Two-Faced Princess

unedited

“Seems like securing the ‘Milon’s eyes’ is also a failure,” Apollonia muttered bitterly. It was an unlikely idea in the first place.

“That’s not true.”

“Huh?”

Uriel was still smiling. He looked exactly like a puppy waiting for his master’s praise.

“There was one prisoner brought from Rajan. To be exact, one person and one horse.”

“But the prisoner….”

Before his words were finished, Apollonia understood the meaning and continued, “Didn’t they ask not to take anything inside the ‘castle’? But there was one person outside the castle at the time of the promise.”

Uriel nodded, his eyes sparkled.

“Rajan’s third princess and her monster weren’t inside the castle at that time, so they were coming to the capital with the imperial army as prisoners of the defeated country.”

“So it was all your doing, huh?”

She knew Uriel. He seemed to simply be doing his task, but whenever necessary, he found something that no one else could see. He twisted and interpreted their oath of surrender to his own benefit.

Uriel shrugged lightly as if not denying what she said.

“I simply recited their oath to Caelion once again. It was that guy who asked the king to take her as a prisoner.”

“Did they just accept it? Did the king just let go of his daughter who saved their country?”

The King of Rajan seemed to be a fairly cold-hearted father., or he was simply indecisive.

“There was no other option. That much sacrifice was needed to end the war.”

“Then what about her? What does the third princess have to do with the ‘Milon’s eye’?’

Apollonia finally asked the most important thing. She ordered Uriel to find the ‘Milon’s eyes’ and the key players who controlled the information network. If Uriel couldn’t bring them to Apollonia, at least he had to uncover who it was. Was it the king himself, or some kind of genius minister under the king?

“Your Highness, the Witch of the East is the Milon’s Eye.”

Clank-

Apollonia abruptly put down her cup with a shocked expression. Uriel’s voice was full of conviction. What he said with that tone and expression had never been wrong even once.

“….How did you know?”

“I stayed at the palace for several days after Rajan surrendered. Every word that they used to provoke Paris was very spot-on as if they already knew Paris from a long time ago. It was obvious that they had someone else to devise the plan.”

“What else did you find?”

“Milon’s eye was born around the time when she was obsessed with taming wild animals and wandering around the continent. There was evidence that new information was gathered every time the third princess stepped on new land.”

Apollonia ruminates on his words before nodding slowly.

“The king said that she wasn’t someone who was capable of doing that….I guess the whole narration about her getting obsessed with wild beasts was merely a camouflage, after all.”

“The wild beast part wasn’t a lie, but it was obvious that their real goal is to exchange and process information. It was also consistent with the fact that the Rajan royal family became wealthy after the ‘Milon’s eye’ was born.”

“The third princess, the witch of the east….”

She was a great figure. Regardless of whether Apollonia needed her or not, she was a person that Apollonia couldn’t help but admire.

“We need to be very hospitable when she gets here.” She muttered quietly as if talking to herself.

“We have to make a move before someone from the Leifer side notices anything. They’re also very interested in the ‘Milon’s eye’.”

Apollonia nodded. She is also well aware of that fact.

“I’m sure it’s not easy to turn the prisoner of this empire on my side, right?”

She was serious, but Uriel shook his head lightly.

“I’m sure Your Highness will not fail.”

Apollonia let go of her worry and chuckled at his unfounded but certain way of speaking.

“Thank you for delivering the news, Uriel.”

“Don’t mention it. But you have to keep your promise that you’ll grant my request if I win the war.”

“Say it.”

Uriel, who was sitting at the end of the bed, leaned back more comfortably. Then he gazed at Apollonia and chuckled.

“I want to hear you play lyra.”

As Apollonia’s smile turned into a small laugh, Uriel once again showed his puppy-like expression.

“You’re not going to ask for several mansions just like any normal person would?”

“When do I ever have the time to stay there? And I already have them.”

“I’ve forgotten about Count Biche’s estate which is famous for its vast and beautiful flower gardens.”

Uriel, who shrugged lightly at Apollonia’s joke, rose from his seat and brought the lyra that was lying in the corner.

“I play the same song every time, but it seems like you’ve never gotten tired of it. If I had heard the same music over and over, my taste in music would have gotten higher by then.” Apollonia said.

“Your performance is different every time. No one can ever beat you.”

Objectively speaking, it wasn’t true at all, but he looked so serious. Uriel sat on the bed again and closed his eyes. Soon after, a familiar melody rang in the room. It was the same song played by musician Tan at Bella’s feast in Lishan province.