Chapter 65
The tension between Hamilton, Florina, and the tavern staff continued to build.
The staff were clearly prepared to use force to prevent access to the third floor.
Why? Just how important was this VIP floor for them to go this far?
Trained in martial arts, determined to stop them no matter what—this reeked of suspicion.
The bodyguard knight, the maid, and the spy all sensed it clearly and became deeply focused.
Just that morning, they’d merely been following the princess’s whims.
Now, without realizing it, they were fully invested in uncovering this establishment’s secret.
“Hmmm. I’ve got important business on the third floor…”
“Absolutely not allowed…”
They argued at the base of the stairs, and even Florina started chiming in.
‘Well, the path is blocked… but Hamilton will take care of it like last time, right?’
Meanwhile, Solinor was surprisingly relaxed.
Normally, he would have noticed the unnatural aura of the staff,
But inside a young girl’s body, his senses had dulled.
He simply thought: “They’re just five tavern employees—how hard could they be for a knight to handle?”
‘The Princess… not even flinching in a situation like this… Just how bold is she?’
Bianca was silently amazed.
She herself was terrified, but the young princess wasn’t even blinking.
Somehow, watching Muriela helped calm her fear.
Her trembling body slowly began to relax.
‘Zephyr, what are you even doing, darting around like that?’
Solinor, in truth, had been watching Zephyr’s antics.
The wind spirit, visible only to him, was fluttering around the second floor sniffing here and there.
‘Is there something interesting he smells?’
If he could just command Zephyr to scout the third floor, that would solve everything—
But unlike Aiorin, Solinor couldn’t give mental commands to spirits.
Plus, he hadn’t told anyone—not even the bodyguard or the maids—about Zephyr’s existence.
‘Now that I think about it, why haven’t I told them?’
He had already revealed it to Muriela’s siblings and Queen Elodia.
Hamilton, Bianca, and Florina weren’t the type to blabber about it either.
But now wasn’t the time to reveal it anyway—they were in public, and others were watching.
Eventually, Zephyr returned to Muriela’s side and spoke.
“Princess, something’s not right with these people. Most of them have sharp metal objects hidden inside their bodies. And they’re all watching you. Some are slowly approaching from behind.”
Solinor’s eyes widened. He finally grasped how serious the situation was.
‘Huh? What do you mean by that?’
He wanted to ask Zephyr for more details, but Bianca was right beside him.
Looking again at the staff blocking Hamilton and Florina, it was obvious—these weren’t average workers.
Only now did he realize their strength, and a wave of danger swept over him.
‘Wait—why are tavern workers like this? This is dangerous.’
And just like Zephyr said, footsteps started creeping up from behind.
They were being surrounded.
Hamilton was certainly strong, but he didn’t even have his sword.
There were too many enemies.
If this were the Old Solinor, he could’ve subdued half of them with one war cry.
But the way things were going now, there was no way they’d get out of this unharmed.
‘This is really bad. Can Hamilton and Florina protect both of us and fight at the same time?’
Even without thinking deeply, the answer was clear: not a chance.
At this rate, she might go down in history as the first princess to die in a tavern.
Just then, Florina turned at the sound of someone approaching and blinked in surprise.
“Wait… Maki? Maki, is that you?”
Just then, one of the female staff members who had been moving in to surround them reacted.
She had reached into her clothes to pull something out but froze at Florina’s words.
“What? How do you know my real name…?”
“It’s me! It’s me, your old mess of a friend—Betchi!”
And just like that, Florina’s real name as a spy was revealed.
As she spoke, she pulled out some cotton-like fluff from her coat and wiped her face.
As her disguise came off and her real face was revealed, not only Maki, but several others reacted.
“Betchi? What are you doing here? Who are these people?”
“Oh my, I had a feeling your face and outfit looked disguised. It really is Betchi?”
“Geez, you’ve been missing for months! Where have you been hiding? I thought you were dead.”
In an instant, the tension broke.
Hamilton, who had been ready to throw a punch at any moment, was left awkwardly standing.
Still, not having to fight in such a dangerous situation was certainly a good outcome.
“So… wait, all the staff on this floor are spies? Ah, I shouldn’t say that out loud, should I? My bad.”
Florina scratched her head with an embarrassed smile.
This was why she had earned the nickname “the disaster Betchi.”
No matter how much Corbin trained her, she always blabbed and let secrets slip.
But apparently, what she’d just said wasn’t that big of a deal, since no one made a fuss.
They just looked at her with mild disappointment.
“There aren’t any regular customers here at this hour anyway, so it’s fine… But really, you haven’t changed. Always leaking stuff the moment you open your mouth. No wonder the Spymaster never gives you serious missions.”
“Hey! I’m actually on a super important mission right now! I’m escorting none other than Princess Muriela—whoops!”
An incredible spy indeed.
Not only the staff, but even Hamilton and Bianca looked at her dumbfounded.
Everyone’s eyes turned toward Princess Muriela.
Now, she had suddenly become the center of attention.
But Muriela just grinned and waved.
“Hi! I’m Muriela! So, you’re all Corbin’s subordinates, right?”
“…Yes, Princess. That’s correct.”
Everyone was clearly flustered.
Why was Princess Muriela, who should be resting comfortably in her chambers, here of all places?
From her build and voice, it was undeniably her.
Her face was different because of a disguise, but that was probably Betchi’s handiwork.
“Ooh, I see. So this place is actually used by Corbin for gathering information?”
Muriela didn’t stop there. Her expression seemed to say:
“Oh, you call her a disaster? Let me show you what a real disaster looks like.”
She went on to introduce her companions.
“This is my bodyguard, Sir Hamilton! And this is Bianca, my maid!”
“Ah. I see. Understood, Princess.”
And of course, she wouldn’t stop there. Muriela decided it was time to come out.
“Zephyr! Show yourself to everyone!”
Before she even finished speaking, Zephyr appeared in the air.
Everyone gasped and stepped back.
This was the first time his existence had been publicly revealed outside the royal family.
“This is my spirit, Zephyr!”
As she had thought earlier, everyone here seemed trustworthy, so she just revealed it.
Hamilton and Bianca were obviously reliable. The staff here were new, sure—
But Solinor thought, “If they’re Corbin’s people, it’s fine.”
And he had good reason for that trust.
Solinor’s faith in Corbin was based on solid evidence.
Corbin’s way of recruiting people was extremely thorough—he won them over from the depths of their hearts.
All the spies gathered here had been rescued from miserable lives by Corbin.
As a result, they were more loyal to him than even the kingdom itself.
Though they were flustered by the princess’s sudden appearance, they quickly composed themselves.
It was basic spy instinct, after all.
Plus, they knew Corbin had taken a special interest in her lately.
It was perfectly reasonable to assume he’d been secretly working with her on something.
…The only issue was that the one managing it all happened to be the disaster Betchi.
“Princess, if I may… What brings you here today?”
“From what I can tell, it seems you didn’t know this place was under Sir Corbin’s direction…”
“Yeah. I had no idea. But how come you didn’t know, Florina? Your friends work here.”
“Sir Corbin doesn’t tell me everything…”
“Because whenever someone tells you a secret, you spill it immediately! Honestly, it’s a miracle you haven’t been fired yet.”
Still, thanks to Florina, a potentially bloody situation had been peacefully resolved.
Everyone’s tension had eased, and they were now chatting.
Of course, being spies, they still kept checking to make sure no one was eavesdropping.
Occupational hazard.
At that moment, a loud voice rang from the floor below.
“Support team reporting as requested!”
It was the quick-footed guard from earlier, returning.
He had reported to another spy office in the capital and brought back stronger reinforcements.
Now, everything had to be explained all over again.
“So, can we finally go up to the third floor now?”
Only after all that was over did the princess finally bring up her actual reason for coming.
—
Read More at – GENZNOVEL.COM!!
PLEASE JOIN OUR DISCORD AND SUBSCRIBE THE ROLE TO RECEIVE LATEST NOTIFICATIONS!!
Click here -> https://discord.gg/S8c2kGVr2g
Comment