The Crown Princess was infertile.

No matter how many physicians were secretly summoned for a second opinion, the result never changed.

And on the night Adrian learned the truth—

Crash!

A white porcelain vase imported from the East shattered violently against the floor.

Adrian burst into laughter like a man who had lost his mind.

“Ha. Hahaha…!”

“A-Adrian. Your Highness—”

“Dolly… You dare tell me you married me while hiding that you’re infertile?”

“…!”

“You dared deceive me? You?“

A second vase exploded against the floor.

Fragments flew toward Dolores’s feet, clad in silk slippers.

Even when her father had scolded her harshly, even when her older brother’s pranks had crossed the line, Dolores had always endured it with the grace expected of an elegant lady.

“Y-Your Highness. This… there must be… there must be some mistake—!”

But that day, for the first time in her life, she was overcome with panic, leaving her trembling uncontrollably from head to toe.

She had always known that her body was weak.

Her menstrual cycle had always been irregular, and even before she got married, her family doctor had expressed concerns about it.

But she had never imagined that she would receive such devastating confirmation after her wedding.

Grinding his teeth, Adrian spat out his fury.

“The Marquis’s family must have lost their minds too. They tricked me into accepting this… defective product that’s only attractive on the outside?”

“…!”

Like the porcelain vase, her mind shattered.

She had never imagined that the man who had cherished her since childhood could become so cold.

‘A defective product.’

‘Attractive only on the outside.’

Just as Adrian turned to leave, Dolores hurriedly dropped to her knees.

Tiny porcelain shards, no larger than grains of sand, dug into her skin.

But that trivial pain was nothing compared to the terror pounding against her heart.

“I didn’t deceive you! How could I ever dare? If we consult another physician—!”

“What? So you can find even more doctors to bribe into silence?”

Adrian’s eyes narrowed in disbelief.

It was the first time anyone had ever looked at her that way.

All her life, people—and especially men—had gazed at Dolores as though she were a masterpiece sculpted from roses.

But now?

“Have you no shame? No sense of dignity as a woman?”

“Adrian…”

In an instant, she had become filthy.

Her skin stung with humiliation, as though it were being pierced by countless needles.

After staring at her pitiful state, Adrian sighed deeply.

“Haa… Dolly. Fine. Infertility is… unfortunate, but I’m not a heartless man.”

“Your Highness…!”

“As if I would cast aside someone as beautiful as you.”

“Ah…”

“I’ve already given you the position of Crown Princess. It isn’t something I can simply take back.”

He meant it as reassurance.

Yet Dolores felt no comfort at all.

‘Someone as beautiful as you…’

‘What does that mean?’

If he was keeping her because she was beautiful, what would happen when she developed wrinkles around her eyes with age?

What about when her eyesight weakened with age and she started to squint?

Or if she gained a little extra weight?

‘Then what would become of me?’

She already knew the answer.

With trembling eyes, she stared at the floor.

She would become like the shattered pieces of white porcelain scattered at her feet.

To her, every natural sign of ageing felt like an impending catastrophe.

Growing unattractive felt like a death sentence to her.

‘No. I can’t let that happen. I have to stop it!’

From that day on, Dolores became consumed by an even deeper obsession with her appearance.

Although her skin was already flawless and smooth, with a translucent quality reminiscent of porcelain, she felt compelled to make it even more perfect. Even after dusting her face with the finest powdered pearls, she would return to the mirror again and again, anxiously searching for imperfections.

Eating became a source of fear.

The desserts she once secretly enjoyed now tasted of guilt. Anything rich or indulgent turned her stomach. If she ate even a little too much, she would force herself to vomit before the night was over.

Her waist was already so slender that it seemed as though it might break under the slightest pressure.

And yet, whenever she looked in the mirror, the woman staring back at her never seemed satisfied.

The reflection wearing Dolores’s face only continued to mock her.

‘Do you really think this is enough? Can’t you see the extra fat?’

‘The moment you become even a little less beautiful, you’re finished!’

“Urgh…!”

And each time, Dolores forced herself to vomit again.

As a result, her years as Crown Princess were hellish.

If she had had someone to lean on, things might not have been quite so bad.

But her family was merciless.

“How could something this disgraceful happen…!”

Three years into her marriage.

When she still failed to conceive, her father and brother relentlessly pressured her until they finally uncovered the secret.

‘Perhaps they’ll worry with me. Perhaps they’ll help me find a solution.’

For a fleeting moment, Dolores had hoped.

The Marquis of Rochester, her father, crushed that hope without hesitation.

“I only married your mother because her family was known for producing many children.”

“Father…”

“Haa. What are we supposed to do now? The Imperial Family has been investing in our house because you’re the Crown Princess!”

At those words, her older brother James exploded in frustration.

“Father, what do we do now? The repayment deadline for Gilbert is coming soon! You are serving His Highness properly in bed, aren’t you?”

“Brother!”

“What if this is happening because you’re doing something wrong?”

Unable to endure it any longer, Dolores shouted for the first time in her life.

“Do you have any idea how much I’ve done for this family since becoming Crown Princess?!”

She constantly monitored Adrian’s moods.

While obsessively maintaining her appearance, she secretly used her own money to support her brother, James, who had a serious gambling habit.

James had a serious gambling habit.

His affairs with women were equally notorious.

She had even paid money to silence his lovers.

She had always been taught that her brother’s success was the family’s success.

‘But how dare he bring up what happens in my bedchamber?’

As though she were nothing more than a broodmare!

At that moment, James shoved her hard in the shoulder.

There wasn’t the slightest trace of respect for the Crown Princess.

“Gah!”

“And what’s with the attitude? Honestly, if you weren’t my sister—”

“That’s enough, James!”

The Marquis barked sharply at his children.

His sharp green eyes gleamed with a calculating light.

“Haa… For now, Your Highness the Crown Princess. We will do whatever we can to preserve your position.”

“F-Father.”

“The position of Empress will undoubtedly be yours one day. However…”

The Marquis’s eyes hardened.

Dolores had inherited his green eyes.

Yet there was none of the warmth a father would have for his daughter in his gaze.

Instead, it was the gaze of a greedy strategist contemplating a broken chess piece.

‘How can I still make use of this flawed piece?’

That was all he was thinking.

“But in return, you must follow this father’s advice without question.”

If she refused, she would be cast aside.

The Marquis of Rochester had instilled that fear in her with ruthless precision, leaving her with no escape.

The solution he offered was crueler than anything she could have imagined.

He planned to put another woman in her husband’s bed.

The woman he had chosen was none other than Dolores’s closest cousin.

***

Dolores had been innocent until the day she got married.

People with pure hearts often take longer to recognize the ugliness hidden within others.

It took her a while to realize what the Crown Prince meant by ‘pleasant evenings’ with noblewomen, and why maids would sometimes leave his office with flushed cheeks and shy smiles.

But once she understood, she could no longer suppress her anger.

The women who had slept with the Crown Prince and flaunted his favor were dragged to their knees and whipped at her command.

Wasn’t that only natural?

After all, they were boasting about sleeping with a married man.

To Dolores, such arrogance was unforgivable.

“Oh my. To think such a pretty face could belong to someone so vicious.”

“His Highness the Crown Prince has remarkable patience to put up with her.”

“Isn’t that simply the power of childhood affection?”

So why was Dolores the only one who was condemned?

At some point, she stopped being the Empire’s Diamond.

She was no longer Dolly, the delicate porcelain doll.

By the time she turned twenty-five, she had been given a new title.

A villainess hiding behind the mask of a temptress.

Yet even a villainess could never have imagined this.

“…Angelica.”

“Ah, Cousin Dolores.”

One late afternoon, Dolores arrived at the latest secret residence of the Crown Prince.

She had come with a single purpose: to remove her husband’s newest mistress.

Instead, the moment she saw the woman step gracefully from a bedroom far more lavishly furnished than the Crown Princess’s own chambers, her heart sank.

The woman looked fragile enough to break at the slightest touch.

Soft, platinum-blonde hair cascaded over her shoulders and fell across skin marked by unmistakable traces of affection.

And then there were her eyes.

Dark green.

A trait so common among the women of House Rochester.

In that instant, Dolores had a terrible realization and felt as if the ground had disappeared beneath her feet.

“How could you do this to me?!”

It was Angelica.

She had been her closest cousin.

They were so close that, when Angelica made her debut, Dolores had personally paid for all her gowns.

She had only wanted to ensure that the girl, who had lost her parents at a young age, would never be looked down on.

Yet Angelica showed not the slightest trace of shame.

“Cousin, you’re finally here?”

She smiled as though Dolores had merely arrived late for afternoon tea.

“What do you think you’re doing, Angelica?! Just because we’re family doesn’t mean I won’t punish—”

“This is what Uncle ordered me to do. Your father.”

“…What?”

“They say you’re barren, Cousin. So I was told to bear a child in your place.”

Angelica let out a small, indifferent laugh.

Only then did Dolores finally understand her father’s plan.

As long as his infertile daughter remained Empress, it didn’t matter which Rochester woman continued the Imperial bloodline.

How greedy that old man was!

Angelica studied the frozen Dolores before casually slipping out of bed.

“Fortunately, His Highness the Crown Prince is quite fond of me.”

“Ah…”

“And when I give him a child, I do hope you’ll acknowledge us properly, Your Majesty.”

The following year, the Emperor died.

Adrian and Dolores naturally succeeded him as Emperor and Empress.

Also that year, Angelica gave birth to a son.

He was a healthy, beautiful, blonde-haired boy.

Without consulting Dolores, Adrian registered the child as his son.

“Dolly. If you’re truly an Empress who loves me, then surely you can love my child as well?”

“…What?”

“I intend to register this boy as the Imperial grandson born from you.”

At that moment, Angelica lowered her head even further.

She looked like the epitome of a pitiful woman who was obediently accepting her ‘husband’s’ wise decision without question.

Caught completely off guard, Dolores lost her composure.

“Your Majesty. How could you do this to me? I will never accept it. Never!”

“Dolores! How dare you defy the Emperor’s word—”

“This child is a bastard! A bastard cannot inherit the throne!”

The baby slept peacefully in his father’s arms.

He was a beautiful child.

Yet Dolores found him utterly repulsive.

“Sniff… Cousin…”

But she was not nearly as repulsive as Angelica, who let a single tear roll down her cheek.

Covering her face with both hands, she trembled as though overcome with grief.

Adrian immediately wrapped an arm around her waist.

“C-Cousin. I’m so, so sorry. I… This is all because of me—”

“Angelica, don’t cry. None of this is your fault.”

“Your Majesty…!”

Standing before his lawful wife, Adrian gently kissed Angelica’s forehead.

“Angelica, our child will become the Crown Prince.”

Those words became a curse that shaped the rest of Dolores’s life.

So she turned herself into the perfect doll.

Beautiful. Elegant. Impeccable.

She was a decorative ornament with no power of her own.

She was meant to be admired from afar, valued only for her flawless appearance.

But even a doll can only endure so much before it begins to break.

Dolores had been trampled on for far too long.

To protect the last remnants of her pride, she fought with everything she had left.

‘It’s not too late.’

Despite her husband’s continued neglect, Dolores threw herself into her studies, desperate to understand politics.

Managing the palace’s affairs was challenging enough, but she also forced herself to look beyond its walls and learn about the issues shaping the Empire itself.

She endured. She learned. She fought.

And yet, in the year she turned forty, her life came to an end on the execution grounds.

Her crime?

Attempting to harm the Crown Prince — her supposed son.

That was the charge laid against her.

She was branded the ‘Mad Empress’ for attempting to murder the heir to the throne.

This is how she will be remembered in history.

***

And yet, fate had a strange way of working.

Dolores was certain that her head had been cut off.

But when she opened her eyes—

“My lady. Are you feeling unwell?”

“…”

“You haven’t seemed like yourself lately… Would you like us to bring in some new cosmetics?”

Why did Dolores Rochester return when she was twenty-two?

Not only that, but…

She had gone back to a time before her official wedding to Adrian.

She had gone back to the days when she still lived at the Rochesters’ estate.

Staring at her reflection in the vanity mirror, she couldn’t help but admire herself.

‘My goodness. The elasticity of this skin is incredible…’

Despite using expensive beauty products in the past, she had never managed to maintain this youthful firmness.

Above all, she loved her eyes.

They were still bright and alive.

They had not yet been worn down by desperation or hollowed out by suffering.

The woman in the mirror was young.

And she had another chance.

‘I can’t waste this miracle.’

She was determined to leave this wretched family behind, no matter what it took.

She was going to escape that dreadful marriage.

But where should she start?

Who should she meet first?

What was the right move?

Glancing at the anxious maids hovering around her, Dolores wondered.

“…First.”

“Yes, my lady!”

“Bring me a chocolate cake.”

The maids blinked.

“A whole cake.”

“…Pardon?”