It was all because we got caught before entering the capital.

  What I meant was, one of the twelve relics which protect Bureti was a clock that rang loudly to warn the people when someone who could change the fate of the country entered.

  What the hell.

  A person who could change the fate of the country.

  I was the princess of Agrient, Havel was the Emperor of Pretzia, and Ahin was the successor of Shertogenbosch. It would have been weird if we weren’t caught.

  After hearing their reason, we were flustered, but we thought about it. Bureti was the kingdom of Northern Witches and my mother’s country.

  “Did you know?”


  It was a quick question, but I guessed it wasn’t weird for the men following me. Assisi suddenly appeared and bowed his head like a sinner.

  “Yes.”


  I was a little angry.

  When I learned that Assisi knew the truth about my mother and I was kept in the dark and that Bureti had worked tirelessly to meet me and tell me the truth about my mother, it was natural for me to get angry. It was supposed to be a story told when I was young if no one stopped the flow of the information.

  “Why hide it?”


  “Your Majesty……”


  Assisi raised his head. His beautiful eyes stared into mine.

  “He didn’t want the princess to know. Bureti wanted to meet the princess, and he refused. That was why a messenger of Bureti always stayed in our outer palace.”


  I had met a lot of envoys but never met anyone from Bureti.

  Right, I understood. Everything started making sense now.

  “Your Majesty thought that it would be better to erase the mother side of the family for the princess. Whatever the outcome, I want you to know that he did it for your sake, princess.”


  Even in such a messed up situation, Assisi defended my dad.

  I glared at him.

  They both were the same kind of men. The feeling of wanting to hit them rushed over me.

  I exhaled heavily.

  “I hate my dad.”


  Right, hate. I hated him before, but listening to Assisi’s words made me hate him even more.

  “But even then, I hate that I still love him.”


  What could I do? He was my dad.

  I got angry at my dad and hated him, but at the same time, I could understand his reasons. Whatever it was, he didn’t want me to get hurt. In addition, he must have thought that I would be taken over to my mother’s country.

  Ugh, that idiot!

  Even then, I couldn’t pick a side.

  I decided to talk to him later.

  “Good night.”


  After bidding farewell, I turned and walked away.

  It was the first conversation I had after a few days, and it wasn’t awkward. He didn’t follow me, and it didn’t matter to me either. I wanted to be alone.

  “Mom……”


  It’s funny. I had come to Bureti to know how my mom looked like.

  I had a vague idea based on what people said. She was a beautiful woman with green eyes and blonde hair. Later, when I was old enough to understand them, no one talked about my mother in the palace.

  For the first time, I was grateful that people talked.

  Otherwise, I would have been in Bureti without even knowing the basics about my mother.

  In the largest hall of the mansion, I saw a picture frame that was twice the size of my height.

  There was a portrait drawn of a woman.

  She was a girl of my age with blinding beauty.

  “.……”


  How should I put it?

  My mom was a beauty. Yes. I couldn’t believe that the woman was my mom.

  It was a preconceived notion that my mom was an average looking person with frizzy hair. Of course, I hadn’t seen such beautiful women after my reincarnation.

  Could she be? I really couldn’t believe that the woman in front of me was my mother, the one who smiled brightly with her golden hair flowing down like a waterfall.

  Mom was a beauty.

  I could be pretty because I had my mom’s genes in me. Yes, as expected from the power of genealogy.

  It was probably because I came to my mother’s country and met my grandfather and aunt, whom I didn’t know existed. After their endless talks and stories, the night came. It was unfortunate that I had to go back to sleep, but we walked away because I felt so excited that I couldn’t sleep.

  A gentle wind touched my face.

  “Not asleep yet?”


  I turned my head at a familiar voice. Ahin came into light.

  “And you Ahin?”


  “I couldn’t sleep.”


  His low answer made me smile.

  “Same here.”


  After hesitating a little, Ahin approached me.

  The place where his head turned to was the portrait of my mother.

  After a careful look, Ahin smiled.

  “Is this the princess’s mother?”


  “Yes.”


  I answered Ahin’s question.

  “She is beautiful.”


  “Even I think that.”


  Ahin looked at me as I agreed with his statement.

  I coughed as he kept on staring at me.

  Ahin smiled brightly. I often saw him smiling, but for him to look this bright was a first for me.

  It was good to smile, but why was he smiling?

  I opened my mouth.

  “What’s there to smile about?”


  Ahin tried to hold back his smile and answered.

  “Because you are cute.”


  Again with that.

  I thought that it was ridiculous, but I shut my mouth after knowing that he wouldn’t give a proper answer. He laughed again, but then his laugh came to an end as Ahin asked me with a severe expression.

  “You seem like you have a lot of concerns.”


  “I can’t say there are none.”


  At my answer, Ahin smiled.

  Ahin’s smile had some kind of effect on me. It was easy to see.

  “Let it out.”


  Wow, I sighed out loud at those words.

  “I’m wondering why my mom gave birth to me.”


  It was a story I couldn’t tell anyone because I was anxious about it all the time. Suddenly, my chest felt heavy.

  I took a deep breath.

  “Of course, I am happy now since I’m living among the people I love, but I just get curious about it at times. Why did she give birth to me? Things like that.”


  “Everyone has the same question about their existence.”


  His soft voice felt soothing, and the fact that he was the one who said it made me at ease.

  “Even Ahin?”


  “.…… well.”


  Ahin was somewhat unfamiliar with helping others, yet his voice sounded pleasant.

  “I can’t say no.”


  Did that mean that Ahin has the same worries as me? I was a little puzzled. He didn’t have any reason to worry about that.

  He was as tall and stern as a mountain, so I never thought Ahin would shake. I guess the prejudice broke. Well, it felt a little weird.

  “Don’t worry too much.”


  When I looked up and locked eyes with Ahin, he said.

  “There are a lot of people besides the princess, including me.”


  Ahin was silent for a moment as if he was ashamed. It felt like he couldn’t speak about it.

  ‘W-what? What’s with this situation!?’


  For an embarrassing moment, the silence around us grew, an unfamiliar emotion.

  “In the past……”


  Ahin looked down while speaking.

  “I think there was a time when I was standing like this. I feel like, for some reason……”


  When? It seemed like a similar thing happened in the past, something I couldn’t remember.

  When did it happen?

  I tried to bring up my old memories when Ahin reached out to me. I tried to step back in surprise but Ahin’s hand moved quickly and touched my hair.

  “Hair…… your hair is growing.”


  Ahin’s gaze was fixed on my hair; it felt strange. The feeling of being tickled and nervous at the same time.

  “Right. I was worried because it was getting long. I couldn’t cut it myself.”


  “Long is pretty.”


  Uh……

  It wasn’t that I was pretty, but why was I embarrassed?

  “In the past……”


  My hair was flowing down till my waist. Ahin’s fingers reached for it. His gentle stroking made me groan. I was caught up in a strange feeling I never heard, and I couldn’t even think of what to say until I looked up at Ahin.

  “That……”


  “You need to go to bed.”


  Before I could even say anything, Ahin spoke.

  Well, yeah, he had to take away my chance to speak.

  ‘Hey, look here!’


  ‘My heart is still pounding loud without calming down.’


  Then, I didn’t know when it happened, but Ahin stole my lips.

  Huh? Huh!? Huhhh?!

  “Sweet dreams.”
……

  What just happened!?