Circumstances of Switching Bodies

“We’ll let the princess know.”

“Let us leave, Your Highness.”

The attendants weren’t the least bit bothered by my arrogant and harsh way of speaking.

It was a matter of course. Deric had always used this tone with the people around him, including me. So, I paid careful attention to this aspect of him and copied it.

The fact that he had spent his entire childhood in a harsh and unforgiving place while he had to endure and survive countless assassination attempts without anyone that he could trust and rely on might’ve contributed to his manner of speaking, but I didn’t want to consider his circumstances.

Why should I be understanding when it hurts my self-esteem whenever I listen to him? Up until now, I had no choice but to endure it, but it doesn’t mean that I didn’t value myself.

“Wait … Ah!”

Deric tried to say something, but his voice came out hoarse and muted. Well, he had only himself to blame since he asked me not to hold back my moans and cries last night. I didn’t slow my pace and continued walking. The messenger bird with the red ribbon tied to its leg was something that I had prepared, so I wasn’t really worried that Her Majesty’s condition had deteriorated.

But if I had to impersonate Deric, then I needed to be seen being in a rush and worried about the empress’s health, as he secretly had his mother and father in his thoughts.

I boarded the ship with the nobles who got up early. The briny sea breeze and the smell of rain from pouring all night washed away under the morning sun. I waited for the ship to depart, breathing in a brisk damp air.

Of course, Deric couldn’t follow me back to the ship. He must be brimming with tears over the raw pain by now.

‘He must be gritting his teeth now.’

I felt like I was going to smirk but Deric’s body was surprisingly still. It felt like the body, which had adapted to a harsh environment for a long time, had learned to control sudden bursts of emotions.

If I had to grow up in such a harsh environment, would I also have been as insensitive to emotions as he is? It was amazing in a strange way, but I decided not to pay much attention to it. It only took an hour by ship to reach the imperial capital from the River Island. There would be many more people who’d observe me when I reach there.

Soon the ship set sail.

A man who had survived at the cost of forgetting the accent and etiquette of the empire but never forgot his status as the crown prince.

A man who could never adapt to the culture of the upper class, even though he was the first in line to the throne.

That’s how people thought of Frederic Leifferze.

‘Now that I think about it, I feel sorry for Deric. He’s a pitiful war hero.’

About 15 years ago, the Kingdom of Elsion joined forces with the neutral wizards to attack the Empire. The Empire, which did not accept magic, fell behind in battle. Deric was sent as a hostage to prevent the wizards on the kingdom’s side from indiscriminately attacking the imperial houses.

‘It was actually a deal. Deric was sold on the condition that they would not attack people indiscriminately.’

This was a trick of the nobles to weaken the imperial power, but in the end, it was the emperor and empress who made the decision. Deric was quite shocked when he learned that his mother and father had abandoned him like this.

He concealed his heartache and declared that he would fulfill his duty as the crown prince. This scene was described at lengths in the book.

At the tender age of ten, he had moved to an unfamiliar kingdom overnight and underwent numerous threats on his life. As a result, his mind and spirit suffered a lot.

The emperor often asked about his well-being through his loyal aides, but he could not go or rescue his son in person. At some point, Deric had come to accept his fate.

Disregarding how he was raised as a prince, how would he, the one who had survived threat after threat from a mere age of ten, believe in love or affection between people?

But he never forgot his duty as the crown prince.

He helped a huge number of illegally captured prisoners to return to the empire, and from the age of 15, he had continually participated and won major battles.

The kingdom and the wizards belatedly recognized Deric’s ability and tried to limit his actions, but they couldn’t because Deric had awoken the legendary Demon Dragon’s Sword.

‘Since the Mage Tower was a place where the magical powers bestowed by the Great Dragons on humans were worshipped, it was natural that they couldn’t touch Deric, who was officially chosen by the Demon Dragon’s sword.’

The crown prince, who had been abandoned for political advantage and power, had now returned as a war hero. So it was a given that nobles found him quite annoying to their eyes. Deric also loathed the nobles with the same intensity.

‘There’s no way he wouldn’t have known that it was the nobles who schemed to send him as a hostage.’

Well, it would’ve been nice if he was also sure about his feelings for his parents. The book had detailed Deric’s face when he had returned home.

Why did you send me?

The blue eyes looking at the Emperor said so. The emperor’s answer to him was spectacular.

“An emperor doesn’t repeat his mistakes.”

It would’ve been better if His Majesty had said something along the lines of “You have returned safely” or “You must’ve had a hard time” even just to pretend. He could’ve given excuses like, “I had no choice but do it for the sake of my subjects”.

This was how His Majesty contributed in making his son’s character as sharp as the spines of a sea urchin.

Besides, the empress had been confined to bed from the guilt of sending her son away to the enemy’s side. Deric’s ambivalence toward his parents was indescribably complex.

‘Well, it’s his family affair, so Deric will take care of it.’

I opened my eyes feeling the sea breeze and then slowly closed them. I could see the clock tower of the capital towering under the sky where the seagulls departed.

It was a structure that could be clearly seen from the Duchy of Chandler, my residence, and I inadvertently thought of my family for no reason.

Since the one-day schedule suddenly changed to one night and two days, my family must be worried by now. They would be worried about my condition for at least the next 15 days.

‘Because there’s no way Deric, who never cared about me, would be able to act like me.’

My family would surely notice my strange behavior, but since magic wasn’t commonplace in the empire, they wouldn’t be suspicious of an imposter acting as their daughter.

Deric was smart, so it was clear that he would not provoke or act recklessly in a situation where he had no idea what was going on.

I can be sure about it because I have observed him closely for a while. Of course, I had also planted a helper beside him to stop him from being violent.

‘What must our Crown Prince, who knows nothing, be doing by now?’

I didn’t want him running around trying to kill me. I closed my eyes again feeling the cool sea breeze.

Deric, who was left alone in the room, held up a hand mirror, biting his lips tightly. When he checked the image in the mirror, he had a headache. Why was her face reflected in the mirror?

‘What the hell did Irene do?’

Deric couldn’t easily accept this situation. After spending a night with Irene and falling asleep, he opened his eyes as soon as he felt a sense of emptiness and sharp pain.

Then he saw that the place next to him was empty.

Thinking that Irene had left the place while he was sleeping as if she were running away, he felt his stomach twist and he broke out into a cold sweat.

But that was just the beginning of the troubles that Irene had left for him.

Deric felt a splitting pain and gritted his teeth. He had never experienced pain like this, even during the war.

His arms weren’t generally weak, but for some reason, he could barely move his arm to remove the blanket. When he somehow managed to do so, he saw a smooth and bewitching pair of womanly legs.

“…..”

He was tired because he had spent the night with a woman for the first time. Deric calmed himself down and looked down at his hand.

He could see a soft and fair hand of a woman. When he clenched the fist and opened it, it was moving according to his will, but there were no familiar calluses or scars.

‘A woman’s hands?’

It took a while for him to realize that his soul was now not in his body but in the body of Irenea Chandler.

Just in time, he heard the voices of the knights talking about the crown prince. Deric raised his heavy lead-like body with great difficulty, then opened the door, and looked at the lobby. Then for some reason, he saw his body leisurely leaving the villa.

“What the hell! What is going on?”

Deric had experienced many crises while living as a hostage in the enemy country, but it was the first time he had ever experienced something as ridiculous as this.

“Princess, don’t bother me.” 

When he heard the voice, his mind went blank and he felt all his energy being drained from his body. But Deric could instinctively tell that it was Irene’s soul that had occupied his body.

‘But how? Why?’

Deric kept thinking about this while taking an unwanted nap. Irene’s imitation of him was quite natural.

Maybe she had expected this…

He didn’t know how she did it, but the assumption that she stole his body and ran away seemed most plausible to him right now.

When he thought so far, he felt like a fool for feeling dissatisfied on not seeing her by his side when he opened his eyes.

“Damn it.”

Deric gritted his teeth for a while to grasp the situation. Even the maids Irene brought from the Duchy of Chandler did not notice that their owner’s soul had switched with another. He thought it was alright that they didn’t notice it, but they were crying and hugging him tightly.

“My Lady … it’s not your fault. His Highness is really too mean.”

“How can he just leave like that after spending a night with you? He’s really the worst!”

The maids, who adored Irene, began to fiercely rebuke the Crown Prince. Even though it was him who had woken up to an empty bed after they had spent the night together.

‘Who’s really the worst?’

Deric felt suffocated with injustice, but now that he couldn’t even figure out what was going on right now, he didn’t want anyone to be suspicious of his behavior. If one didn’t have a good idea, then it was better to act and follow the script for the time being.

This was the biggest course of action that allowed him to overcome many life threats and survive.

“I want to be alone for a while.”

Deric sent the maids out imitating Irene’s tone, which he had been observing. He only said a few words because his voice was hoarse, but it still stung.

There was cooled soup, bread, and a small box on the table. The box was left behind by a Palace servant.

The red box was neatly tied by a gold ribbon. It was the finest packaging that was used when the imperial family gifted something.

It was unpleasant to think that he had received the very present he had prepared to give to Irene.

Deric’s brow furrowed when he recalled what he had put in the box. He couldn’t understand why Irene, who was always following him and smiling with her eyes, would suddenly do this.

Last night wasn’t so bad.

“I won’t let you have my child.”

He thought he had conveyed his intention of wanting to enjoy their time together even if it was short. Irene was exceptionally clever among the young ladies and always smiled softly as if she understood what he meant. So, he thought that this time again, she must have understood his intention of making her his Crown Princess.

But he didn’t know that leaving him alone was her answer to last night’s request.

“……”

But why? Deric gritted his teeth. He couldn’t understand why she refused him and ran away with his body like this.

She had been following him all this time. Was she fed up, now that she had spent the night?

‘… She was thinking of running away from the beginning after taking my body.’

Last night, when he lightly hugged her after their affair, she turned her body. He didn’t realize that it may have been to avoid him, not because she was uncomfortable.

As soon as he realized that, Deric threw the small box in the trash can. It was the best thing he could do.

It was clear that he would not be able to think rationally if he saw the necklace with the crest of the Emperor of Leffeirze with his own eyes.