Titarus, the current king of Ruenhart, was Anselot’s elder brother.

King Titarus and Anselot looked so far apart in age that they could be mistaken for father and son.

‘I heard Anselot was the youngest son of the previous king, so he’s about the same age as the current king’s children.’

The crown prince of Ruenhart was probably older than Anselot.

“Ah, Anselot. Haha. I heard you started your journey with the Azester Imperial Princess.”

Titarus glanced at his arrogant younger brother, who didn’t even dismount before the king, and added:

“It would have been nice if you had sent word in advance…”

Anselot retorted in a sarcastic voice:

“Do I need to give notice in advance when coming to my own home?”

“Ah, right. Hahaha…”

King Titarus laughed awkwardly.

“Welcome, Imperial Princess Luibel. Welcome to Ruenhart.”

King Titarus belatedly greeted me as well.

Though Anselot was a prince of Ruenhart, it would have been proper etiquette to greet me, an imperial princess, first.

Seeing how he forgot even that and only kept an eye on Anselot, it seemed Anselot’s notoriety was quite high.

“It’s nice to meet you, Your Majesty King Titarus.”

Having been flustered until then, I jumped down from my horse and reached out towards Ilei.

Ilei snuggled into my arms as she came down from the horse.

“You must have had a tiring journey. Please allow us to offer our hospitality.”

King Titarus suggested to me while still glancing sideways at Anselot.

Anselot wore an indifferent expression, as if he wasn’t very pleased.

Somehow feeling sorry for King Titarus, I nodded.

“Very well.”

As soon as I answered, palace servants took our horses and luggage.

We were immediately guided to the king’s banquet hall.

Amidst the lavish reception, I could see the hands of the servants bringing food to Anselot trembling.

Even in Azester, many people showed goodwill towards Anselot’s handsome face, but here it seems even that handsome face couldn’t cover his notoriety.

‘Anselot doesn’t seem to care much, though.’

In the middle of the meal, King Titarus casually spoke to me.

“I heard you started your journey to prove the prophecy. It’s not an easy path, you’ve made a difficult decision.”

“It is my proper duty as a member of the Azester imperial family and one blessed by the light.”

I eloquently replied with words that Hezen from the original story might have said.

Here, those who awakened the power of light like me, Klaus, and Ilei were called ‘those blessed by the light.’

“The path of a hero is good, but Ruenhart is in a festive period for now, so please enjoy yourself for a while.”

King Titarus offered these insincere words out of courtesy, even though he would be the most alarmed if I actually decided to stay.

But knowing this, I still smiled and replied:

“Since Your Majesty suggests it, it would be impolite to refuse such kindness.”

I had to stay in Ruenhart anyway to complete the third scenario.

“Ah, hahahahaha…”

My staying meant Anselot would stay longer too, so King Titarus’s expression worsened even more than before.

Somehow feeling like an unwelcome guest, I decided to become as shameless as Anselot.

After finishing the lavish meal in the banquet hall, we headed to Anselot’s prince’s palace.

After the previous king died, all the current king’s siblings were moved out of the palace, but Anselot was too young at the time and grew up inside the palace.

Even after coming of age, he missed the timing to move out while rolling around battlefields and didn’t marry, so Anselot’s palace remained inside the palace grounds.

I pouted my lips, recalling King Titarus’s expression that had visibly relaxed as soon as the meal ended.

“Your brother doesn’t seem to like you much. He looked ready to throw a festival the day you move out of the palace.”

“Well, it’s true that I’m Ruenhart’s troublemaker.”

Anselot answered with an unconcerned face.

“Prince Anselot seems to have good self-awareness.”

Klaus seriously agreed in a voice devoid of playfulness.

“Anselot is a troublemaker.”

Ilei repeated Anselot’s words.

Prrrr, prr!

―Piya will join the festival too when the brutal Anselot disappears!

Meanwhile, Piya chirped while getting on Anselot’s nerves, then fled with a prrrr when Anselot glared.

“They say all of Ruenhart’s victories in wars with neighboring countries were thanks to you. Isn’t that a bit much?”

I felt inexplicably sulky.

Although the bad rumors about Anselot were quite exaggerated, the reactions of the people we met in Ruenhart seemed too extreme no matter how I thought about it.

At that moment, someone walking from the opposite direction spotted us and stopped.

It was a man who looked about the same age as Anselot at a glance.

Unlike other courtiers, I was curious about this man who didn’t avoid Anselot, so I quickly glanced above his head.

Crown Prince of Ruenhart Kingdom

The man, who had stiffened upon seeing Anselot, immediately smiled properly and greeted:

“You’ve arrived, Uncle.”

“Yeah.”

Anselot replied casually.

Then I saw Enzo clench his fist tightly inside his sleeve.

‘Oh?’

This was the first person I’d seen who felt more hostility than fear towards Anselot since arriving in Ruenhart.

I looked at Crown Prince Enzo with interested eyes.

‘Even with the king’s children being so vigilant, he has no interest in the throne, they say.’

I remembered what other noble ladies had said at Elder Sister Elizabeth’s tea party before.

“This must be Imperial Princess Luibel of Azester.”

Enzo bowed towards me, acting familiar. He was about to naturally take my hand and kiss the back of it.

Swoosh.

A thick palm wrapped around my shoulder and pulled me.

It was Anselot.

As a result, Enzo was left alone in an awkward posture.

“Get that away.”

Anselot frowned and spoke as if giving an order.

“Pardon…? I was just greeting the Imperial Princess…”

Enzo explained with an embarrassed expression at Anselot’s sharp interruption.

“Can’t you hear me telling you to get that filthy mouth away?”

“…”

Enzo’s mouth closed shut.

A hand kiss was a common continental greeting used by men when first meeting women of high status.

So there was nothing disrespectful about Enzo’s actions just now.

Above all, hadn’t Anselot also given me a hand kiss when we first met?

‘What hypocrisy…’

I looked at Anselot with disbelief at his double standard of it being a polite greeting when he does it but a filthy mouth when others do it, but Anselot smiled brightly and said to Enzo:

“Now that you’ve put away your mouth, let’s put away those eyes too, dear nephew.”

“…I hope you have a peaceful stay in Ruenhart.”

Enzo barely opened his unwilling mouth to give greetings before turning and disappearing.

The guest room in the prince’s palace.

Ilei, Piya and I shared a room, while Klaus used the room next door.

“Filthy mouth, away.”

Ilei, who had recently found it fun to imitate people’s words, copied Anselot’s bad words.

“Eyes, away.”

“You can’t just repeat anything, Ilei!”

“Can’t?”

Ilei tilted her head.

“Why not?”

“Because those are bad words.”

“Bad words…”

Ilei immediately didn’t understand and repeated my words.

After watching her for a moment, I said as if being generous:

“If you want to imitate people’s words, it would be better to copy me or Klaus rather than Anselot.”

“Lulu, like!”

Ilei shouted with a bright smile.

“Yes, I like Ilei too. But isn’t it time for good Ilei to go to sleep now?”

“Yes!”

Ilei snuggled into the blanket and stared at my face with bright eyes.

“Good night, Ilei.”

Only after I patted her head did Ilei obediently close her eyes.

Piya was also dozing off next to Ilei.

‘I should sleep soon too.’

I was yawning and about to close the curtains when—

‘Huh? Anselot?’

I saw Anselot outside the window.

‘What’s he doing?’

Out of needless curiosity, I immediately canceled my plans to sleep and quietly went outside.

“Anselot!”

However, as soon as I appeared, Anselot’s expression hardened as he asked:

“Why did you come out instead of sleeping?”

Just as I was about to feel a little hurt by his completely unwelcoming appearance—

Anselot immediately grabbed my waist and lightly leaped into the air.

“Uwaah?”

Swish—

Something flew through the night air.

My eyes widened as I realized the identity of the object reflecting in the moonlight.

A sharp throwing star was embedded in the spot where I had been just moments ago.

If it weren’t for Anselot, it would have pierced right through my flesh.

“Anselot, that just now…!”

“Die, Prince Anselot!”

A man rushed at Anselot from the darkness.

Clang!

In the blink of an eye, a long white spear of light that appeared in midair easily blocked the assassin’s attack.

“An assassin sent by the king’s children.”

He explained with one corner of his mouth twisted upwards.

“They keep sending them endlessly no matter how many I kill, their persistence is quite admirable.”

Anselot clicked his tongue briefly and cut down the assassin.

“Kuhuk…”

The assassin let out a painful groan and collapsed to the ground. The dead man was wearing the uniform of a palace servant.

Having never seen Anselot kill anyone before except when dealing with bugs, I was a little surprised.

Then suddenly a thought crossed my mind.

“Hey, Anselot. Those rumors surrounding you…”

“I told you. I’m not some lunatic who kills just anyone.”

Anselot answered with a grin.

So the reason he gained the infamous nickname of ‘Killer’ was all…

‘Because of the assassins sent by the king’s children.’

Knowing the truth, I felt a surge of indignation even though it wasn’t my business.