Two-Faced Princess

Evangeline leaned her chin on her hand and looked out the window. “It’s been a while since they should have arrived.” Even within a minute, dozens of small monsters were bustling around outside the open window, and some of them even delivered small scraps of paper densely written with tiny letters to Evangeline. However, the news she was waiting for hadn’t arrived yet. “I guess I can’t catch up with the crow’s speed after all.” She let out a small sigh with a tired expression on her face. Since Caelion had asked about Croadins, Evangeline felt uncomfortable all along. It was unusual for her, who never held back her words and actions, to keep her thoughts to herself.

“He’s such an unresponsive guy,” Evangeline muttered a small curse. She was thinking about Caelion. He was the most attractive being she had ever encountered. His appearance, his voice, his roughness, but there was also warmth in his attitude. That’s why she wanted to keep him by her side. She wanted to tame him, just like she tamed her beasts.

“You are confusing love with possessiveness,” Caelion had told her. But if the feeling that drew her towards him, the desire to have him, wasn’t love, then what was love? It was a strong attraction that she couldn’t give up on, even after being rejected multiple times. She recalled the image of Apollonia, who had told her last time, “I want us to join forces quickly,” and she had shaken her head. Creating a sustainable plan and looking into the future wasn’t Evangeline’s nature. She only wanted to do what pleased her at the moment. That was Evangeline’s instinct and to her, that also applied to love.

*THUNK*

A gust of wind blew through the window. Evangeline’s eyes sparkled.

“Did you come?” As she commanded, a small brown-winged monkey appeared, revealing itself from the space where nothing was visible. It had big eyes and a squashed face. “You’re late.”

Evangeline spoke bluntly, and the monkey scratched its head, looking embarrassed. “So, what happened?”

In response to Evangeline’s question, the winged monkey began telling the stories it had heard and seen in the past few days. Evangeline focused intently, not missing a single gesture, movement, or sound.

“To lure croadins? Is he insane?”

However, Evangeline suddenly closed her mouth the next moment. The winged monkey had started explaining the next situation.

“What?”

Evangeline’s face turned pale. The little beast went on to describe the battle it witnessed between Caelion and the terrifying power of the Queen of Croadins, as well as the dire situation he found himself in, in more detail.

“He broke his leg.” Her heart sank heavily. “He fell into a crevice and has been stranded for over a day.” It felt like her whole body was being struck by something. “There was another human with shining white hair who came, but I couldn’t rescue them. They’ll probably die together.”

Her mind went blank, and she couldn’t hear anything else.

As the demon stopped moving, she froze in place like someone who had forgotten how to breathe. An unfamiliar and strange emotion she had never felt before welled up in her chest. The thought of Caelion, injured and isolated in the mountains, filled her with an unprecedented sense of unease.

“What… is this?”

Suddenly, she touched her cheek and a few droplets of liquid touched her fingers. Tears. Evangeline was confused. It was difficult to determine the nature of the sudden passionate feeling that had come over her. Was it a sense of loss for ultimately not being able to possess Caelion? But Evangeline had experienced not getting what she had marked countless times. Each time, she was slightly disappointed, but this shock was something new. The winged monkey’s face wrinkled even more and chirped in concern. It seemed worried about her.

“I… I’m scared.” Evangeline spoke shakily, her whole body trembling. “I’m scared that he might die. It’s just too frightening.” She bit her nails and then struggled to detach her swaying body from the window frame. “I have to ask for help.”

She had to let someone know about this. She wanted to rush there herself, but as a prisoner of war, she couldn’t leave the palace freely. The only person who could make difficult things possible, the only person who could help her outside the palace, was a single name that came to mind in Evangeline’s head.

Apollonia.

“Your Majesty, it’s a message from Viscount Bayan. It’s urgent.”

Adrian delivered the news that Apollonia had been waiting for. It had been quite some time since Uriel set off for Bamel Mountain. Considering the distance from the palace, it was natural that she hadn’t returned yet, but the longer the waiting time grew, the more an inexplicable sense of unease settled in Apollonia.

“Give it to me.”

There were two letters. The one written directly by Knox was on the front page, and its contents amounted to only two lines.

[I don’t have time, so I’ll relay the news I received. The enclosed one is a message brought by a knight dispatched to Bamel Mountain.]

It was a short letter without any greetings or inquiries. Following his words, Apollonia read the second page, written in a different handwriting, and her expression stiffened. She remained silent for a while, reading and rereading the contents of the letter.