The drawing room, with its high ceiling and crystal chandelier adorned with candles, gleamed against the cream walls adorned with paintings and sculptures.

Reneve sat on a soft, cream-colored sofa enjoying a cup of tea. This was one of the few moments of rest allotted to the Empress each day.

Nevertheless, the table in front of her was piled high with documents that she had been unable to review that morning.

Just as she had put down her teacup and reached for a file, the door to the drawing room opened without anyone knocking.

A small golden head peeked cautiously inside. Renéeve blinked, and then a smile softened her lips.

“Kael.”

“Mother!”

Kael rushed into the drawing room, his little feet pattering across the floor, and threw himself into the folds of her dress.

Reneve’s heart warmed at her young son’s affection, although she remembered that the Crown Prince should have been at his lessons.

“Kael, isn’t it your study hour?”

At the feigned sternness in her voice, his little shoulders slumped.

“Yes…”

It was both pitiful and endearing, and it made her heart ache.

Noble children were raised with strict education from an early age, but even they were allowed to play at Kael’s age. Endless instruction with no respite must surely be a heavy burden.

Of course, Reneve herself was no less weary. Each day’s labour ended with no more than a brief glance at her sleeping child before she collapsed into bed.

“I missed you so much, Mother… Can’t I stay here for just a while?”

Kael fidgeted with his tiny fingers and lifted his head, his lips pouting and his eyes full of longing for his mother’s warmth.

Renéeve gathered him into her arms and gently patted his back. He nestled deeper into her embrace at once.

“You may come see me. But skipping your lessons without good reason is…”

At that moment, heavy footsteps thundered down the corridor.

‘Who would dare behave so discourteously in the hall…?’

Renéeve frowned, assuming it must be his tutor searching for Kael, and finished her thought.

“…not proper.”

“Yes…”

At once, his round eyes drooped with dejection.

“Then promise me—you’ll stay for a little while and then return to your lessons.”

“Really? You mean it?”

At her permission, Kael’s face lit up. Reneve’s smile deepened in turn.

But then—

Suddenly, a group of imperial guards, under the direct command of the Emperor, stormed into the drawing room.

Reneve sensed at once that something grave was about to unfold, so she hid Kael behind her and spoke with solemn authority.

“What do you think you are doing? Have you forgotten that I am the Empress? Or that this is my private sanctuary?”

At her commanding presence, the two knights at the front faltered and stepped back.

“Do not hesitate! By His Majesty’s command, seize the traitor at once!”

The knight commander stood at the back and barked back without flinching. At his command, the soldiers advanced towards Reneve once more.

“By the emperor’s command? What in the world is happening?”

Though shaken inside, Reneve tried to remain composed and demanded an explanation.

Instead, the knights seized her arms roughly.

“How dare you lay hands on Her Majesty the Empress!”

Startled and shrinking back at the sudden intrusion, Kael shouted furiously.

“Kael, do not be afraid. There must be some mistake.”

She soothed her son, but the commander’s face was cold as he gave his order.

“Take them both—the Empress and the Prince!”

“…!”

⚫⚫⚫

The capital’s central plaza was packed with people who had gathered to watch the empress’s execution.

“Death to the traitor!”

“Burn the empress who conspired with the enemy!”

Dragged through the crowd, Renéeve furrowed her brow at the deafening roar.

‘A traitor? Collusion with the enemy?’

It wasn’t her fault.

Yet the crowd’s anger was directed solely at her.

“This… this is wrong…”

She murmured in disbelief, dazed.

Whack!

A sharp pain exploded at the back of her head. Before she could react, she was hit on the forehead by something else.

Hands clawed at her from all sides, tugging at her hair and tearing at her dress.

Her once neatly pinned silver hair came loose and fell into disarray. The pristine dress she had worn that morning was torn and ruined.

She was pushed and dragged through the chaos and suddenly found herself at the foot of the execution platform.

“Patrick…? Why?”

There he was, on his knees in humiliation: her brother, the Marquis de Seiren.

Seeing her dishevelled state turned Patrick’s face ashen.

“Reneve… I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you…”

As Reneve stared at him in shock, a knight kicked her behind the knees.

The pain was so sharp she could not even scream. She collapsed, forced to kneel beside her brother.

Then a chilling voice declared from behind:

“For conspiring with the enemy, Empress Reneve of Paradium is hereby deposed! As her accomplice, the Marquis of Seiren is stripped of his title. All the lands and wealth of House Seiren are hereby confiscated and transferred to the imperial crown!”

The crowd’s cries reached a frenzy. Renéeve shouted as loudly as she could.

“It isn’t true! This is someone’s scheme!”

But no one cared for her desperate plea.

“Summon Prince Lucius! He will prove my innocence—”

She begged the nearest knight.

“How dare you speak his name so freely. Do you still think yourself the empress?”

What came in answer were only curses and blows.

“Aaah!”

Reneve screamed and fell to the ground. Her vision caught sight of Patrick being dragged towards the guillotine.

“N-No! Patrick!”

The next instant, a deadly sharp blade flashed in the sunlight, blinding her. She squeezed her eyes shut and thrashed around wildly.

“Waaaaaah!”

The roar of the crowd swelled.

Thud!

Something heavy struck the wooden platform. A moment later, something rolled to a stop before her.

Reneve forced her trembling eyelids open.

“…!”

Patrick’s half-lidded eyes met hers. A strangled, hysterical scream tore from her throat.

“Uaaaah!”

But her misfortune served only as entertainment for those watching.

“Execute the deposed empress!”

Like her brother moments earlier, Renéee was forced to her knees in front of the guillotine. A knight standing beside her shouted out.

“The prince! What will happen to Prince Kael, the blood of His Majesty?”

“You’ll find out soon enough. Most likely he’ll be exiled to another land.”

“Exile…? He’s just a child! He hasn’t done anything wrong; he doesn’t know anything!”

Reneve cried out and struggled violently, but no one answered her pleas.

They simply carried out their orders in silence.

From before Lucius ascended the throne until this very moment, she had devoted her life to him. In return, he had shown her nothing but icy indifference.

And that was not all.

Years after their marriage, when she had still not given birth, the Empress Dowager hounded her mercilessly. Even after she miscarried, Lucius took Esica as his mistress and brought her into the palace.

Reneve endured it all in the hope of ensuring the stability of the crown and preserving her dignity as empress, and of changing the future.

And this was the result. How futile.

Just before the blade fell to the ground—

“Soon, something amusing will happen. Look forward to it, Empress.”

She remembered the excited whisper Lucius had breathed into her ear days earlier.

“…So this is what it was.”

Tears streaked her face, but she forced a mocking smile. To onlookers, it was a grotesque expression.

Years ago, she had woken up in the body of a villainess from a novel she had once read casually on the subway.

No matter how hard she tried, she could not change the fate of the villain.

⚫⚫⚫

At the time of the execution, Lucius was found embracing his mistress, Esica, in the emperor’s study.

The knight commander delivered his report as though the scene were nothing out of the ordinary.

“Your Majesty, the sentence was carried out as planned.”

“I see…”

Lucius, lost in thought, lowered his gaze.

Esica, seated on his lap, traced her fingers along Lucius’s cheek with a seductive smile.

“Your Majesty, do you regret your decision?”

Lucius shook his head.

“Of course not. Impossible. How was the empress before she died? Did she beg for her life?”

“No.”

One of Lucius’s brows arched.

“No…? Then?”

“She was smiling.”

“She… smiled?”

A hollow laugh escaped him, but his lips pressed into a bitter line.