An old, dilapidated house isolated in a remote place.

In this nearly collapsing old house lived three skinny, grimy sisters and one sturdy male slave.

The eldest of the three sisters had a stomach that growled loudly across the yard, but her voice was clear and firm when she shouted at her slave.

“Hey! Tael! Clean this up properly!”

Aila shouted resolutely.

It had been three days since she’d been clutching her empty stomach in pain.

Because of the recent war, no one would give them work, and there was no food to eat.

But inside, Aila was snickering.

‘Hehe, with that body, he could work all day even after starving for a week. Look at that physique! I’ve brought home an ox that can work without rest!’

Recently, she had picked up a golden pumpkin that had rolled in unexpectedly.

The golden pumpkin grumbled in displeasure but eventually bent down to pick up the broom.

“Why do I have to do this? I am…”

He stopped mid-sentence. He seemed to be trying hard to recall his identity, but his lips just hovered in the air.

“You know what happens if you don’t listen to your master, right?”

When Aila narrowed her eyes and raised her fist, the man glared back with narrowed eyes.

Despite his fierce gaze, she felt pleased.

‘Hehe, what are you going to do by glaring? Are you still an emperor or something?!’

Once, he was an emperor. A tyrant, even.

But now, he was just an unwanted slave living in Aila’s house, having lost his memory.

Aila never told anyone about this fact and had no intention of doing so.

Even if his soldiers were desperately searching for him out there.

And this was all thanks to the disaster the emperor had brought upon Aila not long ago.

*

The Kingdom of Arera had long been under threat from the Great Empire Arniel.

And finally, that threat reached Aila’s village.

Aila looked at the flames in terror.

“To think they would invade even our village…”

The smoke rising in the distance turned the sky red.

Aila quickly packed her belongings and shook her sisters awake.

“Wake up! The Arniel army has invaded the village. You need to escape to the mountains!”

Serna rubbed her eyes and asked.

“Sister, what’s happening?”

“No time! Run now!”

Melia, who was whimpering, grabbed her sleeve.

“Sister, let me come with you…”

Aila removed her hand and shouted.

“Don’t cry! Running is the priority right now!”

After pushing her sisters out the door, Aila breathed heavily.

The Arniel soldiers had already advanced to where they could be seen.

As she stared at them, pale-faced, her eyes met with that man, Targaniel, who emanated a particularly fierce aura among the large, dark men.

Black hair, golden eyes.

Dressed in a uniform adorned with elaborate patterns, he exuded a different dignity from the soldiers.

That’s how she could recognize him immediately. He was undoubtedly the infamous emperor of Arniel.

He took his eyes off Aila and looked around somewhere, then raised one corner of his mouth like a predator that had found its prey.

Aila, feeling goosebumps, picked up a stone and threw it. He had clearly been watching her fleeing sisters.

“Take this!”

As soon as the stone hit him squarely in the chest, he frowned, glared at her, and fiercely shouted.

“Capture that woman.”

At his command, Aila began running at full speed.

With the sole thought of preventing them from catching up, she headed toward the mountain path, weaving through narrow alleys, slippery mud roads, and tangled undergrowth, but Targaniel’s skilled soldiers quickly followed even on the rough terrain.

Running frantically, Aila realized she had come to the wrong place. This was a dangerous mountain where landslides frequently occurred.

But it was already too late.

The sound of hooves grew closer, and an arrow grazed her side.

“K*ll her! I’ll reward whoever brings me her head!”

In extreme fear, the strength in her legs finally gave out. Aila collapsed to the ground and closed her eyes.

‘Is this the end? Serna! Melia! I’m sorry for leaving first!’

Just as she felt her breath about to stop,

Rumble—!

The ground shook.

As Aila lost her balance and rolled to the side, miraculously, a huge boulder fell from the cliff above.

Dust erupted so thickly it obscured her vision, and there was an ear-splitting roar. Everything ended quickly, and suddenly all was quiet.

Aila curled up in fear, and after a moment, when calm returned, she slowly opened her eyes.

A massive boulder blocked the path ahead, and the flags of the soldiers crushed beneath it were slightly visible in the dirt.

Aila’s heart was racing madly. If she hadn’t rolled to the side, she would have been crushed to death too.

But at the same time, she felt relieved. The Arniel soldiers could no longer chase her.

“Is there… no one alive?”

Just as she breathed a sigh of relief, she spotted something shining in the distance.

Approaching cautiously, she saw Emperor Targaniel lying unconscious. He must have hit something, as he was unconscious, but surprisingly, he was in quite good condition.

‘Did he get thrown clear somehow? Lucky him.’

Barely suppressing her rapidly beating heart, as she examined the emperor’s condition, her gaze was caught by something else. The jewels on his clothes!

Her eyes sparkled with greed.

‘If I sell those, I could pay for Serna’s medicine, and Melia wouldn’t have to go hungry.’

She swallowed hard, looked around to make sure no one was there, and carefully began removing the jewels from his body.

Her heart pounded and her breath quickened, but her hands didn’t stop. This might be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Just as she was about to remove the last jewel, the emperor opened his eyes.

“Who are you?”

Startled, Aila froze with her fist clenched.

“Th-That’s…”

Targaniel slowly sat up and tilted his head. Then he said something very strange.

“Who… am I?”

At his question, Aila rolled her eyes and quickly assessed the situation.

‘He seems to have lost his memory.’

The emperor who had been tormenting her had lost his memory. This was an unbelievably fortunate situation. Moreover,

‘There’s no one around.’

All the people who had followed the emperor were crushed to death by the boulder. So, this would be a perfect crime that even the emperor himself couldn’t detect.

The corner of Aila’s mouth lifted slightly.

‘I’m saved. And this is even a chance for revenge.’

Without hesitation, she hit him hard on the head.

When the emperor’s eyes widened in surprise, she hit him again and shouted all the words she had been longing to say:

“You damned b*stard! Do you know how much I’ve suffered because of you?!”

Targaniel hurriedly blocked her fist with his hand.

“What are you doing! How dare you hit my head!”

His arrogant attitude made her dislike the emperor even more. Aila was so furious, so desperately wanting to hit him more, that she blurted out words she couldn’t contain:

“You’re my slave! You b*stard!”

The lie seemed effective; taking advantage of his shock and confusion, she hit him on the head once more.

‘Take that, you jerk, invading other people’s countries?!’

After being hit several more times, the emperor, though having lost his memory, instinctively felt that he wasn’t such a person, and began to protest solemnly:

“Me, a slave? That’s absurd!”

But Aila crossed her arms and said mockingly:

“Then, who are you?”

“I am…”

When he couldn’t continue, Aila scoffed arrogantly.

That was her outward appearance, but inwardly, she began to feel anxious after hitting him. It would be a disaster if his memory suddenly returned.

Quickly thinking, she turned around, intending to flee.

She planned to quietly disappear while the emperor was lost in thought. Whether an amnesiac emperor got lost and died or not wasn’t her concern.

What mattered was her own life.

As Aila quietly moved away, the emperor, who had been dazed but now regained his senses, looked like a lost puppy and urgently followed her, shouting:

“Who am I! Tell me who I am!”

‘Ugh, why are you following me!’

If he felt he wasn’t a slave, he should live independently, not follow her.

She thought he would stop following after a while, but he ended up coming all the way to her house.

‘Ugh, why are you following me! What if we get caught!’

Arriving in front of her house, she raised her fist threateningly to give the emperor a ‘reason to leave.’

“Do you want to get hit again?”

The threat seemed to work as the emperor flinched.

“Th-Then what about these clothes I’m wearing! They clearly look like noble attire…”

Aila narrowed her eyes and replied nonchalantly. She had to deceive him completely.

“You stole them. You’re a thief.”

Better to lie outright.

“A thief who lost his memory.”

The truth must be hidden at all costs.

“!”

“But I took pity on you and took you in.”

The emperor was shocked, his eyes wide.

“What am I…?”

“As they say, a dog can’t give up its habits. You couldn’t give your habits to a dog.”

“!”

“So you ended up stealing even royal clothes.”

“Th-That’s a lie.”

“I was worried about you, so I went looking and found you collapsed.”

“The more I hear, the less sense it makes. Why would you keep a thief like me, and why would you feed a slave in this collapsing house?”

Aila flinched at the emperor’s unnecessarily sharp words.

“Th-That’s…”

Aila gulped and firmly grabbed the emperor’s face with both hands.

It was her last method to deceive the sharp emperor.

“Because your face is my type.”