"Idiot," Carolina thought to herself as she watched the execution of Count Crown. Although, startled by the unexpected event, she still covered her beautiful mouth to keep from screaming, as other girls and ladies in the room had done—simpletons like Angelica or Lady Elizabeth, Countess Root. Though one girl in men's clothing, which somehow suited her far too well, looking around the same age as the princess, with a ponytail that wasn't even in fashion at the moment, didn't utter a single sound, simply observing what was happening.

  The princess was taken aback by this event—this was clearly not what Lord Pyotr had told her about in his letters. According to him, Viscount Mol had prepared solid ground for overthrowing Lord Nikolai, and then he could have inherited the title of Duke of Wood. With his help, Carolina had planned to extend the railway project deeper into the Deep Forest for more abundant logging and distribution throughout the kingdom. But now all her plans regarding the railway and the train were beginning to crumble like a house of cards. She couldn't understand why Lord Nikolai refused her proposals regarding construction deeper into the forest, so she readily took Count Crown's side when he agreed to her terms.

  But now all plans had gone to waste, and after Pyotr's death, it was unlikely anyone would want to deal with the current Duke of Wood. Although, as it turned out, he now had a niece who could also lay claim to that title. However, her brother had decided to make the simpleton Angelica Countess Crown, so that she would continue to support her Duke along with Viscount Mol.

  Carolina surveyed the hall once more. Many nobles had crowded around that professor from the Free Cities, dressed in who-knows-what, bombarding him with questions about the humanoid creatures that emitted steam and stood beside him, obeying his every command. The princess herself was also interested in examining these strange constructions, but she didn't allow her interest to overcome her pride.

  "Pervert," the girl merely thought when her gaze fell upon her elder sister again, and she exhaled wearily. Initially, she had only wanted to scold her elder sister and make her change clothes, but then all this chaos had started, and she hadn't had time to say anything to Vanessa. Now the noise was only growing louder, so the princess probably wouldn't have time to change, and for the rest of the ball, everyone would be staring at her bare back. She also noticed that her elder sister was still standing too close to the Duke of Wood, conversing with him about something. For the younger princess, it was strange to see her usually eccentric and flighty sister, who normally wasn't interested in men—except perhaps Count Hollow, as Carolina had managed to find out—showing interest in someone. Although now she had suddenly headed towards Idivig, apparently intending to tell him something. While the girl was pondering why Vanessa was going to her brother, she also saw Viscount Lines together with that fool Leon approaching the King. Carolina assumed why they might be going there—clearly to soften or cancel Leon's punishment, so that this old fox could gain access to the Baron's funds. Though the princess didn't understand who would need to pull off such a complex scheme to restrict access to the late Lord Charles's inheritance.

  And at that moment, the grand doors to the ballroom opened once more.

  "His Highness, Lord Delmar the Third, second son of His Imperial Majesty, Lord Olufemi the Fourth, Emperor of Desert," the herald announced. A tall, black-skinned man entered, whom Carolina had already seen at the tavern. But now he was dressed in an orange military uniform with black riding boots.

  Carolina had seen representatives of the Desert Empire before, who had visited the Royal Ball of Crow, and they were almost always dressed in military uniform. So there was nothing surprising about the second prince of the great empire being dressed the same way. The Duke of Storm was also dressed in a black uniform with a long, black fur cloak, and no one could tell this tall man that he was dressed inappropriately. The prince quickly strode towards Carolina as soon as he noticed the girl staring intently at him, as if she were the purpose of his visit.

  "Princess Carolina," said Prince Delmar, addressing the girl, while kneeling before her on one knee, extending his hand forward, waiting for the princess to take it. "Would you deign to become my wife and continue our journey in this mortal world, illuminated for us by the goddess Aching, together?"

  Carolina feigned a gasp at such a declaration, knowing that everything was going according to her and Delmar's plan. Of course, the plans with the train could now be considered completely destroyed. Through him, she could no longer expand her influence in the kingdom. But on the other hand, with the help of a prince from the Desert Empire, her influence could extend not only beyond the Kingdom of Crow but across the entire continent! The girl felt how much her ambitions had grown since she met this man, and since she had given herself to him. Carolina knew that with him she would be safe, and with his help, she could even become empress! And she wouldn't care if her husband had other women; the main thing was that she would be the first, and she would not allow anyone to rise above her.

  And when the girl ceased her feigned surprise, she reached her hand towards the dark-skinned man, wanting to place her small hand in his large palm. At the moment their hands were about to meet, the girl felt someone grab her wrist, stopping her hand's advance. She fluttered her eyelashes in surprise, then turned her gaze to the owner of that hand, wanting to look into the face of the insolent one who had decided to stop her from her almost-achieved triumph. She was surprised again, meeting the gaze of her own brother.

  "I greet you, Lord Delmar III, at our wonderful Royal Ball of Crow," Idivig said with an obviously feigned smile, while the girl felt how tightly her brother was holding her wrist, as if preventing her from extending her hand even a millimeter further.

  The man sitting before them lowered his hand and rose from his knee, towering over brother and sister. The princess saw incomprehension in his gaze, which clearly indicated that this was not what they had agreed upon. Carolina herself was also shocked, not understanding what her brother was doing.

  "Idivig?" the girl asked her closest relative, trying to find out what he was planning.

  But her brother remained silent, apparently waiting for an answer from Prince Delmar, who at that moment had not reacted at all to the greeting from the king of another country. But after Carolina's words, addressing Idivig, the imperial prince's gaze shifted slightly, and he answered rather quickly:

  "I greet you, Your Majesty, Lord Idivig, King of Crow."

  "I am glad that such a high-ranking person has arrived in our country," Idivig smiled tightly, still holding Carolina's hand. The girl didn't understand what was happening with her brother, but she clearly planned to sulk at him for a long time.

  "Thank you for receiving me," Delmar replied, but without any smile, looking at the King with barely concealed anger. "But allow me to continue my conversation with Princess Carolina?"

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  "Not at all, Lord Delmar, we are glad of your arrival. But you know that marriages of members of the royal family, just like the imperial family, must be decided at the level of king and emperor. Therefore, arranging such an absurd proposal at our ball, without my prior consent, is extremely unwise," Idivig replied dryly, while maintaining a fake smile on his face.

  "So that's it," Carolina marveled to herself, suppressing a surprised gasp. So, damn Vanessa could flirt with the Duke of Wood without the King's permission, bring other men to her bed, but she couldn't? This was starting to anger the princess, and she was about to say something, but felt her brother squeeze her hand harder, causing a grimace of pain on her face, while she said nothing.

  "Can't members of your royal family even wipe themselves without the King's permission?" Delmar chuckled, speaking arrogantly to her brother, while looking at Carolina's face, noting her condition. "Or is it normal for you to harm members of your own family?"

  "As you correctly put it, Lord Delmar, that's exactly how it is. My subjects can't even relieve themselves without me. But still, I ask you to be more restrained in your speech. You are a guest here, not in your homeland, yet you behave inappropriately. And as far as I remember, in your homeland, insulting His Imperial Majesty and members of his family can be deadly, both for the one who speaks and for his entire family," Idivig continued, maintaining his fake smile.

  "Oh, not at all, esteemed Prince Regent of Crow, I had no intention of insulting you. I was merely surprised by such a poor fact that a king could squeeze a princess's hand so tightly and be rude to his guests," the dark-skinned man replied just as boldly to her brother.

  "There is much to be surprised about in our kingdom, Lord Delmar. For example, the lack of manners of an imperial prince. Are you really who you claim to be?" the King of Crow asked sharply, speaking with a certain challenge towards the prince.

  "How dare you..."

  "Don't act out a scene before me, Lord Delmar," Idivig interrupted the man, looking at him with a certain steel in his gaze.

  "Well then, beautiful princess, I need to step out for some air. You don't mind, do you? I need a little fresh air after such harsh statements directed at me, otherwise I might lose my temper," the prince suddenly said, smiling slightly at Carolina. The girl was slightly embarrassed but said nothing, merely nodding at the man's words. He indeed headed towards the balcony, leaving brother and sister alone. Idivig said nothing to his retreating back, continuing to watch Delmar move away from them. The girl realized that in this brief exchange, the man she had counted on had suddenly shown weakness and retreated before her brother, which, of course, disappointed her somewhat.

  Carolina hadn't even noticed how many eyes from the noble families of the kingdom had gathered to watch their altercation. She was even a little embarrassed by such intense attention. But unfortunately, yet another of her plans had been shattered. Now she would have to talk to Idivig about him giving consent for her to marry Prince Delmar, which she extremely didn't want to do. But she believed that her brother would still give in to her, even though she was starting to like him less. Still, the idea of becoming empress hadn't left her head.

  "Let's go talk in private," the King said quietly, beginning to pull his sister by the hand, leading her out of the ballroom and moving towards the reception rooms.

  After about ten minutes, Idivig closed the door to a reception room that was quite far from the ball itself. But Carolina understood that her brother wanted to talk to her about something personal, since he hadn't called any guards or servants. While her brother was still standing by the door, Carolina, for her part, flopped onto the sofa meant for receiving nobles and began swinging her legs, as if trying to attract her relative's attention with her childish behavior.

  "I see everything, Carolina," the King sighed wearily, finally finishing his business with the doors. The girl wasn't paying attention to what he was doing, as she completely trusted Idivig—he was her twin. But now she needed to feign anger and resentment to achieve her goals.

  "Brother," Carolina puffed out her cheeks. "You're always like this! Even though today's ball turned out quite tense, this was too much! Of course, I understand you worry about me, but you fuss over me too much! I'm already a grown princess and can choose for myself who I spend my life with!"

  The young man simply walked silently over to the girl and sat beside her, beginning to stroke his sister's chestnut hair without answering—this was a rather unusual reaction to her actions. Usually, her brother would start lecturing Carolina almost immediately, just like with Leon after they were left alone.

  "What is it, Idivig?" the girl asked in surprise, not expecting such behavior from her brother.

  "Carolina," her brother said quietly, with a certain sadness. "I can't take it anymore."

  "I know, brother, I know," the girl said, getting up from the sofa and hugging her brother. "You always said you didn't want to bear the burden of being king, and today especially..."

  "I can't take your antics anymore," Idivig said, somehow lowering his head.

  "What are you talking about?" Carolina asked in surprise, ceasing to hug her brother, trying to look him directly in the eyes.

  "Do you think I don't know?" the young man began, grabbing his sister by the shoulder. "Don't know that you slept with that bastard pretending to be Prince Delmar?"

  "What are you..."

  "I barely made it in time to stop you from agreeing to that stupid wedding."

  "What do you mean..."

  "That you nearly destroyed our kingdom!"

  "You don't know..."

  "Don't know that you've been scheming behind my back?"

  "Brother, listen..."

  "About how you tried to interfere in the construction of that damn train and that lousy railway?"

  "Idivig..."

  "No, Carolina, I've had enough. You interfere with me and Vanessa protecting our home and our father's legacy far too often," her brother said sternly, looking the girl directly in the eyes. In his eyes, Carolina saw sadness and some firm intention, as if he was displeased with what he had to do.

  "What does Van..." the girl began to speak, but a sharp pain pierced her chest. She tried to scream, but Idivig's palm covered her mouth. She lowered her eyes and saw her brother's hand release the knife that was already sticking out of her chest. Carolina tried to take a couple of steps back, but the young man held her tightly against him.

  *Why...* were the girl's last thoughts before she finally went limp in Idivig's arms.

  "Forgive me, Carolina," the young man said over his sister's corpse, still holding it in his arms. "But the Kingdom of Crow does not forgive traitors, even if they are members of one's own family, even if they are members of the royal family, and even if it is one's own twin sister."

  The young man carefully laid the dead girl's body on the floor, watching the blood ooze from her wound, then headed towards the door, removing his bloodstained clothes. Opening the door, he saw a young man with black, curly hair leaning against the wall beside it.

  "Richard," Idivig said, continuing to undress. "Dispose of Carolina's body and conceal the wound. Then take it to her room and change her clothes. Make it seem as if the princess fell ill at the ball. I escorted her to her room, but unfortunately, she couldn't suppress a vomiting fit, so I had to step away and change—stick to that story. Get rid of these rags however you choose. And yes, tell Vanessa that she'll need to handle the cancellation of this stupid betrothal to the Desert Empire. After Carolina's death, she won't have much time to play the fool, as she likes. She'll have to work openly now. And yes, Richard, good work with the information about my sister and that fake prince. It helped us avoid serious problems with Emperor Olufemi. Now get to work. I'll go take a bath and then return to the ball."

  Baron Orange bowed to the departing King of Crow and silently began to carry out his orders, first throwing a phrase towards Carolina's lying corpse:

  "You were a damn lousy schemer, Princess, unlike your sister."

  At the same time, Idivig, who had moved far enough away from the reception room, finally allowed his hands to tremble, breaking the mask of cool composure he had maintained before Richard. He looked at the ceiling, feeling that he had lost something greater inside himself than he could have imagined, something he would have to live with for the rest of his days. And the Prince Regent thought at that moment:

  "Every wrong choice has its price. And that price is often another's life. Just as every right choice has the same price. It seems my sister and I paid with one coin for two of our decisions, as befits true twins."