Word that the third prince had left for exile quickly spread outside the imperial palace.
There were nobles who said it was a good thing, but some nobles criticized the imperial family for the excessive punishment.
However, there was no one who could say such a thing in an official place, so it was easy for them to get away with it.
After a year, the third prince would be forgotten in people’s memories anyway.
After the third prince, Yerhan, went to Haylor, rumors of a plague spreading in the Third Prince Palace soon spread.
The source of the rumors could not be determined, but the Third Prince Palace did not open its door, as if to strengthen the rumors.
All those who came as visitors were sent back, and the servants working in the palace did not come out at all.
People speculated that Rosena had been hospitalized in shock. And it was around the time that the rumors were accepted as truth.
A deep night with the old moon rising. Dark clouds obscured the moonlight, making it completely dark.
On a quiet night where everyone was asleep and not a single breath could be heard, the bar of the Third Prince Palace went up.
“Are you ready?”
At Isaac’s question, Rosena nodded. They had already been sneaking their belongings away for several days, so all she had to do was get out.
“Then follow me.”
Rosena and Illian followed Isaac out of the palace, silencing their footsteps.
Fortunately, the Third Prince Palace was quite far from the other palaces, and it was close to the back gate, so it was easy to get out.
They headed to the back door, hiding all signs of presence. At that time, those who stood guard at the back gate left for a moment to switch shifts.
Isaac, who knew in advance that the guards were loose at dawn, sent Rosena and Illian out right away. And as soon as they left the palace, the guards returned.
As they walked a little further from the Imperial Palace, a carriage that had been prepared in advance appeared. On the outside, it looked like a regular carriage and was not very conspicuous.
As Rosena and Illian got on board, the carriage began to move quietly.
Isaac and Karlan rode on horseback and escorted the carriage on the front and back respectively.
The clouds slowly lifted and the whitish moonlight shone on the carriage.
The carriage that came out of the darkness ran without hesitation when it completely escaped the Imperial Palace.
Thus, Rosena and Illian lived in a carriage for about a month.
It wasn’t very comfortable, but she could tell that this carriage had been well taken care of.
Contrary to the outside appearance, the inside of the carriage was large, spacious, and luxurious.
Instead of seats, a large bed occupied half the interior of the carriage, and most of the necessities were provided.
Besides, it wasn’t too hard because Rosena and Illian always stopped when they felt a little tired.
The carriage went a long way around to avoid the checkpoint.
It was likely for them to meet a bandit at least once, but it was just quiet along the way.
It was unknown to Rosena that Yerhan had beaten the bandits ahead of time and paved the way.
***
While Rosena was leaving the capital, the Third Prince Palace still strictly restricted the entry of outsiders.
The crown prince, who was tired of hearing the news that Yerhan had finally disappeared, sent people to the Third Prince Palace over and over again, but they were sent back.
Then, as a last resort, the crown prince sent a doctor. It was under the pretext of examining the symptoms because the infectious disease might spread to the Imperial Palace.
By that time, it was no longer possible to refuse with the excuse of a possible epidemic.
In the end, the servants who remained in the palace finally opened the door.
The doctor sent by the crown prince went straight into the palace. And not long after, the doctor returned and said.
“The palace of the Third Prince is empty and like an uninhabited place.”
Zigrit realized belatedly that Rosena had left the Imperial Palace. He immediately dispatched knights to capture Rosena.
She was charged with kidnapping Illian, a member of the royal family nominally.
However, by the time the crown prince’s knights were looking for Rosena in the capital, Rosena had already boarded the ship heading to Astania.
Rosena and Illian once again spent over a month on the ship.
There were times when it rained so much that the boat almost overturned when it met rough winds and waves. But the experienced captain, who had spent several decades at sea, was accustomed to paving the way.
Isaac and Karlan admired his ability to ride through angry waves as if he was soothing children.
In a way, it was natural that the imperial knights could not defeat Astania’s naval forces.
After so many hardships, the cloudy weather receded, and the huge island began to come into view little by little.
The island reflected in the sun was like a huge lump of gold.
Rosena stood on the deck, calming her pounding heart, and staring at the island quietly.
She was finally in the land of gold, Astania.
***
Yerhan’s carriage completely left the capital on the third day.
And after another week, the scenery of the city disappeared and they arrived at the dense forest.
Yerhan inferred that he had now entered the forest from the sounds he heard around him.
The carriage carrying exiled criminals had no windows.
Unlike the capital city, which was warm though it’s autumn, the temperature dropped as they went north.
It would take about two months to get to Haylor in a carriage, so it must be perfectly winter by the time they arrived there.
The empire was so large that there were many regions with various climates, but the temperature of the capital did not change significantly in any season. And in Haylor’s case, it snowed all the time except in the summer.
Even in summer, the snow stopped for only a week, and it was not much different from other seasons.
Yehan quietly closed his eyes.
It had only been a week since he broke up with Rosena, but he was already missing her.
As the days went by, his heart only deepened, and he did not think that it would decrease at all.
When he had time, he thought he would draw a portrait of Rosena.
Yerhan traced his memory so as not to forget Rosena’s voice and actions.
As he recalled her tone and expression one by one, a smile naturally spread across his face. By now, Rosena would have escaped the Imperial Palace.
Isaac and Karlan were the escorts, so they should be on their way without any problems.
Astania was a place that required them to go down to the southern part of the empire and then by boat, so it was far from Haylor.
The smile disappeared from his face.
There were many mountains to overcome in order to reunite with Rosena.
Yerhan was not interested in the throne. He just wanted to present a peaceful everyday life to Rosena.
After all this is over… At that time, he wanted to stay by Rosena’s side for the rest of his life.
Yerhan’s carriage rattled into the forest.
When he couldn’t even hear the birdsong, Yerhan raised his head. But he couldn’t see the outside, so he had no choice but to sit still.
“Hey, hey! I think we’re going down the wrong path!”
Outside the carriage, the knights told the coachman to stop for a while. The knights seemed to have realized that this was not the way.
He could barely hear the coachman’s response to the knight’s voice.
The faint sound of horseshoes came through the voices. Yerhan stiffened reflexively.
The horseman and the knights, who were engaged in a war of words, also shouted to stop, whether they heard it belatedly.
But the sound of horseshoes only grew louder.
“Argghhh!!”
Someone’s scream echoed through the forest as if torn apart. Then, the sound of metal hitting each other sharply tore apart the space.
But Yerhan couldn’t do anything. The carriage was designed to be opened only from the outside.
The commotion stopped and there was a horrifying silence.
Soon after, the carriage rattled loudly and he heard the sound of the lock being opened.
The door of the carriage was bent wide and men in black masks were seen in the dim light. And all at once they took their swords and ran at Yerhan.
***
When they arrived in Astania, the marquis and the marchioness came out to welcome Rosena.
Rosena followed them to the marquis’ mansion.
Her original residence was empty for a long time and needed to be cleaned separately, so Rosena decided to stay in the marquis’ mansion.
Marchioness Elisa was very excited at their reunion after a long time. After Kayla left, Rosena had just returned.
They threw a small welcome party for Rosena.
Rosena and Illian returned to their Astania routine, while Isaac and Karlan left Astania.
It seemed empty after they left, perhaps because they had been together for almost two months.
It had been a week since she came back to Astania like that.
Rosena was in Astania, where she wanted to return to so badly, and somehow felt lonely. As time went by, she missed Yerhan more.
She was looking out the window with a deep sigh, and she heard a knock on the door. Rosena stood up from her seat and told the person to come in.
It was none other than Lady Elisa who visited Rosena.
The lady, with a wrinkled face, smiled and called Rosena.
“Your Highness.”
“.…I told you not to call me that.”
Rosena looked at her with an uncomfortable expression.
Rosena used to be just a tutor, but now she was the prince’s wife.
No matter how weak the power of the third prince was, they were not in a position to be ignored in any other country. But Rosena didn’t want to be bound by her status as she came all the way to Astania. Especially if it was Lady Elisa, whom she had known for a long time.
Lady Elisa and Rosena sat face to face.
“Is there any inconvenience?”
“Thanks to you, I’m comfortable.”
“That’s a relief.”
Rosena stared at Lady Elisa, who smiled kindly. Looking at her, she thought of Kayla.
In fact, she wanted to bring Kayla with her, but she had already left for the academy when Rosena was lying in bed because of the poison.
Fortunately, the academy was a place less affected by the power of the imperial family.
“Oh, by the way, I brought you a lot of news.”
Lady Elisa immediately brought up the subject. She met Rosena to tell her news from the empire.
“First of all, it’s about the Emperor.”
As Rosena was told most of what had happened in the empire, she learned of the remnants that remained between the second princess and herself.
And the fact that the second princess, Asilia, tried to poison Rosena.
Rosena listened to Lady Elisa in silence. The second princess, Asilia, was stripped of all her titles for inciting the poisoning of Rosena.
The circumstances were clear, and the ladies on her side turned their backs and could no longer deny it.
Eventually, Asilia was deprived of the rights as a mother of the imperial grandchildren and returned to her parents.
She also became unable to put her face in society for the rest of her life, which was also her heaviest punishment.
Rumor had it that Asilia cursed the empress on the day she was expelled from the Imperial Palace. However, the empress did not even deal with her.
And Rania was executed before Rosena escaped from the Imperial Palace.
The executioner was the only one who shared the end of the life of the one who was once a countess.
Rania was executed and the relationship between her husband, Count Estarot, and Macella, was infinitely strained.
Macella blamed Count Estarot. The reason was that he did not defend Rania at trial.
As the feud deepened, Count Estarot sued Rania for defaming the family. It was a divorce suit, the first time in imperial history to demand divorce from a dead person.
The judge ruled in favor of the current Count of Estarot, who eventually divorced the dead Rania. Then Count Estarrot kicked Macella out of the mansion.
Macella, who was no longer the count’s mother-in-law, was no less than a commoner, having only the name of a former countess.
After being kicked out penniless, she reportedly disappeared while wandering the streets.
With that, the once prestigious Count of Estarot was completely in the hands of others.
The crown prince, who belatedly learned of the escape news, released the soldier and made them find Rosena. A massive wanted order was issued, but by that time Rosena had already escaped from the empire.
The crown prince never dreamed that Rosena would have come to Astania. Now all Rosena had to do was wait for Yerhan.
He promised to call Rosena when everything was sorted out.
She hopes nothing happens.
“Rosena.”
When Rosena looked worried, Lady Elisa reached out and touched the back of her hand.
“Nothing will happen to His Highness.”
Rosena smiled lightly at her consoling words. Up until now, Rosena thought Astania was her final destination. But Astania was only a turning point, and the end of her life was to be by Yerhan’s side.
How long will it take for Rosena to return to Yerhan?
Rosena and Lady Elisa were talking about one thing or another, when they heard a thudding sound.
It was the sound of someone rushing up the stairs.
When the two stopped talking, the door burst open.
“Madam, it’s trouble!”
It was Lady Elisa who told the servant that his actions were rude. Lady Elisa asked, narrowing the middle of her forehead, because he had never come in such a hurry.
“What’s going on?”
“That’s….”
He looked sideways, his eyes shaking as he looked at Rosena. The look on Rosena’s face hardened at once.
Did anything happen in the empire?
“Tell me.”
Lady Elisa urged him, and he reluctantly opened hismouth.
“The Third Prince of Herbet Empire.”
He gasped for breath as his throat was choked and continued.
“He was attacked while in exile.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Rosena jumped up from her seat.
“What…!”
Rosena’s voice trembled relentlessly. Rosena shook her head with her face in disbelief. However, contrary to Rosena’s wish, cruel words continued.
“.…They say a funeral will be held in a few months.”
Word that the third prince had left for exile quickly spread outside the imperial palace.
There were nobles who said it was a good thing, but some nobles criticized the imperial family for the excessive punishment.
However, there was no one who could say such a thing in an official place, so it was easy for them to get away with it.
After a year, the third prince would be forgotten in people’s memories anyway.
After the third prince, Yerhan, went to Haylor, rumors of a plague spreading in the Third Prince Palace soon spread.
The source of the rumors could not be determined, but the Third Prince Palace did not open its door, as if to strengthen the rumors.
All those who came as visitors were sent back, and the servants working in the palace did not come out at all.
People speculated that Rosena had been hospitalized in shock. And it was around the time that the rumors were accepted as truth.
A deep night with the old moon rising. Dark clouds obscured the moonlight, making it completely dark.
On a quiet night where everyone was asleep and not a single breath could be heard, the bar of the Third Prince Palace went up.
“Are you ready?”
At Isaac’s question, Rosena nodded. They had already been sneaking their belongings away for several days, so all she had to do was get out.
“Then follow me.”
Rosena and Illian followed Isaac out of the palace, silencing their footsteps.
Fortunately, the Third Prince Palace was quite far from the other palaces, and it was close to the back gate, so it was easy to get out.
They headed to the back door, hiding all signs of presence. At that time, those who stood guard at the back gate left for a moment to switch shifts.
Isaac, who knew in advance that the guards were loose at dawn, sent Rosena and Illian out right away. And as soon as they left the palace, the guards returned.
As they walked a little further from the Imperial Palace, a carriage that had been prepared in advance appeared. On the outside, it looked like a regular carriage and was not very conspicuous.
As Rosena and Illian got on board, the carriage began to move quietly.
Isaac and Karlan rode on horseback and escorted the carriage on the front and back respectively.
The clouds slowly lifted and the whitish moonlight shone on the carriage.
The carriage that came out of the darkness ran without hesitation when it completely escaped the Imperial Palace.
Thus, Rosena and Illian lived in a carriage for about a month.
It wasn’t very comfortable, but she could tell that this carriage had been well taken care of.
Contrary to the outside appearance, the inside of the carriage was large, spacious, and luxurious.
Instead of seats, a large bed occupied half the interior of the carriage, and most of the necessities were provided.
Besides, it wasn’t too hard because Rosena and Illian always stopped when they felt a little tired.
The carriage went a long way around to avoid the checkpoint.
It was likely for them to meet a bandit at least once, but it was just quiet along the way.
It was unknown to Rosena that Yerhan had beaten the bandits ahead of time and paved the way.
***
While Rosena was leaving the capital, the Third Prince Palace still strictly restricted the entry of outsiders.
The crown prince, who was tired of hearing the news that Yerhan had finally disappeared, sent people to the Third Prince Palace over and over again, but they were sent back.
Then, as a last resort, the crown prince sent a doctor. It was under the pretext of examining the symptoms because the infectious disease might spread to the Imperial Palace.
By that time, it was no longer possible to refuse with the excuse of a possible epidemic.
In the end, the servants who remained in the palace finally opened the door.
The doctor sent by the crown prince went straight into the palace. And not long after, the doctor returned and said.
“The palace of the Third Prince is empty and like an uninhabited place.”
Zigrit realized belatedly that Rosena had left the Imperial Palace. He immediately dispatched knights to capture Rosena.
She was charged with kidnapping Illian, a member of the royal family nominally.
However, by the time the crown prince’s knights were looking for Rosena in the capital, Rosena had already boarded the ship heading to Astania.
Rosena and Illian once again spent over a month on the ship.
There were times when it rained so much that the boat almost overturned when it met rough winds and waves. But the experienced captain, who had spent several decades at sea, was accustomed to paving the way.
Isaac and Karlan admired his ability to ride through angry waves as if he was soothing children.
In a way, it was natural that the imperial knights could not defeat Astania’s naval forces.
After so many hardships, the cloudy weather receded, and the huge island began to come into view little by little.
The island reflected in the sun was like a huge lump of gold.
Rosena stood on the deck, calming her pounding heart, and staring at the island quietly.
She was finally in the land of gold, Astania.
***
Yerhan’s carriage completely left the capital on the third day.
And after another week, the scenery of the city disappeared and they arrived at the dense forest.
Yerhan inferred that he had now entered the forest from the sounds he heard around him.
The carriage carrying exiled criminals had no windows.
Unlike the capital city, which was warm though it’s autumn, the temperature dropped as they went north.
It would take about two months to get to Haylor in a carriage, so it must be perfectly winter by the time they arrived there.
The empire was so large that there were many regions with various climates, but the temperature of the capital did not change significantly in any season. And in Haylor’s case, it snowed all the time except in the summer.
Even in summer, the snow stopped for only a week, and it was not much different from other seasons.
Yehan quietly closed his eyes.
It had only been a week since he broke up with Rosena, but he was already missing her.
As the days went by, his heart only deepened, and he did not think that it would decrease at all.
When he had time, he thought he would draw a portrait of Rosena.
Yerhan traced his memory so as not to forget Rosena’s voice and actions.
As he recalled her tone and expression one by one, a smile naturally spread across his face. By now, Rosena would have escaped the Imperial Palace.
Isaac and Karlan were the escorts, so they should be on their way without any problems.
Astania was a place that required them to go down to the southern part of the empire and then by boat, so it was far from Haylor.
The smile disappeared from his face.
There were many mountains to overcome in order to reunite with Rosena.
Yerhan was not interested in the throne. He just wanted to present a peaceful everyday life to Rosena.
After all this is over… At that time, he wanted to stay by Rosena’s side for the rest of his life.
Yerhan’s carriage rattled into the forest.
When he couldn’t even hear the birdsong, Yerhan raised his head. But he couldn’t see the outside, so he had no choice but to sit still.
“Hey, hey! I think we’re going down the wrong path!”
Outside the carriage, the knights told the coachman to stop for a while. The knights seemed to have realized that this was not the way.
He could barely hear the coachman’s response to the knight’s voice.
The faint sound of horseshoes came through the voices. Yerhan stiffened reflexively.
The horseman and the knights, who were engaged in a war of words, also shouted to stop, whether they heard it belatedly.
But the sound of horseshoes only grew louder.
“Argghhh!!”
Someone’s scream echoed through the forest as if torn apart. Then, the sound of metal hitting each other sharply tore apart the space.
But Yerhan couldn’t do anything. The carriage was designed to be opened only from the outside.
The commotion stopped and there was a horrifying silence.
Soon after, the carriage rattled loudly and he heard the sound of the lock being opened.
The door of the carriage was bent wide and men in black masks were seen in the dim light. And all at once they took their swords and ran at Yerhan.
***
When they arrived in Astania, the marquis and the marchioness came out to welcome Rosena.
Rosena followed them to the marquis’ mansion.
Her original residence was empty for a long time and needed to be cleaned separately, so Rosena decided to stay in the marquis’ mansion.
Marchioness Elisa was very excited at their reunion after a long time. After Kayla left, Rosena had just returned.
They threw a small welcome party for Rosena.
Rosena and Illian returned to their Astania routine, while Isaac and Karlan left Astania.
It seemed empty after they left, perhaps because they had been together for almost two months.
It had been a week since she came back to Astania like that.
Rosena was in Astania, where she wanted to return to so badly, and somehow felt lonely. As time went by, she missed Yerhan more.
She was looking out the window with a deep sigh, and she heard a knock on the door. Rosena stood up from her seat and told the person to come in.
It was none other than Lady Elisa who visited Rosena.
The lady, with a wrinkled face, smiled and called Rosena.
“Your Highness.”
“.…I told you not to call me that.”
Rosena looked at her with an uncomfortable expression.
Rosena used to be just a tutor, but now she was the prince’s wife.
No matter how weak the power of the third prince was, they were not in a position to be ignored in any other country. But Rosena didn’t want to be bound by her status as she came all the way to Astania. Especially if it was Lady Elisa, whom she had known for a long time.
Lady Elisa and Rosena sat face to face.
“Is there any inconvenience?”
“Thanks to you, I’m comfortable.”
“That’s a relief.”
Rosena stared at Lady Elisa, who smiled kindly. Looking at her, she thought of Kayla.
In fact, she wanted to bring Kayla with her, but she had already left for the academy when Rosena was lying in bed because of the poison.
Fortunately, the academy was a place less affected by the power of the imperial family.
“Oh, by the way, I brought you a lot of news.”
Lady Elisa immediately brought up the subject. She met Rosena to tell her news from the empire.
“First of all, it’s about the Emperor.”
As Rosena was told most of what had happened in the empire, she learned of the remnants that remained between the second princess and herself.
And the fact that the second princess, Asilia, tried to poison Rosena.
Rosena listened to Lady Elisa in silence. The second princess, Asilia, was stripped of all her titles for inciting the poisoning of Rosena.
The circumstances were clear, and the ladies on her side turned their backs and could no longer deny it.
Eventually, Asilia was deprived of the rights as a mother of the imperial grandchildren and returned to her parents.
She also became unable to put her face in society for the rest of her life, which was also her heaviest punishment.
Rumor had it that Asilia cursed the empress on the day she was expelled from the Imperial Palace. However, the empress did not even deal with her.
And Rania was executed before Rosena escaped from the Imperial Palace.
The executioner was the only one who shared the end of the life of the one who was once a countess.
Rania was executed and the relationship between her husband, Count Estarot, and Macella, was infinitely strained.
Macella blamed Count Estarot. The reason was that he did not defend Rania at trial.
As the feud deepened, Count Estarot sued Rania for defaming the family. It was a divorce suit, the first time in imperial history to demand divorce from a dead person.
The judge ruled in favor of the current Count of Estarot, who eventually divorced the dead Rania. Then Count Estarrot kicked Macella out of the mansion.
Macella, who was no longer the count’s mother-in-law, was no less than a commoner, having only the name of a former countess.
After being kicked out penniless, she reportedly disappeared while wandering the streets.
With that, the once prestigious Count of Estarot was completely in the hands of others.
The crown prince, who belatedly learned of the escape news, released the soldier and made them find Rosena. A massive wanted order was issued, but by that time Rosena had already escaped from the empire.
The crown prince never dreamed that Rosena would have come to Astania. Now all Rosena had to do was wait for Yerhan.
He promised to call Rosena when everything was sorted out.
She hopes nothing happens.
“Rosena.”
When Rosena looked worried, Lady Elisa reached out and touched the back of her hand.
“Nothing will happen to His Highness.”
Rosena smiled lightly at her consoling words. Up until now, Rosena thought Astania was her final destination. But Astania was only a turning point, and the end of her life was to be by Yerhan’s side.
How long will it take for Rosena to return to Yerhan?
Rosena and Lady Elisa were talking about one thing or another, when they heard a thudding sound.
It was the sound of someone rushing up the stairs.
When the two stopped talking, the door burst open.
“Madam, it’s trouble!”
It was Lady Elisa who told the servant that his actions were rude. Lady Elisa asked, narrowing the middle of her forehead, because he had never come in such a hurry.
“What’s going on?”
“That’s….”
He looked sideways, his eyes shaking as he looked at Rosena. The look on Rosena’s face hardened at once.
Did anything happen in the empire?
“Tell me.”
Lady Elisa urged him, and he reluctantly opened hismouth.
“The Third Prince of Herbet Empire.”
He gasped for breath as his throat was choked and continued.
“He was attacked while in exile.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Rosena jumped up from her seat.
“What…!”
Rosena’s voice trembled relentlessly. Rosena shook her head with her face in disbelief. However, contrary to Rosena’s wish, cruel words continued.
“.…They say a funeral will be held in a few months.”
