It did not take long before I found the abandoned house at the edge of town where The Traitorous Princess was said to be.

I had a slight hope it was a false lead, or that she had already escaped, but the hopes were crushed immediately, as she stood in front of the door, talking to people with a smile on her face, handing out apples.

It always had to be apples…

I could truly understand what the man and his son had meant when they called her ‘pretty’.

She was not just pretty, but radiant. Looking like a saint, sent down to us from above. Her blonde hair, much reminiscent of The Sixth Prince even though they were only half-siblings, was tied up in a neat style that framed her face. She was, mysteriously, wearing a crown that almost screamed wealth.

Her clothes were of the finest silks, and while they were indeed pretty, it was the only thing on her that looked dirty. I shortly wondered if it was the dress she escaped in, but decided it didn’t matter.

For a moment I was awestruck. It wasn’t exactly that she was just pretty, but that the dirt and people around her made her so. The brown and gray clothes people wore around her, the rags, everything made her stand out from contrast.

I stopped myself from thinking.

The lead was true, and now I had to kill her. 

That was my order.

Before I made my move, I considered if I should report to The King.

There was also the way the father and son had talked about her, almost dreamily.

Everything could be a trap. She was adept in those.

It would be best if we killed not only the princess, but also her followers, in one fell swoop.

However, despite good reasons for coming back another day, the risk of leaving her here for any longer was far too great. It could give her time for escape if she sensed anything was wrong.

Unlike The Sixth Prince, she would run.

She would not sit down and await death with a smile on her face, nor would she tie herself down with heavy clothes making her unable to move.

The Third Princess would scream and fight and use every weapon at her disposal, of which she had many. Then she would gather her forces and try again.

She was not a woman who gave up easily.

If anything, she was what I should have been. She stood up for herself, her beliefs and while she didn’t mind getting her hands dirty, she only did it for reasons she believed in. Not because someone told her to do so.

I swallowed a self-deprecating scoff. This was not the time to reminisce about my time with her.

I decided to go kill her now. Get it over with. 

Whether it was because I was a coward who didn’t think he could kill her if I left, because of a little whisper in my head telling me I could end everything now or because it was the optimal course of action, by not giving her time to flee, I could not tell. 

I did not want to consider the implications, either.

While tugging up my hood, to hide my face, I started to walk closer. It was a bad idea to talk with her first, so I would keep my mouth shut. Get close enough to stab her and then run. That was the optimal course.

Thoughts of possible traps had fled, and I was ready to go in for the kill.

And yet… for every step I took closer, I felt a sense of dread. Some sweet melancholy enveloped my heart, and my thoughts started to blur.

Was this really the right choice?

I gathered myself, shaking my head. I still felt slightly fuzzy around the edges, and I didn’t have my usual wits about me, but I kept going, reminding myself that even if it wasn’t the right choice, I didn’t really have any choice to begin with.

It felt like I walked slower than I was supposed to. Either that, or the world around me was going by faster.

Something was wrong.

I looked up to see a sweet and pretty smile, along with eyes, that for a moment looked purplish blue, but immediately changed to a greenish yellow. They looked straight at me.

“I was wondering who he would send,” a voice said, but the pretty smile wasn’t moving, and it didn’t feel like the face that was looking at me was the one speaking.

I looked around, but the face followed me, like it had been painted in front of my eyes. 

I blinked a few times, but even with closed eyes I could see it.

“I’m not surprised it was you, Sir Mallis.” The voice continued.

“Here, eat this. I’m sure it will help. A bit,” it said, and I could feel something being pressed towards my lips, despite not being able to see any fingers reaching for me, nor what the material was.

I opened my mouth, despite knowing better, but something in me was compelled to do as the voice bid.

I bit down on the foreign object and a flowery taste enveloped my mouth, followed by the taste of rot. My stomach rebelled, training took over, and I tried to empty my stomach, but had no luck.

And suddenly… The face was gone. The world moved at a normal speed.

I looked up, and there was the real princess, standing with a smile not unlike the fake face that had been looking at me, but more real in a way I could not put into words.

The sharp edges were back, the fuzziness evaporating.

Things looked… Normal.

“You poisoned me,” I choked out, still feeling sick. It wasn’t much of an accusation, simply a fact.

“No, well, yes, but I didn’t poison you specifically. You simply happened to walk into my little trap and poison yourself.” She smiled, and took my hand, leading me inside.

The abandoned house looked less abandoned up close, but I didn’t have time to speculate why that was before she took me inside.

I was too weak to do anything but follow, the poison or fumes having done a number on me.

And… I hated to admit it, but I was curious.

It was very clearly a trap I had walked into, but if she wanted to kill me, she could have already done so.

She sat me down in a chair I almost fell into, barely able to hold myself up. I had not realized it, but my legs were weak, and my body was sluggish.

I did not know what she had done to me, but she had done… Something… It probably also had an effect on my emotions, as I did not really feel… Anything.

I was calm, yes, but not much else.

Not even this realization stirred anything within me. No fear, no urgency. Only calm.

“I do apologize, Sir Mallis, but I can’t choose my methods in this kind of situation. You understand, I’m sure.”

I nodded. I did understand. If she hadn’t done this, I would have killed her when I got close enough.

“I… I need you to know, I didn’t kill Cyril.” She said, voice suddenly taking on a tinge of regret and sadness. It sounded like this was important to her, though I wasn’t sure which part.  Her eyes looked like they were tearing up, glistening like green jewels, but only for a moment, and then a hard look took their place.

The name took me a moment to place.

Royal names were only used on rare occasions, and mostly between people who were very close to each other, so they were not very well known.

But after a few moments I recognized it as The Sixth Prince’s name.

I nodded. I knew. I was the one who had killed him and helped spread the rumors that blamed it on her.

I expected her to ask if I knew who had actually done it, but instead she seemed satisfied, and changed the subject, “is there any way my broth– The King will let me be? Let me live in peace? Let me live at all?”

I had thought her voice would shake when asking this, but she seemed more aggressive. She sounded mad.

I shook my head. Even though I wanted to nod. I thought he wouldn’t mind it if she was on his side, especially now that he had already been crowned. But he did not want any competition. He did not want her to possibly birth more competition. He did not want to let her escape and come back with a new heir, before he had one of his own.

Her existence was too big of a risk for him.

And yet, I wanted to nod.

I wanted to… So why did I shake my head? I tried to speak up, but my mouth suddenly felt swollen. Like I forgot how to speak. How to form sounds and push them out with my tongue.

“Thank you for your honesty, Sir Mallis. Not that you had much of a choice.” She chuckled a bit at this, a sad chuckle, and then went back to looking straight at me.

“For what it is worth, I am sorry. I did like you. Cyril and I often talked about how… ” This time her voice trembled just a bit, “no, it does not matter anymore.”

A hand closed my eyelids, and I suddenly couldn’t see anything, yet I did not try to fight it.

I realized, all too late, that the thing I had eaten was not an antidote, but did not have enough thoughts left to work anything else out.

“May you rest peacefully. Eternally.” Her voice sounded soothing, like a lullaby I sometimes heard the maids sing for children, though nobody had ever sung for me.

I found myself wondering what she wanted to say about her and The Sixth Prince.

About the similar words The Sixth Prince had spoken.

How different my life would have been if I had only chosen a different path.

How I had thought only of survival and done everything I could to keep on breathing, and yet this was how it would end. 

How I couldn’t blame The Third Princess for killing me, when I was about to kill her.

How the price for living suddenly felt too heavy.

How I had most likely condemned the father and son to death, by not coming back and confirming the lead.

But most of all, I thought about how I did not deserve to rest peacefully.

I had killed too many that did not deserve it based solely on orders.

I had killed my feelings and my thoughts.

I had killed The Sixth Prince.

I could never die with a smile on my face like him.

Instead, I died with regret in my heart and what felt like tears in my eyes.

I did not know if I actually cried.

It had been so long I had forgotten how it felt.

And with that thought…

Everything stopped.