The Princess’s Sudden Invitation
In the afternoon, an assassination attempt on the princess had made me wonder…
The inside of the Moncrito Palace was already in complete chaos by the time I arrived…
The assassins who had tried to kill the princess at the temple service were nowhere in sight, yet the palace gates, walls, royal gardens, and every corridor were swarming with guards and knights.
And in the room I had been staying in…
I was completely immobilized the moment Sophia’s maids burst in.
“Your Highness, Lowell-nim, the princess sent these clothes for you to wear at dinner.”
“Huh? Clothes…?”
How had they gotten them? Each maid held a single dress, yet they were far more ornate and intricately decorated than anything Sophia herself wore.
“We will assist you.”
“N-no… wait just a moment…”
Before I could even protest, the maids had already stripped me of my clothes and dressed me in the gowns. They stepped back, gesturing for me to look in the mirror.
I had no choice but to obey. I stood before the mirror, staring at my reflection…
In this world…
No…
The first time I had ever seen such a beautiful elf…
After the maids applied only the simplest makeup and jewelry, the beauty only intensified, leaving me utterly frozen in place.
Golden waves cascading like liquid light over my long, flowing golden hair, paired with a pure white dress that seemed to lift and dance as though made of moonlight…
How could such a radiant beauty be me? The realization struck me so hard I felt I might never tear my eyes away again.
Normally, when I wore plain everyday clothes or even just a white jacket over them, I never looked like this…
Yet now, staring at this new, exquisitely beautiful version of myself—especially when the maids had helped create it—the more I gazed, the more overwhelmed I became, until I could barely move.
“Your Highness, dinner is ready.”
“Huh? Ah… yes… yes…”
I still wanted to keep staring into the mirror, but the maids’ reminder forced me out of the room. My eyes remained locked on my slowly retreating reflection long after I left.
*
Outside the dining hall, knights in the royal guard stood in overlapping lines of defense.
Before I could even reach the door, Sophia burst out, grabbed my arm, and pulled me straight into her embrace.
“How long have you been waiting, my dear Lowell-nim? Come in right away!”
“Ah… yes.”
She held my arm so tightly that the soft warmth of her body seeped directly through the fabric and into my skin.
“Hahaha, hello, Lowell-nim. It is truly an honor to finally meet you.”
As I stood there, face burning with embarrassment, King Deorus I of Moncrito approached and offered his right hand for a handshake. I gently pushed Sophia aside and accepted it.
“Thank you once again for saving my daughter.”
He shook my hand with only one of his, then suddenly switched to both hands and gripped mine firmly, continuing the handshake.
I scratched my head awkwardly, accepting his gesture.
“Please, sit here.”
Despite the maids already standing by, the king personally guided me to my seat. I sat without a word and began to take in the room around me.
The dining hall interior looked no different from those of other kingdoms…
The maids soon wheeled in a cart laden with food and began serving me one dish after another.
“I have heard something about the Hero’s Party, but I am deeply grateful that even in such a difficult situation, you managed to repel the Demon King’s army that invaded our kingdom.”
The king bowed his head slightly as he spoke, then handed me a small gift. I never mentioned that the Demon King had sent scouts specifically for me; to do so would only place the blame on my shoulders.
“No, I was simply doing what any member of the Hero’s Party should do. In fact, I am the one who should thank you for inviting me to this grand dinner.”
His expression softened as he stroked his beard and chuckled.
“Hahaha, if it does not trouble you, I was thinking of bestowing a medal upon you tomorrow… what do you say?”
“Ah… no. There is nothing for me to receive. The knights who fought so bravely in the temple should have it.”
“We will prepare something special for them. You, however, must accept this. Though it is modest, I have even prepared a reward. Please consider it my sincere gratitude.”
A reward…?
“Ah… then I will gratefully accept it.”
The medal itself was unnecessary—I would only have to carry it as luggage—but the reward money was far more appealing.
Moreover, given the current atmosphere, I might be staying here for quite some time, so there was nothing more I could wish for.
“Your Highness, please rest well here for the time being. When you eventually leave for the Empire, simply let us know and we will prepare carriages for you.”
“The Empire?”
“Yes. Are you not heading there? The Empire is waiting for your arrival…”
I had received no answer from the temple yet, so my next destination was still unclear.
Yet the king suddenly assumed I was going to the Empire.
“That… my next destination is still undecided. So why do you think I am going to the Empire?”
“Well… because we are looking for you in the Empire…”
Looking for me…?
Did that mean the wanted order had not yet been lifted…?
I suddenly felt the situation was growing even more complicated than I had feared.
“Perhaps I misunderstood something?”
“Huh? What?”
“The Emperor of the Luteria Empire has issued a decree to protect your personal safety.”
“My safety?”
Emperor Roberto IV of the Luteria Empire…
I still remembered him as my childhood friend from long ago. Now the ruler had aged into middle age and beyond, yet I, his High Elf companion, still appeared to be in my late teens.
On the day the Hero’s Party departed, Emperor Roberto had come to see me off. He seemed to have something important to say, but with the Party’s busy schedule, we never got the chance to speak.
Surely such a man would never have issued an order to protect me unless he had a genuine reason…
“I have already sent word to the Empire about you. A reply should arrive soon.”
I had no idea what the Emperor wanted, but at least King Deorus showed no hint of malice.
“Ah… and do you know anything else?”
“What?”
“They say the Hero’s Party has entered Kubera Dungeon.”
“Really?! Kubera Dungeon?!”
The king assumed I knew nothing about it and began recounting the Party’s movements, but to me this was the first time I had ever heard the name.
For security reasons, information about the Hero’s Party was almost impossible for any kingdom’s intelligence agency to obtain. They only released it after the Party had achieved a major feat and the public needed to be calmed.
Of course…
Occasionally adventurers’ guilds or thieves’ networks would leak news, but still…
“Why do you ask, Your Highness? What is so special about Kubera Dungeon?”
“That is beside the point…
Kubera Dungeon was already an extremely difficult challenge for the Hero’s Party. Even with me inside, it would have been tough enough. Three people tackling it alone was basically suicide.
If they somehow cleared the first floor, the second and third would be swarming with monsters that had no fixed route—attacking from every direction at night…
If the Hero waited until the very last moment and still failed to escape, he would soon be knocking on the gates of hell.
“Escaping from a dungeon is already difficult enough.”
“Really?! Is it that terrifying?”
“Well… it is, but more importantly, the Hero is not strong enough to survive it alone.”
The king stared at me with clear disbelief.
Well… I understood.
The world’s strongest hero, the one who was supposed to be able to defeat the Demon King, was apparently not nearly as powerful as he thought. It was hard to believe.
The odds were exactly fifty-fifty.
Would the Hero manage to escape Kubera Dungeon alive, or would I be attending his funeral?
After the dinner with King Deorus and Sophia, I followed her to the separate palace where she was staying—the place she had prepared for me to rest in.
I wondered whether she was simply preparing a safe haven against possible future assassins… or whether she had chosen this secluded residence so she could keep an eye on me and repay me personally.
Either way, the room was so vast and luxuriously decorated that it made even the finest hotel suites look small. I stood in the doorway for a long while, simply staring.
And that very night…
An unexpected visitor arrived at my room.