Brie, the yellow-beaked white eagle, was a gift from Patrick. Tamed by Eden, Brie flew between the main palace of Tane and the western tower, delivering letters and conveying greetings to Patrick when Patricia was on the battlefield.

Patricia hung on the window frame of Pana Castle, gazing endlessly at the sky. She expected Eden would send Brie if he heard the news of her capture.

The moment she spotted Brie gliding across the deep blue sky, blue flames ignited in her mind, and an escape route unfolded clearly.

She pretended to draw the scenery of Pana Castle visible through the window, but actually sketched the castle walls.

A maid approached and glanced at the drawing. Patricia tensed, thinking the maid might report to the butler, but the butler seemed to pay no mind and didn’t check the drawing.

She marked with arrows the locations of trees where sulfur powder could be placed. The moat surely contained venomous snakes, and snakes disliked the smell of sulfur.

Unable to know the condition of the outer castle walls, she instructed Brie to perch on the spot where the rope would be placed.

At dawn, when all were asleep, Brie’s signal of three circles would initiate the action. It was Eden’s role to distract the soldier in the watchtower. With the sound of banging on the castle gate, Patricia would dive into the moat.

“My lord, I must be a genius at devising strategies.”

“You’re also a genius at twisting and burning people’s hearts. My heart has turned to white ashes.”

Eden sent Brie, wishing to know at least the well-being of Patricia who had been taken to the castle.

From the moment he saw the escape plan and detailed castle drawing tied to the eagle’s leg, until her feet landed outside the castle, his heart burned black.

“Hehe, my lord. That must be Luken over there.”

As soon as they crossed the Karsik border, carriages and pedestrians increased. Befitting the empire of Tane with its active merchant guilds, the border city of Luken had a large market centered around the train station and square.

Eden went to the station to check the train schedule and buy tickets. Patricia dismounted and sat on a stone bench by the square’s fountain.

People passing through the square glanced at her. There was even a back alley errand boy who stared openly. The boy couldn’t decide whether to report the appearance of the strange woman to his middle boss.

It was no wonder, as she looked suspicious to the boy. Like an angel fallen from the sky, a radiant and seemingly precious lady sat alone in the square, wearing a fine white shirt with black dirt on her trousers.

Her golden hair, reaching down to her waist, stood out in the darkening square. The black horse standing beside her was huge and glossy, clearly not an ordinary horse.

But the shoes she wore were large and worn, like a retired soldier’s boots. Above all, the high-topped shoes were stained with dried, dark red blood.

Her clothes were too dirty to be a lady out to seduce men. Yet the aura she exuded was dignified. This strange imbalance captivated attention.

The boy decided to watch further. He was the youngest member of the Bienen organization controlling Luken’s back alleys, and the fountain area was his territory.

Though it appeared to be an ordinary central station square, currently two organization members were missing, and Luken’s chief of security, Kiel, had been taken to the capital. So the boy cautiously observed the peculiar lady.

“My lady.”

A tall man in the uniform of the Tane Imperial Army dismounted from his horse, bowed with his forehead to his bent elbow, and held out something.

Indeed, she must be an extraordinary lady with a story. The boy thought he had done well not to inform his middle boss.

“Damn, but who exactly is this woman that a man in uniform calls ‘my lady’?”

The boy fled to the back alley, clutching his chest. An unforgettable face was etched in his mind.

Eden sat down next to Patricia.

“The train to Burk Central Station departs in two hours. You must be tired. How about resting for a day and leaving at dawn tomorrow?”

“Eden. Let’s go to that inn.”

Patricia pointed to an inn with its entrance open towards the square. Eden’s face instantly turned bright red.

“No, well. So openly… Should I, should I change the tickets?”

“What are you talking about? Why is your face red?”

Patricia went ahead to the inn, chuckling as she saw Eden scratching his head with a flushed face.

“Pay for the inn. While I wash up, go buy some clothes and shoes. We’ll leave after I change clothes.”

“Should I buy a dress?”

“Just buy men’s clothes. And a black robe too. Hurry.”

Patricia took the key from Eden and went up to the second floor.

She wanted to board the train right away, but considering the stares she would receive for two days on the train, changing clothes was the right choice.

Moreover, she couldn’t show Eva and Patrick the bloodstained military boots Eden had taken from a dead soldier.

After showering, she waited for a long time, but Eden didn’t come. She opened the window to let the eagle in.

“Patrick, are you alright? I’m fine. I’m coming to you now.”

She tied the letter securely to the eagle’s leg. As she lay on the bed, tickling the warm, soft yet sturdy ribcage between the white feathers, there was a knock at the door.

“Eden, why are you so late?”

“Well, I was buying ladies’ clothes.”

Patricia snatched the paper bag containing the clothes and closed the door. Inside the bag were a plain dress, low-heeled shoes, and even women’s undergarments.

‘Huh, so that’s why he was late.’

Patricia was about to take off her shower robe when she saw the white eagle tilting its head, staring at her intently.

“Brie, you go out too. Go to Patrick first.”

She sent the eagle out the window. She changed into the dress and put on the black robe. Both the undergarments and outer clothes fit perfectly, as if tailored.

In the Tane Empire, nobles had to show their family credentials to buy train tickets. Eden apologized for only being able to buy second-class tickets with his viscount family credentials.

“You should be in the special compartment, but I couldn’t even get first-class tickets. I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright. Riding the train side by side with Lord Eden is a good memory too.”

Patricia sat by the window seat.

Before Patricia could open the food package Eden had bought for snacks, she fell asleep with her head resting on Eden’s shoulder.

“Princess Risha. For me, this kind of memory is happiness.”

Eden lowered his right shoulder as much as possible so Patricia’s neck wouldn’t hurt.

*

Eden was the second son of Viscount Patterson. The Patterson family had been in charge of royal administrative duties for generations.

The eldest son Jason was the administrative secretary assisting the viscount’s administrative work. Viscount Patterson wished for Eden to learn administrative duties like his elder brother.

Eden frequented the palace with his father and brother, but sitting at a heavy desk copying documents or flipping through papers didn’t suit his nature.

He defied his father’s wishes and applied for and passed the royal guard apprentice knight recruitment.

As an apprentice knight, he was assigned to assist in guarding the crown prince. Crown Prince Patrick was stuck in the library bookshelves like a book, except for when taking medicine. He sat reading books like a wall without even a shadow. It was boring.

“Your Highness. Shall I teach you how to shoot a bow?”

“No, that’s fine.”

“How about the sword?”

“I don’t want to.”

“Your Highness. It’s hot, would you like to go swimming?”

“I won’t go.”

“Your Highness. Shall we ride horses around the lake?”

“No, you go ahead.”

“Your Highness. They say a witch lives in the west tower of the annex palace, shall we go see?”

“The west tower of the annex palace?”

For the first time, Crown Prince Patrick took his eyes off the book and showed interest.

At thirteen, in summer.

Eden and Patrick decided to explore the west tower rumored to be inhabited by a witch.

Passing through the Petra oak forest, the annex palace and west tower came into view. Though called the west tower, it was a modest tower about five stories high in the main Tane palace.

The tower with salmon-colored brick exterior walls and a crimson roof didn’t look like a place where a witch would live.

The entrance to the west tower was guarded by unfamiliar knights, not royal knights. From what Eden had discreetly learned through senior knights, they were ironclad knights personally selected by the emperor.

It was clear they wouldn’t open the bronze doors even if they revealed the crown prince’s identity. They judged it better not to cause any clumsy disturbance. They observed the back of the west tower in their spare time for several days.

Then one day, Patrick and Eden stopped while walking through the shrub forest.

Amidst the sounds of summer insects and cicadas, they heard singing. The exterior walls of the west tower were covered with red roses at the bottom and ivy at the top.

“The west wind blows, tousling my hair and lingering.”

And Eden discovered grass trampled and broken in the shrub forest and followed the traces. There was a body-sized stone missing at waist height in the stone wall of the west tower. Passing through that gap, there was a landing leading up to the west tower.

As Eden and Patrick climbed the stairs, the singing grew louder and clearer.

“Hair that grows like magic when the wind touches it.”

“Wind that brings the scent of flowers, stay with me.”

It was the voice of a young girl, not a witch. She wasn’t singing particularly well.

“Hello, Patricia Rose. Your face is red. What are you embarrassed about?”

“Hello, Patrick Daffodil, you’re pale again today.”

“…!”

“Your Highness, she called you Patrick Daffodil.”

Eden, who was climbing the stairs ahead, bent down and whispered in Patrick’s ear.

“I heard it too.”

The west tower looked like a narrow square pillar from a distance, but when they climbed about halfway up the tower, a wide open space appeared.

It was decorated like a garden. All four sides were framed with iron and made of glass, with all the windows open allowing wind to enter from all directions.

“Ah.”

“Ah.”

“Ah.”

The three of them covered their mouths at the same time.

Eden was surprised to see the girl swinging a sword with her dress skirt wrapped up and tied at the waist with a ribbon, while Patrick and Patricia were surprised to see each other looking exactly alike, as if looking in a mirror.

Moreover, Eden and Patrick had clearly heard:

Patrick Daffodil, you’re pale again today.

The girl’s actions were nimble. She swung the sword deftly and then aimed the tip of the sword at Eden’s neck.

“Who are you?”

“Who are you?”

“Who are you?”

Their voices echoed like an echo. Patrick and Patricia looked at each other as if looking in a mirror.

“But you know my name?”

They asked the same question. However, there was a difference in intonation and nuance. Patrick was asking because he didn’t know of Patricia’s existence. Patricia was asking who Eden was, knowing of Patrick’s existence.

“Eden Patterson. I am the sword of His Highness the Crown Prince.”

Eden bowed, placing his forehead on his bent arm without realizing it, looking at the girl who looked so much like Patrick. He could tell at a glance that she was not the sick daughter of the empress’s maid.

“So you’re Patrick.”

The girl took Patrick’s hand with a complex expression and then smiled faintly.

“Still, I’m… glad to meet you, it’s good.”

“You know me? …How?”

“You and I were together in mother’s womb. We’re twins.”

Eden could never forget that day.

He thought he would be happy to die by the sword aimed by Patricia, whose sun-melted golden hair flowed down to her waist.

At that moment, he became Patricia’s knight.

Of course, after completing his apprenticeship and being knighted, Eden made his knight’s vow to Crown Prince Patrick, and Patrick was his lord. However, in his heart, his lord was Patricia.

When the train arrived at Burk Central Station, the sun was setting behind Mount Hesperos.

The early summer in Tane had late sunsets. The earth heated during the day didn’t cool even after sunset. Outsiders who got off the train from the north looked up at the sky and took off their coats.

Patricia slept to her heart’s content for two days, except for meal times. Eden watched her sleeping face. Not realizing how time passed.

The warhorse that came out of the cargo car raised its front legs, eager to run.

As they emerged into the train station square, a white eagle swiftly descended from the sky and perched on Patricia’s shoulder, rubbing its yellow beak against her slender nape.

Patricia untied the letter wrapped around the white eagle’s leg.

“Risha, your rose has bloomed fully. Come carefully, I’ll be waiting. I miss you.”

“Let’s go, Eden, Patrick is waiting.”

*

Eva, who was making lace at the window table in the annex palace, sprang to her feet when she saw two black horses galloping quickly towards them.

With trembling hands, she wiped away the tears streaming from her eyes and ran outside.

Upon hearing the news of Patricia’s capture, Eva had collapsed on the spot.

Only after Annie, the maid Patrick had brought in to help Eva, relayed the news that a messenger bird had arrived for Patrick, informing that the princess had safely escaped and was returning with Lord Eden, did Eva regain her strength.

She had thought they would arrive tomorrow. Eva, wiping her eyes with her sleeve, ran in one breath to the front of the west tower.

In front of the bronze doors of the west tower, she watched as Patricia leapt from her warhorse, lifting the skirt of her single-layer dress. Her bare legs were clearly visible without the inner dress.

‘What does it matter. There are no injuries. At least she’s safe…’

The guard knights blocked the bronze doors of the west tower.

“Move aside.”

“……”

Patricia removed the hood of her black robe, straightened her back, and spoke in a cold voice.

“As it has been revealed, I am Patricia Calian Evas, Princess of the Tane Empire.”

With Patricia’s capture, the existence of the princess had spread throughout the empire.

“We greet Your Highness the Princess.”

“We apologize. We received orders to escort you to the Imperial Guard immediately upon your arrival.”