A Thief in the Rose Palace
Sure, they were her beloved older brothers—capable, handsome, and born of an illustrious family, but…
How should she put it? It felt like watching two troublesome, oversized dogs tailing someone whose whole posture screamed, Ugh, everything is utterly exhausting, wagging their tails and waiting for the slightest opening to fawn over her. Managing just one was hard enough; now there were two of them.
Even so, she could hardly argue that they should keep their distance and simply observe Sister Titania from afar. Titania looked far too precarious for that.
Besides, frankly speaking, was she even in any position to be fretting over the Castrein ducal family? Not at all.
“Elder Brother, why are you suddenly so wary of Second Brother anyway? Usually, you just tell him not to make a mess and leave it at that.”
“That boy possesses far too much restless energy.”
“I thought you said you were used to cleaning up after him by now?”
“We must not cause trouble for a patient. Who knows if he might set the Empress Palace on fire this time?”
I heard you two already reached an agreement on that, though… Yet because Raymon was so blatantly on edge despite remaining utterly oblivious to his own feelings, Bibi merely looked at him with half-lidded, weary eyes.
“Elder Brother.”
“Yes?”
“Bibi always trusts and loves you.”
“I love you too.”
A faint smile softened his impassive features. It had taken a great deal of effort to coax that kind of response out of him. For more than two weeks, she had run around like a broken record, chanting, Papa, I love you! Elder Brother, I love you! Second Brother, I love you! Youngest Brother, I love you! Only after all that relentless devotion had he finally begun to answer like this.
“Still, I don't like Elder Brother’s narrow-minded jealousy…”
“It is not jealousy.”
“And I don't like the petty denial, either…”
“I told you, Bibi, it is not jealousy. Lisianthus has been excessively agitated lately. The probability of him failing to control his power upon meeting Her Imperial Highness was far too high.”
“There are fire-suppression magic crystals installed in Sister's room, though.”
“…They haven't been laid throughout all the corridors of the Empress Palace.”
“And didn't you already place power-amplifying magic crystals in the hallways to make sure nothing could spread into her room, just in case something happened out there?”
“There remains the possibility that the retainers of the Empress Palace might discover the secret behind his power.”
There was simply no end to dealing with Raymon when he stubbornly denied his own heart, rattling off one formulaic excuse after another. As the carriage slowed upon entering the grounds of the ducal estate, Bibi gently closed her eyes.
Sister Titania, I'm sorry, but I'll do my absolute best. Bibi will take such good care of you.
So please, don't throw away Brother One and Two, even if they can be terribly annoying sometimes…
Bibi genuinely loved the Castrein family.
Yet she never forgot that, on occasion, they could drive a person mad with exasperation.
“Just look at this dreadful sight.”
Miriam, an imperial laundry maid, clicked her tongue as she gazed upon the spectral ruins of the Rose Palace.
The blackened, fire-scorched walls and the ruined garden remained entirely untouched. One crumbled wall that exposed the parlor within had been draped over with curtain fabric, but it was painfully obvious that the patch was merely temporary. Permanent repairs had been slated to begin once Princess Titania vacated the premises, but then the Princess had suffered an unexpected accident and fallen into critical condition. With the royal mistress hovering between life and death, no one possessed the authority or nerve to push forward with construction.
The mood throughout the imperial court was unsettled and frantic, especially after the Rose Palace maids—who had swarmed the front gates of the Empress Palace pleading for news of Titania's condition—met a humiliating and brutal end. Every servant had their own guilty conscience to reckon with, and that guilt only heightened the prevailing panic.
Because of that very chaos, Miriam steeled her resolve all the more. She would steal whatever valuables remained inside.
“Just a little. I’ll only take a tiny bit.”
The Princess wasn't even in the palace; who would ever notice? Miriam had watched closely earlier as Natalie hurried away on some errand, leaving the premises behind. That gave her absolute certainty that the Rose Palace was currently deserted.
The other maids whispered that the building was cursed. Ever since the catastrophe unfolded and the remaining Rose Palace staff were forced into torturous rounds of penance and prayer, they had trembled in fear, swearing they heard bizarre noises drifting from the empty halls and whimpering about vengeful ghosts.
“Ghosts? As if. Cowards, the lot of them.”
Sneering under her breath, Miriam checked her surroundings before slipping quietly through the threshold of the phantom-like palace. Not a whisper of human presence greeted her.
Rumors ran rampant across the court: the Emperor was furious, no one knew what dreadful punishment awaited the Rose Palace staff, and anyone implicated in the affair would surely face execution or exile. Meanwhile, the Princess herself lay comatose in the Empress Palace, and not a single soul knew whether she would survive the night.
That made this the perfect opportunity to strike it rich.
She might be a princess in name only, but she was still royalty. Snatching even a few pieces of fine silverware or a couple of stray baubles would fetch a small fortune on the black market. If the original servants were still guarding the palace, that would be another matter, but their fates were entirely up in the air. Even if the Princess awoke from her coma and realized a trinket or two had vanished, whom could she possibly hold accountable? If the goods disappeared without a trace, that was the end of it.
The blackened, soot-streaked hallway did nothing to deter her. If anything, Miriam considered herself fortunate that such a hideous sight kept everyone else away.
Familiar enough with the basic layout of the residence, Miriam headed straight for the Princess’s bedchamber.
To her surprise, the door was unlocked. Terrified of royal retribution following Titania’s accident, the Rose Palace maids had lacked the presence of mind to attend to basic security.
Fools. If valuables really go missing, they’re the ones who will take the fall.
Naturally, that suited Miriam just fine; it guaranteed her own theft wouldn't draw the slightest suspicion.
Creeeeak.
Pushing the door open, Miriam cautiously poked her head inside. The faint, stale scent of dust drifted past her nose. Though it was broad daylight, heavy drapes covered every window, blocking the sun and shrouding the space in gloom. At the far end of the bedchamber stood a massive canopy bed flanked by a small nightstand. Without sparing a glance at the vase of wilted, rotting flowers resting atop it, she pulled open the drawer underneath.
A small locket necklace caught her eye.
Encased in cheap brass, it looked far too crude to hold much value, but wondering if there might be a gem tucked away inside, Miriam clicked the clasp open.
Within lay a miniature portrait.
With pitch-black hair and vivid, unmistakable golden eyes, the subject was someone anyone would recognize at a glance.
It was Young Duke Raymon from his much younger years. The rendering was rough, likely purchased from common street vendors in the lower districts.
“…How sickening.”
A sudden foulness soured Miriam’s mood. Remembering how desperately Titania had once chased after the Young Duke, an uncomfortably sharp pang of guilt twinged in her chest.
Did she bribe a maid to buy this for her? If she was going to hoard keepsakes, she should’ve hoarded the jewels she loved so much!
Grumbling under her breath, Miriam snapped the locket shut and tossed it back into the drawer.
It would probably be wiser to skip the rest of the bedroom and search the dressing room or wardrobe instead. Even in a neglected residence like the Rose Palace, truly valuable jewelry was typically locked away in strongboxes and kept under the watchful eye of a head maid. Still, she hoped to stumble upon some loose gold or silver that didn't require a key. As Miriam glanced around the shadowed room, a voice drifted through the silence.
—…ou…
A bizarre sound brushed against her ears. Goosebumps prickled down the back of Miriam’s neck. It felt chillingly as though someone was standing right behind her, whispering directly against her skin.
—…Tres… passer…
Bzzt, bzzzt. A grating, static noise echoed, as if a voice was being violently jammed through broken air. Trembling from head to toe, Miriam spun around.
Nothing was there.
Yet beside the foot of the bed, her eyes caught sight of an ornate box she was certain hadn't been there moments ago. Its long, slender shape seemed perfectly sized to hold a staff, a scepter, or a sword. Should I really touch this? Despite the warning bell ringing in her head, Miriam reached out and rested her trembling fingers upon the lid.
Lifting the cover, she found a sword whose sheath and hilt were wound tightly in layers of crimson cloth. Even to Miriam’s uneducated eyes, it was unmistakably a masterwork of immense value.
Under ordinary circumstances, Miriam wouldn't have dared lay a finger on such a weapon. Thief though she was, she wasn't completely brainless; there was no conceivable way a lowly laundry maid could fence an exquisite blade without raising fatal suspicion.
Yet strangely, as if drawn by a trance, Miriam began unraveling the red cloth. Moving with unnatural certainty, she reached out to draw the blade from its scabbard, wrapping her fingers firmly around the hilt—
“KYAAAAAAARGH!!!!!!”
A piercing shriek detonated directly inside her skull.