Siara stood at her Empress investiture ceremony.

Diego placed the imperial crown on her head and kissed her forehead. He waved to the numerous nobles watching them. But suddenly the bright sky darkened, and Siara woke from her dream.

“…!”

When she opened her eyes, she found herself lying in a hard coffin, unable to move. The coffin fit her body too perfectly.

The smell of soil suggested someone was covering it with dirt above. With a thudding sound, soil poured onto the coffin lid while she heard maids whispering.

“The Empress Dowager really… But still, this person is favored by His Imperial Majesty. Will this be all right?”

“What can we do? She said it’s all for His Imperial Majesty’s sake.”

Blood trickled between her lips. It seemed the elderly lady-in-waiting of the Empress Dowager had put poison in the tea. However, ordinary poisons could be neutralized with magic, so it hadn’t been effective.

Siara immediately neutralized the poison with magic. It didn’t take long to purge the remaining toxins from her body.

“Sigh…”

Siara gave up trying to get out and sank into thought.

‘…I did blackmail her, but would I really spread information that would harm Diego? The Empress Dowager really lacks foresight.’

But she herself seemed to be the one lacking foresight. The Empress Dowager was her biggest enemy, yet she had drunk the tea she offered.

Should she just sleep and wake up 50 years later? Or perhaps 100 years?

She had slept in a coffin before due to stress. After setting up a protective barrier, no insects could enter, the coffin wouldn’t rot, and it was relatively comfortable.

‘But Diego would be long dead by then.’

Unless Diego used his magical power to extend his life, he would die and turn to ashes. However, unlike her real body, this body didn’t accumulate magical power well, so she probably couldn’t live eternally either.

Siara froze the wood in front of her and kicked it. The coffin lid shot up into the sky.

The maids who had been digging a deep hole and covering it with soil stood dumbfounded, shovels in hand, staring at Siara. This was because Siara was floating in the air along with the coffin.

“Z-zombie!”

“Eeek! A dead person moving! G-ghost!”

They dropped their shovels in shock and ran away.

After they left, Siara slowly walked out of the upright coffin.

“Hmm… What should I do now?”

She couldn’t persuade the Empress Dowager, Diego’s mother, any further.

‘To think I can’t marry because of parental opposition…’

But the Empress Dowager wasn’t opposing for simple reasons. According to her, if Diego took a woman with commoner blood as his Empress, his legitimacy would be questioned. The same would apply to any heir born.

‘If I disappear now, Diego will think I’m dead.’

Or rumors might spread that she had come back to life as a zombie.

Disappearing. Such a simple solution, but the thought of never seeing Diego again made it impossible to choose.

Siara had no choice but to walk straight to the Emperor’s palace.

‘When you can’t make a choice, sometimes it’s not bad to just let time pass.’

Even before reaching the Emperor’s palace, Diego’s imperial guards found Siara.

“Lady Siara! Where have you been…! His Majesty has been waiting for you!”

“Really?”

They escorted Siara to the Emperor’s palace.

As soon as the double doors opened, Diego’s hand reached out and grabbed Siara’s wrist. After being pulled inside, the doors closed.

Diego glared at her.

“Where have you been wandering around?”

“…Wandering around?”

‘Listen to this kid talking. I nearly died and came back to life…’

But it was difficult to tell him that the Empress Dowager had tried to kill her. The Empress Dowager would have already removed any evidence. She also doubted whether Diego would believe her.

“…The garden here is really spacious. You know I like planting things, right? I was walking around thinking about planting some sugarcane to contribute to the imperial palace.”

“Is that why you were rolling in the dirt? Your clothes are a mess.”

“…”

Siara brushed off the soil from her clothes.

Diego sighed with relief. Still not completely appeased, he flicked Siara’s forehead.

“Go wash up. Change your clothes too.”

“…Okay.”

“From now on, I’ll assign imperial guards to accompany you. I can’t help worrying.”

“I’m a mage, what’s there to worry about?”

“…Even mages are vulnerable to surprise attacks. What if someone slits your throat with a dagger in an instant? Could you survive that?”

“…That’s true.”

Come to think of it, she had never been attacked by assassins before. In the Kingdom of Estain, no one had tried to harm her, the Archmage, with a sword.

Siara grabbed Diego’s arm and smiled brightly.

“Thank you, Diego.”

Diego stared at Siara’s face with a suspicious expression. Siara tilted her head.

“What? Is there something on my face?”

“…A little soil. You should go wash up.”

“Okay.”

While Siara was bathing, Diego was lost in thought.

Whether Siara was trying to hide it or not, Diego had noticed. There were blood marks on her lips and chin. Exactly like someone who had swallowed poison.

He called for Peter.

“Peter, find out who Siara met today and what she did.”

“…Understood.”

After Peter left, Diego’s dark eyes grew even darker. He had no intention of letting anyone who endangered Siara go unpunished.

“That wench isn’t dead? You’re fired!”

“B-but I followed Your Highness’s orders and buried her alive…!”

“You should have killed her!”

The Empress Dowager fired her elderly lady-in-waiting upon learning that Siara was alive and well. The lady-in-waiting felt wronged, but she should have been grateful just to be alive.

There were various possibilities: the poison wasn’t added, the poison was switched, the lady-in-waiting had conspired with that woman. However, this lady-in-waiting had helped kill numerous secondary wives before and wouldn’t have made a mistake. She was essentially fired because the Empress Dowager needed to vent her anger.

“How on earth…!”

The Empress Dowager paced anxiously, biting her lip. Even after firing the lady-in-waiting, her anger hadn’t subsided. She considered sending an assassin to kill Siara. Just then, a maid came running.

“His Imperial Majesty is coming here! Empress Dowager!”

At this point, changing Diego’s mind seemed to be the priority.

As soon as Diego entered, the Empress Dowager pleaded with her son.

“Diego…! What am I to do!”

“…About what?”

But Diego’s response was so cold it could freeze the surroundings. The Empress Dowager began pounding her chest with her fist.

“That woman tried to kill me by putting poison in my tea! Would you be fine with your mother dying? …Why are you looking at me like that?”

“…That’s different from what I heard. Wasn’t it you who put poison in the tea, Mother?”

“So that’s what she told you! My goodness, even with her lack of education, how dare she insult me, the Empress Dowager! She deserves death!”

The Empress Dowager trembled with indignation and continued.

“Do you know what she said? She looked at my genealogy and said my great-grandmother was a commoner without a surname! How could she say something so disrespectful? If commoner blood flows in me, then it flows in you too. What are we going to do!”

Diego smirked. That was so like Siara. But he couldn’t forgive his mother for trying to kill her.

“…Is that why you tried to kill her? You shouldn’t have done that. If you commit m*rder, I’ll send you to a convent to pray for the rest of your life.”

“W-what!”

When her act failed to work, the Empress Dowager slumped onto the sofa and crossed her legs.

“Are you saying I was wrong? I didn’t want to leave even the slightest blemish on you! And I didn’t like that you kept an illegitimate child close while not taking an Empress.”

“…I will take an Empress.”

“What? When?”

“I intend to make her my Empress. Whether she has commoner blood or is illegitimate, I never cared from the beginning. None of that matters.”

“It will hinder your future!”

“…Perhaps. But without Siara, I would be in more trouble.”

“…”

“So from now on, I won’t tolerate anyone touching Siara, not even you, Mother. This is my final warning. Goodbye.”

As Diego left the room, the Empress Dowager called for a new lady-in-waiting.

“…Who is Siara?”

“Pardon?”

Naturally, the new lady-in-waiting didn’t know either. When she couldn’t answer, the Empress Dowager became angry.

“Find out immediately who this woman Siara is. Diego’s attendant Peter should know!”

“Yes!”

The lady-in-waiting rushed out. Anxiously, the Empress Dowager called another lady-in-waiting and told her to bring her younger brother. Soon, her brother, Count Evans, entered the Empress Dowager’s palace.

“What? So you’re saying the illegitimate child Annie Light… will be invested as Empress?”

The Empress Dowager cleared her throat, hiding her mouth with a fan.

“I’ve observed that child for a long time. She and His Imperial Majesty have been close since childhood. Though she’s only half, she has ducal blood, and most importantly, they have good chemistry, which would be good for producing grandchildren.”

The Empress Dowager gave her brother advance notice. Diego’s threat to forcibly send her to a convent had worked effectively, making her reluctantly support Siara.

Count Evans hesitated.

“Ah. But since Duke Light’s title was reclaimed, doesn’t she lack a surname?”

“The Emperor said he would resolve that.”

“…I see. Understood.”

Count Evans gathered his faction. After fighting with other ministers, Siara was able to be invested as Empress. Before her investiture, Diego bestowed upon her a new name: “Siara Richards.”