Chapter 9

Ten days after Aiden departed, Evelyn left the Tower by Mary’s order and was moved to the detached palace.

“This is the room where Your Highness will be staying. A maid will arrive shortly, so there should be no inconvenience during your stay.”

After delivering his greeting, the head attendant left the room.

Haa.

Letting out a shallow breath, Evelyn looked around.

Sunlight poured strongly through the wide-open window, and the curtains decorated with blue satin were both splendid and elegant.

As her tension eased, the legs she had been holding rigidly upright wavered.

She hurried to a nearby sofa and collapsed onto it.

“Evelyn, from now on you will reside in the detached palace.”

“The detached palace…?”

“Yes. It is a cozy place where I myself lived as a child, so I’m sure you will have no inconvenience staying there.”

The malice-filled look in Mary’s eyes would not leave her mind.

‘So it’s this place again in this life as well.’

The detached palace was the place where her father, Philip, had confined Mary.

Unlike her first life, when she remained in the Imperial Palace Tower until her death, both her second life and this one ended with her being assigned to live here.

“I hope you spend many wonderful days there, just as I did when I was young.”

‘Fear with every breath you take. Your life can be taken by me at any moment.’

It felt as though Mary’s sharp warning was aimed directly at her throat, threatening to cut off her breath.

At the same time, the flames from just before her regression resurfaced in her mind, and her fingertips trembled uncontrollably.

Evelyn clasped both hands tightly and took a deep breath.

‘Don’t be afraid.’

‘It’s different from back then.’

‘I can do this.’

‘I can get through this.’

‘Haven’t I already lived through this life twice?’

‘This time will truly be different.’

As she filled her lungs with air, the anxiety weighing on her heart eased somewhat.

Knock. Knock.

“Your Highness.”

At that moment, a delicate voice came from beyond the door, accompanied by a knock.

The voice was so familiar that Evelyn almost called out her name.

After clearing her throat for a moment, she replied quietly.

“Come in.”

A girl of rather small stature entered through the cautiously opened door.

“Hello, Your Highness! My name is Morian Hartsone. I have been assigned to serve Your Highness from now on. Please feel free to call me ‘Mol’!”

A lively voice and bright eyes.

Rough ginger-colored hair tied tightly into a single ponytail.

She was the first maid to whom Evelyn had opened her heart in her second life.

Mol had been her only refuge amid the frost-cold life of the Imperial Palace.

At least until she heard, before being burned to death for treason, that Mol had been one of Mary’s pawns.

“That impudent girl worked very hard bringing me reports about you.”

Despite Mol’s cheerful smile, Evelyn’s expression darkened.

A cold voice rang out softly.

“I see.”

“Yes! I look forward to serving you!”

‘There is no need to feel betrayed now.’

Mol had struggled to survive in her own way.

That did not mean Evelyn intended to forgive her.

“I look forward to working with you as well.”

As one of Mary’s pawns, Evelyn would simply use her in return.

“Mol.”

“Yes, Your Highness! Is there something you need?”

“I think I’ll need to have a dress fitted. I’ve lost some weight.”

“Ah…”

A dark shadow crossed Mol’s face.

Her round eyes darted about before settling on the waist of Evelyn’s somewhat loose dress.

“Shall I contact LeBlanc immediately?”

Normally, all of Strovana’s fashions tended to follow Brang, where religion and the arts were highly developed.

And LeBlanc was the dressmaker that handled those styles best.

But that was not where Evelyn intended to go.

“No. Since it’s a rare opportunity, I’d like to get some fresh air.”

“Then…”

“I was thinking of taking a walk around the city. Would that be alright?”

As a princess, there was no need for her to seek permission from a maid regarding her whereabouts.

Yet Evelyn deliberately did so.

Though she had left the Imperial Palace Tower, she still did not know whether Mary effectively controlled her movements.

Mol’s reaction, having been sent by Mary’s order, would tell her how she ought to conduct herself.

“Wouldn’t Her Majesty find that displeasing?”

“Hmm… The head attendant didn’t say anything about that, so it will probably be alright! Shall I call for a coachman and an escort?”

“…Yes.”

“Okay! I’ll be right back!”

Mol hurried out of the room.

‘So she’s not the Emperor’s pawn, but the head attendant’s?’

The current head attendant was one of the people who had actively helped Mary succeed to the throne alongside Edenbarker.

Originally the second son of a baronet’s family, he had been granted the title of Viscount Hopnagen in recognition of his contributions.

Soon afterward, the door that had just closed opened again.

“Your Highness, they say all the preparations have been completed.”

“Let’s go.”

Evelyn walked past the breathless Mol and headed out.

***

Beside the training grounds bathed in sunlight, Mary sat beneath a red canopy, sweeping the knights with a bored gaze.

With the Emperor openly watching after having a seat prepared for herself, the knights swinging their swords remained constantly conscious of her presence.

Above all, the imperial crown resting atop her striking red hair weighed on them like an immense burden.

Watching them glance toward her and fail to fully focus on their training, Mary spoke quietly.

“Head Attendant.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“If they train like that, how strong can they possibly become?”

“As they are an elite unit, I understand that several of them are already among the strongest in the Empire.”

“Is that so.”

“Yes. Even so, they could never compare to Your Majesty’s martial prowess, having manifested a blessing.”

“Ah.”

Mary responded indifferently and lowered her gaze.

The blessing on the back of her hand emitted a faint glow beneath the shade.

‘Chosen, huh.’

Had she heard those words in the past, she would not even have become angry.

She would only have laughed coldly at them.

She had not even chosen by her own parents, so who was a god to choose her?

Her father had abandoned her long ago, and even her mother, instead of caring for the daughter she still had left, had died from grief and resentment, unable to accept reality.

Only twelve years old.

After being cast out of the Imperial Palace, all that remained to her were anger and a thirst for revenge.

She had abandoned even her humanity in order to punish the trash who had ruined her life and reclaim what had been taken from her.

Yet they had died so meaninglessly.

‘Ah…’

‘How am I supposed to deal with this emptiness?’

“Head Attendant!”

“What is it?”

The head attendant turned toward the servant approaching from afar.

A moment later, he returned, leaned toward Mary, and spoke.

“Your Majesty, Princess Evelyn has left the palace, saying she wishes to have a dress fitted personally.”

“Evelyn?”

“Yes. Observers and escorts have been assigned to her, so she will not be able to escape.”

The head attendant’s face plainly asked, What shall we do?, as he waited for the Emperor’s command.

Within the well of Mary’s heart, which had been swallowed by abyss-like emptiness only moments ago, a small ripple spread.

Her father and the Second Empress were dead and gone, but the daughter they left behind was still alive.

A pitiful and fragile existence that could be killed at any moment with a single word from her.

Heat instantly surged into the hollow chest that nothing had ever been able to fill.

“Leave her be.”

What could someone like her possibly accomplish anyway?

Light returned to the emerald eyes that had been empty.

Parting her lips slightly, Mary raised her head and looked toward the sky.

Her absent gaze seemed to be fixed somewhere far beyond it.

‘What expressions would you wear if the daughter you loved so dearly were ruined?’

‘What kind of pleasure would her screams of despair bring me as she breaks apart?’

A small chuckle escaped her lips, and the Emperor sank deeply into the backrest.

“Head Attendant.”

A great source of amusement should be saved for later.

For now, a small diversion would do.

The head attendant noticed the change in the Emperor’s voice, now tinged with interest.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Tell them to begin live-blade sparring. The one who sheds the most blood will be demoted to a lower unit, and the one who causes the most blood to be shed will receive a reward from me personally.”

“Understood.”

As the head attendant approached the unit commander standing on the platform, the man’s body stiffened.

After hesitating for a moment, he soon relayed Mary’s words to the knights and shouted,

“You will fight with your honor on the line!”

“Yes!”

The knights’ resounding reply rang out.

At the mention of a reward, killing intent appeared in their eyes.

Everyone knew that this sparring match existed solely for the Emperor’s amusement.

It had been only one month since she ascended the throne.

Yet in that short time, the number of people who had died by Mary’s order had already exceeded ten.

An Emperor possessing overwhelming martial strength.

A seeker blessed by the gods.

The reincarnation of the First Emperor.

There were many titles by which people referred to Mary.

The knights, however, thought of her somewhat differently.

‘A bored tyrant.’

Their new Emperor was a devil who could break a person’s life as easily as snapping a wooden stick if it helped relieve her boredom.

Even so, they willingly swung their swords for her amusement because they coveted the power of the blessing Mary had manifested.

“Begin!”

With the unit commander’s shout, the two knights standing in the center of the training grounds charged at each other.