The Seidler Count’s estate was located to the south of the capital.

In stark contrast to its worn, shabby exterior, the interior was so opulent that it could easily have been mistaken for the imperial palace itself. Its splendor far exceeded what could reasonably be afforded by a count’s household, especially one that had recently fallen on hard times. Even the corridors were lavishly decorated and required constant, meticulous care, yet the estate employed only three servants. Inevitably, dust gathered in the corners and valuable ornaments quickly fell into disrepair.

Nevertheless, the Count and Countess, along with Donata Seidler, had no intention of curbing their extravagance.

“If things wear out or break because we can’t maintain them properly, we’ll simply buy new ones.”

This way of thinking was so outrageous that it left even the servants speechless.

Nor were the servants held in high regard. They groveled shamelessly before those in power and behaved as though they were gods towards their inferiors. They worked their three servants to exhaustion — so much so that, if they had had the chance, the servants would have quit en masse just to see their masters thrown into chaos.

Still, with the count and countess away since morning, the day promised to be a relatively peaceful one.

—Crash!

That peace was shattered in an instant by a piercing, grating sound.

“A—ah, m-my lady! Are you all right? My lady!”

The noise came from the very end of the corridor—Donata’s room. It sounded like glass breaking. Sensing trouble, a maid who had been carrying laundry hurriedly turned around.

‘This is bad. This is really bad.’

The Count of Seidler doted obsessively on his daughter. If anything had happened to Donata, it would be disastrous. He would surely storm in, shouting about what on earth they had been doing in his absence, venting his fury on everyone.

Driven by panic, the maid flung the door open without even knocking.

“My lady!”

The glass jewelry box that Count Seidler had once given to Donata lay shattered on the floor. The once beautiful box had been smashed beyond recognition, splintering into countless pieces. Large and small sharp fragments were scattered across the red carpet, mingling with the rings and jewels that had been inside and had now been strewn across the floor.

Donata Seidler stood amid the wreckage, her head bowed low.

Her disheveled, jet-black hair half veiled her pale face, and her golden eyes gleamed wildly between the strands — a gaze that was both unsettling and chilling.

Careful not to provoke her, the maid slowly stepped into the room. The glass shards needed to be cleared away immediately.

“My lady… are you all right?”

“You…”

“Yes? Y-yes?”

“Who said you could come in without permission?”

Her voice trembled as if she were barely holding back her rage.

The maid froze where she stood, helpless, apologies spilling from her lips in a frantic rush.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, it’s just—there was the sound of glass breaking, and I—I was so worried about you, my lady, I’m sorry—”

“Speak properly.”

“I’m sorry… I’m so sorry.”

Tears spilled down the maid’s cheeks, heavy with humiliation and fear.

Even that seemed to irritate Donata. Unable to contain herself, she slammed her hand down on the table. Papers scattered wildly into the air.

The documents were torn into pieces so small that the letters were no longer legible; they had once been a letter of recommendation from the Empress.

The marriage prospect recommended by the Empress was a commoner — once a thief — who had somehow amassed an enormous fortune.

It was the recommendation letter that had arrived today that ignited Donata’s already unsettled mind.

‘I won’t accept this. Never. Absolutely not.’

Donata struck the table again, violently. Even the few scraps of paper left on it fell to the floor.

No. She couldn’t endure this any longer.

Lifting her venomous golden eyes, Donata glared at the maid.

“You.”

“Yes? Y-yes, my lady…?”

“Get ready at once. I’m going to see my master.”

“Y-your master? But the count is out—”

“Don’t make me repeat myself. If you’re stupid, just do as you’re told! Don’t try to use your empty head and ruin everything!”

Her sharp voice rang through the room.

Those words were aimed at the maid—but they were also the words she wanted to hurl straight into the Empress’s face.

Unlike before, Empress Ailie had not been stupid lately. Nor dull.

‘You should just stay quiet, shouldn’t you? Pretend to be the wise empress who has no personal desires and lives only for the empire—walk the imperial palace with that usual blank face. That’s what you’re supposed to do.’

Coming to confront Donata in person, slapping her across the face and threatening not to let things go—those had been entirely unexpected. So was this absurd attempt to push such an outrageous marriage prospect onto her.

Donata was shaken by the Empress’s behavior. She wanted to shout at her to stay foolish and stay still, to stop meddling.

‘Why… why did the hallucination break?’

Hallucination.

The root of everything was the immense black magic that Donata had commissioned from her master at an exorbitant price, which she then cast upon Empress Ailie.

When Donata was twelve, the imperial family selected the youngest daughter of Count Erdei as a candidate for Crown Princess. Donata had not intended to oppose that decision.

However, Ailie was not the only candidate.

In secret, the late emperor had also nominated Donata Seidler, the second daughter of the Seidler Count, as a candidate.

For nearly two years, Donata competed with Ailie in a rivalry that no one else could see.

At first, she had truly wanted to become empress.

It was during this period that Donata Seidler lived with the greatest sincerity.

Of course, she had always been vain and fond of showing off, even from a young age. She neglected her etiquette lessons, instead devoting herself to adorning her appearance.

Nevertheless, she did make an effort in her own way.

This is why, when she turned fourteen, Donata could not accept the sudden decision.

‘That damned old man.’

The late emperor had removed her from the list of crown princess candidates as abruptly as he had put her on it in the first place.

Donata had wanted to confront him—to ask what she lacked, what Ailie had that she did not, and to demand an explanation for his decision.

But the late emperor gave her no answers. He only offered an apology and dismissed her.

Her frustration grew heavier. Her questions twisted into resentment and her once carefree nature began to warp beyond control. Even Donata herself could no longer restrain the changes taking root in her heart.

In the end, the resentment festered into a vicious grudge. It started with a hatred of the late emperor, then shifted to Ailie, and eventually spread to encompass the entire imperial family of the Tere Empire.

Then, when she was fifteen, a master arrived at the Seidler estate.

She was a woman cloaked in black, with hair as dark as pitch. She asked if Donata could spare a moment, as she wished to speak with her in private.

The Count of Seidler tried to refuse.

But Donata accepted.

‘Because I thought she might change my life.’

A powerful premonition was raging through her mind.

The master said she wished to speak with Donata alone and dismissed the count, countess, and the servants. The moment they were left by themselves, the master revealed the truth—that she was a black mage.

Hearing that, Donata felt fear… and at the same time, certainty.

‘This person can change my life. She can fix the life I’ve already ruined—and help me take revenge on that hateful imperial family.’

The master urged her to come and learn black magic. Donata deceived the Count of Seidler by claiming the woman was a dance instructor and obtained his permission. Step by step, Donata learned black magic, all the while dreaming of the revenge she would one day carry out.

Then, before long, rumors began to spread that the crown prince would soon be formally engaged.

“Please—please, Master. It’s too late. Even if I stay up every night from now on, there’s no way I can make it in time for the engagement!”

“Yes, but don’t be so impatient.”

“How can I not be impatient? It’s over. Once that girl is engaged to the crown prince, there’ll be no place left for me!”

“We can’t stop the engagement itself.”

“What do you mean? You said you’d help me!”

“Donata. Don’t raise your voice.”

“Master…”

“Instead of stopping the engagement, there’s a way to completely ruin both of their lives.”

The master demanded an enormous fee, saying that since Donata’s grasp of black magic was still crude, she would handle it herself—properly.

Desperate, Donata cleverly mixed truth with lies to persuade the Count of Seidler. She drained the count’s coffers and commissioned the spell.

Only then did she learn the name of the magic.

Hallucination.

It was said to be an advanced spell — so powerful that it could not be undone, even within a lifetime.

The day before the engagement, the master cast a vast hallucination spell on Ailie Erdei.

Trapped within the spell, Ailie lived inside the illusion.

In this illusion, she was abandoned by the man who would become her husband: Crown Prince Benate.

Every word and gesture that Benate directed at Ailie was grotesquely distorted within the spell. A warm gaze became one of bone-chilling indifference. Gentle greetings twisted into cold mockery.

And that was not all.

Although the Ailie within the illusion struggled desperately to escape, she could not break free from its confines.

Outside the spell, Ailie moved and spoke as if devoid of emotion, like a doll — her actions mechanical and empty.

In particular, she was unbearably cold towards Benate. She offered no clear answers, spoke only in abstractions, and made proper conversation impossible.

With the other attendants, however, she could still manage limited exchanges, so they merely assumed the Empress was in a bad mood.

‘It was perfect revenge. Truly perfect.’

Then, in the second New Year after the two were married, Donata added a final touch to the spell herself.

Within Ailie’s hallucination, she made Benate and herself into lovers.

And ensured that Ailie would be abandoned not only by Benate, but by everyone.

It was a New Year’s gift prepared to seize that position as soon as possible.

Two days before the New Year festival, Donata secretly had someone steal Ailie’s belongings and used them as a medium to cast black magic.

But—

“…I may have ruined everything.”

“My lady?”

“Didn’t you hear me? Get ready. We’re going to see my master—now!”

She had been certain it would succeed.

But the hallucination that had progressed so smoothly suddenly shattered.

Was it because she had dared to interfere with a high-tier spell using inadequate skills?

When Ailie first summoned her, Donata had never imagined that the hallucination itself would break. The spell was so vast that small gaps occasionally appeared, which she had dismissed as minor distortions.

However, after Ailie struck her, Donata finally realized how badly things had gone wrong.

‘A mere gap would not have caused this. The hallucination had completely collapsed.’

Her thoughts spun in confusion, but the moment her gaze fell on Benate’s silver hair, Donata hastily devised a countermeasure.

Even though the hallucination had broken, she could still alter Benate’s memories.

It seemed that Ailie still remembered her as Benate’s mistress.

Therefore, Donata rushed to implant herself into Benate’s mind as his concubine.

But that attempt also failed.

Perhaps she had cast the spell too hastily.

She could not force the memories into place afterwards.

In the end, everything collapsed.

‘And that’s how things came to this.’

Unable to accept the reality of her shattered hallucination, Donata sought an audience with the Empress, clinging to the hope that even if only a fragment of the spell remained, it might still be possible to reverse it.

However, Ailie’s mind was perfectly clear. The hallucination had vanished long ago.

As if that were not enough, Donata was then subjected to the absurd proposal of being matched with a wealthy commoner.

Her pride was utterly crushed.

‘This isn’t right, Ailie. You belong inside that hallucination.’

It had been delightful to watch Ailie stand stiff and lifeless like a doll, and to see Benate stagger, stripped of everything he had relied upon.

Ailie was a foreign body. An impurity that could never truly blend into the imperial family. She had always been that way ever since she first appeared as a candidate for Crown Princess.

And that was precisely why it had been so satisfying.

At times, Donata had even dared to appear at imperial events. She did nothing more than observe in silence before leaving — yet how could something so simple bring such pleasure? With only slight exaggeration, it was the greatest delight of her life.

This was why Donata was desperate to undo all the damage she had caused and do so as quickly as possible.

To do that, she had to see her master.

If only she could meet her master, everything would return to how it was meant to be.

Absolutely.