Chapter 1: The Assassin and the Knight
“Hoo…”
Evelia blew out a breath of cold air and rubbed her red, frozen nose.
Even though winter had already passed and it was now spring, the sudden return of cold weather could still be deadly.
She gathered up her long pink hair. Letting it fly in the cold wind didn’t feel good at all. But when she wrapped it around her neck, it became the warmest scarf she could ask for.
Evelia Croyelle, that was her name now. As for what her name used to be, no one could find out anymore. From the moment she became "Evelia Croyelle," her old name was completely abandoned. There were no records of who she used to be.
And who would have guessed? This cute girl with long pink hair… just a few days ago, she was a young man. But now, she had lost everything and had to start from zero.
That young man, now forgotten, was an assassin trained by the House of Nightingales.
The name “House of Nightingales” sounded sweet and gentle. That’s because it was originally a charity home run by the church in the royal capital. It had been around for two or three hundred years and was a proper place to take care of homeless children.
But once it was taken over by the Second Prince’s faction, everything changed. It slowly turned into a secret organization that trained street orphans to become assassins.
The emperor was still alive, but he was old and sick, and had been resting in the palace for years. He had two sons, the First Prince, Solor Cleia, and the Second Prince, Eric Cleia.
By law, the First Prince was in charge of the government, acting in his father’s place. However, he had never officially been made emperor by royal order. Because of this, the kingdom’s politicians were split into two groups. Those who supported the First Prince, and those who supported the Second. Their open and secret struggles had already lasted for five or six years.
Evelia used to serve under the Second Prince. She was truly an elite assassin.
Her record was outstanding. Since the day she started working as an assassin, she had never failed a mission. Many politicians and "unwanted" witnesses had died by her hands. In the royal capital, people even wrote strange and dramatic stories about her. Among assassins, she was like a legend.
Aside from the Second Prince, no one knew her real name. No one even knew what she actually looked like. She had many code names, but her true identity was always a mystery.
Now, she was Evelia Croyelle, and her new role was to act like a simple maid.
Evelia had lived in the House of Nightingales since she could remember. Like everyone there, she was an unwanted orphan.
People said that back then, she was thin and weak from poor nutrition. Her dark hair would shine red in the sunlight. Because of that, the most common nickname for her among the public was “Red Crow.”
She was the most trusted assassin under the Second Prince, and the most successfully trained one. She hardly thought about things like right or wrong. In fact, she barely had a sense of self at all. All she knew was how to follow orders blindly.
It had gotten to the point where she couldn’t even live properly without the Second Prince’s commands. Even a simple line like “You don’t need to do anything” was better than hearing nothing at all. She needed orders to live, without them, she felt like she couldn’t even breathe.
That’s why she gave up her past without complaint and became “Evelia.” She gave up her name, her appearance, and even her gender.
Under the Second Prince, she didn’t need to have her own will or dignity.
Her mission this time was simple, get rid of the First Prince.
After all, no matter how much the politicians argued with words, nothing worked better than simply killing the First Prince. As long as he was dead and everything else was properly arranged, the Second Prince could take the throne openly and without challenge.
But directly trying to assassinate him wasn’t realistic. Even for Evelia, one of the best assassins, there was no guarantee of success. This couldn’t be rushed, she needed to get close to him slowly and carefully.
So, the Second Prince set his eyes on the captain of the royal knights, the man who stayed closest to the First Prince. If Evelia was the Second Prince’s most loyal dog, then that knight captain was the sharpest sword beside the First Prince.
Armand Systalia, the captain of the Royal Knights, directly serving the First Prince.
He had achieved great military success at a young age and was very popular within the royal family.
He was handsome, with neat short black hair that looked clean and sharp. Compared to the flashy nobles around him, he looked calm and steady. His light blue eyes were bright and clear like a lake. You would never guess that such a gentle-looking man actually held strong military power.
Even though he had both good looks and strength, people’s opinions about him were mixed in social circles.
Some noble ladies had admired him for a long time because of his appearance and status.
But their fathers did not approve of him.
That’s because, according to rumors, Armand was a total “muscle-head”. In other words, someone who only knows how to fight and doesn’t use his brain.
People often say the perfect man is good with both words and weapons. Armand was very unbalanced. He was an amazing general, he had never lost a battle and had a military record almost as impressive as the “Red Crow.” But when it came to books and knowledge, he was lacking.
Everyone said he was a carefree and rough guy. He would often appear at a random pub on the street, drinking cheap beer mixed with water that commoners drank. When he passed by street stalls, he would buy useless little things. He even believed fortune tellers and collected weird “lucky items.”
He didn’t like to read books or poems. He hated the romantic songs and poems nobles liked to share. It was like he was allergic to romance, he could even make a love poem sound like a silly rhyme.
At formal balls, where manners were important, he didn’t care what others thought. He would drink all the fancy wine, ignore the ladies who wanted to dance, and sit alone by the window.
If he was in a good mood, he’d even sit on the window frame, drink while looking at the moon, and then suddenly jump out of the window without saying goodbye. He wouldn’t take a carriage, he’d ride one of the horses pulling it and head home.
So, most people said, “He’s a great general and a brave warrior, but don’t fall in love with him. He’d never make a good husband.”
Of course, he had some good sides too. Even though he acted wild and carefree, it was just because he liked having fun. He had never visited any shady or flirtatious places.
To him, raising a horse was more interesting than being with a woman. He always clearly rejected marriage proposals from noble families. In fact, there were even rumors among the nobles that “his lower part is not functioning.”
This man, the captain of the knights, was Evelia’s new target. The maid she was pretending to be was now Armand’s personal servant.
Because of his great success in war, the royal family had rewarded him. He had just come back from the battlefield and was too tired to move right away, so he stayed in the First Prince’s private house for a while.
During this time, the royal family gave him a new estate, and today was the day he moved in with his old servant. Evelia used this chance to sneak in, claiming to be a maid “recommended by the royal family.”
Her job was to get all the information she could from Armand about the First Prince. If needed, she would even seduce Armand and become his lover. Once everything was ready, she would kill the knight first, then the First Prince.
“…Hoo.”
The wind was still very cold after waiting so long.
Evelia pulled her collar up and started walking toward her target.