Ever since King Arkadion heard about his daughter's accident, he couldn't stop worrying in his heart. Arkadion did attend the royal meeting and work as usual. However, if one looked carefully, one would see that the man in his forties didn't stop frowning the entire time.
"Your Majesty, Princess Cecilia's maid has come to see you!"
"Allow her to enter."
Arkadion didn't think twice when he allowed Nina to enter his study. He was the only one in the room. When Nina entered with a face full of tears, Arkadion couldn't help but think that something had happened to his daughter.
"How is Cecilia?"
Arkadion was a king who had to remain calm in all situations. However, at that moment, he couldn't hold back his emotions any longer. His tone sounded urgent, which made Nina feel even more guilty for having to lie to her king in order to fulfill Cecilia's request.
"Princess... Princess Cecilia seems to be in a bad state, Your Majesty. She has regained consciousness now. However, as soon as she regained consciousness, she immediately asked me to send word that she wanted to see you one last time."
CRASH!
"Your Majesty!"
Arkadion couldn't believe what he was hearing. His body swayed. He bumped into an expensive vase in his study and created a commotion. The commotion immediately caught the attention of the palace guards standing guard outside. They barged in, looking alarmed as they saw the pale expression on Arkadion's face.
"You! What did you do to His Majesty?!"
As the only other person in the room, Nina was quickly suspected. Nina wanted to buy herself. But before she could do so, Arkadion, who had hurriedly stepped out, had managed to distract her.
"Follow me now!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
Nina immediately took the opportunity to leave when Arkadion asked her to take him to where Cecilia was. Arkadion's panicked expression did not escape the palace people. With the fake news and Arkadion's natural expression, everyone could immediately guess that something serious had happened to Cecilia.
***
The door to the room swung open, almost flying off its hinges. Arkadion, the supreme ruler of the Magenta Kingdom, entered a disheveled and panicked state. His eyes wildly searched for Cecilia. His breath was ragged. And when his gaze found Cecilia, standing quietly behind the table with a book in her hand, he could barely contain the emotions raging in his chest.
"Cecilia!" Arkadion's voice echoed, full of anxiety and a little anger. "You! You-"
Arkadion wanted to say something but stopped when Cecilia signaled him to be quiet. Nina quickly closed the door behind them. Only when the room was empty did Cecilia finally get up and approach Arkadion, who looked disheveled.
When Cecilia woke up, her long hair that had been left loose fell softly. Cecilia's eyes looked colder than usual. Despite that, there was a softness when she looked at the face of the man who had been a good father to her in every life.
"You look disheveled, Father," she said with a faint smile. "Have you come to see my dead body?"
Arkadion stepped forward, his jaw tightening when he heard Cecilia make a joke about her death.
"I heard from your servant that you... you were going to die. What were you thinking? Why did you have to make such a bad joke to meet me?!"
Arkadion's voice cracked, not from anger but from fear and worry.
"I am indeed going to die today."
Cecilia's next words hit Arkadion like a hammer. He was silent. He seemed to have lost the ability to speak when faced with Cecilia, who looked very different after her accident.
Cecilia noticed the change in expression on Arkadion's face and continued her words calmly. "But this is not a real death like you think. Cecilia, the only Princess of the Magenta Kingdom, will die today." She looked into Arkadios' eyes. "And tomorrow, Cecilion will be born."
"Who is that?" Arkadios hissed, still not understanding what Cecilia meant.
"Cecilion-" Cecilia repeated as she walked closer to Arkadion with slow steps. "-is my twin brother. A prince who has been hidden because of his deformed face. He was raised far from the palace, following the old royal tradition of always discarding one of the twins so that there would be no unwanted struggle for the throne."
The king fell silent. Such a tradition did indeed exist in the Magenta Kingdom. Even so, Arkadion never expected Cecilia to use such an excuse to fake her death.
"I will wear a mask from now on," Cecilia continued. "I can also disguise my voice. No one will suspect the slight resemblance of a twin's voice. No one will know that Cecilion is me. Only you, Nina, Robert, and the doctor who knows my condition will know the truth of this death."
"What is your goal, Cecilia?" Arkadios whispered, almost afraid of the answer.
"To stay alive." Her eyes flashed. "And to play a role in the shadows. If I can't save the kingdom as Cecilia, I will protect it as Cecilion."
Arkadios approached. His expression was filled with worry as he gently grasped Cecilia's shoulder.
"You don't have to do this. If someone threatens you, you can report it to me. I can—"
"—protect me?" Cecilia interrupted, smiling sadly. Arkadion was one of the few people who had always been on her side from beginning to end. Cecilia had relived her life ninety-nine times. The same number of times Cecilia had seen Arkadion die to protect her.
She was not even the real Cecilia. Even so, Arkadion didn't seem to care much about the truth. He was just a father who truly loved his daughter from the bottom of his heart.
"I know you will, Father. But this problem is not something we can solve with the strength we have now."
Cecilia gently let go of Arkadion's hand, then turned to the window. The weather was clear outside. From her bedroom window, Cecilia could see the kingdom she had been trying to protect all this time.
"I have to change, and this time, I have to be something I've never been before."
Silence fell over them after that. Arkadion stared at Cecilia for a long time, seemingly trying to understand what his daughter meant. Arkadion wanted to do something for Cecilia. But from the look in her eyes, Arkadion knew that Cecilia had planned her plan.
"Must you do this?" Arkadion asked quietly.
Cecilia answered with certainty. "I have to do it, or we'll lose everything."
Arkadion took a deep breath. After a while, he finally nodded with a heavy heart.
That night, as the midnight bells tolled, Arkadion announced to everyone that Princess Cecilia had tragically died after an unfortunate horse accident. Little did anyone know that from behind that death, Cecilion was born—a prince with a mask, Cecilia's rumored deformed and mysterious twin brother.