“H-How would that change anything?” I struggled to find words.

  The Crown Prince tilted his head.

  “Oh. I see,” he muttered. “You actually believed the lies they’ve been feeding you.”

  He stepped closer to me and leaned in towards my neck, whispering into my ears.

  His breath was as cold as ice.

  “The Obedience Crest is a form of contract magic,” he expined. “Actually, it is a contract spell created between three people.”

  “Three people?”

  “The sve, the master, and the sorcerer.”

  I wasn’t quite following what he was saying.

  “Like all forms of contract magic, it can be voided by eliminating the anchors of the spell. There are three possible permutations. One way to unravel it is by killing the master and the sorcerer. The other way is to kill the sve and the sorcerer, or the sve and the master.”

  If these cims were true, it was a remarkably simple solution. If anything, it was too simple.

  “…Why haven’t more people said anything about this?”

  Earlier this morning, I had been reading an article on Obedience Crests in a well-known encyclopedia. The text explicitly mentioned that the curse was ‘permanent’. While I understood that many books in the outer section of the library were retively simplistic overviews, this type of encyclopedia was still intended for a fairly educated audience. Not too many commoners or peasants could read in the Kingdom of Galuterica. I never imagined that the authors of the encyclopedia would publish outright lies.

  A wide grin appeared on Prince Leopold’s face.

  “How do you suppose a tyrant is supposed to rule over a hoard of well-educated subjects?”

  His point was that brainwashing the popuce was the most reliable way for a king to govern a society with an iron fist. If the kingdom’s subjects didn’t know how to apply logic and reason, or if the knowledge that they relied on was completely erroneous, they couldn’t mount any effective resistance. Any potential rebellion that did emerge would colpse and fail.

  If sves knew that the path to freedom involved killing their masters, there would be a lot more bloodshed.

  …Except the Obedience Crest prevented any sve from harming their own masters, to begin with.

  “You shouldn’t believe everything that you read in a book, you know,” the Crown Prince chided me with disapproval. “If you have any questions, I’ll tell you what I know. Forget about everything else you’ve learned. I’m the only person you can trust in this pce.”

  “But…”

  —If that was the case, could I really even believe anything?

  + + +

  Prince Leopold pulled on my wrists, leading me down the hallway.

  I couldn’t tell exactly which ‘side’ the Crown Prince was on.

  On paper, I knew I had been officially detained because I was a criminal suspect in the arson incident.

  However, I wasn’t even sure if the Crown Prince cared about that. He didn’t mention a single word about the alleged crime. This entire time, he had been touching my hair and hovering too close to my personal space. Prince Leopold only seemed particurly interested in the Obedience Crest that had been recently tattooed onto my body, and he kept talking about how much he wanted to kill Kang Jiesu in order to get rid of the curse.

  His eyes looked giddy, exhirated, and almost drunk with anticipation.

  —Bloodthirsty eyes like a yandere.

  I stumbled in my steps. He was walking way too fast.

  “If I rescue you from that evil vilin, what kind of reward would you give me?” He teased suggestively.

  “I… I’m not sure…”

  I had a bad feeling about the direction this was heading in.

  “I think I’ve very much like you to make you into my Empress. A bloody empress. You can bear all of my children after I kill my father and plunge this country into a mass revolution. We’ll kill anyone who tries to stop us.”

  ….

  I didn’t even register what he said at first.

  It was so absurd that it flew straight over my head.

  Was that a confession? He sounded completely serious.

  However, a few seconds ter, it slowly hit me that the Crown Prince had just told me his pns to commit treason.

  Patricide. A bloody revolution. Thousands, if not millions… executed by guillotine.

  —If it wasn’t a joke, the Crown Prince had gone completely insane.

  For that matter, I was totally confused about his sudden obsession with me.

  He hadn’t been this… passionate… two nights ago when he nearly raped me. If anything, he had seemed disinterested and lukewarm at the time, which should have been the normal reaction. I really wasn’t that remarkable of a person. While I certainly passed the minimum standard for a royal maid, I wasn’t so gorgeous that I’d knock people off their feet, nor could I say that I was significantly more talented than everyone else. The Crown Prince had been quite a phinderer in the past, so I doubted I could even hold a candle against the spectacur people he had previously slept with.

  I was just an inconsequential NPC.

  The change in his behavior must have been reted to something that happened in the past 48 hours.

  But I didn’t think my sudden ensvement would have have triggered a fg like this.

  + + +

  “I know it was you.” Prince Leopold whispered with excitement.

  “I… what?”

  “You lit the western wing on fire and set off the explosion.”

  “That… I’m really not so sure.”

  “Pying dumb is unnecessary,” the Crown Prince cut me off. “I, for that matter, simply adore what you did. It was bold, fmboyant, and deadly. It was the perfect act of domestic terrorism — wonderfully pnned and executed — you covered your tracks fwlessly. You’re exactly the kind of woman that I need.”

  …He was definitely talking about Hong Baiye.

  All of this was Hong Baiye’s doing.

  This misunderstanding was definitely all of my cssmate’s fault. If the Crown Prince had been smitten by such a simple scheme, he really ought to confess his love for Hong Baiye instead. I had absolutely nothing to do with it.

  “Your Majesty… I don’t remember anything,” I pleaded with him.

  Prince Leopold suddenly grew angry.

  Without warning, he shoved me hard against the wall.

  His thick hand went to my neck, nearly crushing my windpipe in a fit of uncontrolled fury.

  I choked, my limbs filing in mid-air, struggling to pry his vice-like grip away from my neck.

  “Don’t lie to me, Hana,” he growled threateningly.

  He slowly leaned in closer to my mouth while I struggled to breathe.

  “I don’t care what the hell you do. My only rule is that you never lie. Never. Ever. Do you understand me?”

  My lungs burned in pain if they were on fire.

  “If you understand, nod your head,” he ordered coldly.

  “I…”

  My voice was raspy, and I could barely get any air through my throat.

  “…can’t remember…”

  Tears were welling at my eyes.

  + + +

  He released his chokehold without warning, and I crumbled immediately to the ground.

  The Crown Prince stared at me with a deep frown while I hacked violently and coughed on the floor. His grip had been so tight around my neck that I was sure that it would leave a circumferential bruise.

  There was an expression of confusion on his eyes.

  “You don’t remember,” he repeated.

  “I… don’t know… how… it happened,” I struggled to speak with broken gasps.

  The Crown Prince had the ability to see through lies, and he finally confirmed that I was telling the truth.

  But then there was a look of disappointment in his ruthless eyes.

  + + +

  There was a noisy tumble behind the next corner of the hallway.

  “哎呀!” (Ouch!) Someone excimed.

  Prince Leopold immediately turned around.

  “Who’s there?” He barked threateningly into the corridor.

  Someone had been eavesdropping on us.

  “他看到了，看到了!” (He saw us! He saw us!)

  “太子这么凶… 恐怕” (The prince is frightening… so scary)

  I heard multiple voices whispering like a flock of chickens amongst themselves.

  “Show yourselves!” The Crown Prince commanded.

  “那么，女士优先…” (Well then, dies first…)

  “不不不不不，还是沙同学先去吧” (No no no no no, Sha-kun should go first)

  “哎!” (Ai!) There was a small scream.

  Two of my cssmates stumbled from behind the corner and tumbled onto the ground.

  Someone had kicked them forward.

  It was Sha Guadi and Ma Qingyue, the fashion-obsessed gyaru in my css who is constantly glued to her smartphone.

  Hong Baiye slowly stepped out behind them.

  Moments ter, their assigned maids shuffled hurriedly in front of them on bowed deeply on their guests’ behalf. Lisa was in the center of the formation. My friend had been assigned to Hong Baiye, and it felt like I hadn’t seen her in ages.

  “Your Majesty,” Lisa spoke for the entire group. “We deeply apologize for interrupting you. We were just passing by, but it seems that this hallway is being used. We will take the Otherworlder guests through a different corridor.”

  My friend didn’t even blink twice after seeing me colpsed on the floor.

  To be fair, Lisa was an excellent maid, if not one of the very best in the Royal Pace. There was no room for sentimentality or emotions when you were working for Galuterican nobility, and you couldn’t allow your personal feelings to interfere with your job. Plenty of cruel scenes occurred in the Royal Pace on a regur basis.

  That being said, I was sure that she could have led my cssmates away as soon as she noticed that the Crown Prince was doing something questionable in the hallway.

  However, they had lingered for a bit and eavesdropped.

  I didn’t think that was an accident.

  + + +

  “Forget about that,” the Crown Prince spoke with frustration. “You can use the hallway now. I am finished here.”

  “Thank you, Your Majesty, for your consideration,” my friend responded gracefully.

  “Come to my office ter, Lisa.”

  “Yes, Your Majesty.”

  Prince Leopold seemed to be very familiar with Lisa. I wasn’t sure exactly what kind of retionship they had between each other, but they clearly had some kind of pre-existing connection. There weren’t many maids that the Crown Prince referred to on a first-name basis.

  “You can take the sve back to her master, too,” Prince Leopold said. “I’ve completed my interrogation. You can inform the Prime Minister that my final verdict is that she is not the arsonist. I have also tested her loyalty to the crown, and I have determined that she is not a rebel.”

  Lisa bowed her head and curtsied politely.

  “I anticipate that you will handle everything else to my expectations.”

  “Of course.”

  + + +

  The Crown Prince left the scene rather impatiently. He hadn’t been involved in any of the negotiations with the Otherworlders, and I almost felt as though he was trying to avoid them. It was subtle, but Prince Leopold maintained a wide berth from cssmates — at least ten meters of distance.

  When Sha Guadi and Ma Qingyue stepped forward, the Crown Prince simply turned around and walked away.

  He didn’t say a single word to my cssmates.

  After confirming that the Crown Prince was completely gone, Lisa and Hong Baiye rushed to my side.

  “Hana, are you okay? Are you hurt?” Lisa asked with a worried tone to her voice.

  She immediately started to examine my neck, trying to determine if any first aid would be required.

  “让我来吧” (Let me in here), Hong Baiye pushed her way in front.

  The ice queen pced her hands on top of my forehead, and my friend Lisa immediately yielded her spot to the Otherworlder. Lu Liwang had demonstrated the previous day that he had miraculous healing powers, and there wasn’t any reason for my former colleagues to suspect that the heroes had any malicious intentions.

  What was she trying to do?

  Was she going to manipute my head again?

  I tried to open my mouth to speak up, but I couldn’t summon strength through my vocal cords.

  A soft purple light began to glow.

  I could see Sha Guadi and Ma Qingyue in my peripheral vision.

  Lisa was trying to say something to me repeatedly, but I couldn’t hear her very clearly. Her voice sounded distant, and my vision started to swirl and spin like a kaleidoscope.

  And then everything turned bck.

  ?