Royal Secret: I'm a Princess!

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Lady Roseheart."

Mona was surprised when Gavin Quinzel handed a box wrapped beautifully to her. "Is this my birthday present from the Paladins?" she asked with a smile. "Thank you."

Last year, the Paladins also gave her a gift for her birthday.

Apparently, each of the Paladins had contributed a certain amount of money. Then, they chose a present for her. Since the Paladins didn't want to burden her with an expensive gift (because they knew she wasn't comfortable receiving that kind of stuff), they got her a pretty and effective herbal plant back then.

[They must have done the same for my birthday this year.]

"You're wrong, Lady Roseheart," Gavin, sitting on the sofa across from her, said with a smile. "It's a present from me."

Her smile froze.

She was glad that the servants who served the tea earlier were already gone, and Glenn also left His Majesty's office at the emperor's command. But…

"Gavin Quinzel, I heard from Glenn that you and the Paladins already decided on a collective gift for Mona," Nikolai, who was sitting beside her on the couch, said coldly. "Why do you have to give her a separate gift right in front of my face, huh?"

[Argh. Nikolai's jealous side is showing again. But he knows very well that Gavin is just like a brother to me.]

She decided to just ignore it.

"Your Majesty, you shouldn't be jealous of me," Gavin said cheerfully. "If I have an ulterior motive, why would I give my present to Lady Roseheart where you can see it?"

The emperor fell silent for a while before he nodded. "Fair point."

And just like that, His Majesty's hostility disappeared. Why wouldn't it disappear when everyone knew that Gavin wasn't a threat to him anyway?

"Moreover, this isn't an ordinary ornament. This doesn't look like a birthday present," she said excitedly after she opened the jewelry box. Then, she raised her head to look at the commander. "Gavin, this ornament is infuseed with Impure Mana."

She needed a large amount of Impure Mana to cover her movements soon.

According to Novak, Impure Mana was more effective than the Darknes attribute of living humans and beings because Impure Mana didn't have "presence." In short, even the gods wouldn't notice it as long as she used it moderately.

"This amount of Impure Mana is enough to use in case I needed to hide my presence in an emergency situation," she said happily. "This is useful, Commander. Thank you so much!"

The commander smiled and scratched his cheek as if he was embarrassed. "It's nothing, Lady Roseheart. I'm just glad to be of help to you and His Majesty."

["To be of help."]

When Gavin said that, she was reminded of the reason she and Nikolai had summoned the commander in the palace today.

"Gavin, we need your help," Nikolai said to the commander, then he turned to her. "Mona."

"Yes, I will take it from here," Mona said before she turned to the commander. "Gavin, we have something to tell you."

Gavin turned serious instantly as he nodded. "I'm listening, Lady Roseheart and Your Majesty."

***

"COMMANDER Quinzel!"

Gavin smiled at Lady Sera Wisteria who followed him in the balcony.

Right now, he was in the grand mansion of the Wisterias. He attended Lady Sera Wisteria's coming-of-age ceremony with his family. It was a banquet where all the nobles of the Royal Capital were invited to.

His Majesty and Lady Roseheart attended the banquet as well. The two left after congratulating Lady Sera Wisteria and handing her their gifts. Nobody saw it as being impolite. On the other hand, the fact that His Majesty and Lady Roseheart left early was them being considerate.

It only meant that His Majesty and Lady Roseheart didn't want to take away the spotlight from the birthday celebrant.

"I've been looking for you everywhere," Lady Wisteria said. "I thought you already left."

As what most people knew already, Lady Sera Wisteria was indeed a beauty. Her blonde hair was shiny and silky, and her green eyes looked like forest. Still, he wouldn't be blinded by her beauty since he was aware of the young lady's true personality.

"How can I leave when I haven't handed my birthday present to you, my lady?" Gavin asked with a smile on his face. Then, he pulled the jewelry box out of the inner pocket of his suit. "May I hand my gift to you now?"

"Of course, Commander," the young lady said. "I'm looking forward to it."

He just smiled and handed the box to Lady Sera Wisteria who happily took it.

"Commander, may I open this gift now?"

"Of course, my lady."

Lady Wisteria smiled and opened the box. But as soon as she saw the brooch inside, her smiled disappeared.

The brooch that he chose for the young lady cost a fortune.

Lady Wisteria who was obsessed with jewels knew that as well. She was only disappointed because she was expecting something else from him.

"My lady, is my present not to your liking?" he asked, acting like he was nervous. "I apologize. I'm not good at choosing gifts. I can send you another gift if you–"

"Commander, why aren't you proposing to me yet?" the young lady asked when she raised her head to meet his gaze. "Didn't your family choose me as your bride?"

This time, he was truly surprised by her blunt question.

But he quickly got himself together.

It was funny that both he and Kim Won-shik were good at acting.

His other self in the other world had interest and natural talent for acting, thus he became an actor.

On the other hand, Gavin became good at acting because it was a part of his upbringing both as a noble and as a knight. As a noble, he always had to mind his manners and control his emotions. While as a knight, he learned how to act in case he needed to infiltrate the enemy's base as an undercover spy.

"My father and Duke Quinzel decided that it would be mutually beneficial to both of our families if we get married," the young lady continued. "Why isn't House Quinzel making it official yet?"

It was because his father was a soft-hearted man despite his tough façade.

Duke Quinzel would often "pressure" him to marry Lady Sera Wisteria. But if his father truly wanted to force him to marry the young lady, he would have sent a formal letter of proposal to House Wisteria a long time ago.

[I know my father. He's just pressuring me to get married but he doesn't want me to marry a woman I don't love. I'm sure that if I found the woman that I want to marry, all I have to do is beg him before he gives in.]

It was a shame that the woman he wanted to marry wasn't from this world.

"Lady Wisteria, I'm sorry but I can't marry you."

"Is it because you already like someone else?"

He just smiled sadly as a response.

Lady Wisteria frowned. "There's this special hair ornament that I really wanted," she said. "The store owner said that you already purchased it as a birthday present. This is shameful to admit but I thought it would be me."

He acted guilty this time. "I apologize, my lady. I didn't mean to confuse you…"

"Do you like her?" the young lady asked coldly. "Do you like the lady who received your very precious birthday present?"

Gavin acted shy as he turned away from Lady Wisteria. "I do," he said in a shy voice while scratching his cheek as if he was really embarrassed. "I really like her, Lady Wisteria."

"What a lucky lady," Lady Sera Wisteria said sarcastically. "I wonder who she is."

***

MONA was minding her business while checking the Spirit Stones in the display glass box of the jewelry store when all of a sudden, she felt someone grab her hair from behind.

Of course, she snapped right away.

It wasn't because she was hurt badly. She was pissed because the person who grabbed her hair roughly snatched her hair ornament. And it happened to be the ornament that Gavin Quinzel gave to her as a birthday present.

[Who the hell…!]

"Show me your face, wench."

She turned around and was about to give the assailant a piece of her mind. But she was surprised to see that the rude lady was the same lady she just congratulated for her coming-of-age ceremony a few months ago.

But it seemed like the one who grabbed her hair was more shocked than she was.

Even the servants and the knights behind Lady Sera Wisteria looked shocked by what their master had done. Ah, no. It seemed like they were scared.

"L-Lady Roseheart…" Lady Sera Wisteria said in a trembling voice. Then she closed her eyes as if she was calming herself down. "Your hair color… I should have known…" She opened her eyes and bowed while handing the hair ornament back to her. "I apologize for my rudeness, Lady Roseheart. My temper got the better of me."

Most people in the empire knew about Lady Sera Wisteria's bad temper.

[Let's just let it slide.]

"It's alright, Lady Wisteria," Mona said as she accepted the hair ornament. "But may I know why you suddenly grabbed my hair and this ornament?"

"I was jealous."

"Excuse me?"

"The hair ornament… it's from Commander Quinzel, isn't it?" the younger lady asked. "Come to think of it, it was also your birthday before mine."

Unlike Lady Sera Wisteria's birthday celebration, hers was simple. She just had a solemn yet warm dinner with Nikolai and their friends.

Despite her simple birthday celebration, most nobles were aware of her birth date. Thus, it wasn't strange that Lady Sera Wisteria was also aware of it. But she felt odd for some reason. She didn't like where their conversation was headed to.

"That's none of your business, Lady Wisteria."

The younger lady smiled bitterly. "I know that it is from the commander since there's only one kind of that hair ornament in the whole continent."

"What about it?"

"Nothing," Lady Sera Wisteria said, then she added casually. "It's just that Commander Quinzel told me that he has feelings for the person who received that hair ornament as a birthday present from him."

The younger lady said it loud and clear that everyone in the jewelry store had heard her nonsense.

Mona, for the first time in her life, wanted to be violent and cut someone's tongue off.

When the rumor about Commander Gavin Quinzel being "in love" with her spread like a wildfire, she regretted not punching Lady Sera Wisteria in the face at least.

***

"HAVE you heard?"

"Commander Quinzel is in love with Lady Roseheart?"

"It's true! Lady Sera Wisteria, the commander's supposed-to-be fiancée, has confronted Lady Roseheart!"

"But isn't Lady Roseheart the lover of His Majesty?"

"Moreover, His Majesty and Commander Quinzel are close friends since childhood!"

"That wicked woman must have seduced both men."

Gavin, who was leaning against a pillar with his arms crossed over his chest, closed his eyes as he listened to the gossiping servants of the Royal Palace behind him.

It seemed like Lady Sera Wisteria was indeed tactless.

[I can't believe Lady Wisteria really confronted Lady Roseheart in front of an audience.]

He felt bad that he gave the people who hated Lady Roseheart a new reason to badmouth her. But he couldn't stop now. He didn't want to.

[Wait for me, Areum-ah.]

***

NIKOLAI drew his sword and coldly pointed it at the kitchen staff kneeling in front of him. There were two other servants kneeling as well but he pointed his sword at the one with the loudest voice. "What did you say?" he asked sternly. "Commander Quinzel is in love with Lady Roseheart?"

He went to the royal kitchen personally to tell the royal chef about the dish that Mona wanted to eat. Ever since Mona got pregnant, he would often visit the kitchen to inspect. He had been poisoned a lot when he was a child. Although it was unlikely to happen, that didn't stop him from making sure that Mona and their child wouldn't be poisoned.

But on his way to the kitchen, he heard the kitchen staff gossiping.

["I heard that Commander Quinzel is in love with Lady Roseheart!"]

["Apparently, the commander confessed his love for Lady Roseheart when he gave her the hair ornament."]

["Moreover, the hair ornament is said to be special so Commander Quinzel might really have feelings for Lady Roseheart."]

Those were the horrible words that he heard earlier.

"Is your tongue for decoration only?" he asked coldly, ignoring Glenn who was standing behind him while telling him to calm down. "Do you want me to cut that off for you?"

"I b-beg your f-forgiveness, Your Majesty!" the shaking and crying kitchen staff pleaded. "P-Please h-have m-mercy o-on us!"

"I didn't ask you to beg for forgiveness," Nikolai said, his bloodlust oozing dangerously. Because of that, the kitchen staff began to collapse one by one. But he didn't care. "I asked you what you mean when you said Gavin Quinzel is in love with Mona Roseheart!"

***

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