Letter from Kenneth

Uri walked briskly through the unusually crowded palace hallway. Although Uri tried not to show any emotion when he was in front of so many people, his occasional furrowed brows were enough to tell that Kenneth's servant was worried about something.

"Hey, have you heard? The palace has decided to hold a simple funeral for His Majesty. Considering what he did to the princes, I also heard that Empress Helena and Prince Leroy refused to attend the funeral."

"Then what about Princess Abigail? Until the very end, she was still under house arrest because His Majesty punished her, right?"

"Ah, I guess the people in the palace lifted the punishment after His Majesty passed away. I heard from one of the servants who served her that Princess Abigail would be the only member of the royal family to attend her father's funeral. Poor Princess Abigail. Now, she has no one to support her in the royal palace."

From time to time, his ears would catch the whispers of the palace servants about what was happening in that place. Even though Uri didn't want to believe what was happening in the palace, the words of those people were enough to bring Uri back to the reality they were facing.

A few days after Prince Leroy returned from Audoran Forest, a coup d'etat by the nobles finally happened. Because the losses incurred by King Ducan could no longer be tolerated, the coup went smoothly. In an instant, Duke Clayton and the other nobles had arrived at the place where King Ducan had been locking himself away. However, once they were finally able to meet King Ducan, the scene before they immediately made everything come to an end quickly.

King Ducan was found hanging in his room, and he had died when they were able to find him. No one wondered how the king could choose to commit suicide when he was usually such a stubborn king. However, when someone linked the decision to the deaths of the two princes because of his decision, people finally concluded that King Ducan took that path because he had become desperate due to the failure of the princes.

The government was quickly changed, and Leroy was appointed as the next king after that. Leroy's coronation ceremony was in three days. No one knew how Leroy, who was deemed unworthy of being king by the crown and throne that had been enchanted with magic, became the new king of the Lucano Kingdom. However, Uri had bigger problems than thinking about how the cunning prince could become the next king in the first place.

Before Prince Leroy became the new king of the Lucano Kingdom, Uri knew more than anything that he and Emma, ​​Kenneth's mother, had to leave the palace if they wanted to save their lives.

"Your Highness... what should I do now?"

Once Uri finally returned to the Ruby Palace, which was as quiet as usual, the servant finally stopped walking and stared at the ground while clenching his fists. These three days were the best time to escape if they really wanted to do so. At a busy time like this, Uri was sure that no one would notice if one or two of the palace's unworthy residents suddenly disappeared from the palace.

The problem was that Uri had lost communication with Kenneth for several weeks, while the kingdom had decided to assume that Kenneth had also died for failing to fulfill King Ducan's wishes. Uri didn't know where he should go with Emma if he didn't tell Kenneth first. He could probably take Emma to his hometown and live there from then on. But with Kenneth's status unclear, Uri was afraid he would miss news about Kenneth if he and Emma left the palace.

They promised to exchange letters at the Ruby Palace, so Uri would most likely miss Kenneth's letter if there was a possibility that the prince was still alive out there. Uri is forced to choose whether to believe in Kenneth and remain in the palace despite the dangerous situation or leave and assume Kenneth is dead forever.

"Sigh..."

Uri covered his face in frustration as he recalled the moment when he saw Kenneth off. He was already sure Kenneth would have a different ending than the others. He would succeed and return as a future king. But after this chaos and the fact that he had lost contact with Kenneth, Uri began to doubt that Kenneth was still alive out there.

"A feather?"

While Uri was pondering in frustration, the servant felt something land on his head. Uri felt his head and opened his eyes to see that a feather was stuck in his hair. The servant almost threw the feather away if only the feather hadn't suddenly shone and scared Uri half to death.

In the end, Uri still took off the feather because he was afraid that the feather was one of the traps of someone who wanted to harm him. Uri also reflexively immediately put up a protective magic that he could use. But after a long time without seeing any reaction from the feather he threw away, Uri finally looked again for the place where he threw the feather.

To Uri's surprise, what he found after that was no longer an ordinary feather but a letter with the sender's name written clearly on the envelope. Uri's eyes quickly turned red as he read the name and recognized the familiar writing on the envelope. Uri ran to immediately take the envelope. He stared at the envelope carefully. After some time, Uri finally decided to return to the Ruby Palace first before opening the letter.

Although Ruby Palace had always been the quietest place in the royal palace environment, Uri could not guarantee that no one saw him getting a letter from the prince who had been declared dead by the royal family.

***

After Uri entered his room, the servant first made sure that he had closed the door and all the windows. Uri lit a lamp at the table and lit a candle before he opened the letter. The servant took a deep breath before his hand finally moved to open the seal that closed the letter.

When Uri saw the same writing on the envelope, he was finally sure that the letter was sent by Kenneth. Although Uri did not know how Kenneth disguised his letter or why they had lost contact for a few weeks, the familiar writing style and words of the letter immediately convinced Uri of its authenticity.

Uri was the one who taught Kenneth how to write and read in the past. In the royal palace, Uri was convinced that no one knew Kenneth's writing skills better than he did.

Once Uri had verified the authenticity of the letter, he began to slowly read the contents of the letter that Kenneth had sent. At first, Uri smiled because Kenneth wrote that he was doing well and was living well. However, the longer Uri read the letter, the more the smile that had originally hung on Uri's face disappeared.

From the letter that Kenneth had sent, Uri finally learned that what was announced in the palace was a lie made up by Prince Leroy and the Mage's Association. From the beginning, the ones who truly wanted the Audoran Forest were the Mage's Association, while King Ducan was most likely just being used by them. Kenneth wrote that he was certain that their attacks would not stop there. Even if they managed to drive them away this time, those people would surely continue their invasion of the Audoran Forest in the future.

Then, Uri was also told that in order to prevent Audoran Forest from falling into the wrong hands, Kenneth had resolved to protect Audoran Forest from now on. Even so, he was still worried about the safety of Uri and Emma, who were in the royal palace. Kenneth asked Uri to take Emma out of the royal palace and go to Audoran Forest to live with him.

Kenneth did not explain how they could live in Audoran Forest safely. However, in the letter, Kenneth asks Uri to wait for him in Celeste Village. Kenneth told Uri to tell his name to the Celeste Village Chief. They would help Uri, Kenneth was sure of that.

Uri lost his smile, not because he was angry at Kenneth for throwing away the opportunity to become king, but because he was worried that the situation might be more serious than his master had expected. Kenneth did not know that his brother would become king in three days. Meanwhile, King Ducan had passed away a few days ago.

Everything had become clear to Uri after that. After the Mage Association lost King Ducan, those people most likely changed their target and used Leroy instead.

If that was the truth he wanted to know, then his escape plan could not be taken lightly from now on. Kenneth said that it was very likely that the Magician's Association knew that Kenneth was still alive. So, to catch him, they would use those closest to Kenneth to lure him out.

Even if he managed to escape, the people from the palace would most likely chase him for various reasons. Kenneth's letter made Uri realize that he did not have time to stay idle anymore. Even if Uri had to leave in the middle of the night, the servant knew that he had to leave as soon as possible.

Uri put the letter that Kenneth had sent him in one of his shirt pockets before he went out to meet Emma, who was always contemplating in her own room. Uri saw that his master's mother was sitting and brooding in her favorite rocking chair. The servant started to approach her but stopped when the distance between him and Emma was only a few meters away.

"Lady Emma, ​​His Highness Prince Kenneth has sent a letter and asked us to see him soon. Therefore, I hope you don't mind leaving today. I will prepare everything for you. However, until I finish preparing everything, I hope you can stay in this room until I return."

Although Emma continued to ignore him as usual, Uri knew that the woman heard his voice and could understand what Uri wanted from him. Uri quickly left Emma's room again after that. Uri first wanted to make sure of his escape route before he prepared his things and left with Emma, who was absent-minded most of the time.

Unfortunately, his decision this time caused a fatal mistake that Uri could not fix anymore. If only Uri had known what would happen in the future, then Uri would never have left and left Emma alone in the Ruby Palace.