Proofreader: somnium

The explosion was in the kitchen. The fire was from there.

The door leading out caught on fire. The employees rushed to the fire with buckets and curtains.

Bang!

Soldiers smashed the flaming doors with logs from outside.

Royle rubbed his reddened face with the palm of his hand.

This time, a shout was heard from the second floor.

The parlor on the east side has been opened!

What?!

Royle panicked and ran towards it. The knights waiting in the lobby followed him.

All of the windows large enough for a person to go in and out were nailed with iron and wooden boards.

One broke and a log hung over the window sill.

Royle clenched his teeth. It wasnt a door that could be knocked down once or twice with a log like this.

Someone had loosened the nail beforehand.

The log rattled. In order to secure an entrance to enter, the soldiers are trying to break it from the outside.

An arrow fell from the second floor. The screams of the soldiers came through the window.

Lock the parlor door!

As the knights retreated, they knocked down all the furniture in the drawing room to earn even a little more time.

Finally, they closed the parlor door and placed down a piece of furniture outside to block the entrance.

Go to the butler and tell him to prepare to escape! The 1st and 2nd battalions will keep the imperial grandchild as planned, and the 3rd will block the way out.

Royle ordered.

He was valiant, but he was not a savage.

Explosives exploded in the kitchen, and the living room window was loose. There must have been a traitor.

Then the door will open. They had to escape from the Crown Princes Palace.

* * *

You must prepare to escape.

The knight opened the door to the babys room and said, then immediately went out again.

Because they needed one more fighting hand.

Ansgar looked at Marcus. He had already made the escape preparations and was holding the baby wrapped in a large swaddling bag in his arms.

He did not believe that they could protect the Crown Princes Palace. There must be a traitor.

Ansgar wasnt too shocked this time either.

Unlike Aubrey Jordyns, Roun Jayden shocked Evron.

The traitor could come out again. Aubrey acted impulsively.

However, Roun betrayed Cedric, because he felt betrayed and was vindictive, believing that he was doing it for Evron.

It meant that someone like Roun could come out again.

For another reason, there was no law preventing anyone captured by Evrons hostile forces from being subsumed.

Evron existed when it was severely oppressed.

That fact was now understood not only by young people like Hayley and Freil, but by older vassals as well.

So, they made a plan in advance for the breaking of the Crown Princes Palace. It really got into practice.

Ansgar silently wrapped the baby in a swaddling bag and tied it to his chest. He is the son of a wet nurse.

He himself and this baby were the bait.

The unit will split in two and flee.

One was planned to move to the military headquarters under General Hoover and the other to the Grand Dukes residence.

If there were two swaddling bags, two people, respectively, the other party would not be able to tell which one was the real one.

The baby in the strangers arms struggled and cried. But the wet nurse swallowed her tears, and she turned away.

Ansgar said,

Maybe after we escape, there will be a few reconnaissance squads left. Stay quietly in the bedroom, ask for protection and return home.

Gus is someone who respects Keshore. Besides, Mielle was completely physically helpless, and she wasnt even a strategist.

Even Keshore remained neutral. The Keshore family, and even their relatives, the Belmond family, were not in a position to wield power in politics.

So even if Evron is uprooted, Mielle will be fine.

Because they had no reason to hurt her.

There was no reason to go so far as harming this weak young lady.

In case, if things go wrong, then please stay with the baby.

Since they were the words of someone who had experienced the same thing, the words were very heavy.

Mielle bit her white lips.

She looked at Marcus. Marcus nodded his head slightly.

I will risk my life to protect Miss Leticia.

Thank you.

Ansgar smiled.

Outside, the knight knocked on the door.

Ansgar hurried out first. The raiders had already poured into the Crown Princes Palace.

The Knights of Evron were fighting to secure a safe escape route from the second floor to the first floor.

No time to delay!

Royles screams reached the babys room.

As soon as Ansgar went out, Marcus unwrapped the swaddling bag he had been holding on his chest and placed it in Mielles arms.

And he pushed open the decorative paneling on the wall. There was a space the size of a closet inside.

Hurry!

Mielle crawled into it.

Be safe.

Marcus said eagerly. And instead of the baby, he carried a blanket wrapped around a doll and went out.

Thank you.

Marcus said lowly. And he closed the panel.

Soon the urgent footsteps went away. The cries of the baited baby could be heard from far away.

Unng, hhunng.

Leticia groaned. Mielle, who was about to burst into tears at any moment, gently patted the baby in the small space.

You cant cry, Miss Leticia.

This closet was made by Artizea.

[Its impossible to create a secret passage in the Crown Princes Palace. All of the old secret passages are very well known, and even if you try to create something new, they stand out too much.]

When it comes to large-scale construction, there is no way to escape the Emperors eyes.

So, what Artizea made was a small closet.

[Its more likely that it wont be used, but. You can use it to store something later.]

Only Marcus and Mielle knew exactly where the closet was. Marcus didnt want Ansgar to know either.

Mielle had no idea what had happened tonight. However, she knew that the tension in the Knights was gradually increasing.

So she told Marcus in advance.

[If something happens, I will hide with Miss Leticia.]

[Miss Mielle-sama.]

[If its just me and Miss Leticia, even if I get caught, I wont get hurt. No matter what happens, the most important thing is that Miss Leticia is safe. right?]

Marcus had a heavy face. This was too much of a burden for Mielle.

[Can you really do that?]

[I will protect her.]

Mielle said with a stiff face.

Pouring her love into this little baby was the first thing she did as an adult.

Mielle used to think that her life was less important than dandelion spores.

She will do nothing but make her parents grieve, and she will wither and die in her bedroom without ever vigorously facing the world.

No one understands how terrifying it was to her.

But after she met Leticia, it was different.

The love she poured out for Leticia will remain valuable even after her death.

Leticia wasnt the baby she gave birth to, but she was still helping, caring for, and watching over the growth of the new life.

And that was how much she loved this little baby.

There was a hole between the pieces, so the light was faintly seeping in. Mielle held her breath and listened to the outside.

The sound of the fight was close enough to reach her.

She was hiding inside the wall, so she couldnt tell if the sound of footsteps coming into the room was coming from below or not.

The sound of gunshots scattered.

Ah, ack!

A scream rang right in front of her. Mielle saw the carpet stained with blood through a small hole.

To keep Leticia from screaming, Mielle covered her mouth with her hand. She put her palms over Leticias mouth, but it looked like she was about to burst into tears as she kept trying to cover it.

Mielle patted her head desperately and held her in her arms.

You cant make a sound. You cant make a sound.

She whispered in her heart.

* * *

At this time Natalia was in her own quarters on the third floor of the Crown Princes Palace.

The Guard Knight Alden came to search her room himself. The three guards went around and opened the door one by one.

Natalia knew from the beginning that there would be raiders. There was no way she wouldnt have noticed they were preparing for a siege.

The ladies-in-waiting were sent for errands far in advance, using reasonable excuses.

However, Freils request for cooperation was briefly declined.

[It is for the safety of the imperial grandchild that was asked by Her Highness.]

She had no intention of fighting alongside the Knights of Evron. Natalia has no obligation, and she shouldnt have done it for the sake of the Iantz Kingdom.

Therefore she did not leave the Crown Princes Palace.

Did the butler and the chief attendant succeed in escaping?

Natalia peeked out the window. The moonlight was dark, but not so much that she couldnt recognize the five-pronged movement.

Two groups of the Knights of Evron had fled, and the guards and Capital Guards were chasing after them.

And the tails were once again caught by another group of the Knights of Evron.

It was a long time for Mielle, but in fact, it took only about 20 minutes from the time they broke through to now.

There were only a handful of search teams left in the Crown Princes Palace. The soldiers drove out every employee.

I have been rude. Sorry.

Alden said politely, having confirmed that there were no babies anywhere in Natalias place.

Even though the Iantz Kingdom was a vassal of the Empire, it was not allowed to search the Crown Princess bedroom.

Still, he peered under the bed. Because there was no guarantee that the imperial grandchild did not hide here.

As long as you knew. Get out.

Natalia said sternly. Alden reached out his hand and said softly,

I will escort you to the Iantz Kingdom quarters in the guesthouse.

The ladies-in-waiting I sent for errands didnt come back.

Something bad happened, so if you stay here, you wont be able to sleep comfortably. I will pack the ladies-in-waitings essentials and pass it on to follow the Crown Princess.

Natalia looked at Aldens unmoved hand and said,

I cant help it.

And she put her hand on Aldens.

Alden was relieved. It was a moment when something sensitive was going on. It would later be his responsibility if diplomatic problems arose.

At that moment, Natalia grabbed Aldens hand tightly and pulled out her belt with her left hand.

A flexible sword was pulled out from the belt decorated with white agate.

Alden was startled and tried to shake off Natalias hand. But before he could do that, a powerful swordsman rushed at him like a whip.