much trouble, would never cause problems again." The man let out a blood-curdling scream and fell to his knees, begging for mercy. He apologized profusely and begged for the princess's forgiveness, confessing that he should not have accused her in the first place.

However, Princess Victoria was in no mood for mercy. She simply sneered and ignored the man's pleas. He turned to Prince Kris and shrugged his shoulders in a helpless manner, declaring that the prince had heard it all, and the princess was indeed innocent.

Pauline and Shauna, who were standing behind Prince Kris, both scowled at the man. Shauna maintained her composure and dignity, but Pauline's teeth were clenched with anger. Pauline rebuked Victoria for missing the point, but the princess shrugged indifferently, suggesting that if the prince truly did not believe the truth, they could send both the man and the accused to the inquisition tower. She mentioned that the questioning techniques used in the tower were known to extract the truth and would be even more interesting than the questions she had come up with.

Princess Victoria gave Pauline a smile that did not quite reach her eyes, sending a chill down Pauline's spine. Shauna gently pointed out that the man was also trying to accuse Prince Kris. The princess raised her eyebrows in surprise, realizing that Shauna was indeed ruthless. Although she was fond of playing, she had no way to refute Shauna's statement. If she were to tell the truth about being kidn*pped, everyone would know of her innocence, but she couldn't explain away two incidents.

Victoria took a deep breath, appearing embarrassed, and conceded to Prince Kris. She apologized for leaving the capital without permission and stated that she was willing to accept any punishment he deemed fit. Prince Kris frowned slightly, confused by the sudden change in Victoria's demeanor. He wondered why she had given up so easily after being so fearless just moments before.

Victoria continued, explaining that her intentions had been pure. She had heard that the empress's birthday was just a month away, and with Little Venice being as poor as it was, she wanted to find a gift that was good enough. She had heard of blood flowers growing in the northern suburbs of Capital City and wanted to pick some for the empress. She took advantage of the chaos from the previous night to sneak out of the city. With a sigh, Victoria concluded her explanation, regretting her actions.

Victoria approached Kris with a sad look on her face, tugging at the sleeve of her shirt to show him something. "Your Highness, I need you to take a look at this," she said, pointing to a few stains on her shirt. "These marks are from my failed attempt at climbing a cliff to pick some blood flowers for your mother's birthday."

Kris, being the empress's son, took his mother's birthday celebration very seriously and was touched by Victoria's gesture. He was already planning to send someone to search for the rare and valuable blood flowers, which were said to grow in the wilderness near the capital, and hearing that Victoria had attempted to do it herself made him feel proud.

Despite his initial suspicion of her intentions, Kris eventually nodded in satisfaction, realizing that she must have been trying to get on his good side. "Hmph, at least you still have some conscience," he said. "Tell me where you found the blood flowers, and then you may return to the palace."

Victoria let out a sigh of relief, grateful that Kris seemed to believe her lie. "Thank you for your forgiveness, Your Highness!" she said with a sincere smile. She was grateful for the opportunity to return to the palace and escape the dangerous cliff she had tried to climb.

Shauna and Pauline stood in front of the returning Princess Victoria, both of them with looks of displeasure on their faces. Pauline's heart was racing, as she couldn't understand how things had gone wrong. According to their plan, Victoria was supposed to be far away, battered and dirty, not walking back on her own. Pauline was the one who had inflicted the bruises that were now covering Victoria's body, but unfortunately, the dirt and bruises were hidden by her intact clothes.

Pauline's mind was racing as she thought about what to do next. The bruises would be hard to hide for long, and if someone were to tear off Victoria's clothes and expose her injuries, the prince would never believe that she hadn't fought with the guard. As the prince walked back into the city, followed by the crowd, Pauline caught the eye of one of the guards and gave him a subtle nod, indicating that she wanted him to pay attention to Victoria.

Unaware of the danger that was lurking, Victoria followed the crowd into the city. Suddenly, a strong gust of wind rushed past, hitting her knees and causing a sharp pain to pierce through her. Her legs gave out, and she collapsed to the ground. A man's voice called out, warning her to be careful, but as she was pulled up by the guard, she quickly realized that his intentions were not to help her. The guard tore the sleeves off of Victoria's dress, revealing her injuries and causing her to panic.

Just when she thought all was lost, a man appeared and wrapped her in his arms, protecting her from the cold wind. The imperial guards were alarmed by the intrusion and drew their weapons, but Victoria was captivated by the man's appearance. He was handsome, with black eyebrows, bright eyes, and a hard expression. The corners of his eyes were raised, giving him an air of dignity and arrogance.

Victoria was lost in the moment, savoring the attention of this peculiar man. He wrapped his cloak around her, shielding her from the cold and not letting her skin be exposed. She couldn't help but think about the words of her best friend from her previous life, who had told her that love at first sight was nothing more than l**t.

Victoria had never encountered this man before and yet, she found herself captivated by him. Despite the fact that he hadn't even bothered to make direct eye contact with her, she still felt her heart racing as she took in the sight of his cold, resolute profile. At first, she was convinced that this was simply a clichéd scene - the hero rescuing the damsel in distress. But as she continued to observe him, she couldn't help but acknowledge the fact that he was truly a beautiful man.

Suddenly, the man turned to her and spoke. "How much longer are you going to stare at me like that?" Victoria was taken aback by his abruptness, and Charles was equally surprised by her apparent infatuation with him. He had seen his fair share of women who were smitten with him, but her level of fantasy was rare, even for him. He was just about to say something he would regret, but then she looked at him with longing in her eyes and swallowed nervously. It was a moment that left him feeling disgusted.

Victoria, on the other hand, was initially not concerned about her appearance. She had never felt self-conscious about her body, and in her previous life, she would often lounge in the sun on the beach wearing a bikini. But now, she had to remind herself that she was in a dangerous situation, and she couldn't afford to let her guard down. Despite her concerns, she found herself unable to shake the thoughts of this mysterious man. Not only was he physically attractive, but his deep and pleasant voice was simply irresistible. She wondered if he was trying to seduce her.

The spell was broken by the exclamation of another guard, Kris. Charles reached up and undid the ties of his cloak, graciously draping it over Victoria to keep her warm. Despite his cold expression, Victoria felt a sense of warmth from his presence. However, before she could make sense of her thoughts, she was passed off to another guard, Kurt, who quickly checked her over to ensure she was unharmed.

Charles then spoke up, his hands rubbing together as if they were dirty. "What are you doing here?" The others didn't seem to pick up on the subtle details, but Victoria caught them easily. She could sense that he was looking down on her and felt uneasy. Was it because he had appeared at the right time to save her life and then distanced himself so quickly? Unable to move or speak, Victoria was overcome with resentment, which overpowered her awkward discomfort.

The sight of Charles and the sound of Kris calling him "uncle" left everyone in complete shock and disbelief, even those who were not involved in the intricacies of court life. The commoners who were present, who were of a lower social status and not privy to the political machinations of the court, were equally taken aback.

Everyone was well aware of the fact that one of the prince's uncles was none other than the War King of the Ember Empire Court. Charles was the youngest brother of the current emperor and was in charge of the entire military forces of the Ember Empire.

It was widely known that war was a complex and unpredictable affair, with both victories and defeats being common occurrences. However, Charles was different. He had never lost a single battle since he first took the field at the tender age of twelve. He was the primary reason why the Ember Empire was able to maintain its domination over the other four nations, and his military prowess was legendary.