Arbo was a bastard, just like me. Born of a mistress rather than the Empress, he could never shed the label of illegitimate child, no matter how noble his title of imperial prince.

Though he grew up as a scorned bastard prince, Arbo rose to the rank of war hero at the age of nineteen and claimed the title of the empire’s first Sword Master, establishing himself as a man of exceptional ability.

And that was one of the reasons his death came for him. Mecato’s vicious inferiority complex toward Arbo drove him all the way to murder.

‘Perhaps the reason God granted me a second life includes atonement for what I did to Arbo.’

It was the most fitting reason of all. It had not been my will, but I had killed an innocent man while bearing the name of High Priestess. 

That was no different from defiling the name of God. If God brought me back to life so that I might truly repent for my wrongs…… As my purpose in this second life grew clearer, a spark of life began to return to my eyes, which had been dull and vacant until now.

‘Atonement toward Arbo, and revenge against them. That is what I must do in this life.’

My goal was now certain. I ground my teeth as I recalled the images of Sati and Mecato mocking and ridiculing me in my memories of the past.

‘First, I need to get out of this hellhole of a room.’

Locks hung in clusters on the door. Anyone could see that I was being held prisoner.

‘Now that I have come back to life, I have no intention of living and dying like a fool the way I did before.’

If revenge required it, I would display my power and flaunt it as much as necessary. And I had to eliminate the forces threatening Arbo and give him a new future.

In the past, I had held my breath to protect myself. But now I had someone new to protect. There was no time to stay silent.

I pounded on the door with everything I had and shouted.

“Is anyone out there?!”

I hammered on the door noisily, and before long, the sound of footsteps reached me. The door swung open roughly. I had to squint against the sudden flood of bright light.

“Why are you suddenly making such a racket?”

An irritated male voice reached my ears. He looked down at me the way one looks at something lower than an insect.

“Hadi?”

Hadi was one of Norman’s closest subordinates. Cruel by nature, he was the one who took the most delight in tormenting me once I became Norman’s target.

Seeing Hadi made one side of my cheek suddenly burn hot.

“How dare a lowly wretch like you lurk around before His Grace Lord Norman?”

In the past, my tender cheek had swollen day after day from his repeated strikes. The reasons Hadi hit me changed each time.

Some days he struck me for appearing in Norman’s path. Other days he found some absurd pretext and beat me for no reason at all. Hadi proved his loyalty to Norman through the violence he inflicted on me.

Watching me crumple helplessly before him, Norman and Hadi would only sneer at me like demons. I was the one and only princess of the Keadi Empire, yet not a single person helped me.

I fell momentarily silent, seething over those bitter memories, and Hadi let out a scornful laugh, raked a hand through his hair, and issued his command in a lecturing tone.

“It seems you already know that the High Priestess and His Imperial Highness the Prince, who ended the war and returned, are visiting the Grand Ducal Household today, and you are throwing this tantrum because of that. Not a chance. Stay quiet until Lord Norman lifts your house arrest.”

Just as I thought. My guess was right. This was the moment from when I was nineteen, the time when Father and Arbo had returned after ending the war with the Kingdom of Winshow.

‘This is my only chance to get out of this room.’

Hadi clicked his tongue, eyeing me with contempt. He turned around and moved to leave the room. At that moment, I grabbed his arm.

“Tell Norman. If he does not release me right now, I will bite off my own tongue and k*ll myself right here.”

“What?”

Hadi turned back, flustered by my demeanor, which was far more venomous than usual, and asked again. I held his gaze without flinching and repeated myself.

“I said I will bite off my tongue and k*ll myself.”

“What’s gotten into you all of a sudden?”

My eyes shone with a razor-sharp edge, gleaming like they could carve right through Hadi at any moment. His eyes flickered at the sight of those cold blue irises, and he flinched for just a moment before letting out a sneer.

“Changing your approach, are you? Useless. If you had the guts to die, you would have done it long ago. A threat that makes no sense……”

“You think I won’t do it?”

I cut Hadi’s words off clean, then stuck my tongue out halfway and made a motion to bite down. Hadi’s expression shifted to alarm, and he rushed toward me and clapped his hand over my mouth.

“You’re insane……!”

Only then did Hadi realize my words about killing myself were not empty. He stared at me, at a complete loss, and pointed a finger at me like he was pleading.

“D*mn it! Stay still until I get back!”

Hadi scrambled down the stairs in a flustered rush. Before long, the sound of multiple sets of footsteps reached me. It did not seem like Hadi was coming back alone.

“You have finally lost your mind.”

Norman Aedis. My half-brother and the next head of the Aedis Grand Ducal Household. He was the one who stood on Mecato’s side after my betrayal and led the charge in pushing for my execution more than anyone else.

But Norman, despite being the eldest son of the Aedis family, never managed to manifest any magical ability and was ultimately excommunicated.

“So my dying did frighten you after all.”

“Nothing changes whether a wretch like you dies or not. Where do you get off making such an outrageous threat?!”

“Is that so? Then let me die. Good luck dealing with the aftermath.”

I moved to bite down on my tongue without a moment’s hesitation, when Norman’s horrified voice cut through.

“Wait!”

Norman thr*st out his hand and stopped me. Several servants rushed toward me and grabbed my face and body to hold me in place. They were keeping me from killing myself.

“Vicious creature. Move Rachie to her room immediately! And do not give her so much as a drop of water!”

The servants, acting on Norman’s orders, forced me to my feet. The hands dragging me toward the bedroom showed no mercy. I was shoved and jostled from every direction, and I braced my legs to keep my paper-thin body from collapsing.

“What is this commotion?”

At a voice so low it sent a chill through the air, every servant in the Grand Ducal Household who had been dragging me stopped in their tracks and bowed their heads.

The High Priest, the very sky of the empire. My father. Beside Father, dressed in pristine white robes, stood a figure whose mere presence made my chest ache.

“Arbo……”

His fine black hair gleamed like obsidian in the sunlight streaming through the corridor. The wariness dwelling in his violet eyes, more beautiful than amethyst, deepened his already sharp presence even further.

His fair skin, unusual for a knight, and his strikingly sculpted features, carved with what seemed like divine care, were remarkably defined despite his young age.

“……Who are you?”

Arbo’s eyes went wide with what appeared to be surprise as his gaze met mine. He seemed at a loss for words. I was equally at a loss. I never could have imagined coming face to face with Arbo like this.

Seeing him alive and moving in good health, after witnessing his wretched end, made tears surge up without warning.

Arbo strode toward me with long, deliberate steps. Before I could even lose myself in the striking features before me at such close range, I collapsed.

“Ugh!”

A stabbing pain, sharp like an awl, shot through my chest again, and I could not breathe properly. I was clutching my chest and enduring the pain when Arbo’s large hand reached out and took hold of mine.

“Are you all right?”

His touch was warm, carrying none of the cold chill of death. I could feel Arbo’s precisely gleaming violet eyes scanning every part of me.

The ache in my heart at Arbo’s return lasted only a moment. The moment I met his eyes, guilt crashed over me and my chest burned. I tried to pull my hand away, unable to bring myself to hold his, but my body had lost its strength and refused to move as I willed.

As I kept reaching and missing, Arbo carefully took hold of my wrist to support me and helped me up. At that instant, a sharp, stinging pain from my wrist tore a cry of “Ow!” from my lips.

“Pardon me, but may I roll up your sleeve?”

“……”

I answered with silence. Arbo’s expression turned grave as he began to push back the fabric covering my wrist. What lay beneath was a fresh cluster of bruises. They appeared to be from when the servants had dragged me around mercilessly just moments before.

“Good heavens. What on earth……”

Father stared at me, looking wretched as I was, his eyes wide with shock.

“……Has the Grand Ducal Household been treating the princess this way all this time?”

The words cut sharp enough to draw blood, and Norman and Hadi stood there completely at a loss.

“Lo, Lord Norman……”

One of the servants blurted it out like a confession, then gasped and covered their own mouth. They had let slip something that should never have been said.

“Fa, Father.”

Norman called out to Father in a trembling voice, faced with the whole situation laid bare. Father and Arbo turned their gazes to Norman. Their eyes said: go ahead and try to explain yourself.

“Th, that is, Rachie behaved insolently. So for the purpose of disciplining her, I, I placed her under house arrest……”

“No matter the reason, do you truly think it makes sense to leave a person in that state?!”

Father did not accept Norman’s excuse so easily. On top of that, Norman had shown this disgraceful scene in front of none other than an imperial prince, which must have dealt a tremendous blow to Father’s proud dignity.