Episode 2

“What on earth do you mean?”

Duke Adler looked at me incredulously.

“I fell for you at first sight. Therefore, I want a love marriage, not an arranged one.”

“Love at first sight… Ha, do you expect me to believe that?”

A sharp response came immediately.

As expected of a serial killer, he was quick to notice. I feigned ignorance not to get caught lying.

“Why can’t you believe me? I really am smitten with you.”

“The chandeliers in the Imperial Palace would know about the Princess’s protest to the Emperor to marry her to Grand Duke Killian until this morning.”

“I’ve forgotten all about such men in the face of your dazzling beauty. I fall in love quite easily, you see.”

“Dazzling… What did you say?”

“Beauty. And you are the number one man everyone wants to date in the empire, aren’t you?”

I quickly pointed to the newspaper on the table. At my nonchalant demeanor, Duke Adler’s mouth opened slightly then closed. He tensed his hand that was holding the newspaper. Fortunately, still maintaining his noble composure, he furrowed his brow instead of lashing out at the newspaper.

“Ha. I’m sorry but I simply do not have the time for something like romance….”

“Your Majesty, the Emperor arrives.”

His answer was abruptly cut off by the Emperor’s sudden appearance. It seemed the Emperor had stopped by briefly to check in. Nice timing.

I quickly took the initiative with the Emperor.

“I’m so happy that Father has chosen Duke Adler as my fiancé! I plan to date and meet with him often before our marriage!”

“Oh, it seems our Charlotte has taken quite a liking to the Duke! How fortunate that she has come to her senses now. Duke Adler, I entrust my youngest daughter to you.”

In response to my quickly changed attitude, the Emperor smiled contentedly, even calling me ‘Charlotte’. This time, Duke Adler, who failed to manage his expression, contorted his face.

Seeing this, the Emperor raised an eyebrow and glanced at the Duke.

“Duke. Is there, perhaps, a problem?”

“Ah, no. I will… follow your command.”

The Duke managed to lift the corners of his mouth and responded as if groaning.

“Then, I’m counting on you, Duke Adler.”

I grinned at the murder suspect.

*

Princess’s palace dressing room.

The reflection in the mirror was astonishingly beautiful.

Fluttering long pink hair, sparkling honey-colored golden eyes, a perky nose, and rosy lips. Plus, a slender body without an ounce of fat.

Although I could see it with my eyes, it didn’t feel real. I thought possession after dying from overwork was something that only happened in novels.

“Your, Your Highness, I will assist you with your dressing.”

It wasn’t an exaggeration that the introduction called me a ‘troublesome princess,’ as my personal maid was excessively afraid of me. How had ‘Charlotte’, the original owner of this body, lived her life?

Besides the fact that I was soon to be murdered by my fiancé, there was another reason why this possession was the worst.

It was because I had become possessed in a web novel that I had only read the introduction to. As a result, I knew nothing beyond the information provided in the introduction. So, to adapt to this world, I desperately needed someone’s help.

For example, someone right next to me.

“You, what’s your name?”

“It’s, it’s Martha Hudson.”

“How long have you been working here?”

“Four, four years.”

The maid answered in a small voice without making eye contact with me.

“Then, what’s my name?”

“Your… Your? That is, you are ‘Charlotte von der Haus’, Princess of the Asgard Empire.”

The maid suddenly lifted her head to look at me. It must have been absurd to be asked my name out of the blue. It was time to pull out my trump card, inevitably.

“I’ll tell you the truth. I can’t remember anything from yesterday or before.”

“What?”

It was the universally common solution, ‘amnesia’. I looked at the maid with a sad face.

“Honestly, I don’t even know who I am.”

“You must have overexerted yourself because you’re frail. You’ve been on a hunger strike for days and collapsed. And yet the royal physicians didn’t even take a look! Poor our Princess, sob.”

The maid began to weep sorrowfully.

Indeed, my prediction was correct. There were unusually few servants in this princess’s palace, and their clothes were new. It meant they had not been employed for long. Probably because of the ‘real Charlotte’s’ misdeeds, known as a troublesome princess, it was rare for servants to last long.

Amidst this, the maid who had stayed by my side faithfully for four years despite fearing me. She clearly had a nature of compassion and responsibility. It was necessary to win her over and make her my confidant.

Having finished calculating in my head, I looked at the maid with deep eyes.

“But I do know this. I trusted you a lot, relied on you, and liked you very much, Martha.”

“I, I had no idea you felt that way!”

Martha said in a moved voice.

“This must remain between you and me only. It’s not good for my situation to be known right now. You’re the only one by my side.”

“Of course. I will serve you well from now on, Your Highness. Just trust me!”

Fortunately, Martha readily accepted my claim of having amnesia. In fact, it was said that I had shown symptoms of memory loss before as well.

For example, like this.

“I ordered this? Don’t make me laugh! I’ve never done such a thing! Do it over!”

“Who the hell are you? I’ve never had someone like you as my maid. Get out right now!”

Just hearing it, I sounded like a considerable nuisance. Anyway, the information I got through Martha was this.

My mother, who was the Emperor’s concubine, died giving birth to me, and the Emperor, who loved her, overcame much opposition to make me an official princess.

It would have been good if he had taken responsibility and raised me properly. However, the Emperor merely bestowed upon me the title of princess without showing much actual interest.

As a result, my position in the imperial family naturally deteriorated. It was inevitable that the Empress and her children disliked me, being the illegitimate child of the Emperor, and the nobles also subtly disregarded me. I was a princess in name only, without any supporting faction.

In the end, I grew up lonely without love and attention, and became a troublemaker.

Consequently, the Emperor, troubled by my behavior, sought to quickly rid the palace of me through a marriage of convenience.

Having heard up to that point, I asked a question to understand what happened this morning.

“But why did I go on a hunger strike?”

“I’m not sure if I should say this… The truth is, you were protesting to the Emperor to have you married to Grand Duke Killian.”

“Could it be that Grand Duke Killian is… the name of the man I am dating?”

“Grand Duke Killian” was a name even the Emperor had mentioned. The name of a man who wasn’t my fiancé, “Duke Adler,” made me curious about who he was to me.

“No… That couldn’t be.”

Martha answered dejectedly.

According to Martha, Northern Grand Duke Killian was the object of Charlotte’s unrequited love. Naturally, he detested her, the troublemaker. Yet Charlotte went as far as to risk her life with a hunger strike to marry the man who disliked her, which could only be described as profound love.

Incidentally, the Emperor casually proposed the match to Grand Duke Killian as well, but he, having no regrets, flatly refused the offer.

Unlike him, Duke Adler accepted the marriage proposal because the Emperor had leverage over him.

This year marked the expiration of the Duke’s family’s major mining rights, and the Emperor pressured Duke Adler into engagement using the renewal of those rights as leverage.

The mines were a significant source of income for the Duke’s family.

After finishing her explanation, Martha spoke as if surprised.

“But I never thought Your Highness would really get engaged to Duke Adler. I thought you would insist on Grand Duke Killian until the end.”

“I fell for the Duke at first sight. So, I thought I’d try dating.”

“What? Da, dating?”

Surprised by the unexpected answer, Martha blinked with a flushed face.

“I need a beautiful restraint.”

“What?”

Martha’s eyes widened as if asking what I meant.

No one in the empire would believe me if I said that Duke Adler was a murderer.

Everyone would think that I was making up excuses not to engage with Duke Adler.

So, there was only one way. I had to investigate the serial murders myself to find evidence that Duke Adler was the culprit.

The best method of investigation is ‘detainment investigation.’

But it’s impossible to detain a duke of the empire without evidence.

Thus, I decided to restrain him with the beautiful word ‘dating.’

Since he declared in front of the Emperor that he would date me, he’ll have no choice but to comply with my investigation disguised as dates.

Having roughly grasped the situation around me, it was now time to obtain the most crucial information.

“Martha, could you bring me the newspapers from the past week?”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

If they conduct frivolous surveys like ‘the man you’d want to date’ in gossip columns, it means that this place has a fairly developed media function.

A ‘serial murder’ case would be in the news daily with updates on the investigation.

Sure enough, upon searching through the newspapers, the empire was abuzz with news of an unidentified serial killer.

Summarizing the articles, there have been a total of four victims so far. And I was to be the planned eighth victim.

Then, the thing to do at this point was clear.

“Martha, I need to find an assistant.”

I opened my eyes wide with determination.

*

On the way to ‘Bartz’, the notorious underground prison of the imperial palace, Martha still had a face full of doubt.

“Your Highness, why choose an assistant from among the prisoners?”

“A villain seems fitting for a wicked lady.”

“What?”

Martha jumped in surprise, and I let out a mischievous laugh.

It was half a joke, but also partly true.

As a princess, I couldn’t personally wander the streets to investigate a murder case.

Nor could I entrust the investigation to Martha, who was merely an ordinary maid.

Therefore, I needed an assistant to act on my behalf for the investigation.

But if anyone knew that the princess was investigating a serial murder case, they would certainly find it odd.

So, I had to find someone completely trustworthy.

It was a difficult problem; given my lack of power and reputation, it would be impossible to find someone without desires who would also be loyal to me.

In the end, after much deliberation, I decided to make use of a prisoner in a desperate situation.

People usually do anything to escape a desperate situation. While holding a prisoner’s weakness, I could even fabricate their loyalty.

Right now, I even needed feigned loyalty.

“My cousin Stanford works as a guard at ‘Bartz’, so I’ve already informed him.”

“Very good.”

I entered Bartz, offering words of praise to Martha.

Despite the early summer, the dark underground prison was chilly as no light entered.

The faded stone walls were cold, and there was a musty smell of mold.

It was a terrible place that seemed as though one could not remain sane if trapped here.

Eventually, we were led to a small meeting room.

Stanford, having received my instructions, nodded and headed towards the last cell of the prison.

“Hey, prisoner number 0221, come out for a moment.”

A clunking sound came from a distance, and then, with a creepy creak, the cell door opened.

Stanford brought out a prisoner from beyond the narrow room.

He was one I had personally selected after reviewing the list of criminals.

Someone with an unfortunate tale for being in jail, agile-bodied, and suitable for conducting covert investigations.

‘John Watson.’

Despite being a commoner from the slums, he was intelligent and skilled in martial arts enough to be admitted to the Royal Military Academy.

After graduating from the military academy, he served as an investigator in the imperial army and was serving his second month in Bartz for allegedly assaulting a noble superior.

It was said that his ailing mother fell ill after he, who had a bright future, was imprisoned.

Naturally, being a prisoner, he couldn’t pay for his mother’s medical bills.

In short, his needs were clear, and his situation was desperate. Plus, he had some expertise in investigation.

John Watson appeared before me, his hands shackled in iron chains.

He had scruffy brown hair and looked haggard from not being able to wash properly.

However, behind the dirtiness, his neat nose and determined lips were striking.

When Stanford seated John on the hard wooden chair, John examined me with a wary gaze.

With a slight nod from me, Stanford bowed his head and stepped aside.

“Please be careful, Princess Charlotte, he has assaulted a noble.”

Hearing my name, John looked at me with a slanted eye, as if he finally understood.

Defiance flared above his intense green eyes.

“If the princess intends to torture me out of boredom, you’d better stop. As you just heard, I’m a mad dog that even bites nobles.”

Oops, it seems I failed to make a good first impression. The first thing that came to his mind upon hearing my name was ‘torture for amusement.’

To make up for the bad impression my name had given, I gave him the most harmless smile I could muster.

“John, I have no intention of torturing you. Instead, let me buy your loyalty.”

My proposal seemed to surprise him, as his eyes slowly widened.

Silently, I waited for the words to come from his mouth.