Side Story: The Mistreated Princess and Her Loyal Knight
MORNINGS began early for Helt, the guardian knight. After finishing his cleaning duties and drawing water from a well, he made a beeline for the gates. Having all the chores and menial tasks on one man’s shoulders meant that he was always short on time.
The mistress of the Fifth Palace, one of the palaces granted to the king’s consort within the royal court, was Fourth Princess Amelia Glaisharle. Helt was the only other resident.
Despite its grand name, the garden barely had any blossoms, and the building suffered leaks from time to time. It was a desolate place—it was hard to fathom that royalty resided within it.
Naturally, there was a reason why the palace of the fifth consort—who had also been a Saint—received such treatment alongside the fifth consort’s daughter. To put it bluntly, it was brought on by the fourth consort’s envy.
The king had a total of five consorts, numbered in the order they’d married him. The fourth consort, who should’ve been the youngest and final consort, had been exceedingly disgruntled that the unforeseen fifth consort was a noble Saint, a former orphan, and had even given birth to a princess ahead of her. Of course, when the fifth consort was alive, she had enough tact to only make snide remarks at most. After she gained custody of Amelia following the Saint’s death, however, she immediately revealed her true colors.
First, she added new members to the roster of guards at the Fifth Palace’s gates, making it a rule that Amelia couldn’t leave without permission. The official excuse she used was that it was for young Amelia’s safety, but in reality, it was nothing but enforced confinement by these “guards,” who were actually wardens. The numerous servants vanished in the blink of an eye, and with them, countless garments, jewelry, and even furnishings had been carried away.
On top of that, even the food that should have been delivered from the royal court’s kitchen during every meal had vanished. In its place, Amelia was handed a pitiful amount of grains once a month as if to keep up appearances. Clothing hadn’t been spared from the fourth consort’s tyranny either. Worn-out clothing was delivered, and Helt had no choice but to put those garments, which were practically no different from what commoners would wear, on Amelia.
Such treatment was outrageous. Helt had raised his objections before the fourth consort several times. However, she always answered, “What I am providing her is already too good for the daughter of a lowly former orphan.” The woman had stubbornly stuck to that stance and shown no signs of improvement.
Reasoning with her was futile. At this rate, her actions would negatively impact Amelia’s growth. In the worst-case scenario, it might even endanger the princess’s life. Helt had to do something.
He’d even attempted to look for an opening to sneak out and directly appeal to the king, but that was a challenge within the royal court, where a great number of servants—not just the guards—were under the influence of the fourth consort.
When he’d been captured for the umpteenth time after yet another failed attempt, the fourth consort appeared before him, took a good look at the knight, then smiled. “You can abandon that filthy little girl and serve under me.” She spoke as if she were some kind of benevolent goddess bringing about salvation.
Scalding fury surged up within Helt, then a wave of disdain toward the woman from the bottom of his heart. The next thing he knew, a smirk quirked up at the corners of his lips. “My princess is a compassionate and charming girl with silky tresses like strands of silver and shining eyes like strawberries. I can already tell that she will grow into a stunning woman that no one can hope to rival, and she possesses an equally beautiful heart to match. I’m afraid that from the day she was born, she was on a whole other level from someone who would vent her spite and jealousy on a girl of tender years.”
Because he recklessly allowed his true opinion to spill out, he not only earned a whipping session, but the food packages delivered were also mercilessly reduced. And so the man opened a hole in the outer walls of the Fifth Palace, creating an exit to head into the city. Working in tandem with the handful of servants that were left, they took turns to procure food.
Thanks to the knowledge and perseverance of an elderly female attendant from a farming family, they eventually started harvesting vegetables in the garden’s fields. That was a breakthrough, and the food shortage emergency within the palace stabilized considerably.
Helt had even considered navigating the city to find the viscount household that had adopted him and seek their help. However, the fourth consort’s influence was so great that he couldn’t even move as he pleased within the royal court, much less report to the king, who was within the same general area. A viscount household trying to make any noise would likely be easily hushed by the woman, and the news would never reach the hearing range of the king. Instead of improving the situation, they might make an enemy of the fourth consort—and Helt couldn’t afford to land his family in hot water like that.
In the end, he decided that he would prioritize Amelia’s protection until he could either diminish the fourth consort’s authority or secure an ally with power to oppose the woman.
Alas, the fourth consort’s sabotage continued. Just the other day, the last remaining female attendant at the Fifth Palace resigned due to her old age. She proposed to bring the matter to the king’s attention by putting her life on the line, stating that she didn’t have long to live anyway, but Helt had persuaded her against the idea.
If an elderly female attendant from a commoner family could achieve such a thing, then Helt’s appeals would have reached the king long ago. He couldn’t sit and watch the woman march into her death while knowing her efforts were in vain, not to mention that this attendant had also served under the fifth consort and doted on Amelia as if the girl were her own granddaughter. Helt didn’t want to lose a kindred spirit fighting for the same cause. Even if the incident wouldn’t reach Amelia’s ears, he didn’t want to make any choices that would cause her sorrow.
With her departure, Helt became the last remaining servant within the Fifth Palace, and he began taking every task onto his own shoulders. The fourth consort untiringly attempted to persuade him to serve under her, but he had only one answer for the woman—his mistress was the fifth consort, and the fifth consort’s orders were to protect his new mistress, Amelia. Whenever he brought Amelia up, he would always accidentally start making a speech about the princess’s cuteness, earning him a whipping session every time, but physical punishment could never shake his resolve.
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