### Chapter 283 – Room 204, Mission’s Room – ‘Hotel Cinema’ (7)
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– Yu Songee
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In that moment of crisis, the mishap from the fox hunt flashed through my mind. An unknown entity had fired in my direction, turning the fox hunt into complete chaos. Looking back, the prince’s outrage to hunt down the culprit was entirely justifiable.
What exactly is a gun? Even an empty gun pointed at someone is considered dangerous enough to be frowned upon. That’s why the prince’s mention of assassination and treason carried such weight.
“Someone’s targeting me.”
“What? Huh?”
Gellion still didn’t seem to realize the gravity of the situation. I momentarily doubted him but quickly brushed it off. Who would be an ordinary person to have cared for a country’s crown prince since childhood?
He must hail from a family that has loyally served the royal household for generations. It simply doesn’t add up that such a person would pivot to harm the prince’s fiancée.
— Clunk!
“You jerk! What the—”
“GAAAACK!”
The coachman’s scream echoed through the carriage. I quickly grabbed Gellion’s arm and jumped out, only to find the situation had become grotesquely clear.
“G-Gellion, my lady! Bullets are flying!”
The coachman was already dead, and the cart had broken down from the sudden jolt. As I surveyed my surroundings, it hit me. An isolated spot, with a mountain on the right and the sea on the left.
“Perfect location to get killed.”
“What?”
A variety of possibilities rushed through my head. Mountain bandits? Pirates from the sea? An offensive from an enemy nation? Rivals eyeing the throne?
No, there’s no need to overthink possibilities.
This world is not reality; it’s a “movie.” Considering the current point and the film’s runtime, the conclusion is near. We were reaching the final act, so it wouldn’t make sense for an unexpected villain to show up now.
I recalled the girl’s murderous gaze from earlier. It seems I’ll have to settle things with her sooner or later.
At that moment, a familiar voice echoed from afar.
“Catch her! Get that thief cat alive if possible!”
I couldn’t help but laugh. Is there really a noble out there who goes to the crime scene themselves while orchestrating an assassination?
But regardless of my laughter, the situation was dire. With a wrecked carriage, I, a mere teenage girl, and Gellion, an elderly man, could never hope to outrun our pursuers.
“Lady Crocibel! Over here—”
— BANG!
With a thunderous crack, a bullet pierced the throat of the guard waving at me.
In that split second, the emotion I felt was less anger or sadness, but sheer ‘absurdity.’ How does it make sense for a duke’s family to outright assassinate the prince’s fiancée?
Seriously, who wrote this movie’s script? The logic is a mess!
…
Logic.
Panting, I glanced down at my bracelet. Logic, huh? It feels a bit rude of me, of all people, to complain about it in this film.
From what had transcribed so far, there was no magic or superpowers in this cinematic universe. Even the knights protecting the prince had never exhibited god-like movements.
In a world like this, I had achieved everything I desired using my bracelet.
In this ridiculous movie, from the moment we entered with blessings and inheritance, the concept of logic flew out the window. So, there’s no one to blame; I just need to proceed as I always have.
I can twist the scenario using the power of the bracelet to get what I want.
What should I do? The “various perspectives” possess immense power in a 1-on-1 situation. If I had a psychic like Beatrix from Room 201 capable of creating additional eyes through deception, it’d be a different story. But ordinary humans are incapable of resistance.
The problem is, this isn’t a 1-on-1 situation. There are at least a dozen chasers on our tail. The only entity I can deceive is one!
“Gellion, I have a question.”
“Yes?”
“How many people in the empire know my face?”
*
“Why haven’t you caught that girl yet?”
A gruesome voice escaped the lips of a girl with a beauty akin to the goddess of the night. Cedric, the duke’s retainer, calmly soothed the princess.
“Lady Evelyn, please calm down. The prince’s fiancée—”
“No! She’s not a fiancée!”
“… Lady Crocibel isn’t alone. The prince himself has sent knights along with an earl’s escort. Luckily, we have more men, so please be patient.”
“…”
Evelyn took a deep breath and assessed the situation.
Just as Cedric said, things were progressing as she intended. The “undeserving” crowd who had captivated the prince was fleeing in disarray, while the duke’s soldiers surrounded them, hunting the ‘rabbit’ down. Unless the enemies could fly, there was no way out.
At last, the long-awaited news arrived.
“Lady! We’ve captured Lady Crocibel!”
Evelyn’s first emotion upon hearing the news was not joy, but confusion. She hadn’t expected them to catch her so quickly.
“Bring her to me!”
And when the soldiers presented a girl clad in fluttering garments claiming to be ‘Crocibel,’ Evelyn felt the weight of the world crashing down.
“No way!”
“What?”
“No way! She resembles her but isn’t her! Who are you?”
“…”
“This woman isn’t Crocibel! You idiots!”
Evelyn’s furious shout turned every face around her pale.
What is going on? This girl is someone the prince sent, along with a carriage and attendants. To say she isn’t Lady Crocibel?
Cedric could hardly believe it. But he found it hard to refute Evelyn’s words. Who exactly is Lady Crocibel?
She’s the mysterious woman who effortlessly captured the prince’s attention at her very first party without ever stepping outside the earl’s household. Before becoming his lover, no one even knew who she was, and after, her status became so noble that seeing her face was exceptionally difficult.
Meaning, only Evelyn here had met her directly.
“Evelyn! Is that true?”
“If it’s really true, wouldn’t it be? Hey! Who are you?”
The girl, kneeling silently, delivered a piece of news that was unbelievably absurd. She claimed to be Crocibel’s half-sister and that the real Crocibel had fallen ill with a severe fever two days prior and couldn’t even get out of bed.
“And why were you in the carriage?”
Her answer was utterly ridiculous.
It wouldn’t be appropriate to present a person infected with a contagious disease to the prince, the empress, and the emperor. Therefore, they had no choice but to postpone the engagement, but they feared that if no one rode in the carriage, outsiders might catch wind of Crocibel’s misfortune, so they sent her lookalike half-sister instead.
Of course, you couldn’t fool the prince, but since the prince wouldn’t want the situation of his lover exposed, they thought of saying that to ask for ‘cooperation’ in the ‘act.’
Cedric muttered in lament.
“In the end, the real Crocibel has never left the earl’s house!”
Meanwhile, Evelyn began thinking in a different direction.
“Cedric, this situation may not be bad for us.”
“What do you mean?”
“Let’s take this girl to the palace.”
Cedric’s eyes widened for a moment but then quickly grasped the meaning!
“You plan to tell them Crocibel caught a fever?”
“Exactly! How could the fiancée of the prince stand next to him if she’s ill? And—hmm?”
I instantly shrank away. Evelyn, who had cocked her head in confusion, swiftly waved off her doubt and began to babble on.
In this urgent situation, the plan made was not all that significant.
There’s no camera or internet in this world, so how many people would know what the prince’s fiancée looks like? Other than Evelyn, who wouldn’t know what my face looks like?
Just as I expected, when I deceived Evelyn’s eyes, the others fell for the flimsy lie I concocted on the spot and mistook me for someone else. So far, so good…
I could never have imagined Evelyn would load me onto her own carriage!
At that moment, it was genuinely chilling. The illusion from my bracelet has a limited time. Initially, when I obtained various perspectives from Room 103, it only lasted ten minutes. Over time, it has gradually increased, but it never exceeded twenty minutes.
Naturally, the illusion cast on Evelyn was long gone, and right now, she was simply mistaking me due to first impressions and my act of cowering as low as I could.
I waited and waited. While the bimbo before me rambled about the future of the empire, a topic she had probably never considered before, I prayed that my bracelet’s abilities would recharge!
Thankfully, thanks to the movie’s unique trait of skipping the ‘boring scenes,’ the waiting didn’t take long.
“Hah! Now’s the time!”
“Your Highness—huh?”
Straightening my body that had been hunched over, I raised my head, which had been nearly pressed to the ground. Evelyn, who had been observing me with a puzzled expression, looked as if she doubted her own eyes.
“What the—”
“Stupid girl, still not recognizing me?”
The flash from the bracelet filled the carriage.
—
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