“The Princess’s magic power will be put to good use by the prince who will ascend to the throne in the future. It’s a very honorable thing.”

“I’m sorry, but that won’t happen.”

Seeing Karentina smiling, she became irritated.

‘Why is she smiling? She probably doesn’t realize that there’s no one here who will listen to her regardless.’

At the thought, Timothia furrowed her brow and then shifted her gaze to the head butler.

“There isn’t a single employee left in the castle. I’ve checked multiple times.”

The head butler’s voice cracked as he continued to explain.

“I don’t know how a princess who can’t even get past the door managed to escape, but no one will believe the words of a madwoman anyway.”

As his words came to an end, Karentina burst into a sudden laughter.

“Who says I’m alone?”

As she confidently strode forward and swung open the remaining door, she found the Crown Prince’s knights and maids inside, all glaring at Timothia with eyes full of betrayal and anger.

“Ho, how…?!”

The sound of heavy footsteps echoed through the corridor, drowning out the head butler’s horrified voice.

At the far end of the corridor, the Crown Prince was approaching like a harbinger of death.

One hour ago.

Karentina quickly left the annex where she had been staying and headed towards the main residence, but to her surprise, there wasn’t a single soul in sight, not even a single ant.

Since she was originally a young lady that no one cared about, she thought it was possible for the annex to be empty. Nonetheless, it didn’t make sense for a castle of this magnitude to not have a single person in sight. Even the knights guarding the castle gates were nowhere to be found.

‘What on earth has happened?’

Karentina recalled the original story content once again.

‘It’s true that Ignis did witness Stella’s death and set the castle on fire, but the casualties were only Empress’s spies and Karentina, and there were hardly any castle employees.’

Having also halted the monster’s subjugation and returned to the capital with Stella’s body, he faced the nobility’s condemnation and grew even more isolated. Not only was there a rumor that he killed all the people in the North but there was also a secret rumor that he killed even the Princess. Although he denied that she was the only one who knew the whole truth, no one would listen to him.

After finishing her thoughts, Karentina turned her steps toward the prison connected to the castle.

‘Since they can’t bring a large force to deceive Ignis, they probably haven’t killed the escort knights yet. If my prediction is correct, they should be here.’

The location of the prison was etched in her memory, so finding it wasn’t difficult.

Thanks to the magical lamp, the inside of the dungeon was brighter than she had expected, and there were no knights guarding the door.

“D*mn it!”

A man’s voice shouted angrily as he vigorously shook the iron bars, and the sorrowful sobbing of women could be heard.

“Who the hell put us in this prison?”

“Huek, Timothia. Her Highness…”

Although a very large man pounded the iron bars with his fists, the sturdy prison didn’t budge at all.

‘Oh. They still don’t know who locked them up yet.’

Then, the man’s movements abruptly stopped, perhaps because he sensed a presence.

“Shh, someone’s coming.”

The knights’ faces, who were holding their breath, instantly brightened as Karentina and the doll appeared in front of them.

“Your Highness!”

As they alternated their gazes between the silent doll and Karentina, disappointment flickered across their faces. It seemed like they had realized that the doll wasn’t Ignis.

“Who are you?”

The large man who had been pounding on the iron bars’ flashed his eyes.

“Oh, I’m…”

At that moment, a brown-haired woman in servant attire from the opposite cell spoke in a voice mixed with joy.

“Young Lady?”

It was someone from Karentina’s memories. Her name was probably…

“Sasha?”

—