Chapter 10

Gerald gave Melody a sidelong glance. “You know this man? Is he always so rude?”

“I just said I know him. Put away your knife.”

At her insistence, Gerald slowly lowered his knife. His gaze remained intently on Caisar.

In the midst of the capital’s bustling streets, the three individuals conspicuously stood out. Curious onlookers stared at them, and some even halted in their tracks to get a better look.

This was supposed to have been a secret trip. If rumors spread, Melody would be the one in hot water.

She racked her brain as she whispered to Gerald. “There’s nothing to worry about, Uncle. You know him too.”

He was silent. He indeed knew who Caisar was, and he also knew that he was the man Melody was intent on marrying. But that didn’t excuse his display of impropriety toward his niece.

Gerald continued to glare at the man, furious. “Make sure you get back safely,” he told Melody.

“Of course,” she promised. As Caisar looked toward her, she forced a sunny smile. “Shall we go somewhere to talk, Captain Caisar?”

Caisar followed Melody into a deserted cafe. She picked a window seat on the second floor. Nobody else was around.

Caisar took the seat opposite. He watched her in unsettling silence until their drinks arrived.

Melody put her brain to work. How did he bump into me? No, how did he even recognize me? I was definitely wearing a hood.

Giving him a closer look, she noticed that he had also changed his clothes since the banquet. Odd. When did he find the time to do that? Caisar had still been talking with Daisy when she left the banquet hall. No, that’s not what’s important right now.

“What a coincidence to run into you out here! I hardly get to see you at the palace,” she said cheerfully.

He continued to stare at her without bothering to respond. His handsome face was expressionless, almost as if he were saying, “I know all about what you’ve been up to.” She felt sick with dread.

Time to change tactics. Playing dumb won’t work, she thought. After all, it would be absurd to chalk up their encounter to mere coincidence. But even if she couldn’t completely lie her way out, she at least wanted to continue denying her identity as the intruder.

“So, Captain Caisar. After leaving the banquet earlier, I... Um... Well, I’ve always been curious about what people were like outside the palace. So...”

She desperately wished she could bite off her tongue. There was a huge disconnect between the words she wanted to say and the ones that were spilling out of her mouth.

What am I even saying? He isn’t buying it at all. Look at that face, those eyes. I’m doomed! Even she found her logic flimsy. How could she expect him to believe her? Still, she tried her best to continue.

Caisar ruthlessly shattered her efforts. “I saw you jump from the wall,” he declared.

Melody was silenced, biting her lip and clamping her mouth shut. Only her rapidly blinking eyes conveyed her turmoil. Should I pretend to be out of my mind again? Or babble incoherently? No, I can’t. I have to marry this man. Would he want a madwoman for a wife?

The two sat face to face, staring at one another. The only sound that filled the silence between them was the ticking of the clock on the wall.

Melody took a deep breath, trying to regroup her thoughts. Think this through, Melody. Remember your goals.

Firstly, she didn’t want to marry abroad. She wanted only to live peacefully on her own soil. Secondly, she wanted to marry the man sitting before her. If she wasn’t careful, the situation she now found herself in could jeopardize both those objectives.

She organized her priorities. The first goal was the most important. In order to maintain a peaceful life in Corbella, this incident couldn’t become gossip.

She gazed at Caisar with the most pitiful expression she could muster. “Are you going to tell everybody about this?” she asked mournfully.

“Pardon...?”

“About what you found out. Are you going to tell them?”

She’s an unusual one, Caisar mused, baffled by her reaction.

“Would you do me a favor, Captain? Please, pretend that you didn’t see anything.” Her bright blue eyes looked at him pleadingly.

A flurry of questions was sparked in his mind—firstly, was she even aware that she was not just anyone, but a princess?

He finally broke his silence. “I’m going to ask you again. Will you give me a straight answer this time?”

Melody took a deep breath and considered her options. She had never been much good at lying. Others could always see through her deceit.

She quietly stared at the man before her. For some reason, there had been no rumors within the palace about the incident at the Northern Gate. Despite the situation warranting a massive search, nothing had come of it.

Melody concluded that someone must have covered it up. She wondered if this man was that very person. She decided she had to face the situation head-on. If he had truly witnessed her jumping off the wall and followed her here, there was no point hiding it any longer.

“Yes... Ask away. I didn’t give you a proper answer when you came to visit me that day, but... If you ask now, I’ll tell you whatever you want to know.”

The captain scrutinized the woman sitting across from him. Her face was pure but serious. She seemed nothing like the usual Melody Corbella.

Though Caisar was typically indifferent to gossip, the rumors of her being a “crazy flower” had even reached his ears. He wondered if the woman before him was really the same reckless princess who had been reputed to crash official court meetings, start fights with Deimos, and cut off all her hair without warning.

“Were you the intruder that day, Your Highness?”

“Yes, it was me,” she responded seriously.

“There were signs someone helped you. Who was it?”

“One of my maids.”

“Do you often come out like this, climbing over the wall?”

“Um... Yes. Not regularly, but I come and go every so often.”

“Are you an Oddity?”

“You saw so yourself.”

“Nobody knows you’re an Oddity... Are you intentionally hiding it?”

“Yes.”

“Why?” he asked.

Melody paused before answering. This man was her future husband, so she needed to be extra mindful when answering this question.

“I want to live my life by my choices.”

Caisar hadn’t anticipated such a response. For the first time, his expression changed. “What do you mean?”

“Captain, I am the least powerful member of the imperial family. If it becomes known that I’m an Oddity, I’ll become the most sought-after individual in the palace.”

A princess without strong backing was already vulnerable. If people discovered the truth, she could easily become a valuable political pawn.

Caisar understood her point. He nodded almost involuntarily. His gaze then fell on Melody’s cropped hair. After a moment, he asked another question. “So crashing the court meetings and cutting your hair... That was also part of your plan?”

Melody laughed. It was a joyful laugh—one that crinkled her eyes, lifted her cheeks, and revealed her straight white teeth. “Sort of. If I didn’t want to be married off to another country, I had to do something.”

The captain frowned and tilted his head in confusion.

“That’s why I feel a bit sorry for Rose. If I hadn’t done all that, I might have ended up being sent away instead... You know, to Izen,” she continued.

“So... It was all because you didn’t want to go through with a royal marriage?”

“I don’t want to leave this land.”

Caisar opened his mouth in momentary surprise, then shut it. If what she said was true, she had been anticipating and preparing for this moment far in advance. He suddenly recalled the rumors he had heard about Melody eagerly begging to be selected for the marriage arrangement.

“But the rumors said Your Highness was eager to enter the royal marriage with Izen...”

Melody tried to hold back but finally descended into peals of laughter. This laughter was different from her previous giggling—she squeezed her eyes shut as she burst into loud guffaws. Caisar had heard her laugh previously when the knights encountered her at the palace, but this display was different.

He felt inexplicably parched and sipped from his beverage, waiting for her laughter to subside. It soon dwindled, but she continued to giggle intermittently.

“Your father, Duke Bethel, was there when it happened.” She giggled. “I had a very important announcement to say in front of everyone.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Come on, Captain. Think about it. There is no one to intervene and stop me from being married off. So I had to ensure they couldn’t send me away.”

“You’re saying you did it to cause those rumors in the palace yourself? What was so important that you had to go to such lengths?” he asked.

Melody smirked. Leaning forward, she whispered, “If you want to know, you can ask your father. Or not, it’s up to you. Anything else you’re curious about?”

After a moment of silence, he continued. “Why do you periodically leave the palace?”

“You saw the building I came out of, right? The Mercenary Guild. I have to go there once in a while to take care of some business.”

“What business would a princess have at the Mercenary Guild?”

“I have fees to collect. My mother used to do business there.”

“Fees... May I ask what kind of fees?” he asked.

“Well... Hmm... Oh, Captain, do you remember the battle at the border of the Orsen Kingdom two years ago? Someone informed you about their surprise attack right before it occurred.”

Caisar’s expression shifted subtly.

There had indeed been such an incident. The attack had been entirely unexpected. He had thought an ambush was impossible, but then he had received a sudden warning of the enemy’s impending attack. If not for that warning, the empire might have suffered greatly.

They had never succeeded in finding the informant, despite their best efforts. But how does the princess know about any of this? he thought.