Escape from the evil lady (GL)
Chapter 67 - 17. An unexpected turn

Chapter 67: Chapter 17. An unexpected turn

Neutralize the main villain — in words, this mission sounded as deadly as in reality.

When I returned to the Heilos residence, I couldn’t find a place for myself, because, to be honest, I just couldn’t calmly come up with a plan of action. On the one hand, giving the villainess sleeping pills and waiting for the main character to save her didn’t sound so problematic. But... On the other hand, there was no denying that there were also many pitfalls in this case.

What if Kaena de Ronan suspects something? Or worse, I’ll be caught red-handed, and the Dark Knights will sentence me to a gruesome execution on the spot. Anyway, even though I agreed to take part in this case, I couldn’t say that I was completely calm. Like any other person, I had all kinds of doubts.

Not to mention, just putting the villainess to sleep wasn’t my only goal...

The residence of the Crown Princess was not called an "impregnable" fortress for nothing. The protection of this place could be envied even in the Imperial Palace. Many people have tried to invade here before, and every one of them has failed. If by "failure", of course, you can mean a terrible death in agony... In any case, taking this castle was an extremely difficult task.

And therefore, the Imperial Army squad had only one way to successfully enter here and not die on the spot.

Over the past few years, spies sent by the Empress have been gathering all possible information about the security measures at the Heilos residence. With blood and sweat, they managed to find out information about the existence of a single "loophole."

It consisted in the fact that somewhere in this castle there was a secret passage through which Kaena de Ronan could freely leave her estate without even informing the others about it.

And it was our only chance.

In order for the main character and her people to be able to take the villainess into custody and at the same time avoid a bloody confrontation with her people, it was only necessary to use this secret passage. With his help, it will be possible to leave the castle relatively safely, and then all the most difficult things will be left behind. The main villain will be awaiting her sentence in the Imperial Court, already in custody, and I will finally be able to take a deep breath...

But, of course, in reality everything was not as simple as I described.

The secret passage, the location of which only Kaena de Ronan knew, had yet to be found. And that was also my task... I couldn’t help but worry, because this part of the operation seemed even more dangerous to me than if I had just drugged the villain. In the same case, if someone catches me spying, my future fate will be very deplorable.

I would never have taken that risk in a normal situation.

However... In this case, I ventured to trust the main character of the novel.

Jerica promised to protect me and not let me get hurt when the castle is stormed. And since she was the heroine of the novel, whose nobility was reflected throughout the story, I decided that I could rely on her. In the end, it couldn’t have ended so easily for me.

Since everything that was happening now was a lot of my fault, the fact that I would be helping to capture the villainess would be able to atone for her in some way.

At least, I hoped that in this way I could do something for the victims...

So, once I made an internal decision to act, the next step was to develop a plan. Of course, the first thing I was going to do was start looking for a secret passage in the office of the main villain.

It might be trivial, but it was the most obvious place where the Crown Princess could hide a secret exit from her residence. So I should have explored this place anyway.

In recent days, Kaena de Ronan has been very busy dealing with the issues that have accumulated during our absence in the North. Because of this, she rarely left her office, except to go on some secret business with her henchmen. The exception was also the time spent with me, when the princess, despite all her busy schedule, always found time to accompany me for a meal at the end of the day...

In short, it was all very inappropriate. And how am I supposed to search her office if its owner is there all the time?!

After all, I didn’t have much time to think about the plan. Less than a month, to be exact... So I couldn’t put it off for later. Even if I hesitated, I still had to go there.

One day, when I had gathered enough courage, I was walking down the corridor towards the office of the main villain. The servants and knights of the Dark Host who got in my way rushed to the sides and bowed their heads in front of me.

— Greetings, my lady! — It came from everywhere.

I nodded awkwardly in response, although I was still filled with very contradictory emotions. I’ve never been treated with such respect, even on my own estate. And here... When I passed by the stern knights, each of whom looked like a thug stronger than the previous one, and they smiled at me... Damn, I wish they hadn’t done that.

Every time I had to leave my room for one reason or another, I tried to get to my final destination as quickly as possible. Now that I was in front of the right door, I breathed a sigh of relief. But not for long.

The two knights who were guarding the entrance to the Crown Princess’ office saw me and immediately rushed to announce my presence.

"Your Highness, my lady has arrived!"

Standing in front of the huge door, I involuntarily gulped in excitement. Meeting this man was like walking into the mouth of a tiger.

And yet...

If I continue to delay, there’s no telling when I’ll be killed. Even if it was a second life, but dying like this in vain would still be unacceptable! So even if it meant throwing myself at the embrasure, I still had to do it.

Overcoming my excitement, I pulled the door handle towards me.

— Your Highness...

A creak.

My eyes widened when the door opened. It was so dark inside the office that I doubted if it was possible to work in such a gloomy place. It is doubtful that the documents were clearly visible. If it weren’t for the sunlight filtering through the thin curtains, I wouldn’t even be able to make out the person sitting at the desk.

— Your Highness...?

Being in such an atmosphere, I involuntarily shuddered. It was really like entering a tiger’s den.

— Camille? What are you doing here?

The Crown Princess abruptly got up from her desk and opened the curtains. Because of this, more sunlight entered the room and I finally saw her face clearly. It was scary to see the golden eyes of a woman, sparkling in the semi-darkness, like a beast. Even though I should have gotten used to it by now, fear still took over me at such moments.

It was animal instincts that I couldn’t do anything about.

After all, I was face to face with a man who could easily kill me even now.

— Sorry, it’s too dark in here. I’ll open the curtains.

Before I could open my mouth, the sun suddenly shone and illuminated everything around me. I involuntarily squeezed my eyes shut.

The next moment, I almost lost my balance from excitement, because the main villain suddenly appeared right in front of me. Our faces were too close. I exhaled and staggered back, trying to put some distance between us.

As a result, I almost tripped over the hem of my own dress. Fortunately or not, at that moment the Crown Princess saved me, whose hand rested securely on my waist and saved me from falling.

— You must always be careful. Didn’t I say that? Your body is precious.

— Y-yes, Your Highness...

Stuttering, I could only start breathing again when someone else’s hand released me.

The corners of her lips turned up in a smile.

I exhaled and froze, just staring at the sight. After all, even if I knew that Kaena Gessen de Ronan was a scary person, there was one fact that couldn’t be changed. Her face was absolutely my type.

I once again cursed the author for giving such a beautiful face to such an insignificant person as the main villain of this novel.

It really was a waste of nature’s gift.

In the meantime, I was able to recall my original purpose for coming here.

— Your Highness, I’m here today...

— Are you here because you wanted to see me? — The princess’s face blossomed into a smile as she continued to stare at me.

— me...

— I still have a few things to do today. Would you like to stay here and be with me?

I swallowed.

"what? What else!"

That wasn’t what I came for at all.

— Your Highness, this is...! — my tongue was slurring with excitement, — I...I just wanted to say that the weather is so nice today! You’ve been in your office too much lately, and it’s not having the best effect on your health. I thought you could take a break and take a walk...

There was no response to the words I had been trying to summon the courage to say.

— ...

My whole being burned from this suffocating cold silence.

"Did I make a mistake after all...?"

When I voluntarily suggested something like this to the main villain, I should have expected the consequences. It’s possible that she’ll find such words too audacious. In that case, I shouldn’t have opened my mouth at all.

I regretted even more that it was already too late to retreat.

My heart was pounding like crazy in my chest.

— Are you serious? — After a few seconds, the villainess suddenly spoke.

— Ah... I... y-yes.

I swallowed dry saliva.

However, contrary to my expectations, after these words, the princess did not look angry at all. On the contrary, her golden eyes sparkled.

— Ah. Why didn’t you tell me right away?

— Wh-what?

— My dear bride was so worried about me that she came here specifically to invite me for a walk, — Kaena de Ronan smiled, — So how can I refuse her?

— ...

In my surprise, I couldn’t even catch myself staring at her beautiful face.

"Wait... what?!"