Her name was Sylvia Lockit, and she was Baron Lockit’s illegitimate child that he recently took in.
Sylvia was a year younger than the prince and me. Even though she wasn’t very popular with the ladies, many gentlemen had taken a liking to her outspoken nature. They considered her candid behavior a breath of fresh air in the constraints of high society.
Prince Friede and Robert fell for her charm too.
Who the prince took as his second wife was none of my business, and I did not mind if he surrounded himself with an army of mistresses. After all, siring as many heirs as possible was his duty as a future king.
However, there was a proper way to go about these things. Order was important, since the conflict between his heirs could lead to a war if they handled things poorly. It was also crucial that a future king found suitable, cultured ladies.
I’d done my best to convey that to Sylvia, advising her several times not to mingle with other men if she was to have a relationship with His Highness. Considering the swarm of men around her, she hadn’t heeded my warnings.
“What do you mean by ‘this time’?” I asked. “I don’t recall doing anything worth this treatment.”
Robert still held me down as I hoped to sort this out so he’d unhand me. But my words only seemed to irritate the prince even more.
“How dare you ask what I mean?! You let your ugly jealousy take over and pushed Sylvie down a flight of stairs!” he roared.
I paused for a few seconds, confused, before answering. “Please calm down, Your Highness. I’ve never—”
“Shut up! Sylvie told me everything! She’s far too nice, so she keeps covering for you but I won’t let you bully her anymore! Guards! Take her to jail!”
The guards approached me to follow the prince’s command, yet they did not touch me. I could see the confusion on their faces.
“What are you doing?! Drag her away! Now!”
“B-But...” mumbled a guard who looked at the prince, then at me.
I understood his reaction. While the prince spent his days idling away, I helped the king and my father with their work and used most of my time cleaning up the prince’s messes. It was clear who the guards saw more often and preferred.
Still, it would have been unwise to drag this out in front of so many prying eyes.
“It’s all right,” I said.
“Huh?” answered the guard.
“You can’t disobey a royal command, can you? Come on, let us go.”
“Y-Yes. I apologize, my lady.”
Robert let go of me, and the guard took my arm before leading me to the dungeon. As we stepped out of the dance hall, I heard Prince Friede proclaim the end of our engagement and say that he’d take Lady Sylvia as his fiancée instead.
I couldn’t believe he’d pulled this in the middle of a party. How did he intend to deal with the consequences of his actions?
“Forgive me for bringing you to such a terrible place, Lady Elizabeth,” said the guard.
“There’s no need to fret. You’re only following the prince’s orders,” I said. “Could you tell me if they informed the king and my father? I’m sure they will fix this mess upon their return.”
I bade the guard farewell and sat on the moldy wooden chair that decorated my cell in the humid and smelly dungeon.
Afterward, I sighed and said, “To think this happened at a time when no one was here to talk back to Prince Friede... No, I suppose he chose this moment on purpose.”
High society was cruel. Once rumors started spreading, your reputation would suffer because it didn’t matter whether they were true. If the prince wanted to remove me from the picture entirely, he’d definitely picked a good time.
Well, I’m sure His Majesty and my father will rush home as soon as they hear of it.
I was forced to wear an antimagic collar around my neck. In the days of the Old Kingdom, they used such restraints on criminals to prevent them from using magic. This long-lost practice had recently resurfaced in old records. The crown prince ordered that they use one on me because of my strong magic.
“Good grief,” I said, tapping on my collar.
I let out a deep sigh.
✦ ✦ ✦
“What?!” a man roared.
The room he was sitting in had lavish decorations, as did the rest of the sumptuous residence he and his delegation occupied for the international conference.
“Is this true?!” he questioned.
“Y-Yes,” the messenger answered sheepishly.
Bulat Haldoria, king of the Kingdom of Haldoria, gnashed his teeth in anger and frustration. Despite his age, he was still an imposing and muscular man. The king, who used to be known as the fearsome God of Thunder on the battlefield, wore his countless battle scars as decorations.
Faced with the rage of such a formidable man, the messenger shook with fear. He could not help that his teeth chattered.
“Please calm down, Your Majesty,” said the man sitting beside the king.
“You’re right,” said Bulat, looking at the messenger. “My anger got the best of me, and I am sorry. Thank you for delivering this message to me. Go rest.”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
The messenger scrambled out of the room.
“That idiot just won’t stop causing trouble...” the king lamented.
“I agree that His Highness the Prince is a bit of a handful,” said the companion with a sour face.
The man in his prime who sat next to the king was Duke Sieg Leiston, the prime minister of the Kingdom of Haldoria.
While the men were away to attend an international conference, the crown prince called off his engagement and chose a new fiancée. Even worse, he’d announced it at a very public event.
One of them was initially supposed to remain in the kingdom, and unforeseen circumstances had forced them to attend this meeting. This situation left the prince to rule in their absence.
“I thought that everything would be all right since Elizabeth was with him. Who would have thought he’d do something like that?” said the king, sighing.
“Even though she’s been jailed, I’m sure Elizabeth will find a way to fix this,” responded Sieg.
“That’s fair. Your daughter is quite exceptional, after all.”
“She is outstanding.”
Bulat nodded. “All right. We’ll leave this to Elizabeth, then.”
Both men sipped on their wine and complained about Friede’s lack of wit. Neither of them spared another thought for Elizabeth.
No one noticed that the maid standing right outside the door suddenly disappeared.