Sofia set down the cup, from which warm steam curled up in wisps, and turned her worry toward me. Even though Father had just scolded her harshly enough to deflate anyone’s spirits, Sofia put my concerns first.

“Sofia, are you all right? You got scolded by Father on my account for no good reason.”

“I am fine. Please do not worry about me, Your Highness. I brought the medicine, so let me apply it for you.”

Sofia felt dear to me, now just as she had before. Young though she was, the depth of her devotion to me ran as deep as the sea.

Sofia was dismissed by Norman the moment I took office as High Priestess. I had tried to bring her into the Grand Temple, but by then it was already too late. An assassin sent by Norman had already taken her life.

‘She met a master like me, suffered through it all, and ended up dying in the end.’

My eyes fell on Sofia’s gaunt face. It seemed the worry had worn her down considerably during my time under house arrest.

And each time Sofia moved, something kept catching my eye. The bruises left behind by Norman’s *buse.

“Sofia, give me your hand.”

I carefully applied ointment to Sofia’s bruised wrist. Sofia insisted she was fine and tried to apply the medicine to me instead, but my stubborn refusal eventually wore her down and she gave in.

“I am sorry. I was careless and failed to look after you properly.”

“N, no! Please do not say that, Your Highness. If anything, I am the one who is sorry……”

At my apology, Sofia finally broke into tears. Her voice, thick with emotion, cut right into my heart. I handed her a handkerchief as she could not stop crying.

“Nothing like this will ever happen again.”

I stroked Sofia’s hair and murmured the words like a vow.

I had to protect my own people. The only one who had been on my side and looked after me in this hellhole of a grand estate. This time, I would protect Sofia without fail.

* * *

Three days after the commotion, the morning of the farewell ceremony arrived. I went downstairs with the maids to where the carriage was waiting. Norman was already outside.

“To think a person of your standing got invited to the farewell ceremony. That is luck you will never see again in your lifetime.”

Norman muttered in a blunt, surly tone.

“Have you already forgotten Father’s words to conduct yourself with restraint?”

“And whose fault is it that any of that happened?!”

My pointed words drew a flash of anger from Norman. His expression made it clear he was still seething over losing his position as next household head because of the *buse incident.

“Was it not you yourself who did it, my lord. Both the mockery and the *buse.”

“Insolent wretch……”

Under normal circumstances, his hand would have been flying up at me long before now. But Norman only ground me down with his glare and did not take any physical action. He knew that stirring up trouble while already stripped of his position as next household head would bring down consequences from Father that he could not handle.

“Know that I am letting this go out of the goodness of my heart.”

Norman muttered his nonsense and climbed into the carriage first. Once I boarded as well, the carriage began to move.

About ten minutes later, as the carriage made its way through the streets, an intoxicating scent of roses poured in. We had entered the imperial palace.

Two armed knights stood guard in front of the palace banquet hall. At the sight of Norman, they greeted him with a respectful bow and opened the entrance to the banquet hall. Then it was my turn. The knights instantly crossed their spears in an X to bar my entry.

“What is the meaning of this?”

“Please state your identity.”

It was absurd. In the Keadi Empire, only those of the Aedis family possessed silver hair and blue eyes this striking. My very appearance declared that I was Aedis, so demanding that I state my identity was nothing but a petty provocation.

“I was not aware the imperial knight order had any blind members.”

I addressed the knights blocking my path.

“Only someone blind could look at this silver hair and these eyes and still demand proof of identity.”

They knew full well they were picking a pointless fight, yet they did not lower their spears.

“The one who invited me today is His Majesty the Emperor of the Keadi Empire. To treat someone His Majesty invited with such rudeness. Must I report your insolence to His Majesty before you open the door?”

Only after I invoked the Emperor did they seem to realize the situation was not in their favor. They withdrew their spears and let me into the banquet hall.

When the banquet hall doors opened, a flood of brilliant light poured out. An enormous chandelier sparkled and blazed overhead.

The moment I entered, the noisy hall fell instantly silent. Surprise and bewilderment spread across the faces of the nobles, who were now seeing in person the bastard of the Aedis family they had only heard rumors about.

“I expected someone who could barely function as a person, but she is more beautiful than I thought.”

“Even so, is she not of lowly blood? I cannot believe that body carries half the High Priest’s blood.”

I was already used to reactions like these. Having had my head cut off once already, I could endure the idle tongues of nobles without any trouble.

“His Imperial Highness Crown Prince Mecato Basil Keadifar enters!”

Just then, one of the ministers announced Mecato’s arrival.

‘To think I would see the face of the person who sent me to the guillotine just a few days ago.’

The whole situation felt like a cruel trick of fate. I suppressed the sound of my heartbeat thundering all the way up to my ears and rose to my feet.

Mecato entered in a resplendent dress uniform, his red cape billowing behind him. His dazzling golden hair outshone even the hundreds of jewels set into the chandelier. His gray eyes blazed with an intensity that seemed to have a wolf’s eyes set into them.

“I greet the empire’s little sun, His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince.”

The moment I saw Mecato’s face, I froze. With every step Mecato took toward me, my heart lurched like an earthquake had struck.

‘This is not love.’

The pounding in my pulse was rage. It had not been so long ago that I had looked at that face and whispered words of love. The sense of betrayal toward Mecato swallowed every happy day I had spent with him whole, and grew larger still.

Everyone bowed their heads, and I alone stood upright. Mecato looked at me and smiled pleasantly, without any trace of displeasure.

“So this is Princess Rachie Aedis, whom I have only heard about through rumors.”

Up close, Mecato’s face was flawless, without a single flaw to find. But to me, who had seen his true nature and even lost my life to him, Mecato was no longer a beautiful and beloved partner. He was nothing but the enemy who had betrayed me and taken my life.

“I greet the empire’s little sun, His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince.”

The voice that slipped out of me in that moment was so openly hostile that even I startled at myself. There was no way the perceptive Mecato missed the animosity in it. He fixed me with one meaningful look, then returned to his seat.

“His Majesty the Emperor and Her Majesty the Empress, the empire’s radiant sun, enter!”

Even after the Emperor and Empress made their entrance, I kept my eyes on the two seats that remained empty. Arbo and Father, the guests of honor for this occasion, had not yet arrived.

“The High Priest will not be attending today’s farewell ceremony. It seems the war drained a great deal of his magic and he requires recovery. It is a shame the guest of honor is absent.”

At the Emperor’s words, my eyes came to a sharp stop. Something was wrong. The future had changed. In the past, Father had attended the farewell ceremony, received the Emperor’s commendation for his contributions, and returned with a great deal of gold and treasure.

‘Did he truly exhaust that much of his magic in the war?’

The Aedis family was born with an extraordinary amount of magic by nature, but their bodies were comparatively frail. The fact that the physical toll on the body matched the amount of magic expended was a significant problem.

I turned my attention to the one remaining empty seat. It was the seat reserved for Arbo, who was as good as the true guest of honor for the day.

“Arbo is nowhere to be seen.”

Mecato spoke to the Emperor first. The Emperor seemed unaware of Arbo’s whereabouts, and let out a low grunt as his brow furrowed slightly.

“To keep His Majesty the Emperor and Her Majesty the Empress waiting like this…… Even if he did return as a war hero, this is quite a rude attitude.”

Mecato’s words, dressed up in the guise of concern, stirred unease among the nobles. But the Emperor showed no interest in what Mecato said. The Emperor’s gray eyes had, at some point, come to rest on me.

“Princess Rachie Aedis. I am seeing you for the first time.”

The Emperor, who had been looking at me the way one looks at a rare animal locked in a cage, addressed me directly.

“Yes, Your Majesty. It is nothing but an honor for one as humble as myself to stand before Your Majesty, the sun of the empire.”

The grace and poise that exceeded expectations widened the eyes of the Emperor and the nobles alike.

“Your etiquette is quite commendable.”

“You flatter me.”

“I suppose even someone of low birth is still of the Aedis household.”

At the Emperor’s blunt remark, I raised an eyebrow ever so slightly. The nobles who heard his words visibly stifled their laughter. Being openly mocked in front of so many people was far from pleasant, but I swallowed my anger quietly and said nothing.

The nobles’ snickering died down when imperial servants entered to prepare the banquet. Among the servants, I fixed my gaze on one who stood out in particular.

A young man with brown eyes and his hair swept back. Red hair, a rare sight in the Keadi Empire. His face held a composed expression, like someone who had made up their mind about something. His hands, however, trembled finely in a way that did not match his expression at all.

‘Something is off.’

Without thinking, I scanned my surroundings. The atmosphere felt subtly tense in a way that was hard to pinpoint. But it seemed I was the only one who had noticed. Everyone else was exchanging cheerful conversation in a warm and lively mood.

It was just as the red-haired man was serving food to the Emperor. The two knights standing guard outside the door let out their final cries, and the banquet hall doors shattered to pieces.

“This is retribution for declaring war on the Kingdom of Winshow!”

Dozens of people, faces covered with masks and armed with magic, burst through the destroyed doors of the banquet hall. They roared as they set fire to every direction using their magic.

“Aaah!”

“Wh, what is this?!”

I spun around immediately to look at the red-haired man who had been beside the Emperor. He used magic to knock the Emperor unconscious in an instant.