Chapter 1

“I realized I’ve never once written a letter to you before, Sister.

By the time I can remember my childhood, you were already gone from the Imperial Palace, and even after you ascended the throne, there was never really a chance to write something like this leisurely, was there?

Still, I remember the day you left the palace.

I cried and begged Father.

I asked him to let me see you.

I asked why I wasn’t allowed to.

Back then, I was too young to understand things like divorce or half-siblings.

I only learned later, after growing a little older, that we were meant to have an uncomfortable relationship.

And I felt terribly sorry about that.

So when Mother and Edward passed away from illness and you ascended the throne, I was sad, but at the same time… how should I put it? It felt as though a burden I had always carried was finally being lifted.

I even felt a kind of relief, thinking that now I wouldn’t have to feel sorry toward you anymore.

It was such a foolish thought, though.

Even an arrow that loses its target will eventually lodge itself somewhere, and it was painfully obvious where your anger would turn once you lost the object of your hatred.

You may not know this, Sister, but there was once a time when I truly wanted to devote my loyalty to you.

Of course, no matter how sincere I was, to you I was nothing more than a target for revenge.

I really was a slow learner, wasn’t I?

And when I opened my eyes once again, I made a promise to myself then.

That I would never pretend again.

That from now on, I would think only of my own happiness and survival.

So, Sister, I hope you won’t feel too wronged about being deposed.

I may not have been the one who made you unhappy, but you were the one who made me miserable.”

“—From your younger sister, Evelyn.”

***

Unlike the warm spring air outside, the tower of the Imperial Palace where Evelyn resided was filled with a biting chill.

The old windows failed to keep out the cold that seeped in throughout the dawn.

The rattling of the window frame made her frown instinctively.

“Again.”

Her low voice settled heavily across the floor.

As Evelyn looked around the familiar room, her gaze slowly dropped downward.

Pale skin untouched by hardship and worn-out sleeves.

Seeing those two mismatched things together, she let out a quiet laugh.

‘How utterly tiresome.’

What kind of curse had been placed upon her that she had to repeat this endless suffering over and over again?

Just moments ago, Evelyn had been burned at the stake by her half-sister.

Strictly speaking, before her regression.

The accusation had been conspiring rebellion.

But she swore she had never once attempted such a thing.

She pleaded her innocence and even clung desperately to her fiancé, but it was all useless.

“Poor Evelyn.”

“Rob, please, save me! Sister—no, Her Majesty must be misunderstanding something!”

Before the horrific execution, he had come to visit the tower where Evelyn was imprisoned.

Desperately clinging to the door, she reached through the narrow iron bars and grabbed the end of Robert’s sleeve.

“Yes, I know. I know how kind you are.”

“Ah, yes! Then please…!”

Robert took a step back.

Because of that, the sleeve she had barely managed to grasp slipped from her fingers.

“Robert?”

Frowning, Evelyn hurriedly bent her knees.

Trying somehow to see his face, she pressed herself against the tiny food slot.

“Where should I even begin?”

Only after shifting her head around did she finally manage to see her fiancé’s face.

But his expression was completely different from what she had expected—what she had hoped for.

“That I never loved you even once? Or that I’m grateful you fell in love exactly as planned?”

A low chuckle escaped him. Even then, his red lips curved beautifully, just as alluring as always.

“Ah… this is wonderful.”

Perhaps sensing her presence, Robert lowered his gaze.

The moment their eyes met, a vivid gleam surfaced in his blue eyes.

“Yes, that expression.”

Smiling even brighter, he bent down toward her.

“I wonder how delighted she’ll be when she sees you like this. Ah… and how beautiful she must look after finally achieving her revenge.”

“Rob…?”

“I wonder how much she’ll praise me when she sees you completely broken.”

“W-What… what does that mean?! Why me? Why would Her Majesty do this to me?! What did I do wrong?!”

“Well, it’s not exactly your fault. But there is such a thing as original sin, isn’t there?”

A faint scent of capel flowers drifted from him as he stepped closer.

The scent of the place where they had once promised each other a future.

“But the dead can’t be avenged anymore, so what else can she do?”

“Please!”

“She has no choice but to destroy you instead.”

The moment Evelyn realized that even the fiancé she had trusted with all her heart was nothing more than a pawn in her half-sister’s game, despair consumed her entirely.

No matter how hard she tried, she could never escape this cycle.

And as she screamed in hopelessness, she thought—

If this was what life was, if she had to repeat this agony every single time she died, then please… don’t let her regress ever again.

She prayed for it.

Please, just let her close her eyes like this forever.

As she watched Mary smiling brightly before her blazing flames, Evelyn prayed desperately.

But the heavens thoroughly ignored that wish.

The tediously familiar and peaceful sky before her once again reminded her of that fact.

“So bloodline itself is the original sin.”

Whether she ran away or obeyed, Mary always carried out her revenge, and Evelyn always regressed.

And this was now her third life.

After dying over and over again, even the guilt she once felt toward Mary had gradually dulled.

At this point, the only emotions she had left were resentment, emptiness, and the primal desire to survive.

How laughable it was.

After praying so desperately to die, she still wanted to live.

‘Perhaps that wish was too trivial for the gods to grant.’

Now, not even a bitter laugh escaped her anymore.

Only the survival instinct forged through repeated agony continued to move swiftly.

“What should I do?”

Eyes once green enough to resemble lush forests slowly turned to the side.

Those cloudy pupils, devoid of even the faintest trace of light, settled on the rising sun.

The longer the sun remained in the sky, the later darkness would arrive.

Thinking of that simple truth, Evelyn murmured softly.

“What do I have to do to survive?”

Her gaze drifted beyond the window toward the palace servants gathered outside.

The sight of them walking in small groups brought back memories of her first life.

“The devil who ruined the Empire!”

“Stop this horrible tyranny!”

“Bloody Mary!”

In just three years, the Empire’s situation would completely collapse.

Because Mary neglected state affairs, the capital drowned in decadence while chaos spread across the borders.

Unable to endure it any longer, the people eventually rose in rebellion and protest.

But before Mary’s overwhelming power, every last one of them met their deaths.

Even after things had deteriorated that far, in her first life, she still remained loyal to Mary.

Because she believed the throne rightfully belonged to her.

She thought that if she supported her faithfully from the side, if she sincerely offered honest counsel, Mary would eventually recognize her devotion.

But the end of that path had been the gallows.

So in her second life, she humbled herself to a pitiful degree.

She silently obeyed every command just to survive.

And yet even that ended with her being burned at the stake.

‘Perhaps submitting to Mary in the first place was the real mistake.’

Now that she looked back on it all, everything filled her with regret.

She found her naïve sincerity in the first life—when she genuinely tried to help Mary—almost laughable, and she burned with anger at her own incompetence in the second life, where she had cowered before the Emperor, desperately clinging to life only to be executed in the end.

‘As long as Mary remains on the throne, neither I nor the Empire will survive.’

When she lifted her head, she saw the dazzling sun overhead.

The light pouring across the entire world looked as though it knew nothing of darkness.

Then, her cracked lips slowly parted.

She repeated the thought to herself once more.

‘I have to become Emperor.’

If she wanted to end this dreadful cycle of regression, if she wanted to save the Empire, then Mary could not be allowed to remain on the throne.

‘And for that, I’ll use anything.’

After living through two lifetimes, Evelyn had finally realized something.

To face a monster, she herself would have to become one.

At last, light returned to the eyes that had long been shrouded in fog.

The faint glow buried deep within gradually illuminated her pale green eyes.

Swallowing the blood pooling between her lips, Evelyn solidified the goal of this life.

Just then, beyond the shabby wooden door, she heard the heavy sound of military boots alongside the familiar click of dress shoes.

Soon, the low voices of two people stopping before the door reached her ears.

“Open it.”

“Yes, sir!”

Evelyn turned her head, her expression calm.

As though she already knew what was about to happen, she sat upright and stared steadily at the door.

With the rattling of keys, the old wooden door creaked open.

The scraping sound against the stone floor was unpleasant enough to make her skin crawl.

She wanted to cover her ears immediately, but Evelyn maintained her straight posture.

At the very least, she refused to let that man see her looking pathetic.

“Your Highness.”

At last, the door opened, and a familiar face came into view.

Blue eyes that instantly captured attention, a sharp, elegant nose, flawless pale skin.

And that honey-colored blond hair she had once loved so dearly.

The man who had once been the only light of her second life—the man she had loved with all her heart—looked even younger than she remembered.

“My name is Robert Edenbarker. I’ve come to escort Your Highness.”

His languid voice rang softly in her ears.

Crunch.

As her sharp teeth dug into the inside of her mouth, the metallic taste of blood spread across her tongue.

She clenched her fists so tightly her knuckles turned white, feeling the sharp sting of her broken nails digging into her skin.

Her soft palms throbbed more and more painfully, but she didn’t care.

Because if she hadn’t done that, she would have lunged at him and twisted his neck on the spot.

Trying to regain control of her emotions, Evelyn forced a deep breath into her lungs.

Finally, when her lips parted, a strained voice emerged.