He asked me in an icy voice.

I can’t hesitate here.

I nodded with all humor gone from my face.

“Yes, of course.”

“……”

“Did you bring me here planning to kill me after telling me?”

“Perhaps.”

Perhaps?

In front of such an important matter, he says perhaps? What kind of irresponsible and brutal response is that?

“Then shouldn’t you give me time to put my affairs in order? How can you just drag me here without warning?”

“What affairs do you want to settle?”

Well.

I wanted to thank my father and brothers who had shown me true family love.

I received overflowing love, though I’m not sure if I was a good daughter.

And kind, gentle Sabine. I had planned to arrange a good match for her when the time was right.

I’ll have to leave that to my brother or father now.

Then there’s Soniel.

A child with no one to rely on but me—if I’d known this would happen, I would have helped her become closer to Avery.

But she’s a sharp and clever child, so she’ll adapt well wherever she goes.

I wanted to thank Avery too, who always rushed to help me without hesitation.

And my cat Miamo.

Poor Miamo will lose another owner.

Next, I thought of Levi.

I felt only sorry for Levi.

He was a good person. Kind and warm—I hope he stays healthy and happy in the future.

And you.

Actually, when I thought I might die soon, the first person who came to mind was none other than Ainberg.

I kept putting off what I wanted to say to him… though it was the last thing I brought up.

I hated you, and I still hate you now.

But I hope you won’t be sick or struggling.

You’ve always been a lonely person, so I hope you won’t be lonely anymore.

You’ve lived your whole life hiding your emotions, so I hope you can be a little freer now.

That’s all.

‘……’

When my daydreaming ended, I nearly burst into tears without realizing it.

“Wait, High Priest.”

I raised my right hand and called out to him.

“What is it?”

“I don’t think I should die just knowing my truth. I still have things I need to do.”

Millean let out a hollow laugh and shook his head.

“Now that you’re about to die, you’re having regrets?”

“That’s not it—”

“It’s too late.”

“…That’s harsh.”

While I was muttering to myself, Millean slowly closed his eyes.

When he opened them again, his glass-like transparent pupils seemed to emit a mysterious glow.

The only thing that had clearly changed was his eyes with their strange light.

Like someone entranced, I slowly knelt before him.

It was a sight I’d never seen before, and he felt very unfamiliar.

“……”

Millean didn’t say anything, but I instinctively knew this was the moment.

If I wanted to know the truth, I needed to ask him now.

“High Priest.”

I was finally about to face the truth I had longed for.

I took a slow breath and opened my mouth.

“Why did I transmigrate into Leonora Chadmon’s body?”

“I did it.”

Did he misunderstand the question?

What does that mean?

Even after hearing Millean’s answer, I stared up at him with a blank expression for a while.

“What do you—”

Millean added very nonchalantly, as if talking about something ordinary, like eating breakfast and drinking tea in the morning.

“I put the Empress into a deep sleep.”

Only after hearing it a second time could I respond.

It was something I never expected—if he had said Foil did it, I would have thought “I knew it.”

If he had said Ainberg did it, I would have dismissed it with “that bastard would do something like that.”

“You did it, High Priest? Why did you do that? Why on earth?”

My voice began to tremble at the end.

He had said he detested emotional displays, so I tried to accept whatever he said calmly.

“What power do I have? It was the Emperor’s order, so I had no choice but to follow.”

“His Majesty gave such an order?”

Millean nodded once.

‘……’

So it was you, Ainberg.

You did this.

Well, I actually expected it.

From the beginning, you didn’t have the slightest interest in me and never even glanced my way while you were busy enjoying yourself with your hidden lover.

‘So he really did it to meet the woman he truly loves.’

He must have thought everything would be resolved if I disappeared.

So he enlisted a high priest to put me to sleep?

“Ha. This is ridiculous.”

“……”

Why not just kill me? Why make someone more miserable by leaving them lying there?

You’re bad, you’re truly a bad person.

I clenched my jaw so hard it ached as I suppressed my emotions, when Millean spoke.

“Let’s stop writing that novel there.”

Then he shook his head a couple of times and continued.

“You said the Empire was in danger? You mentioned a critical matter concerning Ostrin’s fate.”

“Why are you suddenly changing the subject—”

Millean cut off my voice firmly and continued.

“How long do you think this has been going on?”

How long?

Wasn’t it just recently?

“High Priest, what I was trying to tell you was—”

Just as I was trying to speak calmly while suppressing my confusion—

“It’s about Foil Viper, isn’t it?”

A chill ran down my spine.

He knew.

I wanted to wrap my arms around myself from the cold I felt, but I couldn’t move.

“You knew?”

If Millean knew…

Did that mean Ainberg also knew this fact?

I asked him with a trembling voice.

“H-how… no, how much do you know? Do you also know that he’s secretly raising private soldiers behind the imperial family’s back?”

He nodded again this time.

Fine, let’s say that’s understandable.

I bit my lip again and continued.

“Do you also know that the recent attack might have been his doing?”

“No.”

Ah, I see.

This is recent information, so he doesn’t know.

How fortunate that I’m here, then.

That’s exactly what I was thinking when,

“It’s not that it might have been his doing.”

“……”

“It was Foil Viper’s doing.”

After his cold voice passed, I couldn’t hide my empty feeling.

‘I see… it was all his doing.’

But what does this have to do with my transmigration?

Millean spoke as if reading my thoughts.

“That’s why I asked how long you think this has been going on.”

“It’s been going on much longer than I thought.”

I lowered my head slowly.

“Does His Majesty know too? No, has he known for a long time already?”

My voice kept trembling as I asked the question.

The core content hadn’t come out yet.

I could instinctively feel that a storm of truth was about to pour down.

I pulled myself together and waited for his next words.

“Foil Viper knew before anyone else that the Emperor had fallen for you.”

“What? What do you mean? No, His Majesty doesn’t—”

Millean coldly cut me off again.

“Do you think everything you see and hear is the truth? Then you shouldn’t have followed me here.”

“……”

“You pretend to be smarter than anyone else, but you’re actually a narrow-minded and pathetic human who can’t even see the truth right in front of you.”

I felt my breath catch, unable to respond.

When I closed my mouth, Millean spoke again.

“At first, he planned to use you to assassinate the Emperor.”

Of course, I know Foil is the kind of person who would do such a thing, but.

He planned an assassination using me?

“How could he do such a thing?”

“A man is most vulnerable when he’s with a woman.”

“……”

“Especially for someone as solid as the Emperor, the way to break him down is surprisingly simple. He knew that what brings down a massive stone wall isn’t powerful and massive ammunition, but a small crack.”

“……”

“That’s why the Emperor pretended to have affairs with women and acted as if he could discard the Empress at any time to protect you.”

“…You’re saying he deliberately avoided me?”

I lowered my head again.

Now I felt like the misaligned puzzle pieces were finally fitting together.

It wasn’t a matter of timing, nor was it because we were incompatible from the start.

But this wasn’t the time to be lost in emotions.

Millean calmly continued.

“When that plan failed.”

“……”

“Foil tried to kill you and frame the Emperor. The Emperor who killed a child of God with blessing abilities—quite an interesting narrative.”

At this point, a question occurred to me.

“High Priest, since you know everything, couldn’t you have captured him? Without all this roundabout approach?”

“You want me to arrest someone just for reading their thoughts?”

“……”

“We can only prepare. We can’t imprison someone for something that hasn’t happened yet.”

I covered my face with both hands.

My head felt hot and heavy.

“If you had died then, we could have caught Foil immediately, but the Emperor made a different choice.”

“……”

That different choice would be…

“Actually, I tried to dissuade him. If you had died, things wouldn’t have become this complicated. We would have set a trap and easily caught Foil for murdering his daughter.”

Millean’s chilling voice continued.

“But the Emperor said he couldn’t bear to watch you die—such a cheesy line… I didn’t want to say it. Anyway, despite my objections, he chose the method you mentioned.”

“……”

“So instead, he put you into a deep sleep.”