A Captive Prince Awaiting Execution Falls In Love With A Young Lady - Episode 1

That day.

Sirius braced himself for yet another death.

Someone is running up the tower.

I’ve been imprisoned here for six months.

No one ever visited Sirius outside of the designated meal times, three times a day.

Even Cornelius, the court noble who brought me here, came to visit at mealtime. The guard knights did the same.

It’s evening now.

A visit at such an irregular hour.

Isn’t that the executioner who came to end their own life?

What comes to mind is my half-brother Robert, who was killed at the age of 10.

The carriage heading to the Cornelius Margrave territory was attacked by rioters and kidnapped. Sirius, who was in another carriage, was also attacked but fought desperately with the escort knights, repelled the attackers, and escaped the danger.

And at dawn, what was found by the nearby riverside was the body of my half-brother.

The black hair had been ruthlessly cut, with patches of scalp visible here and there. More than anything, it was the cruelty of it all.

It was clear that the clothes had been stripped off and unspeakable things had been done to this young boy.

When he was in the palace, he had plump cheeks, and his black hair had a luster as if it had been cut from the very fabric of the night.

The half-brother was abandoned as if he were a rag doll.

King Benedict, who currently holds the throne, issued a statement declaring that the series of crimes were committed by rioters. Subsequently, the wrongdoers were captured. They were traced through the jewelry Robert was wearing, which they sold.

My brother-in-law was killed by a bunch of scoundrels.

Who will take my life?

Is it now?

And who, I wonder?

As Sirius watched the evening sun streaming through the iron bars and dyeing the floor, he thought about it as if it were someone else’s business.

There is absolutely no realism.

Or rather, ever since Father passed away, it’s been a continuous series of surreal events.

The head of the LeBlanc family, a branch of the Sainelia royal family, Benedict, suddenly claimed the “legitimacy of the throne.”

The appeal was approved by the church, which had been meticulously lobbied.

The LeBlanc family possessed formidable military power and wealth. Fearing civil war and subsequent invasions by foreign countries, the influential nobles recognized Benedict as king.

Originally, Patrick, the half-brother who was supposed to inherit the throne after the death of the king, was deposed and imprisoned like a prisoner in a remote monastery as a monk.

The former princes Sirius and Robert were imprisoned within the royal castle, living on the brink of starvation, but they were rescued by Duke Cornelius.

All of them.

These past few months.

It’s like a dream.

Sirius sat hidden in the shadow of the bed, staring at the door.

Footsteps are getting closer.

Perhaps it’s because it’s a tall, slender tower. The sound echoed, maintaining a strange pitch and becoming a refrain.

Sirius grips the pendant hanging from his neck.

It was originally a cameo. What is carved into it is my biological mother’s family crest.

Even though Robert had been stripped of everything, he clutched the brooch with the Sainelia royal family crest in his hand until the very end, but as the king’s illegitimate child, he only had the family crest his biological mother possessed.

I have never met my biological mother, but if I show her this emblem in heaven, will she hug me?

There’s nothing to be afraid of.

If I go to heaven, I will be able to meet Robert, and then the kind King Father too. They will be waiting for me.

While I was absentmindedly thinking about such things, the door suddenly opened.

A door that has not been painted or treated in any way, just nailed together with a doorknob attached.

It opens with such force that I think the hinge might come off.

A petite girl appeared.

“I knew it!”

The girl suddenly raised her voice.

Ignoring Sirius, who was dumbfounded, he lightly stepped inside with a soft patter of footsteps and approached the large barred window on the west wall.

“A beautiful sunset! I thought it would look absolutely stunning from here!”

Sirius silently watched the girl who had been stretching and gazing at the sunset for a while.

Wearing a one-piece dress with an apron and knee-high boots. Judging by her appearance alone, she looks like a merchant’s daughter.

Being able to come and go from this tower means that she must be a noble’s daughter.

Above all, having pure white skin is a sign of the upper class.

The hair, which was long enough to reach the waist, had loose waves and a color reminiscent of strong milk tea.

The eyes, which gaze at the scenery through the iron bars without getting bored, are leaf-green. The porcelain-like skin, free of freckles, seems to be faintly flushed, tinted by the evening sun.

“Look! You can see the Imperial Capital from here!”

Still gripping the iron bars tightly, the girl twisted her neck and looked back at Sirius.

“Imperial Chamberlain… all of them?”

When Sirius repeated it for no reason, the girl narrowed her leaf-green eyes and nodded.

“They often say it’s a city the color of honey, but I used to wonder, ‘Where?’ Now, I feel like I understand what they mean.”

Honey-colored.

Imperial Court of the North.

Sirius murmured and stood up unsteadily.

“Come on, look!”

I was beckoned by the girl and started walking as if I were under hypnosis.

By the way.

It’s been a few months since I was put here, but I’ve never looked beyond the iron bars.

Beyond the iron bars.

From the window with the glass fitted.

Only the morning sun shines, then the midday sun follows, then the evening sun pours in, and at night, the moonlight seeps through.

I thought it was just going to be a repeat of that.

Sirius stood next to the girl and looked outside.

And then I gasp.

I understood the meaning of the girl gazing at the outside scenery with sparkling eyes.

Buildings made of dark brown bricks. The buildings topped with flax-colored tiles. Streets paved with pale orange rocks. The stained glass of the massive church in the center of the town was unified in orange and reddish-brown hues.

They were now reflecting the sunset, and the entire town was shining like carnelian.

So… beautiful…

I feel a gradual warmth on my cheek, probably from the setting sun.

Come to think of it, when was the last time my skin felt the sun?

The past few months.

Always.

I feel like I was immersed in darkness and dimness.

The outside… is very beautiful.

Surely, even after being trapped here, over and over again. For many days, many days.

Outside, such a beautiful scenery must have been repeating itself.

“The Cornelius Imperial City is known as the Honey-Colored City. In the evening, tourists all go to see the cityscape from the high-rise accommodations and mountain villas.”

The girl said proudly to Sirius, who was staring blankly at the scenery.

“I thought that if I went to the top of this tower, I would surely see a wonderful view! Ah… What’s wrong?”

When Sirius, who had been questioned by the girl with a puzzled expression, blinked and came to his senses.

I suddenly notice that several orange droplets have scattered.

Tears.

It seems I was crying without even realizing it.

“Was the sunset blinding?”

Asked by the girl, feeling embarrassed, Sirius hurriedly nodded and roughly wiped away his tears with his fist.

“Hey, can I come again tomorrow?”

The girl said something like that, so Sirius was surprised.

“Eh? Tomorrow too?”

“Not allowed? I want to look outside from here again.”

“Eh… But, you… Oh, by the way, hey. Why are you here…?”

When I tried to ask, “Did you come?”, the girl carelessly shook the iron bars she was holding with both hands.

“But this iron grate is in the way. I’ll tell Father, and tomorrow… I’ll come with Mr. Sanders.”

“Huh? A contractor? Mr. Sanders?”

“Let’s take this off.”

“Huh?”

“Because with this, you can’t see the beautiful scenery properly.”

Puffing her cheeks in annoyance, the girl shook the iron bars again, then looked up at Sirius and smiled sweetly.

“I am Judith. Judith Cornelius. Nice to meet you, Sirius.”

“Judith… Cornelius”

It seems she is the daughter of Count Cornelius.

Sirius, still taken aback as ever, shook hands with the girl who had suddenly appeared.

This is.

It was the first meeting between Judith and Sirius.