Upon entering the grand council chamber, I saw the Emperor seated in the center, looking at me with a fierce expression alongside the council ministers.

The room was filled with honorable knights, other Hereis family members, and priests.

Before all these spectators, I looked up at Antheo and recalled the flow of the book.

“Diana Veronique. You will be recorded as the most dishonorable Empress in history.”

Antheo opened his mouth as if he had been waiting for this moment, and through his cold words, I felt that the flow hadn’t changed.

“I can no longer call you the Empress blessed in the name of the Holy Spirit—you who dared to harm a woman who graciously accepted your vacant position and showed kindness and dedication to the imperial citizens.”

Everyone looked at me with contempt, as if there was no reason to disagree with each of the Emperor’s words.

The priests were no different.

These were the same people who had flown to the East Palace with Angell Clarvin to watch over me.

Among the white-robed group observing the situation with cold expressions, Angell Clarvin was nowhere to be seen.

Even though they all wore the same robes, I could tell he wasn’t present.

“Those who have shown you mercy have clearly witnessed the incident that day and reported your crime. This matter will be referred to a religious trial soon, and until Warmwell’s decision is made, you will be confined to the East Palace.”

The same punishment written in the manuscript was handed down.

Confirming his choice, a cold laugh escaped me involuntarily.

“……How boring.”

Antheo’s face contorted with astonishment at my mockery of him, and he raised his voice in anger.

“Boring? Does this look like a game to Your Majesty?”

Yes. Perhaps because it’s my world that I created, it all seems like a game and fake.

While looking at the Emperor with indifference, I once again condemned the revised direction that had tried to portray this man as a passionate protagonist.

So it must be corrected. Who else but me, the demon, could bring an end to this world overflowing with broken things?

Thinking that all of this was fiction made everyone sitting with serious expressions seem like clowns.

It felt like I was a protagonist in a fairy tale embarking on an adventure in a strange land.

So the red-eyed Emperor before me must be the Queen of Hearts. How fitting.

“I’m disappointed, Your Majesty. To think you would confine the Empress over an incident with your mistress.”

When one wakes from a dream, even a fairy tale protagonist must live in reality.

So I merely felt regret for the Emperor and those around him who were created because of me and would fall because of me.

“I’ve shown enough mercy by overlooking your misdeeds and eccentricities until now.”

“Ah, mercy. Throwing me into an old castle and waiting for me to wither away—that’s mercy.”

“……I wish you would maintain at least some dignity as an Empress until the end.”

With priests present, Antheo couldn’t raise his voice like last time. I could never love an Emperor wearing such a facade. Even if Diana Veronique’s remnants stirred emotions that controlled me, that would never happen, not even in death.

“I told you before. I will never die alone.”

“……She has completely lost her mind. Take the Empress away immediately.”

As I watched the Emperor trying to drag me off this stage once again as he pleased, I gripped the pen hidden in my sleeve.

/”……This pen is filled with poisoned ink. If Your Majesty purchases it, I’ll include it as a special bonus.”/

It was a pen given to me by a clerk when I bought a forbidden notebook with a dark spell at a bookstore on Willerdet Street. He recognized me and helped me secure this pen away from Angell’s eyes.

They say many people on Willerdet Street use heretical magic, so there must be those hiding from the persecution of Warmwell and the Empire.

Now that the Empress is called a heretical demon, they might be hoping for their time to come, perhaps considering Diana Veronique as the queen of heretics.

In any case, it was a welcome gift, as the priest had taken away all my weap*ns, leaving me in a difficult situation.

I quickly ascended the steps of the grand council chamber, passing by the imperial guards gathering to restrain me.

There wasn’t the slightest hesitation in my steps as I headed toward the Emperor enthroned at the summit.

“What are you doing!!”

Antheo’s panicked shout rang out as I evaded the guards who hurriedly pursued me in their heavy armor, rushing to bring an end to this broken novel.

/”……I will follow you.”/

I wasn’t afraid of being executed by beheading or hanging after stabbing the Emperor.

But at that moment, I suddenly remembered someone who had chosen to be abandoned with me.

/”How dare I take responsibility for Your Majesty? It is merely my choice.”/

If I die, you will die with me.

Though we hadn’t known each other long, perhaps the reason for this choice was that the maid was one of the few people I had liked in both my previous life and this one.

Or maybe I liked her attitude of subtly burdening me with responsibility while not asking for accountability for her own choices.

Perhaps it was because the hairpin I bought from a girl with bad habits suited her quite well.

“……What crime have I committed?”

My steps toward the Emperor stopped with two stairs remaining.

Some invisible line blocked me, controlling me so I couldn’t ruin things any further.

Antheo’s expression twisted viciously at my question. He stopped in his tracks after rushing toward me as if to kill me immediately, then paused at my desperate question.

“……You’re still the same, Diana Veronique.”

Perhaps thinking I resembled a woman who once begged for love from him when he wouldn’t look at her, he stared at me with even more disgust for showing such weakness in this setting, in this manner.

So Diana Veronique would once again try to excuse her crimes by blaming the Emperor’s coldness.

With this impression, the tense council chamber grew even colder, as if cold water had been poured over it, and found silence.

“If you ask about your crime, your disrespectful attitude itself is a crime.”

“If attitude is a crime, then everyone I met on the way here should be beheaded. There were quite a few who showed disrespectful attitudes before the Empress. It would be a good thing. Though the palace will reek of blood for a while, at least there won’t be any more leaks of the rumors Your Majesty is worried about.”

“You don’t have that authority.”

“Why don’t I have that authority!”

Ridiculously, as I tried belatedly to correct the situation, I found myself pleading to the Emperor for authority and mercy, following the flow of the broken novel.

Heat rose in my previously dry eyes, and my throat grew rough and choked as I spoke unwilling words.

“As long as Your Majesty’s kindness and tenderness keep my head attached, I am the Empress of this place. And as I understand it, with the Empress’s authority, I can rightfully punish those who have insulted me. The same goes for your mistress.”

“You left a large scar on a woman’s body. Are you saying you’re innocent of harming that pitiful woman who has nothing left?!”

Antheo asked in anger, as if deeply upset that someone had left a wound on the body of the woman he loved.

Was everyone really supporting such an unlike opinion? I looked around.

But without any twist, I was the criminal and demon here, and there was no fool anywhere who would lend strength to a demon’s opinion.

The empty seat of the priest who had fled also loomed large, and disappointment came frighteningly quickly.

So in the end, I’d done enough. That thought began to dominate me.

What was I doing here? How did I end up opening my eyes in this broken novel? Why was I enduring this situation?

What was I hoping for as I hesitated with the ending right before me?

The pen tip that had been aimed at the Emperor’s throat turned toward me without anyone noticing.

If I just applied a little pressure now, the deadly poison would spread from the thin, sharp tip, and everything would end.

With the demon self-destructing.

Unable to escape the cliché that a villain’s ending can never be happy, following the most banal flow—just like that.

Accepting the end made my mind serene.

Slowly, with tear-filled eyes, I looked around the chamber dispassionately.

Just as the lack of warmth visible anywhere made it clear how deep into the abyss my position had fallen—

BANG—

“That won’t be necessary. The Empress will remain there under the pretext of recuperation, not confinement.”

A familiar voice invaded the frozen chamber.

The person who kicked open the massive doors of the grand council chamber instantly shattered the tension that had been building here.

“The Empress became the Empire’s Empress in the name of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the temple has a duty to look after Her Majesty’s well-being.”

“High Priest.”

It was Angell Clarvin.

The angel I thought had fled appeared again today with his white robe pulled low, leading even more pure white messengers behind him.

It seemed I wasn’t the only one bewildered by the situation.

“High Priest Clarvin. I’ve been wanting to ask about your intentions. The Empress’s condition has been examined for two seasons now, so why do you still delay judgment?”

“Because Her Majesty is not a heretic.”

Angell Clarvin conveyed his will firmly, as though there was clear evidence for his statement.

The chamber stirred with confusion, and though Antheo couldn’t hide his dissatisfaction toward Angell, the Empire still couldn’t ignore the influence of the religious order, so he suppressed his rising anger and asked:

“You must prove what you assert here and now.”

“Of course, Your Majesty.”

His green eyes flashed beneath his robe as he brought someone forward.

The person who stood before the Emperor was another priest of Warmwell.

He removed his robe, bowed respectfully, and spoke.

“I am Pavel Raphael, a priest of Warmwell. Forgive my sin, Your Majesty. I dared to follow the Empress to investigate her for heresy.”

“……What?”

With Pavel Raphael’s sudden confession, the situation began to turn around.

“It was an utterly disrespectful and unforgivable act, but I ask for your understanding that it was unavoidable to prove that Her Majesty the Empress is a heretic. And I am grateful that this unavoidable course of action has allowed me to explain Her Majesty’s false accusation today. I was definitely there that day and witnessed Lady Atrens dropping the teapot while the two of them were conversing.”

“Lies!”

The Emperor exploded with his suppressed anger at this confession.

His bloodshot red eyes denied the situation vehemently, looking at the priest as if he wanted to tear him to pieces.

“How could I, who have taken an oath in the name of the Holy Spirit, lie to Your Majesty? I stand here willingly offering my life and soul. If you wish to punish me for this, I will accept it gladly.”

But at the priest’s continued words, Antheo could no longer speak and rose from his seat, striding down the steps.

He headed toward where Edgar Londman was.

“Edgar Londman! I heard you were there too. Did you see the Empress humiliating Minerva?!”

At the Emperor’s question, his aide Edgar had no choice but to answer.

However, he couldn’t claim to have seen something he hadn’t. Though he was present, it was only outside the door.

He had only circumstantial evidence, and Edgar looked back and forth between the Emperor in front of him and me on the steps with a confused expression.

The choice was his.

He too could lie, just as the priest had claimed to see something that wasn’t there.

“……I’m sorry, Your Majesty. I didn’t see it.”

But he was an honest person.

He didn’t lie, and so the situation began to turn completely in my favor.

The Emperor’s expression twisted with rage.

“Edgar!!!”

“Stop.”

It seemed necessary to intervene before the Emperor could behead him.

I descended the steps and blocked the Emperor’s path, and with the priests standing behind me, he could no longer speak freely.

“Your Majesty, God has proven my innocence.”

“……”

“I will withdraw now.”

I turned to leave, having no reason to stay any longer.

Angell Clarvin and his priests also accompanied me.

After leaving the grand council chamber, I quietly asked him as he walked close beside me.

“I told you to denounce me, but now you’ve made me indebted to God.”

“……”

“Why did you do such a useless thing?”

I turned to look at Angell, who had his robe pulled low.

Even for a high priest, such a decision would surely reflect the will of the temple rather than an individual priest’s intention.

Was the reason for his brief absence to visit Warmwell?

Why had he done it?

Though I understood that this was his mission, he was truly a troublesome existence. He kept giving me chances, preventing me from letting go of these broken things, making it impossible for me to distance myself from him.

“I’ll escort you to your room.”

“I told you. You’ll definitely regret it.”

“Yes. That’s why I’m doing my best. So I won’t regret it.”

As he added these words, he suddenly grabbed my arm and took away the pen hidden inside.

Once again, my weapon was confiscated.

His expression that seemed to say “did you think I wouldn’t know?” left me feeling deflated, and once again defenseless, I could only continue walking with a flat smile on my lips.

Truly, what an annoying dove.

Even though no one had taught him, he kept coming back, as if he had been properly leashed.

※※※

“……So that’s what happened, but why are you heading back to the East Palace?”

Though the punishment from the central palace had been changed from confinement to maintaining recuperation, and I could have used the temple’s will to seek a return to the Empress’s palace, the carriage carrying me was heading straight for the East Palace.

The carriage sped toward the old castle that was far from the main palace, a place untouched by anyone’s hand, once used as a fortress and now used to hide the imperial family’s shame.

Debora, displeased that we were still heading there, looked at me with cold eyes demanding an explanation.

“It’s quiet there. No one around.”

I explained the reason simply while looking out the carriage window with apparent pleasure.

In truth, there was another reason for my insistence on this place.

Another name for the East Palace is “the Empress’s tomb.”

It’s a place where secret deaths occur in every generation to hide the flaws of the imperial family, which must always show a perfect image.

Located far from the splendid and majestic main palace yet still within its boundaries, it truly deserved the name of a tomb.

The palace built with stone walls exuded a cold and damp atmosphere even at a glance, with sharp iron bars on the windows. The tall, pointed spire that symbolized the East Palace was impressive, with dried vine tendrils messily wrapped around it.

The surrounding dense forest made sunlight a rare luxury, and the large window spanning the entire first floor hall depicted Queen Ibiels, the first to die in this place, in stained glass.

A Gothic old castle with a damp and bizarre atmosphere where women labeled as villains fall into their final deep sleep.

‘I like it.’

It matched my taste perfectly.

I had always wanted to live in a castle like this someday.

“Debora, why that expression? Cheer up. We should welcome this meaningful day with joy.”

Though someone clearly didn’t like it at all.

“It would be better to remove the bars at least. Even though it’s been decided to be recuperation, having such things makes it no different from confinement.”

I knew that the longer I stayed here, the more Diana’s reputation would deteriorate, becoming as wretched as the East Palace itself.

“News that you nearly received a confinement sentence will also spread widely throughout the palace. Of course, it won’t go beyond the castle walls, but……”

“Don’t bother.”

“……Pardon?”

“Don’t bother with such trivial rumors. Whether they fear me or see me as trash.”

None of that had any impact on me.

Perhaps I was too accustomed to such scandals. I preferred the dangerous forest to a splendid cage full of noisy sparrows.

“I’m tired.”

I turned around and headed inside.

Come to think of it, what final fate did Diana Veronique meet in my ending?

After beheading the Emperor and escaping the gloomy East Palace, Diana Veronique sat alone on the splendid throne, waiting for the king of another country to arrive.

She waited for death without flinching, even if they burned the castle to ashes.

Because none of the burning things gave her any emotion.

That included herself.

Diana humbly awaited death.

After completing her revenge and losing her will, she sat on the meaningless golden throne and waited for the end.

‘It’s no different.’

I was no different from Diana Veronique meeting a futile death in the broken novel.

No, perhaps it was better?

In the ending chosen for love, everyone survived except for her.

In this place, death was considered liberation.

Those born as humans in the embrace of the Holy Spirit live on earth, then either go to paradise after death or are reborn on this land through the cycle.

However, heretics had their bodies burned without a trace. Burning the body was to prevent them from being reborn on this land through the cycle.

They wanted them to become wandering spirits, never escaping the netherworld river.

Heretics who sold their souls by promising forbidden power from the demons of the netherworld are trapped there forever.

I suddenly had such a thought.

In the revised manuscript, Diana Veronique’s body was carried away by rough currents.

Unlike my Diana Veronique who turned to ashes with the castle, her soul would have flowed to the netherworld.

If so, would she have been reborn after going through the cycle? If so, what would she have become after being reborn?

And when I die after this excessively long and vivid wandering here, will I go to the afterlife of reality, or will I remain in the netherworld of this place?

If I go to the netherworld according to the principles of this place, there will surely be many spirits who died as heretics like me.

A place full of monsters like me.

Wouldn’t that be my paradise?

As I wandered through the dark interior of the old castle, climbing the stairs, I saw the white queen in the stained glass, brightly illuminated by the afternoon sun.

‘White.’

The answer to my newly started concern would have to be asked of the priest.

※※※

“Why did you do it?”

It was late in the evening, after everything had settled down, when I heard the voice of reproach.

Angell, who had to travel a long distance in a short time, dragged his exhausted body to his room, where he found Levin Sabiel waiting for him.

Levin was looking at him with disbelieving eyes, full of resentment.

“Father Raphael was with me that day.”

“That day. Which day exactly are you referring to?”

Levin glared at Angell, who was calmly telling a lie, with eyes full of bitter betrayal and pressed him.

“I don’t understand why you shield the Empress. I tried to understand. I did so because I know how heavy the mission you carry is. So I waited, but……how could you involve innocent Father Raphael and make him commit such a sin!”

Angell stared silently at the boy who was wailing.

It was Angell himself who had taken in the boy.

In the past, at the recommendation of Pope Sergeus, Angell had also spent time as a deacon when he began walking the apostolic path.

It was during that time, when he was dispatched to remote areas of various countries to serve and spread God’s will, that he met this boy.

The young boy who couldn’t let go of his dead mother and survived by begging and stealing in a collapsed house grabbed his ankle.

Saying he needed to earn money for medicine, he lived each day pretending not to know his mother was dead.

It took much effort after taking in such a boy for the pain of separation to heal.

He never imagined that the boy, who had been as wild as an untamed cat, would walk the path of a holy man.

At some point, the boy began to follow him like a master or brother, showing sincere respect.

Without even dreaming of what kind of deception he was committing.

Angell Clarvin was here out of pure love for someone other than the Holy Spirit,

And Pavel Raphael was a person who assisted him out of deep loyalty to his homeland.

So the reason he had lied in that place was for his homeland Delpha, and the reason Angell had helped was to protect the one he loved.

They had each acted according to their own missions, but in Levin’s eyes, they would all look like traitors.

He had witnessed the outrageous scene of God’s people turning their backs on His name and telling lies.

The boy whose entire world of belief had collapsed was confused, yet he hadn’t revealed the lie to others.

So deceiving the boy had become a sin for Angell.

“Father Sabiel. ……You don’t need to stay in the East Palace anymore. Let’s go to the West Palace tomorrow.”

He needed to distance himself from the boy.

Levin was disappointed by Angell, who once again pushed him away and avoided the situation instead of giving a clear answer, and didn’t say another word.