Her past?

When Laila looked at Lenoa, the princess regarded her with sorrowful eyes, as though she had no other choice.

“You seem to be suffering so much that I intended to let you rest before telling you, but it appears I have no choice.”

“What do you mean?”

Lenoa approached Laila and took her hand.

Despite the warmth flowing from Lenoa’s hand, Laila’s heart remained cold and frozen. She felt as though her heart might freeze completely and disappear.

“Dame Laila, I know this will be difficult to believe… but please, stay strong.”

At the slight tremor in Lenoa’s voice, Laila began breathing heavily.

She was anxious. No, she was afraid. Instinctively, she knew that an even greater shock than the news of Carlo’s marriage was now looming before her.

“I know that you lost your memories.”

“How…?”

“And I also know that you crossed over from the Adelina Empire with Lord Carlo.”

“….”

Merely hearing Carlo’s name was painful. She would have to live with this agony for the rest of her life.

“Your family is searching for you.”

Family?

Laila’s eyes widened. She had been told that her family was dead.

“My family? But my family is….”

“They are not dead. His Highness Crown Prince Theodor sent me a letter himself.”

“His… Highness the Crown Prince…?”

“Dame Laila—no, Princess Lailea. You are a princess of the Adelina Empire.”

“…!”

It felt as though someone had struck her violently across the head. How else could she explain the way her body reeled? Her head throbbed and spun until it seemed ready to burst.

“W-What do you mean…?”

She had believed that she had already fallen as far as anyone could, yet the world proved to be even more merciless.

Lost in the darkness, Laila resented the god she could neither see nor find.

Was this the price she had to pay for taking so many lives? It had to be. Otherwise, how could her life be so horrific?

“Are you all right?”

“….”

When Laila remained silent for a long time, Lenoa quietly asked. A steaming cup of tea was now in her hands.

“Please drink this. You haven’t eaten anything all day.”

“Your Highness.”

“Yes.”

“Is it true? Is it really true?”

Lenoa explained everything. She repeatedly comforted Laila as she trembled from the shock, explaining it to her again and again. Even so, Laila could not believe it.

‘I’m a princess of the Adelina Empire? How can that be possible?’

The princess was said to have died seven years ago when a fire broke out in the detached palace.

Laila had heard that she had committed some sort of crime at the time.

“Ah…!”

The attempted poisoning of the emperor.

“If I…. Haa. If I truly am the princess….”

“Please, calm down.”

Her vision blurred. Laila lowered her head as her entire body trembled. The agony was so intense that it felt as though all the blood inside her might pour out.

“Did I… try to kill His Imperial Majesty?”

“No. You were falsely accused. You absolutely did not do it.”

Falsely accused? Why had someone framed her for such a crime?

Laila felt as though her whole world was built on lies. Carlo’s betrayal? Her horrifying past. The world was not a beautiful place.

Who could she trust now? Who could she rely on?

“His Highness Crown Prince Theodor will explain everything that happened.”

But before that, Laila had to ask the most important question. She already knew the answer, yet she still had to ask.

“Did Carlo…? Did Carlo know everything?”

“….”

Seeing Lenoa hesitate and fall silent, something inside Laila disappeared. She sprang to her feet and blindly rushed toward the door.

“Dame Laila! Where are you going?”

“….”

Lenoa urgently caught Laila’s hand, but Laila rudely tore herself free from the princess’s grasp.

“I will follow her.”

Jay, her escort knight, had been watching the situation with a grim expression and moved to pursue Laila, but Lenoa stopped him.

“No. Let her go alone.”

“But….”

‘It is a confrontation that must happen sooner or later.’

Although Lenoa watched the door through which Laila had disappeared, she didn’t end up following her.

Laila probably wanted to ask Carlo something in person. Maybe she was going to confront him about her resentment. After all, they had spent a long time together.

“Even if she intends to end everything, she must meet him and speak to him herself.”

“….”

If Laila did not hear the truth directly from Carlo, she would undoubtedly remain trapped in hell, unable to eat or rest, hovering between life and death.

***

After leaving the palace, Laila urged her horse forward at full speed.

“It can’t be true…. It can’t be.”

Something was terribly wrong. Was she Princess Lailea, whom everyone believed to be dead? And had Carlo known the truth all along?

Regardless of whether it was true, Laila needed to hear the answer from Carlo himself.

She wanted to ask him if he had ever truly loved her or if he had kept her past a secret just to use her for revenge.

Lost in darkness and reeling from shock and betrayal, Laila arrived home without realizing it.

She had lived in that mansion for years, yet instead of feeling familiar and welcoming, it now seemed strangely foreign.

Perhaps deep down she already knew that this would be the last time she came back. Whatever bond remained between her and Carlo would end here.

It was nearly dawn, and there was no sign of the servants in the halls. Laila rushed to Carlo’s room and flung the door open.

“Laila!”

As though he had been waiting for her, Carlo hurried forward and pulled her into his arms. The ease with which he embraced her was shamelessly cruel, as though nothing had happened that day.

“I’ve been waiting for you. You must have been terribly shocked.”

An unsettling sense of déjà vu swept over her. He knew the news of his marriage must have devastated her, yet here he was trying to smooth everything over with a tender smile and gentle words. She could no longer endure it.

Laila pushed him away, and Carlo immediately started making excuses.

“I had no choice. Duke Crussian….”

“I was told that I am Princess Lailea. Is that true?”

The shameless expression on Carlo’s face vanished at the sound of Laila’s cold voice.

His eyes widened in shock, his face contorting into an expression of near-horror.

Even Laila, who had known him for six years, had never seen him look like this before.

‘You knew. This was the truth you were hiding from me.’

Tears no longer flowed from Laila’s eyes. Even her heart, which had ached so violently that she wanted to writhe in agony, felt utterly numb, as though it had died.

“I asked you a question. Am I Princess Lailea, the princess everyone believes is dead?”

“Laila….”

Carlo reached for her, but Laila refused to allow his touch.

Her icy gaze and lips twisted with betrayal marked the end of a bond destroyed by deceit—cold and hideous.

“So that’s why you told me to dye my hair and claimed it was merely a coincidence? This is also why you stopped me whenever I tried to learn about my past.”

“No, that was….”

“You did it to use me.”

“….”

Despite the rage boiling inside her, she remained calm. They say that when a person experiences overwhelming shock and fury, they become numb to all emotion. This was precisely what was happening to Laila.

“Laila…. I-I….”

So even Carlo could become this flustered. His lips moved, yet no words emerged.

“Was it entertaining? Watching from behind as a princess with no memories took up a sword, went to war, and killed people?”

“No. It was nothing like that.”

Carlo approached her once more, and this time Laila did not restrain herself.

Slap!

“Do not touch me.”

“L-Laila….”

“You say it wasn’t entertaining? I find that difficult to believe. If you had not intended to deceive me, you would never have decided to marry Lady Roselina, would you?”

“….”

Faced with Laila’s icy gaze, Carlo could not even think to defend himself.

Had he truly committed such despicable acts without ever imagining they might lead to this ending?

“Did you ever consider telling me about my past? When His Highness Crown Prince Theodor visited the empire, did you not feel even the slightest guilt?”

“…He has no right to meet you.”

Who decided that they had that right? And what right did Carlo have to say such a thing?

The sheer absurdity of it drew a hollow laugh from Laila. She wanted to sneer directly in his contorted face.

“Everyone in the Adelina Empire, including Empress Scarlet, tormented and abused you.”

“Even His Highness Crown Prince Theodor?”

“He stopped caring about you after entering the academy.”

Her nightmares suddenly came back to her—the verbal *buse calling her a worthless wretch and the blows that followed.

So those had been memories of her past. They were the atrocities Scarlet had inflicted upon her.

“You were wrongly accused of trying to poison the Emperor. Even the maids treated you with contempt, and then the palace where you lived suddenly caught fire! All of this happened because no one cared about you!”

As Carlo poured out his fury, his anger seemed genuine. He breathed harshly, insisting that he could never forgive them. Laila should have felt grateful, but instead she could only wonder.

‘Why are you angry? Who was it that hurt me and made me suffer the most?’

It was a contradiction. Or perhaps he was deceiving her yet again.

“Is that why you told me to forget my past?”

“Searching for memories that hold nothing good would only cause you pain. It would be better to pursue a happy future…!”

“Ha! A happy future?”

Perhaps even Carlo realized how shameless his words were, for he bit his lip and lowered his head.

How could she possibly dream of a happy future? Her life had already been ruined because of him.

“Do you have any idea what the war was like?”

“Laila…. Please.”

Carlo sank helplessly to the floor. Had he truly never expected to hear her resentment? He looked so tormented that it was almost absurd.

“Everything was drenched in blood. No matter how many times I washed, I couldn’t escape the stench or the feeling of being covered in it. I couldn’t eat. I couldn’t sleep. From the moment the fighting began, we stopped being human and became monsters. Enemies came charging from every direction with their swords drawn. It was hell – if you didn’t stab them first, they would stab you.

Even now, whenever she closed her eyes, the haunting images of war and death remained painfully vivid. No matter how hard she tried to erase them, the indelible stain on her soul remained, and the empty eyes of the dying haunted her.

And yet he expected her to dream of a happy future?

For the first time in her life, Laila wanted to kill Carlo.