Eman, upon seeing this, hurriedly stepped forward, pushing open the large doors of the kitchen, and bowed his head for the Crown Prince to enter.

Guard Captain Kesode hadn't expected His Highness to suddenly turn towards the kitchen. He stumbled in his steps, turned his head to signal the two guards with a wave of his hand, and hastened to follow.

Joseph stepped through the door and saw a very spacious kitchen. In the center were six or seven huge cutting boards pieced together, giving off the smell of fish and spices. The surroundings were stacked with various ingredients and cooking utensils. Only half of the lights were on, but there were no chefs on duty to be seen.

He remembered that even when there was no ball or celebration in the palace, there should still be at least three to five imperial chefs on duty at night. But what was happening today?

Joseph walked further inside, circled around a brown storage cabinet over two meters tall and four meters wide, and faintly heard rustling noises coming from the corner.

However, his view was obstructed by a rack full of pots and metal spoons, making it impossible to see what was happening there.

Joseph was curious. What were the chefs doing hiding in the corner? Playing cards in their spare time at night?

He turned around the wood rack, puzzled, and as he raised his eyes, he saw under the light in the corner a figure with its back to him, draped in a wrinkled white robe, with a head of disheveled black hair, not very tall.

It was only then that Joseph noticed a large slanted wooden board in front of the person, covered in knife marks and surrounded by plenty of bloodstains. Under the flickering candlelight, it appeared exceedingly sinister.

The figure in the white robe seemed to be very focused, and only then, hearing the noise behind, did it turn around abruptly.

Joseph's pupils shrank instantly as he saw the figure's front covered in blood, with a black and red knife in hand, its face hidden behind disheveled hair, barely making out a pair of round eyes emitting a greenish glow, and its hair hanging down to the waist was sticky with viscous bits, like the innards of something...

A buzz sounded in Joseph's head and he felt a rush of adrenaline fill his body instantaneously, with only one thought in his mind: Fuck! Sadako?

He immediately jumped back with force, banging his back against the rack hung with soup spoons, making a chaotic noise.

He could not care about the pain. Just as he was about to turn around, he saw Eman flash to his side, holding a short sword in his left hand and pulling the Crown Prince behind him with his right.

"Protect His Highness!" Eman shouted loudly.

Kesode muttered that this was not good and charged forward in several quick strides, drawing his sword and standing shoulder to shoulder with the guards.

"Guard!"

Following the shout, he turned to Joseph and said, "Your Highness, please exit first!"

More than a dozen of the Crown Prince's personal guards rushed in, suppressing their fear of the unknown entity, whether a ghost or a witch, and stood ready to die as they cocked their weapons, aiming their guns at Sadako in the corner.

Just then, Sadako finally moved.

She threw the knife in her hand up in the air, plunged her fingers into her long hair, crouched in place, hugging her head, and let out a piercing scream, "Ah—"

Joseph was taken aback and poked his head out from behind Eman, suddenly feeling that this Sadako looked somewhat familiar.

"Hey, stop screaming." He tried to communicate with Sadako, "What are you... a person?"

Having heard his voice, Sadako clearly paused for a moment, raised her head, and peered through the gap in her hair, her voice trembling slightly, "Crown, Crown Prince?"

"Hmm? You know me?"

Sadako nodded fervently, "It's me! Your Highness, I am Perna! Don't, don't shoot!"

Kesode cautiously moved forward, parted the woman's hair, and couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief, sheathing his sword, and turning to say:

"Your Highness, it is indeed Miss Perna."

Joseph, his head full of black lines, sized up Perna and the bloodstained wooden board behind her, asking in confusion,

"You? What are you doing here?"

"I…" Perna instinctively glanced at her hands and realized the small knife was "gone." Her eyes flitted uncertainly as she explained, "Well… I was helping Mr. Valister to cut the meat."

As she spoke, she frantically wiped the bloodstains off her hands onto her brown apron before picking up a hairband from the ground, tying up her long hair behind her head and quickly curtsying, "Your Highness, Crown Prince."

Joseph looked at the bloodstains on her face and brought out a handkerchief, gesturing, "Wipe your face with this."

Eman hurriedly took the handkerchief, stepped forward, and gave it to Perna.

She carefully accepted it and as she meticulously wiped her face, a visage as white as ivory slowly came into view.

On that delicate face, a pair of pale green eyes were like two clear emerald beads, her lashes thick and black, and especially the sweet dimples by her charming red lips, she looked nothing like that frightening "Sadako" from before.

Joseph was taken aback for a moment, then smiled and said, "I've never seen you dressed up like this before. Quite pretty."

He looked at the wooden board behind Perna, on which a small animal was neatly secured with nails.

It was a rabbit, with a neat incision in its abdomen, its internal organs cleanly dissected.

He couldn't help but ask curiously, "Are you practicing dissection?"

Perna was startled and waved her hands, saying hastily, "No, I'm not, I didn't, don't talk nonsense…"

Joseph stepped forward and looked at the rabbit, nodding, "Such professional technique, you must have practiced a long time, right?"

He then turned to Perna, "By the way, why are you practicing dissection in the kitchen?"

Listening to the certainty in his tone, Perna's heart tightened. The Crown Prince actually knew about anatomy; it seemed she wouldn't be able to deny it this time.

She clenched her left hand with her right, hesitated for a while, and finally, as if having made up some resolve, she stood up straight and declared loudly,

"Your Highness, yes, I am practicing dissection!"

She took a deep breath as if finally voicing something she had held back for a long time,

"I believe that the current customs are very detrimental to the advancement of medicine!

"For instance, the fact that women aren't allowed to study medicine is a severe constraint on the medical field, and even more so, an injustice towards women!

"I greatly admire my father and ever since I was little, I have accompanied him in treating patients, which has filled me with aspiration for the medical profession, to save lives and help the injured.

"I know my father loves me very much, he even agreed to let me dress as a man to assist him in treating patients, for which I am very grateful.

"But even so, he resolutely forbids me from stepping onto the operating table or practicing dissection, as it would make me unmarriageable, for nobody wants to marry a female doctor! That is the reality!

"Nonetheless, I still hope to become a doctor who can stand on her own and save patients. I can't get access to human bodies, so I can only practice dissection on animals to familiarize myself with biological structures.

"I've reached an agreement with Mr. Valister; every night I can come here to practice dissection, and incidentally cut meat for the chefs to use the next day, while he helps me keep it a secret."

By this point, her eyes were full of tears, clearly having suffered indignities over the years because of this.

She sniffled, her tone becoming calm, "Your Highness, please go ahead and report me. I frightened you earlier, and this is the punishment I deserve."