Chapter 1

1: 1

After months of resting through her pregnancy, my best friend the Queen finally delivered the crown prince, and then she was calling out to me for a taste of home:

"Rosie, I want pumpkin bread~"

I froze for a second, as if I hadn't heard right. "What... what bread?"

She cradled the little prince in her arms and winked at me.

"Pumpkin bread, of course. It's my absolute favorite, isn't it? Having a baby is exhausting, and I'm starving. Get me ten of them!"

Something in me went cold, and I frowned at the woman I'd known for so long.

Eight years ago the two of us crossed over into this era together. She became Queen; I became High Priestess.

In an age where people killed without blinking, we'd settled on a code between us—

If either of us ran into real danger, we were to tell the other, "I want ten male models." No one else would ever understand it.

I studied that familiar face and felt the chill spread down my back.

If my best friend had already been killed.

Then who was this woman tugging at my sleeve?

...

"Come on, Rosie~ what are you spacing out for? Did my adorable pout finally get to you?"

Susie leaned against the headboard and gave me a one-eyed wink.

And just like that, I wavered again.

The wink really was a habit of hers; she'd relied on her looks to flirt with everyone since she was a little girl.

The spoiled, sweet lilt in her voice was exactly the same as always too.

But how could she blurt out a code that meant so much to us, right after giving birth?

Was she just teasing me?

I shook my head and told myself to stop imagining things.

Then I laughed softly and patted the back of her hand.

"All right, all right, you just had the little crown prince—what do you need male models for? Behave yourself."

But she frowned and pushed out her lower lip, clearly put out.

"I'm the Queen, for heaven's sake. I only want a little pumpkin bread..."

Before Susie could finish, a voice came from beyond the door, dignified and yet edged with joy.

"Eat! My Susie wore herself out bringing the crown prince into the world. She can have whatever she wants, pumpkin bread or anything else."

I turned toward the voice, and it was the King himself, Leigh Rowe.

I rose at once to pay my respects, but he only waved me off, his eyes full of love as he gathered Susie into his arms.

"Lady James, you're Susie's dearest friend. There are no outsiders here, so there's no need to stand on ceremony."

Nestled in the crook of Leigh Rowe's arm with the little prince, Susie laughed sweetly.

"All right, all right, I know the two of you love me most~ Rosie, I really do want pumpkin bread, so go and get it ready, would you?"

They fussed over the baby, and no one noticed that something was wrong with my face.

Under my wide sleeves, my hand clenched tight.

If the woman in front of me truly was Susannah Fox—the best friend who had crossed over here with me and weathered every hardship at my side.

Then how could she not know that male models were never any kind of food?

When we'd first arrived here, Susie used to complain all day long.

"Who wants to come into the palace and be a consort? Waiting around for a king I never even see. I want to go home and order male models! I want ten male models!"

I'd rapped her on the forehead, exasperated.

"Listen to you, my dear Consort Susie. It's a good thing no one here knows what a male model even is—if anyone heard you say that, ten heads wouldn't be enough to lose!"

She'd rubbed her forehead where it hurt, stuck her tongue out at me, then suddenly winked with one eye and snapped her fingers.

"I've got it! From now on, that's our code. This place is full of danger—say the wrong thing and it could cost you your life."

"If either of us ever ends up in real danger, no matter what, we have to get out those six words: 'I want ten male models'!"

Back then I'd teased her, asking who on earth would use such a ridiculous line as a code, but she'd refused to back down and settled it just like that.

I never imagined I'd actually hear those six words come out of her mouth.

Soon I went to the royal kitchen and steamed ten golden buns, then carried them to Susie.

Her eyes lit up and she cried out, "So pretty~ It really is my favorite pumpkin bread."

Ignoring how the buns scalded her hands, she ate with obvious relish.

Cold sweat soaked through the back of my robe in an instant, and despair rose in my chest.

The buns were golden not because I'd used anything strange—I'd only put pumpkin in the dough.

The very pumpkin that made Susie gag the moment she tasted it, the one she used to swear was the worst-tasting thing in the whole world.

Watching her eat it, bite after happy bite.

My legs went weak and I stumbled where I stood.

The person in front of me could not possibly be Susannah Fox. Of that I was certain.

So where had my Susie gone?