Once again, my death was not fulfilled.

The priest swiftly returned me to my room using his sacred powers.

“You had this ability too? You should have mentioned it earlier. I could have put it to better use.”

“If I used this power frivolously at every opportunity, would I still be human?” Angell replied as he placed me on the sofa and shook the water from his body. “Teleportation consumes a lot of energy. Especially when taking someone else with me.”

“……I don’t remember adding that setting.”

“Pardon?”

“Nothing, just sorry for the inconvenience.”

I merely smiled at the priest who had caught my muttering and questioned me.

After shaking off the water with a troubled expression, he looked around the room, discovered the fireplace, and lit it.

“Dry yourself with this. I’ll use my remaining power for healing.”

“……I’ve heard your holy power is remarkable.”

“Even the most remarkable priest doesn’t have unlimited power. Holy power is proportional to one’s own life force.”

“……”

Who added that kind of setting? The path to confront whoever did this feels too distant to even bother.

“Does that mean when you heal me, your life span shortens?”

“……You don’t need to think so extremely. We can’t know whether our life span is long or short anyway, and what we feel is just a bit of fatigue.”

“So your life span could actually shorten.”

“……Why do you think Warmwell’s priests are so expensive and rare?”

Despite saying this, Angell approached me and extended his hand.

“I hate it.”

“Hah……”

I heard Angell’s deep sigh.

“I won’t accept healing. I plan to keep you by my side until I get tired of you. What if you die too early?”

“……I wasn’t trying to heal you. I just wanted to move you closer to the fire. It’s cold over there.”

“……”

Realizing my misunderstanding, I felt slightly embarrassed.

I bit my lip involuntarily and ignored his hand, turning instead to sit obediently on the sofa he had placed near the fireplace.

“……Do you want to see me for a long time?”

I turned my head sharply at his voice and saw the priest’s startled expression. His eyes were still red, bearing traces of tears.

“……Smile for me.”

“……”

“I said smile.”

I didn’t answer the priest’s question about wanting to see him for a long time.

Why even ask? I have no intention of letting you go now.

The priest hardened his expression at my command to smile.

“Would you consider asking more kindly?”

“No.”

His expression grew even more profound at my firm refusal.

I didn’t like that he still wouldn’t smile, wouldn’t follow my words, and kept his distance.

“Come here.”

“If you ask more gently, I’ll consider it.”

His attitude had become remarkably relaxed, as if he was trying to train me. It was infuriating. The priest still looked at me with slightly expectant eyes, his face still swollen from crying.

“This is why love isn’t about giving but receiving…. Just when I start treating you a bit more comfortably, you immediately…. Ack!”

That’s when it happened.

Just as I was grumbling toward the priest, bright red blood suddenly surged up my throat.

My hand, which I hastily covered my mouth with, was soaked with blood, and the priest rushed over in alarm and took my hand.

“Don’t do that.”

“Please…… Your Majesty. I didn’t mention it before because I feared you would take it too seriously, but your strength has deteriorated significantly, and the wound in your abdomen from before hasn’t properly healed.”

“I don’t care.”

“Please accept treatment.”

“I don’t want to live at the cost of your life.”

“Hah……”

When I stubbornly insisted, Angell looked at me with a troubled expression, then removed his robe and began carefully wiping the blood from my mouth and hands with the pure white cloth.

I didn’t refuse that.

I kept watching him as he examined me with a hardened expression, taking care of me meticulously. He must have felt my gaze because the priest raised his head and spoke with a complicated expression.

“……That’s my mission. So I’ll be fine.”

“I’m not fine with it.”

I grabbed Angell’s hand to stop him.

He’s one of the few things I like in this broken novel where nothing can be called mine.

I didn’t want to lose him.

“You know, I want to see romance now.”

“……”

“No, I want to experience it. Romance.”

I tightened my grip on Angell’s hand and, looking into his fresh green eyes, tried to convey that I wanted to erase the disgusting feelings I had for Antheo and embrace something new.

“But someone like me could never have that.”

In this broken life, how could that be possible?

Perhaps to Angell’s ears, this sounds like lamentation about being paired with the Emperor and being in an irreversible position.

“Stay by my side.”

But that was fine.

If by chance I, who inherited this life, could overturn the situation, perhaps the priest would fulfill his mission and leave forever, but at least he wouldn’t disappear by dying.

That thought suddenly occurred to me.

At least in that ending, he wouldn’t follow me to the netherworld, and Debora Barochel’s life wouldn’t be in vain.

Perhaps it would be good to live this life a bit more faithfully.

“……”

With that wish in mind, I slowly pulled his hand toward where the sword had pierced beneath my chemise.

Every time the wet fabric brushed against my skin, it left a chill that made my body twitch involuntarily. I could feel a slight trembling from Angell’s fingertips as they touched my skin.

“There’s no wound.”

“……Just because you can’t see it doesn’t mean it’s not there.”

“That’s why. No matter how much you treat it, it won’t heal. So don’t waste yourself and just stay by my side.”

At that moment, silence fell between us as if time had stopped.

Our eyes met, and only the warmth became distinct where our skin touched.

We slowly approached each other as if exchanging unspoken signals, and for a moment, as a precarious atmosphere swirled around us—

The priest kissed me.

As if someone had heard my wish and forcibly inserted this scene between the lines.

My entire body froze in disbelief, and the kiss, tinged with the metallic taste of blood, ended abruptly as the startled priest pulled away.

“……You’ll be punished.”

“……”

The priest’s hand still rested on my abdomen. He met my gaze with finely trembling eyes, as if surprised at himself, and I looked into the beautiful eyes of this sinful priest and pointed out what he had just done.

“If this gets out, you’ll be stripped of all your authority as a priest and face death. I too would inevitably be branded a heretic for coveting what belongs to God and couldn’t escape death.”

The priest’s eyes froze strangely, and those cold eyes met mine with an intensity that seemed to devour me.

“Is this also charity?”

“……”

“It doesn’t matter. I have no intention of letting you go now.”

Since the priest had already brought me life several times.

I would gladly accept this life and take everything I desire, whether it belongs to God or the Emperor.

※※※

Angell, who had fled the room, stood frozen with a pale face as he recalled what he had just done.

His first experience of a kiss had tasted of blood, filled with desperate emotion craving affection.

Reflecting on this, he suddenly realized he had made another mistake by leaving the Empress alone in the room, and his heart grew heavy.

The image of the Empress left alone in a dark room like his mother kept appearing in his mind, making him increasingly anxious, yet he couldn’t bring himself to return to that room.

/”Is this also charity?”/

“……Hah.”

He tried to compose himself by brushing back his fallen golden hair.

After committing such an act, the Empress might never forgive him.

Before acting on his impulse, he had already harbored doubts about the Empress.

Who had he wanted to kiss?

In that moment, when facing Diana, a strong impulse had risen within him that he must do it.

If so, was it merely compassion reflected in his mirror of the past?

Sunk in confusion, Angell stood still and laid out assumptions about what would happen next.

The repercussions of this incident would be no small matter for him, as the Empress had said.

Supporting the Empress and allowing her to stay here was his selfish desire to postpone her death as long as possible.

But that had led to another danger.

As a high priest of Warmwell Temple, he would have to forfeit his life the moment he turned his back on his vow of chastity.

That was fine.

He thought it would be worth giving up his life if he could be close to her even for a moment.

But what about Diana Veronique?

Even if she had momentarily felt an illusion of affection for the priest who cared for her in her broken state, there was no way she could truly care for him when she loved the Emperor more than life itself.

The same punishment awaits those who desire a priest.

After today’s incident, Angell no longer trusted himself to maintain the invisible line, so he would distance himself from Diana, just as he had sent Levin to the west wing.

That…… contradicted his reason for choosing this path.

He had wanted to be of help by her side somehow.

To face her, to touch her under the pretext of treatment, to meet her eyes, to converse with her……

The increasingly blocked breath and tickling throat made him feel ill and confused.

“Priest?”

Angell hurriedly headed to his quarters as he noticed the curious gazes of palace staff wondering why he was standing blankly in the middle of the corridor.

Such signs would also bring trouble to her.

He needed to act as normal as possible, but it wasn’t working well.

That moment with his lifelong idol had broken him so thoroughly.

Debora had been waiting for the priest to emerge from his meeting with the Empress.

Their conversation had gone on for quite some time, and when the priest finally left the room, his expression was deeply furrowed.

After that, a full day passed without the priest showing himself, and the Empress didn’t call for him either. She only said she would no longer receive the priest’s treatment.

Assigning the priest to the East Palace but refusing his treatment?

What on earth had happened in that room that day?

“Lady Barochel.”

As Debora was about to enter the room with an anxious heart, she was stopped by more news from the main palace delivered to the East Palace.

“It’s exactly as I said. The lady who attempted to poison Lady Atrens has confessed everything.”

※※※

I was sitting quietly by the fire when news came to disturb me.

A maid I didn’t even know had apparently confessed. She claimed I had instigated her to poison someone.

Seeing how such rumors spread despite my doing nothing while locked away here, it seemed they were quite afraid of me over there.

Judging by their desperate efforts to bring me down, perhaps Director An or someone else was trying to forcibly correct my rampage through this broken novel.

I hid the blood-stained robe under my blanket and went out for my toilette.

“……Your Majesty.”

Debora and the maids who had come to help me dress looked at me with sympathetic eyes.

Even the maids now looked at me with compassion, as if upset that I was mistreated despite not being loved.

How unpleasant.

I glared at them silently before starting to select from the dresses they had brought.

“Do you like novels?”

As I chose a dress, I casually asked, and the maids in the room began to look at each other before slowly nodding.

“Yes…. I enjoy reading what suits my taste.”

“What genre, romance?”

They hesitated at my follow-up question before nodding again.

They seemed bewildered to be hearing such trivial questions from me.

“I read some romance novels in the library. Most romances here have women seeking revenge and men feeling regret.”

“Ah….”

I handed my blood-stained chemise to the maid who stood there blankly.

“Or men who carry out revenge on behalf of women…. Do you like that sort of thing?”

“…Yes? Yes…. I do like it. Um, I recently read a novel similar to what you mentioned.”

When I smiled warmly, the maid tried to smile back awkwardly while continuing to speak more familiarly, though she still kept avoiding eye contact.

“If you’d like to read, I can prepare some books before you return.”

“Wondering why I’m asking such things on my way to be scolded?”

I smiled at the maid who handed me the inner dress with her head bowed low.

A magnificent robe was draped over my extended arm.

“But now I want to see something different. A woman’s desperate regret. That means she was loved enough to regret, you know.”

Why do they all act like garbage while alive, only to feel regret after death? Like idiots.

If I were given such an opportunity, I would shed a few tears out of respect for the time I was loved, then move on without hesitation to find another love.

Just being alive brings plenty of such opportunities. So the regrets of the living can never comfort the dead.

※※※

When Minerva regained consciousness, she smiled at the dark beauty who appeared in her hazy vision.

Antheo, the Emperor.

She couldn’t help but smile at the Emperor who was looking at her with concern.

“……Were you worried?”

She reached out her hand, and the man, like an obedient lamb, took it and rubbed it against his cheek.

“Why do these things keep happening to you?”

At his words, Minerva’s expression subtly hardened as she lowered her long eyelashes with a bitter smile.

To comfort her distress, the Emperor stroked her hair with his large hand, soothed her, and filled the space beside her with warmth.

“Jealousy is truly frightening.”

He seemed to have already decided on the answer himself. Minerva’s eyes suddenly began to overflow with tears at Antheo’s mutterings.

“……Your Majesty, if I hadn’t been recommended by the council, you wouldn’t have loved me, would you?”

“Who said such a thing?”

Antheo frowned in confusion at the tearful Minerva, deeply cursing the dead woman once more.

“……No, it’s nothing. I just wanted to ask someday.”

“Don’t be foolish. Though the Atrens family was rising as a new power, the council pushed countless other candidates. I was the one who chose you among them.”

Minerva pondered his words, filled her eyes with his image, lost her words for a moment, then spoke again.

“……I want to know the reason.”

“……”

“Please tell me why you chose me among so many others, Your Majesty.”

Minerva’s tearful appearance was sorrowful and beautiful.

At her plea, Antheo kissed her forehead and rose from his seat.

“……You stood out the most among them.”

“……”

“Rest now. I’ll come back when I’m done with work.”

Click. Looking at the closed door after he left, Minerva sank into thought.

The Emperor had chosen her for her beauty. She wasn’t unaware of this fact, but it brought her no joy.

/”What should we do with her….”/

/”……Should we arrange a marriage early?”/

/”We need to find a family that will take her.”/

Her beauty was fake, after all.

Recalling distant memories, Minerva looked around her room.

Though this place overflowed with elaborate and expensive items, there wasn’t a single mirror, not even for decoration.

She entrusted her grooming entirely to those who stayed around her claiming to be friends, or to her maids, and even then, Minerva never asked for a mirror.

Each time, those around her would joke that she didn’t need a mirror since she looked beautiful no matter what.

Those words both tired and angered her.

Even without looking in a mirror, everything reflected in her eyes appeared fake to her.

※※※

/”Minerva. A beautiful child like you deserves only the finest things. You are more blessed than anyone else here.”/

Everyone who meets her treats her like a queen, bringing only the most precious and finest things.

They show expensive luxury goods and force warm smiles to curry favor with her, the Empress’s substitute.

But the very first version of her was not someone who could enjoy such things.

She doesn’t understand why people are so obsessed with appearances, but the original version of her was born with rather unfortunate conditions.

Her crooked nose was inherited from her mother, and her sensitive skin from her father. Her dark brown, frizzy hair couldn’t be tamed no matter how neatly she tried to tie it, and to such a person, Diana Veronique appeared as an idol who had everything.

She was beautiful.

This isn’t about appearances.

The dignity and composure that comes from having everything one desires. The courage to not fear high positions.

Minerva wasn’t the only one who admired her.

Without a doubt, there wasn’t a single girl her age in the Empire or neighboring countries who didn’t admire her.

Meanwhile, after her debutante ball, with no marriage proposals coming in, she became her family’s burden, and her family began spending money to showcase her at parties they weren’t even invited to.

Each time, Minerva would stand like a shadow, watching Diana Veronique shine at the center, returning with both admiration and a heavy sense of deprivation weighing her down.

As time passed, the lady reached the highest position.

When the lady walked the path to become Empress, rising even higher, Minerva too was carried along by the flowing time and became someone’s wife. She became the third wife of an elderly nobleman obsessed with having an heir, living through terrible days, cursing her own life.

Around the time she began to think it fortunate that while one couldn’t choose their life, they could choose the moment of their death, a miraculous hand reached out to her.

/”Father…. Where is this place?”/

The place she went, holding her father’s hand, was a dark scene in a back alley where black magic thrived.

/”No…. I hate it!”/

/”Look at yourself! Minerva. I hate myself too for this. But for our sake, just endure a little… just a little bit!”/

It seemed insane.

Her father forcibly pushed his daughter into that damp and grotesque scene, and Minerva doesn’t know how much she cried in that terrible place.

Indescribable pain came countless times.

The pain of flesh being torn and gouged, the fear of fighting against the incantations and eerie wailing of heretics.

The most painful thing was her parents, who had chosen to push her into such a place.

Though that fact tore and trampled her insides, Minerva gained a new life there.

/”My goodness, how could someone change so much? The Holy Spirit must have sent us an angel.”/

After that, she received much love.

Her father began to cherish her like gold and jade, and her mother busily moved around, proudly showing her off everywhere.

Surrounded by everyone’s love, Minerva’s eyes grew increasingly lofty.

To the point where she couldn’t be satisfied with anything less than the best.

/”……I think it’s time we start looking for a marriage match.”/

When she overheard her mother and father, who were watching her play the piano with satisfaction from beyond the reception room door, Minerva had no doubt they would introduce her to the best partner, just as they had done with everything else.

/”……Who is this person, Father?”/

/”……He’s a Count, my dear.”/

Sadly, her expectations were shattered at the most crucial moment. At the place where she was introduced once again to that terrible man as a match for the beautiful girl with a promising future, Minerva realized how much waste her family was incurring to maintain their marquis title, that her existence was included in that waste, and that changing one’s shell couldn’t change their predetermined fate.

/”……I hate it!”/

/”Minerva!!”/

/”Aaargh!!”/

To escape from the marquis household that was only superficially splendid, Minerva needed to find another alternative as quickly as possible.

Nevertheless, she didn’t forget her parents’ teachings.

She would have only the most perfect and best by her side.

No matter what methods she used, no matter who she had to step on, she would reach the most exalted position.