Princess, Please Fall in Love with Me-Chapter 55 : Chapter 55

Chapter 55 : Entrance, A Perfectly Seamless New Script
"How are you here?"
"I saw the old wolf’s letter and figured you’d need backup, so I hired a carriage and came over.
In our line of work, we’re all about being there when called—or even when not called."
Having survived a life-or-death escape together, Lycan and Lubi had grown as close as brothers, though much of that was due to Lubi’s outgoing nature.
Lubi drove the carriage while boasting about his business skills.
Loka gave a few casual responses, focusing on bandaging her wounds with the medicine bottle from the carriage.
"Sir, you’ve already met Balwen, haven’t you? What do you think? Quite an interesting guy, right? Back then, that’s how I met him too."
Indeed, Lubi was the one who found Balwen at the bottom of the cliff years ago.
It was precisely because of this life-saving favor that Balwen agreed to help Lubi hide the goods.
At this, Loka pulled out the key Balwen had given her from her pocket and tossed it to Lubi.
"Since you’re back, you don’t need me to do your job for you, right? Drop me off at the palace, then focus on your work. Don’t worry, I’ll keep an eye on the old man."
Loka referred to Sorensen, the old head of the Oak Family.
Though Lubi had formally left the family to strike out on his own, his rise had been inseparable from the old head’s support and guidance, making Sorensen a benefactor to him.
With Loka’s promise, Lubi happily caught the key, giving a confident thumbs-up.
The carriage soon reached the palace’s outskirts.
"Rest assured, sir, mission guaranteed!"
Lubi whipped the carriage into a frenzied gallop and left.
Loka touched her bandaged wound, gripped the silver sword, and slowly entered the palace, but at the gate, she encountered an uninvited guest.
Meanwhile, in the palace’s banquet hall, the triumphant Emperor, arm around the Duke’s shoulder, sang boisterously while drunk.
Perhaps because they had just thwarted an assassination, everyone fully relaxed into the festivities.
"Come on, keep the music playing, keep dancing! Eh, Your Excellency the Duke, why are there two of you?"
"Your Majesty, you must be drunk. How could there be two of me?"
The Emperor rubbed his bleary eyes, laughed, and shook his head, turning to merrily rejoin the crowd.
As the Emperor left, the Duke quietly approached the window, his eyes repeatedly signaling to a shadow outside.
"What’s this, little Royal Sister, scared by the assassins earlier? Why hide here instead of chatting with others? You’re one of the banquet’s stars."
Third Princess Yileta, holding a wine glass, sauntered over to tease Yiwen, who was still clutching a juice glass.
Ever since Loka started secretly swapping her wine for juice, Yiwen had instinctively grabbed juice cups.
After what had just happened, Yiwen seemed to grasp a truth—sticking with these conspicuous big shots meant trouble, with assassinations as common as meals.
Better to stay in the corner, keeping a low profile.
At this thought, Yiwen suddenly remembered someone who had been gone for a long time.
Uncle Kyle had probably gone to help, right? What a troublesome guy.
She should’ve slipped out quietly earlier.
"Yileta, what are you doing here? Mother’s looking for us."
An untimely voice interrupted Yiwen’s thoughts.
The Second Prince approached with a cold expression, grabbed Yileta’s hand, and hurriedly left without sparing Yiwen a glance.
Yiwen ignored the siblings’ tug-of-war, her gaze shifting to the Duke, who was suddenly approaching the Emperor with a smile, holding a glass of wine.
"Your Majesty, you look truly spirited today. I offer you a toast."
Before the Emperor could take the Duke’s glass, the Duke’s expression changed.
He abruptly splashed the wine in the Emperor’s face, then slammed the glass onto the floor in the Emperor’s stunned gaze.
With the crisp sound of the shattering glass, the Duke’s men, previously tasked with guarding, suddenly drew their weapons toward the guests they had just protected.
The gate guards were also taken down by the Duke’s men, allowing assassins to rush in.
"Your Majesty, you’ve sat on that throne long enough. Isn’t it time for someone else to take a turn?"
The Duke’s words snapped the drunken Emperor sober, a chill running through him.
As he tried to resist, he found his body unable to move.
"Duke, I didn’t expect you to have this move..."
"What are you doing!"
At that moment, an unexpected turn occurred.
Saito's Grand Duke, wielding a greatsword, cut through all blocking assassins and soldiers, charging straight to the Duke and Emperor.
The sharp greatsword seemed poised to cleave the man before him in half, but the Duke held a dagger to the Emperor’s throat, forcing the Grand Duke to hesitate.
"Duke, release His Majesty. Perhaps you’ll only lose your title, and for the sake of our years together, your life might be spared. Or do you think you can stand against three empires with guests from all three here?"
With the Grand Duke present, though the Emperor’s life was in the enemy’s hands, it didn’t stop him from taunting the grim-faced Duke, even as the Duke could slit his now-weakened throat at any moment.
"Step back, Saito’s Grand Duke, or I’ll cut his throat."
"Really?"
Saito's Grand Duke excitedly took another step forward, bewildering both the Duke and Emperor.
The Duke, furious, shouted for him to retreat, while he, holding the Emperor hostage, slowly moved toward the second-floor corridor under his men’s cover.
At the palace’s outskirts, all guards had been silently dispatched.
Only Loka and the woman before her stood in a quiet standoff.
Loka looked puzzled at the woman blocking her path.
"Why are you stopping me, Beautiful Woman? You should know by now your Duke is a fake."
Standing before Loka was none other than the Duke’s Beautiful Woman, Miranda.
Gone was her usual haughty arrogance, replaced by a cautious, trembling expression of fear as she looked at Loka.
"The Duke said you can’t pass... Miss Loka, he said if you defy him this time, you’ll die. Please... go back obediently."
"Using a wife he can discard at any moment to negotiate with me? It seems he’s got something on you. Let me guess—Balesha’s life, right?"
In both her previous life and now, Loka understood the Duke’s selfish, ruthless, and unscrupulous nature.
To him, his wife and son, living with a substitute for years, were merely tools to be used.
At Loka’s words, Miranda’s expression shifted, clearly confirming her predicament.
With a near-pleading look, Miranda knelt before Loka.
"As long as you agree to the Duke’s terms, he said he’ll spare Balesha’s life. I know we’ve done many wrongs to you. Even if it takes my life, I beg you!"
Loka slowly walked past Miranda, gently patting her shoulder.
Seeing Miranda’s grateful expression, Loka, for the first time, smiled at her, whispering softly in her ear as if to comfort.
"But I refuse."