Chapter 277: Princess’ assurance

Eren stared into her eyes.

In the beginning, she had been the singular reason he chose to throw himself into this world. She was the tragic, doomed princess whose wretched ending he had sworn to rewrite. But somewhere between the unhinged chaos of his daily life, the neat boundaries of his grand design had thoroughly collapsed.

He had fallen headfirst, hopelessly and entirely, for every single woman tangled in his orbit.

Yet this game remained unchanged: he had to stop every disaster.

"Violet," Eren muttered. He looked at Seraphina with dark, hollow intensity. "I have a terrible hunch that she’s in danger, Your Highness."

Seraphina’s brow arched slightly. "Violet? The quiet Lavenza girl? The one from the interrogation... where you lost your temper and nearly beat that smuggling broker into red paste with your bare hands?"

"Yes," he whispered with a bitter, jagged rasp. "Her. The Syndicate never intended to sell The Substance alone. They chose Violet for their plan. They planned to dose her, drive her into an irreversible, blood-crazed frenzy at the Grand Carnival, and butcher dozens of innocent civilians using her hands. They wanted to horrify the realm—to force an emergency decree banning The Substance completely, only to turn around and weaponize that exact law to accuse and execute the Empress for harboring it."

His breath hitched.

"I thought I broke the chain," he choked out, his shoulders trembling. "I pulled her out of the shadows. I shielded her. I became her cure and I kept her away from the substance. I thought... I thought I saved her."

"And your instinct tells you that she is still in danger?" she asked softly. "That there is still a chance the poison finds her?"

Eren sat entirely frozen for a long, suffocating moment.

"...Yes," he muttered, his voice dropping to a cracked whisper. "And I can’t let that happen. Not just because it threatens the empire, and not just because it shatters our plans. I want her to live. I genuinely, desperately want her to be safe. I can’t let that innocent, terrified girl die in the dirt for someone else’s war."

He leaned forward, his blue eyes burning with a wild, desperate plea that abandoned every shred of his usual composure.

"Can we turn the carriage around, Your Highness?" Eren begged softly, his fingers practically clinging to hers. "Can we head back to the capital right now? Tonight?"

Seraphina’s crimson eyes widened in bewildered shock.

"Are you out of your mind?!" she hissed in an urgent, furious whisper, her gaze darting frantically to make sure Emma, Aria, and Norelia were still deep in slumber. "Turn back now?! Eren, you know this trip was never a mere leisurely holiday! It is our only cover!"

"The entire capital believes we are indulging in an extended provincial retreat while we quietly meet the neutral lords to get support for my mother. We suddenly can’t abandon the route and sprint back to the capital overnight!"

She gripped his hand tighter, trying desperately to shake his sense back. "Think of the political groundwork! Think of the future!"

Eren didn’t look down. He didn’t offer a charming compromise or a clever deflection.

He simply looked straight into her eyes, his gaze blazing with the terrifying, beautiful madness of a man who would gladly set the cosmos on fire if it meant keeping his girl safe.

"To hell with the groundwork, Princess," Eren whispered, his voice trembling with unyielding, reckless devotion. "I don’t give a damn about politics if the people I love are dying behind my back. Right now, there is nothing in this godforsaken world more important to me than Violet."

Seraphina stared at him in complete, deadpan disbelief.

Then, without a word, her slender hand shot forward and grabbed his cheek, giving it a vicious, twisting yank that stretched his flesh like bread dough.

"Aww! Ouch—! Hey! Princess, what the hell?!"

Eren recoiled, his voice cracking into a shocked yelp as his icy, tragic-hero resolve evaporated on the spot. He flailed backward, barely keeping from knocking Norelia off his ribs as he desperately tried to pry her iron fingers loose.

"Quiet down, you loud-mouthed lunatic, or you’ll wake the entire cabin," Seraphina hissed, finally releasing his abused skin.

"Did you really have to resort to physical torture?" Eren muttered, cupping his bright red, stinging cheek with a wounded pout that looked utterly ridiculous on a man who had casually detonated a sovereign district forty-eight hours ago.

"You were having a temper tantrum like an unweaned brat," Seraphina countered coldly.

She leaned back, crossing her arms tightly beneath her perfect-sized bust, which pushed the breathtaking swell of her cleavage right into his line of sight.

"I actually had myself convinced you were a rare breed—an infuriating, idiotic scoundrel who at least possessed a terrifyingly brilliant intellect," she scolded, tilting her chin up. "The idiot who strolled into my life, dismantled impossible obstacles, and promised he could hand me my lifelong dream. I thought you had a brain behind all that swagger. But right now you prove to be a thick-skulled fool."

Eren rubbed his burning cheek. "Excuse me for having a heart, Your Highness. Forgive me if I prioritize the lives of the people I care about."

"You’re not prioritizing her; you’re throwing yourself off a cliff!" Seraphina snapped, leaning forward so her fragrant breath touched his lips again. "You are acting completely, recklessly irrational because someone you love is in the crosshairs. You are making the miserable mistake I used to make—blindly charging into the fire, forgetting every move on the board, and getting yourself cut to ribbons for nothing."

She uncrossed her arms and poked him firmly in the center of his chest, right over his racing heart.

"Who said that you are the only person on this continent permitted to save that Lavenza girl, Eren Volsver?"

Eren blinked, caught completely off-guard. "What?"

"Do you truly believe you are the only one capable of moving pieces in this empire?" Seraphina scoffed softly, a faint, haughty smirk beginning to curl the corner of her lips. "Just because I have accepted your pathetic assistance doesn’t mean the Crown Princess of Regulas is an utterly powerless decorative ornament."

Eren lowered his hand from his cheek, his eyes narrowing with hesitant curiosity. "Meaning...?"

Seraphina gave a smug smile. In the dim glow of the evening light, she looked breathtaking—regal, dangerous, and radiating the confidence of a true sovereign taking command.

"Meaning I have a plan," Seraphina purred softly, leaning forward a little.

"So sit your reckless ass back against the seat and breathe. Trust me. In two days, when we reach the provincial estate and the courier birds arrive, you will understand my plan. I give you my guarantee, Violet Lavenza and your maid will be entirely safe."

She reached out, her fingers lightly tapping his uninjured cheek with an affectionate touch.

"Now," Seraphina whispered, her lips curving into a wicked little smirk. "Are you going to keep whining like a terrified kid, or are you finally going to let your future Empress handle her side of the bargain?"

Eren stared at her face. ’Damn, why she’s so beautiful when she scolds me?’