Chapter 13 – A Midnight Attack

It was a cloudy afternoon, with no sunlight streaming through the windows of the Imperial City. Now, with only a week left until the wedding, time had flown by in a blur.

During this time, Seilia had been so busy with Empress training that she hadn’t seen Leo since their meal on the terrace. Leo, too, had been occupied with wedding preparations, leaving both of them caught up in their respective duties.

At present, Seilia was preparing the guest list for the wedding invitations. This was a task Leo had entrusted to her, making her solely responsible for it. Invitations had already been sent to the distinguished guests from distant continents, accounting for their travel time. Only the nearby kingdoms remained on the list.

Marse, the head maid, was reading through the list to confirm its accuracy.

“…With this, the invitations for every kingdom, including the Kingdom of Barmalin, have been completed.”

That was, except for the Kingdom of Faelin and Princess Blair.

Since the time of the first Empress, it had become an unspoken tradition not to send invitations to the ladies who had previously been candidates for the Empress Selection. After all, there was no need to flaunt the happiness of the man they couldn’t marry.

But then again, who was the one sitting in front of Marse? It was Seilia, someone who always defied expectations.

“Wait.”

Seilia stopped her with a wide, mischievous smile.

It seemed impossible, but the impossible had a way of happening.

“Send an invitation to Princess Blair of the Kingdom of Faelin as well.”

For nearly a week, Seilia had been full of surprises, doing things no one could have anticipated several times a day.

This time, however, the stakes were different. A misstep could strain relations with the Kingdom of Faelin, one of their closest allies. It was likely that they were already displeased about their princess being passed over.

“Your Majesty, that is…”

Marse trailed off, visibly uneasy. Seilia frowned deeply at her hesitation.

“I’ll take responsibility. Just send it.”

At Seilia’s firm command, Marse reluctantly scribbled the Kingdom of Faelin onto the list, shaking her head as though exasperated.

Seilia rested her chin on her hand, lost in thought. A sly smile began to spread across her lips.

The man who couldn’t become Blair’s husband had become hers instead. She wanted to show Blair just how happy she was.

Insanely happy. And she wanted to see Blair’s equally insane fury.

***

Despite it being broad daylight, Blair’s room was shrouded in darkness, with every curtain drawn. Unlike the day her former head maid had died, the room was now spotless, and a new head maid had already been assigned.

At the sound of a steady knock, the maid beside her went to check. Blair, who had been sipping a fragrant cup of strong coffee while reading a thick book, turned her gaze to the letter the maid carried in.

“What is that?”

“Ah… It’s…”

The head maid hesitated, unable to speak. Sensing something amiss, Blair snatched the letter and tore it open.

Her eyes scanned the contents rapidly, and soon they began to tremble violently. Even the hand holding the letter started to shake.

“An invitation? To me?”

She struggled to calm herself, but her efforts were in vain. The Empress was once again turning her world upside down.

Blair muttered the same words repeatedly before crumpling the letter halfway and tearing it to shreds. She then hastily scribbled something on a piece of paper from her desk and threw it at the attendant who had brought the letter.

“Deliver this to Her Majesty the Empress. Tell her I will definitely attend.”

Though her expression seemed calm, her voice was filled with rage and trembled uncontrollably.

Bang!

Blair slammed the door shut and returned to her desk, where she began writing another letter with furious speed.

The maids, who had been trembling like leaves, were bewildered by this unexpected turn of events.

Finally, Blair handed the hastily written letter to the head maid, adding one last chilling instruction.

“Deliver this to Earl Bilgeor immediately. Tell him I’ll pay as much as he wants, but he must hire assassins right away.”

Her violet hair, cascading like waves, partially obscured her face, but her eyes burned with madness.

The once sweet and gentle smile that adorned her lips had twisted into a grotesque grin.

***

That night.

Exhausted from a busy day of fittings for her wedding dress, Seilia had gone to bed early. She lay half-asleep, her mind drifting in and out of slumber.

Before she fully succumbed to sleep, everything felt slow and heightened, as if her senses were unusually sharp.

It was then that she heard a faint noise in the hallway.

It was a small sound, like something lightly colliding, and could have easily been ignored. But the events of the afternoon had left her on edge, so she cautiously tiptoed to the door and opened it slightly.

Her instincts were, as always, correct.

“…Gasp.”

Through the crack in the door, she saw assassins cutting down every single guard stationed outside her room.

Although the annex was somewhat isolated from the other palaces, it was still the residence of the soon-to-be Empress, and the security was supposed to be tight.

Yet the trail of blood dripping from afar told the story of what had happened to the guards.

It wasn’t until Seilia noticed the sticky sensation of blood soaking into the soft soles of her slippers that she snapped out of her shock.

There was something she couldn’t understand.

No one had been informed of her exact location within the palace. The annex, tucked deep within the Southern Palace, was a place known only to members of the Imperial Family.

Where had things gone wrong?

“This area is cleared. I’ll handle the other side. The rest of you, follow me, except for two.”

The leader of the assassins, wiping blood off his blade, turned to leave but then paused and looked back.

“And don’t even think about killing the Empress first. If you ruin this job because of greed, there will be consequences.”

At his words, the rest of the assassins quickly dispersed, leaving only two behind. These two exchanged a few words before slowly making their way toward Seilia’s bedroom.

This was bad.

Seilia, with her eyes tightly shut, quickly grabbed the sword lying next to the fallen guard near the door. Closing the door behind her, she began to think rapidly.

She needed to figure out a way to survive. Although she had briefly learned swordsmanship as a child, it had only been for a short time, and she was at a significant disadvantage against the two assassins. She couldn’t even remember what she had learned, let alone summon superhuman strength to defeat them with ease. At this moment, she regretted whining to her father about how boring swordsmanship was and quitting.

Still, she couldn’t just sit and wait to die.

She had to try.

Rushing to the bed, she shook the emergency cord hanging beside it. Every room in the Imperial Palace was secretly equipped with this cord, which connected directly to the personal knight order of the occupant.

If they saw the signal, the Empress’s personal knights stationed in the Southern Palace would start making their way here.

But time was too tight.

Even if they came as quickly as possible, she had to hold out until then.

The guilt of killing someone wouldn’t protect her. To survive, she had to strike. She could wallow in guilt and regret later.

The heavy sound of footsteps began to approach, and Seilia stood silently behind the door.

Finally, the door swung open, and the two assassins entered slowly.

No matter how high her status as Empress, she was just a delicately raised noblewoman.

What could she possibly do?

However, Seilia, who had been raised delicately, wasn’t going to die as easily as they expected.

As the door clicked open, her grip on the sword tightened.

The moment the first assassin stepped inside, Seilia, hidden behind the door, struck with all her strength, slashing him before he could react.

Caught off guard by the unexpected attack, the assassin fell with a scream.

“Argh—!!”

If that loud scream escaped the room, it would be disastrous. The assassins who had gone to the opposite side might return.

As Seilia prepared to strike again to ensure the kill, the other assassin swung his sword, cutting through the air toward her.

The attack, filled with visible hesitation and confusion, grazed her despite her attempt to dodge. Blood began to flow from her left arm, hot and searing.

The wound wasn’t minor; it seemed fairly deep.

She wanted to scream from the pain, but she suppressed it, letting out only a low groan.

Having never experienced such a severe injury in her life, the pain was overwhelming.

As she clutched her arm and stumbled back, the remaining assassin smirked arrogantly, raising his sword to strike her again.

At that moment, the door burst open, and the Empress’s personal knights stormed in.

They moved so silently that even Seilia had thought they were late.

One of the knights swiftly cut down the assassin with a single strike.

“Your Majesty, our deepest apologies for the delay. Are you injured in any way?”

The knight commander knelt on one knee, and the other knights followed suit. They were horrified to think of what could have happened if they had been even a moment later.

“It’s just a cut on my arm.”

Still clutching her wounded arm, Seilia frowned and tossed the sword aside before speaking again.

“These two aren’t the only assassins. About six of them headed toward the reception room on the opposite side. I don’t know if they’ve fled or are still there. These two disobeyed orders and, blinded by greed, tried to kill me first.”

The knights were visibly shocked by Seilia’s calm focus on the assassins rather than her own injury.

“And remember this above all.”

“Please give us your orders, Your Majesty.”

“Do not let the Emperor hear of this.”

“…Pardon?”

Why take the long way around when the Emperor could track down the culprits the fastest?

The knights’ eyes were filled with confusion, but Seilia firmly insisted.

“I want to handle this matter myself. I’ll give you two days. Find out the identities of these assassins and their mastermind.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Seilia seemed less like someone afraid and more like a predator pleased that her prey had taken the bait.

If they were foolish enough to fall for her provocation, she would gladly grab hold of their overreaching step and drag them down.

***

Later that night, in the Emperor’s office.

Leo sat in the dimly lit room, his face partially obscured by shadows. Kneeling before him were individuals dressed in black, their faces hidden by dark cloths.

After the leader of the group finished speaking, Leo broke the silence.

“So—rats managed to sneak into the Empress’s chambers?”

His green eyes gleamed sharply as he propped his chin on his hand.

“And why wasn’t I informed?”

His voice was cold, sending a chill through the room. One of the men answered, his voice trembling slightly.

“The Empress ordered the knights and servants present to keep the matter strictly confidential.”

However, this was Leo’s Imperial City.

Reports from hidden informants stationed everywhere always reached Leo, even without Seilia’s knowledge.

“Seilia, what are you planning?”

Leo muttered as he turned his head to gaze out the window.

Rising slowly from his chair, he looked down with icy, unfocused eyes and gave his next command.

“Replace all the guards immediately and strengthen the security. And find out who attacked the Empress before she does.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

The men answered briefly and left the office silently.

Leo buried his face in his large hands, his green eyes burning with fury.

He felt that simply cutting down those who had dared to harm Seilia wouldn’t be enough to satisfy him. He needed to do something far more terrifying to quell his rage.