Two-Faced Princess

Amoreta walked out of the Prince’s Palace and began strolling through the garden behind it. It was a small garden with few types of flowers, and it was a place where few people visited.

“A potion that permanently changes one’s appearance.” Amoreta sighed as she recalled Paris’s request. “If I offer it, you’ll surely accept it without hesitation.”

She had been receiving that request for a long time. And although she hadn’t told anyone, she had already succeeded in creating it. She was confident in its effectiveness. Her calculations were always perfect, so there was no need for experimentation. She had cast countless spells throughout her life, and not once did the results differ from her expectations. However, she didn’t like the idea of giving the potion to Paris. She had liked his amber eyes before taking the potion. Above all, she enjoyed his regular visits. And another thing. Lately, a part of her heart had been troubled. The gaze of the courtiers who feared Paris. The cruelty glimpsed in his eyes. Just this morning, a courtier had been dragged away, screaming, for some unknown reason. When she lived in Paris’s mansion, she hadn’t noticed such behavior. But those aspects had become more apparent over time, and once she started paying attention, they firmly entrenched themselves in her mind. She still deeply loved Paris. Perhaps she would love him forever. He was the one who had rescued her and treated her warmly from the beginning. However, every time she saw glimpses of his new self, fulfilling his request felt somehow dangerous. Lost in her thoughts, Amoreta heard a rustling sound from the front of the garden, followed by someone leaping forward.

“I caught you!”

A woman with chocolate-colored hair and amber eyes resembling those of a leopard jumped out of the grass. In her hand, she held a fluttering bat.

“Who are you?” Amoreta asked. She couldn’t figure out whether this woman was someone she should treat with respect or not. Judging by her appearance, she looked like a boy running around the streets, but if she could wander around the palace so recklessly, she couldn’t be of low status.

“Just stay put for now.”

The bat fluttering in the woman’s palm had a more sinister appearance than usual. Its black body, ugly face, and white eyes shimmered without focus. It was a demon.

“So, you are the princess of Rajan,” Amoreta spoke. She had been somewhat out of touch with outside news, but she had heard about Evangeline. Paris had mentioned that he was in a bad mood because of a defeat he suffered at her hands.

“You are a maid in the Prince’s Palace.”

The woman, with an ordinary and friendly appearance for a witch, greeted Amoreta as if she already knew her while putting the bat in a wide pocket on her pants.

“Do you know me?”

“I don’t know you well but it’s just fascinating to hear that a woman genuinely likes the Prince.”

The woman seemed unaware of proper etiquette. However, she didn’t start a subtle confrontation either. She simply spoke her mind as it came to her.

“Please don’t speak lightly of His Highness.”

“Oh. I can tell by your expression that it’s true. I wondered if I had found a weakness.” She widened her leopard-like eyes, leaning forward and observing Amoreta closely. Her chocolate-colored hair came close to touching Amoreta.

“The Prince is a kind person,” Amoreta murmured softly. As soon as she uttered those words, the image of the courtier being dragged away in the morning flashed in her mind, and her voice lost its confidence.

“It seems there really isn’t a single friend in the palace for the Prince. Unbelievable.”

Evangeline crossed her arms and clicked her tongue.

“How did you know?”

“Do you know that he gambled a beautiful woman as a prize and had his soldiers fight for her? Do you know that he switches the women he’s with every night during the war? Have you never seen him hitting subordinates when he gets bored, even though you live in the same palace?”

She asked, tilting her head as if genuinely curious. She wasn’t mocking Amoreta’s ignorance. Amoreta frowned at the unfamiliar stories. She couldn’t believe the words of a stranger about the person she loved. When Amoreta didn’t respond, the woman sighed deeply.

“Fine. If you don’t want to believe it, don’t. Well, you’ll realize it later. ‘That person’ predicted it that way. And they’re probably not wrong.”

“What?”

Evangeline mumbled a mysterious remark and started rummaging through her pocket. “Actually, I was waiting here to run into you—— Ah! Don’t bite me! I just put you in here for a moment, and now you think this pocket is your home. It’s not like my hand intruded into your home!”

Forgetting the fact that the bat was in her pocket, she searched here and there before suddenly pulling her hand out, startled.

“Do you have something to tell me?”

“Yes. More precisely, something to tell and something to show. Now, where did I put it?”

Her peculiar pants had large pockets all over them. She put her hand in each one until finally she grasped something and pulled it out.