Bernard Chenchila Shane Pascourt.

He is the second son of the King of Velicia. At the same time, he is the only prince who is an immediate member of the royal family.

He was the only child between the king and the queen. Nothing was more important than bloodline when it came to determining rank and legitimacy in the royal family, and because of that, everyone had naturally expected that he would be crowned the next Crown Prince.

But about three years ago, contrary to everyone's expectations, the King of Velicia crowned his first son as Crown Prince. His mother was a handmaid of the queen. Since he came from a fallen family, he was only a nobleman in name.

To choose a son born by a handmaid as successor instead of the son born to the queen. It didn't make sense to anyone. A great controversy ensued, and a strong backlash followed.

The Nobles who value legitimacy as their life insisted that the successor be changed day by day. And because her son had been pushed aside in favor of the handmaiden's son, the queen completely refused food and drink and showed her displeasure to the king.

People thought as they looked at the troubled queen, it won't be long until the king changes his decision.

But there's one thing they overlooked, and that was the prince himself.

['Inherit the throne? I must be crazy to accept that. I have no desire to be king. Why would I take on such a troublesome position?']

Bernard. The main character in the controversy had no interest in the throne at all.

['Didn't brother say he'll do it? Then it's all over, isn't it? Please, I beg you, just leave me alone. After all, life is short, I just want to enjoy it to my heart's content.']

And the fact that he is the prince that is unbelievably unruly, promiscuous, and badly behaved beyond belief.

Bernard was always surrounded by a lot of rumors and had multiple tags attached. Of course, most of them were not very good.

As time passed, his reputation grew worse and worse, and later, even the royal family gave up. At first, the nobles who insisted that Bernard should be the next king no matter what, secretly began to bite their tongues.

In this way, he was not only known as the prince who was next in line to succeed to the throne of Velicia but he was also established as the biggest troublemaker rotting the heart of the Velician royal family.

'So I'm the poor scapegoat getting married to that rotten egg, huh.'

Herietta thought with a small sigh.

The royal family, who believed that raising an heir was the most important thing, often married at an early age.

But Bernard, who turned 25 this year, was still single. This is because no one wanted to marry their precious daughter to him, a prince who had been pushed out of the throne and a well-known reveler.

['He's taking medicine for alcoholism. Did I mention that there are countless children born out of wedlock due to his promiscuous relationships with women?']

Herietta recalled Shawn's chatter as he would tell her about her future groom. He was so excited that his saliva flew as he continued to babble. There could be no one better suited to the saying that the misfortune of others is one's happiness.

'If there are so many women as the rumors say, he wouldn't even care about me, would he ?'

She had no intention of sharing a relationship with the one who would become her husband anyway. She'll just be like she was never there. As Shawn said, she was going to live like that and wait for time to pass.

Herietta wanted Bernard not to pay any attention to her. Continuing the name and faade as his wife, she hoped to live her life the way she was, and he the way he was.

The figure of a bride-to-be who thinks she is lucky because the person she is going to marry is a promiscuous and badly behaved man. It was absurd to even think about it.

Rattle.

The carriage, which had been rolling endlessly, abruptly stopped in place. The bodies of the two of them, who had been relaxedly sitting inside, were slightly shaken by the recoil. They straightened their posture.

Have we reached the village?

Janice asked with a puzzled expression on her face. Not long ago, they were passing through the middle of a dense forest. No matter how she looked at it, it didn't seem like there was a village where people lived nearby.

The two began to look outside through the window. It was late in the evening, and the surroundings were quite dark. The forest was dimly lit by the light of the moon and the stillness was so deep that they thought it was unnatural.

The sound of horses squealing could be heard from the front of the carriage.

'What's going on?'

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As they listened, they heard the murmur of soldiers from outside. Somehow, an ominous feeling came over Herietta.

I'll go and find out what's going on.

Herietta nodded at Janice's words.

Creak. That was when Janice turned the doorknob and opened the carriage door a little.

Aaacckk!

A tearing scream echoed through the night sky. Thousands of birds sitting on the tree flew into the sky at the same time.

Janice, who was trying to widen the gap in the door, and Herietta, who was sitting on the other side of it, froze on the spot at the sound of a scream that came out of nowhere.

That was a scream, no? But more than that, whose scream was it?

Just, now ?

Herietta, who was about to ask what that was, stopped. The murmur grew louder and louder, and then shouts and screams erupted from all sides. A loud crashing sound. And the sound of a sharp wind that cuts through the air.

A chill ran up her spine. Her body stiffened with fear and tension. The two of them looked at each other before nervously looking at their surroundings and their breathing became rough.

'Could it be an attack ?'

Herietta's mouth became dry and she felt nauseous at the horrible thought. What she always thought was just a story far from happening to her suddenly became a reality right before her eyes. Her heart started beating fast.

Herietta glanced at Janice. She had gone pale. She looked terrified and she had gone as stiff as a plaster statue.

There was no time. If her predictions were true, she was in a situation where she didn't know who would pop out from where.

After Herietta removed Janice's hand that was resting on the doorknob, she carefully pushed the door open and opened a small gap to look through. She then peered through the slit of the moderately gaping door and looked outside.

Herietta held her breath. As she expected, Brimdel's men were tangled up fighting with a masked horde. At first glance, it was by no means a small number. In addition, they were not phased at all while dealing with well-trained soldiers.

To think that they were a group of bandits that happened to be on the road, they were well prepared in many ways. With careful planning, it was clear that they had been waiting for them to pass by.

'Were they aiming for the dowry? Or did they have any grudges against Velicia?'

Several speculations ran through her mind. But Herietta shook her head. Whatever the reason, it didn't matter now.

'I have to get out of here.'

She left Philiocche with a heavy heart.

It was not the norm for her to be killed in a foreign country other than her hometown in this way. Herietta gritted her teeth. She quickly turned around while thinking of a way to live.

Miss Janice. Miss Janice. Snap out of it. We have to go outside.

Herietta shook Janice who was currently blanked out. Then, the focus of her blurry eyes became a little clearer. Janice's unstable gaze turned to Herietta.

Hey, see that bush? When I count to three, run over there with all your might. Got it?

Bu, but just now, outside.

But what? Listen to me. Otherwise, we will both die.

Herietta said firmly. It was a group that attacked the carriage of the royal family. There will be only two endings in their heads.

Either they fail catastrophically to carry out their plan and the horde was annihilated on the spot, or kill everyone present, completely eliminating any witnesses or clues.

In some cases, they kidnapped others for a ransom or to achieve a clear purpose. But that's only when the person was worth it. She couldn't have been worth much, as she was only pretending to be a princess.