The Princess in the Chicken Coop - Chapter 1.3
Soria’s small eyes stared directly at the emperor of the empire. Her yellow feet gripped the edge of the blanket fiercely as if they were the eagle’s talons engraved on his golden buttons.
[You say you’re the Emperor of the Crotia Empire. No matter how much of an emperor you are, the Kingdom of Syenn is an independent nation. We’re neither a vassal state of the empire nor in a position to receive protection while paying tribute! That being the case, how dare you treat a royal from another country so rudely?]
Soria’s voice was low, and her words were bold. Even Lenok, who had thought she was a princess who knew nothing, was inwardly impressed.
There was nothing wrong with what she said.
‘If you can call a kingdom with nothing but thorny vines for citizens a kingdom, that is.’
However, Lenok quickly recovered from his shock.
He changed his mind. To achieve his goal, the white chicken was an entity that needed to be kept alive, regardless.
He moved towards the bed that Soria was occupying as if marking his territory like a beast. He intended to have a conversation.
The one who stopped him was the imperial grand magician Owell, whose shin had just been kicked.
“Your Majesty, even jokes are only funny when they’re short. It’s not amusing anymore, so please stop.”
“What do you mean, Owell? What joke?”
“…Haven’t you been talking to a chicken this whole time, Your Majesty?”
“…What?”
“Please be mindful of the knights’ gazes as well.”
“Wait a moment, Owell. I’m not in the mood for jokes, so if you’re spouting nonsense, save it for later.”
At Lenok’s words, Owelll’s expression became even more serious.
His blue eyes sank heavily. Owell carefully grasped Lenok’s shoulder and asked.
“Your Majesty, do I look like I’m joking?”
Lenok finally looked around.
None of the knights were laughing.
In fact, they wore even more serious expressions than Owell.
Their faces showed that they didn’t want to believe that the emperor, who hadn’t even taken an empress let alone a concubine and thus had no heir, had gone mad…
‘What’s going on all of a sudden?’
Soria also looked around at the stirring knights. Since Owell had whispered so that only Lenok could hear, Soria hadn’t heard anything either.
She walked forward slightly, clutching her trembling heart at Lenok’s increasingly serious expression.
‘What’s wrong?’
Although she tried to act confident, these were the first people she had seen in over a hundred years. In other words, this was an opportunity that had barely fallen into her hands. It was natural to feel anxious.
Seeing Soria approaching closer and closer, perhaps fearing she might miss her chance, Lenok pointed at her and said,
“Owell, I’m not in the mood for jokes either. This chicken is Syenn Brianne V. Soria, the only surviving royal of the Kingdom of Syenn.”
Soria instinctively straightened her body at the dozens of gazes suddenly focused on her. Her head held high was fierce.
She introduced herself in the most majestic voice she could muster.
[It is as the Emperor of Crotia says. I am indeed Syenn Brianne V. Soria.]
The knights’ gazes that had been fixed on Soria now moved towards Lenok.
“Cluck─ cluck, cluck cluck cluck!”
A look of devastation flashed across the eyes of various colors.
‘His Majesty has gone mad.’
It was a moment when a misunderstanding that couldn’t be easily resolved was deepening.
Lenok, unable to bear the injustice of being seen as a madman, grabbed the back of his neck.
And Soria, seeing the knights turn their pale faces from the emperor to look at her with devastated expressions, tensed up and sharpened her guard.
The atmosphere was strange. There was an indescribable, peculiar tension in the air. She knew what this was. Her skin tingled with wariness towards the unknown.
Soria instinctively stepped back. And Lenok, not realizing that Soria was glaring at him, reached out his hand with an irritated expression.
Soria, horrified at the large shadow approaching her, cried out.
“C**k-a-doodle-doo─!”
“Look closely. This chicken…”
Disregarding that, Owell grabbed Lenok’s collar and pulled him back just as he was reaching out. After restraining his emperor, Owell stepped forward, loosening the tie of his cloak The playful expression that had dominated his face moments ago had completely vanished.
“I apologize, Your Majesty. Please forgive this subject for daring to doubt you.”
His blue eyes narrowed.
As a few knights turned their blades towards him for the impertinence of grabbing the emperor’s collar, Owelll skillfully redirected the points of those blades toward Soria.
“What are you doing! Why aren’t you drawing your swords and being on guard! It’s an attack magic. Judging by the magic circle that’s no longer used… It seems this chicken really is Princess Soria.”
Soria was a bit surprised at Owelll’s skill in instantly reading the magic circle being drawn at her feet. As he said, what she had used was one of the magic circles passed down only in the Syenn dynasty.
Since ancient times, there were two ways for a magician to use magic.
Either use a magic circle to increase the success rate, or accumulate skill to use silent magic.
For Soria, whose mana flow was not smooth due to the curse, there was only one option left.
Her sharp claws carefully tapped the edge of the magic circle.
Following that edge, the magic circle connected by mana began to shine with a brilliant golden light. The sound of knights in confusion, momentarily blinded, filled the room.
“Damn it!”
Owell, covering his eyes with his collar, cursed under his breath.
“We must capture her at all costs! If Princess Soria dies, this entire journey will have been in vain!”
Owell’s voice boomed, filling the room.
Soria flew up, avoiding the knights who were all rushing towards her at once. The knights’ vision had not yet fully returned, buying her some time.
She didn’t want to run away, but for now, there was nothing else she could do. Soria swallowed her anger and dashed towards the window.
‘To think I believed that bastard’s words, for heaven’s sake!’
She had never fully trusted the magician’s words. But because there was no other way out, she must have been relying on them without realizing it.
On that one statement thrown with a sneer…
Perhaps that’s why she had placed hope in the empire’s emperor and his party who had suddenly barged in on this unexpected situation.
She was angry about that.
“C**k-a-doodle-doo!!”
Soria’s snow-white wings spread wide. She stepped on the window frame and flew up towards the backyard.
Lenok, who had escaped the influence of the magic thanks to the cloak Owelll had thrown, stared blankly at the sight. In a typical fairy tale, this would be the moment for the first meeting with the princess, destined love, and other such romantic words to be listed.
However, unfortunately, this was not a fairy tale, and Lenok was not a man full of dreams and hopes enough to fall in love while looking at a chicken.
He simply thought this as he watched Soria taking flight.
‘The chicken… is flying.’
It was indeed a very realistic observation.
“Your Majesty, are you alright!!”
The light soon subsided.
Lenok held back the knights rushing towards him with one hand. As he looked around, the first thing that caught his eye was the mess the room had become. He frowned as he surveyed the room that had turned into a disaster area.
Needless to say, Soria was nowhere to be seen. All that remained were snow-white chicken feathers scattered here and there.
“Hah.”
Lenok rubbed his forehead at the sudden wave of fatigue. How had things become so complicated?
