The Abandoned Princess’ Secret Bedroom - Chapter 35

According to legends, the golden raven was the guardian bird of the Holy Ghost. Following God’s command, it became human, established a country, and named it Brygent. This was also the reason why Seongguk and Brygent had a good relationship. A country that worshiped God, and a country that had the bloodline of the guardian bird who protected God. There was no way their alliance could ever be broken.

In any case, at the founding ceremony, Bastian, the king, dressed in a golden feather robe to represent the golden raven, and presided over the ceremony. He was treated not as the king, but as a messenger of the gods.

“Then I’ll prepare a set of feathers and a gold dress.”

At Bastian’s words, Pamela narrowed her eyes.

“What do you mean?”

“Because this year, the Golden Raven will be Llewelyn, not me.”

“Brother!”

Llewelyn almost screamed. The golden raven did not necessarily have to be the king, anyone could be. However, if someone was designated by the king to be the golden raven, it usually…

“What kind of bullsh*t is this? To do this without consulting your mother!”

It usually meant they were the heir to the throne. Llewelyn stared at Bastian in shock and protested. It was an expression of his desire to put Llewelyn on the throne rather than Prince Dion. However, it was a decision that Llewelyn couldn’t agree with.

Bastian said softly.

“With this incident, I am ashamed to stand in front of my people. My mother brought Ms. Maud here without telling me, and made me into a promiscuous and irresponsible man. But you’re telling me to still become the golden raven?”

“It’s not unusual for the King. How irresponsible!”

“I do not want to be the golden raven this year. What are you going to do?”

Bastian revealed that his anger over the illegitimate child scandal had not been resolved. Aside from this situation, Llewelyn was once again surprised by Bastian’s aristocratic way of speaking. When did he change?

“Your Majesty!”

“Your Majesty, please stop.”

Llewelyn and Pamela protested at the same time. But Bastian only shook his head resolutely.

“Llewelyn, for how long are you going to do nothing?”

He said in a stern voice.

“You are a member of the Royal Family, but you are not fulfilling any responsibilities.”

“…”

“It feels like I am the only one carrying the burden of the country. If you think of me as a brother or a king, then do as I say. This is an order.”

Bastian even ordered it. It meant that he had no intention of withdrawing his opinion.

Llewelyn sighed. Pamela, who still did not understand, shouted.

“Do you know how ridiculous this is?”

“No more ridiculous than forcing my marriage.”

“…”

“Whether or not she wears gold is up to her. The golden raven of this founding festival will be Llewelyn.”

*

The Red Knights were gathered in the training grounds, watching. Toward the end of summer in Brygent, it was sweltering hot. Tristan didn’t allow his knights to take a break from training, even if it was cold, hot, or rainy.

Clink!

A new knight lost his sword while fighting. The sound was painfully loud because it collided with the stone floor. One of the things that Tristan strictly upheld was weapon management. In particular, Tristan did not tolerate a knight dropping their sword.

In the past, a knight who dropped his sword had a direct confrontation with Tristan, and then was expelled from the Knight Order. The face of the new knight, who knew that fact, turned white.

“What’s going on?”

“I’m sorry, Commander. The sword slipped because I was sweating.”

Tristan looked up at the sky. The sun was right above them, beating down hard. His black pupils narrowed.

“It’s because you neglected to sharpen your sword.”

“Yes, I’m sorry sir.”

“Re-wrap the leather on the handle.”

“Yes sir.”

“The sun is too hot. Training ends here.”

Murmurs spread among the knights. About a half an hour remained until the end of training. Ever since Tristan took over as commander, their training had never ended early. Besides, would a war end early because the sun was hot?

“Please clean up.”

He left after ordering Dane, the vice-captain, to clean up. Dane watched Tristan leave with a puzzled expression.

Paulo got up and slapped the knight who dropped his sword on the back, and kept walking. The other knights quickly followed suit. They slapped his back as if thanking the hero who dropped his sword.

The young knight turned even whiter at the hands of the knights who could not control their strength slapped him over and over.

“What the hell is going on?”

Dane asked Paulo. Paulo raised an eyebrow and smiled.

“It must be because the sun is scorching.”

“Yeah the sun is scorching, but why?”

“Ah, well, isn’t it like that?”

He patted the new knight on the back again. Paulo was terrified of the change in Tristan. When he said he would give up his post, he saw his blind loyalty. Llewellyn’s point was not wrong.

“… Uhh.”

It was not the king who ruled the palace, but his mother, Pamela. The position of the Red Knights was ambiguous compared to the Black Knights, which were the king’s army, or the White Knights, who were Pamela’s knights and protected the nobles. What would the fate of the Red Knights be if Tristan was hated by the powerful?

“I do not know.”

*

“Did you wait for long?”

“Oh, you came early.”

Llewelyn turned her head. She was wearing a blue-striped dress and a wide-brimmed hat, so she didn’t suffer from the scorching sun.

“Coco looks tough.”

“Coco?”

Llewelyn pointed to the bird in the cage. Could it be that Horus, the valiant servant of the Golden Raven, was named Coco? Tristan’s expression softened for a moment. It was small now, but when it grew up, one of its wings would be as long as the wingspan of an adult male.

“They gave me more meat than I asked for. Coco ate it all.”

“Yes. Nutrition is good.”

“Yes.”

Llewelyn smiled brightly. Tristan, who was staring at her, suggested.

“Then would you like to open the cage now?”

“What if it flies away?”

“It’s a clever bird. In fact, he could have opened the cage by himself.”

“Really? It’s still young.”

Coco creaked as if dissatisfied with Llewelyn’s words. She carefully grabbed the latch of the cage. Before opening it, Llewelyn said anxiously.

“Hey, what if it attacks me?”

“That won’t happen. Even if it does, I will kill it before it can hurt you.”

It was a really cruel statement. Llewelyn clicked her tongue. Coco, too, made a timid sound, and flew away as soon as Llewelyn opened the cage door.

“Wow…”

The bird flew straight into the sky. It was so fast that it looked like an arrow. The bird disappeared above the clouds.

“Where is Coco going? How could it fly away like that?”

Tristan responded calmly.

“It’s been a long time since it had freedom, so it will keep playing in the sky. He knows that the Princess feeds him, so he will come back.”

“… When will it come back?”

“Probably after circling some more. He must have been frustrated…”

Suddenly, the clouds parted and the bird descended again. It looked like it was plummeting from the sky, and Llewelyn was startled. Could it be that the bird could not fly properly and fell? She was worried and moved cautiously.

“Aww!”

Llewelyn was startled by the sudden burst of black before her eyes and fell backwards. Tristan quickly caught Llewelyn.

“Slow…”

The bird was rubbing itself against Llewelyn’s chest. It was like a puppy. It moved its tiny feet and snuggled under her neck, rubbing it’s head against her chin.

“Uh, what is this? Does it want to kill me?”

“He’s saying he likes you. It’s rare.”

“Really? Are you just saying that?”

“Yes, really. Horus are not rude to people. Look.”

As soon as Tristan reached out his finger, Coco’s eyes narrowed and it bit his hand. Llewelyn screamed. Blood began to drip from Tristan’s hand.

“Did you see that?”

“Tristan… There was no need to show that.”

‘Isn’t this guy really weird?’ 

Then Llewelyn realized that Tristan had caught her when she was about to fall. Normally, she wouldn’t have thought much of it, but it was strange to be held against his wide chest. Llewelyn looked down, and watched Coco rolling around and showing affection.

“I didn’t know it was going to bite so hard.”