Reniel looked back at the window in confusion.

Felix, who was outside the window, was smiling with his arms crossed as if waiting for her to come out.

As she regained her composure, she tried to reassure herself that he wouldn’t know she was Reniel.

Even so.

She was wondering if it was really wise to go out the window where Felix was.

Wouldn’t it be less dangerous to go out the door and face the knights instead?

Felix was not someone Reniel could handle.

Perhaps maybe.

“No way.”

Was Felix Le Pelique the one who kidnapped her?

Since Crown Prince Thanasis had escaped, was he trying to make an example of her by capturing her?

Was he really going to devastate Thanasis like in the original story, then release him, destroy everything he held dear, and make him submit to him?

Just as small details had changed but the main storyline remained the same.

Perhaps her death was also unavoidable?

Reniel tried to calm her trembling body as she thought this way. But her body simply would not calm down.

“Ugh…”

She stepped back, shaking with resentment.

She had just started living as a woman. She hadn’t even done anything properly yet.

Today was her first day at the imperial palace, and she even had to pretend to be a bedchamber maid serving the homosexual crown prince at night.

But what on earth was this?

Dying like this was truly unfair. When her hands and feet were tied and her eyes were covered, she was able to find some reason in her survival instinct.

However, as Felix Le Pelique appeared before her eyes, those thoughts were gradually disappearing.

“M-Master…! This is… actually…”

In a panic, she thought he had come knowing her true identity.

Ianathas, who would easily throw away even his life at his word, must have told him.

She could imagine how resentful Ianathas must have been when he found out she had pretended to be dead and ran away.

So if he knew the truth, it was natural for Ianathas to tell him about her identity.

She thought Felix’s composure came from knowing her identity.

She wanted to make excuses at the sight of Felix smiling at her.

What would happen if this standoff continued?

A vain hope that he might spare her if she appealed to his emotions rose but quickly disappeared.

Appealing to emotions was only possible between those who had built up feelings for each other.

A noble of high standing, notorious for his cruelty and who even killed his own father, Felix would not overlook her betrayal when she wasn’t even family.

Moreover, Felix was someone who had easily taken the life of his own half-brother.

She was just like a pebble on the roadside that could be crushed at any time.

She whimpered, not wanting to die.

“I… actually… was going to return to you, Master. But to return as a woman, I needed some procedures…”

It was surprising how lies flowed smoothly from her mouth as she tried to save her life.

Thinking she’d do anything not to die, she desperately tried to continue speaking.

“But I really did like you, M-Master… That… I mean…”

Soon, he approached the window again. Then he pointed behind Reniel with the long index finger of his large hand.

“…Huh?”

Reniel turned around and saw that the door had opened.

“Looks like she untied the ropes.”

“This happens more often than expected, huh? Maid.”

She looked back at the window again as she saw the knights surrounding her.

Then one of the knights sneered at her behavior and said,

“Looks like she’s under a hallucination spell?”

“It seems so.”

At that moment, Reniel opened her eyes wide and looked at the window again.

“T-There at the window…”

Reniel tried to say something, but the knights pointed their swords at her as if they had no intention of responding to her words.

“Know that your head will be cut off if you don’t come along quietly.”

Reniel decided to comply with their words.

“Yes, I understand… But am I under a hallucination spell right now?”

Even though the knights had drawn their swords and were pointing them at her neck, what she feared most was actually Felix.

Having watched Felix Le Pelique from afar for 10 years, she knew well how merciless and cruel he was.

If what she saw was real, the knights before her would all be dead in less than 5 minutes.

Despite seeing five knights in front of her, Reniel was more afraid of Felix at the now darkened window.

“Please tell me, Sir Knight.”

When Reniel asked desperately, the knight who met her eyes smirked and said,

“What did you see to act like that?”

“S-Something scary.”

When Reniel mumbled her words, the knight behind her burst into laughter.

“Did you think we’d leave you alone without any preparations? This place shows illusions when prisoners try to escape.”

“…What kind of illusions?”

“It shows what you fear most.”

“Captain, is it okay to tell her that?”

“It doesn’t matter. Everyone trembles in fear even knowing what will appear.”

The person who seemed to be the captain of the knights sneered at Reniel’s pale state, as if he had expected it.

In fact, it was true.

This place had an illusion spell cast on it that would show the prisoners what they feared most in the world if they tried to escape.

“Ah… I see…”

Reniel nodded, realizing anew that the being she feared most was Felix.

“That seems right.”

She agreed with those words and was about to follow obediently when she hesitated.

“Um, Sir Knight.”

“What now?”

“Where am I going? Am I… going to die?”

She tried to act nonchalant, but it wasn’t easy.

Even so, perhaps because she had faced what she feared most in the world and then learned it wasn’t real, she felt like she had lost some sense of reality.

It was like a situation where you run away from a black panther only to encounter a coyote.

It felt like she might be able to escape if she played her cards right.

“That’s not my authority. Put the gag back on.”

“I’ll just keep my mouth shut. Please! My mouth hurts so much…”

Reniel pleaded like that while looking into the eyes of the knight captain. The captain stepped back in surprise.

“…Alright. If you keep your mouth shut… But we’ll bind your hands instead.”

“My hands too… I’m already like this… I can’t run away anyway. I don’t have much stamina.”

Reniel said that with a gloomy expression.

The knights were very confused, but they felt they should follow her words.

“…Just kill her if she shows any signs of trying to escape.”

“Yes, Captain.”

So they decided to move Reniel without restraints.

In fact, this decision was possible because they were only moving a short distance anyway.

As they passed through the corridor, a room appeared.

Reniel was watching the knights’ reactions, thinking of escaping at the right moment. But soon she understood why they were so careless about restraining her.

There was no need for it.

When Reniel saw the suspicious entrance, she looked at the knights as if asking if it was really right to go in there.

By now, the five knights were standing behind her, pointing their swords at her as if telling her to go inside.

“Um… Do I go in alone?”

“Get in right now.”

Reniel was flustered by the knight’s forceful voice.

She began to realize this situation was real because of the pain she still felt in her hands.

Her palms were damp with sweat and blood. She had lost so much blood that she wondered if she might be hallucinating in a state of shock.

Even so, she swallowed dryly, gauging whether this might be her last chance to escape.

“What if I don’t go in?”

“Then you’ll go in with your head cut off.”

She immediately gave up at those words and forced a smile.

“I’ll go in right away!”

And she went straight through that suspicious door. Strangely, the inside of the door was not visible at all.

As she passed through the door, an underground prison came into view.

“Ah…”

And in front of it.

“How insolent.”

A person who looked like a high-ranking royal at first glance was standing in front of Reniel.

Recalling the etiquette she had learned while entering the imperial palace, Reniel immediately bowed her head.

“Bring that wench before me.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Reniel immediately waved her hands and said,

“I’ll cooperate without you being rough…!”

As she quickly added those words, the knights looked at their master in confusion. Then she smiled and said,

“Do you know who I am?”

“Aren’t you Princess Jeiren, Your Highness?”

Reniel said that, recalling who Thanasis’s internal enemy was.

Princess Jeiren’s expression changed as if this was more interesting than she had thought, and she continued speaking.

“That’s right.”

Soon, the knights gestured to Reniel to move as if telling her to follow their lead. She complied obediently.

“Drink this.”

Reniel looked at the suspicious vial the princess was handing her.

“What is this?”

“Drink it.”

Reniel wondered what on earth this could be.

“It’s not poison.”

Princess Jeiren was gesturing as if to kill her if she didn’t comply.

Reniel forced a smile as she received the small vial through a knight and opened the lid to drink it.

“Inside is a mixture of hallucinogens and truth serums. And I mixed in various things just in case.”

As the drug went down her throat, her body suddenly became hot and Felix began to appear before her eyes again.

‘Reniel. How dare you leave me?’

She was flustered by that voice, but she was afraid of how her body was strangely heating up.

Like someone with a fever, her whole body was becoming hot and sensitive.