Chapter 1

𝕾𝖔𝖓𝖌 𝖙𝖔 𝕷𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖊𝖓: 𝕰𝖝𝖎𝖑𝖊 𝖇𝖞 𝕿𝖆𝖞𝖑𝖔𝖗 𝕾𝖜𝖎𝖋𝖙

***

𝐌𝐞𝐳𝐨𝐫 𝐄𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐀𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐚, 𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝟖𝟎𝟒

"Perhaps my love for him became his object of hatred, and I didn't realize that until I said my farewell."

The sound of scissors cutting my hair echoed across the gloomy, deserted-looking room. My lips moved as I gazed at my hands. I realized right away that I meant nothing to him. My thoughts refused to accept the reality of the moment or the future that awaited me outside this room.

Having anticipated a nightmare would have made me joyful, but the surreal nature of the situation made it even more so. My longing for him to love me back ended this way. In the end, I would never be able to confess to him, no matter how hard I tried.

For Caliere, my very existence meant being despised.

A loud bell rang, and the jail physician stopped ruffling my hair. An imperial knight grabbed me and shoved me to the front.

With a gruff voice, he said, "It's time..."

He forced me to walk through the light, abandoning everything behind. I shivered as, after what seemed like a lifetime, I gasped and felt the purest cotton melting against my sweaty skin. I observed my feet, which had reached my ankles, turning red as I regarded the ground.

Despite my pleadings and actions, I always felt alone. My head rose upwards, and my vision mirrored that of thousands of individuals wearing fine apparel and staring at me from below.

I used to own those outfits and fancy jewelry as well.

The imperial knights urged me to move.

My mind wandered to the past, which I could never get back. I could see the target of my lifeline as I proceeded along my path. It was as though everything that had happened before would eventually bring me to the tip of a knife.

How did the weather get to be so understanding? I won't be able to find out later. The sky had wept on my behalf, rather than my doing so. My footprints contaminated even the cleanest, purest snow.

But initially, I had no intention of hurting the person I cared about.

Despite his obvious contempt, rage, and resentment—in the end, he would only ignore me—I should have asked him whether he also loved me. I just wanted to see his reaction.

I don't want to rob him of his own happiness, but I also can't stop loving him. How would he feel about this nonexistent person if I had never existed in the first place? Would it make him happy that no one gave birth to me? Would he experience love, certainty, and contentment for someone?

For his happiness, I would be content even if I hadn't existed.

But along the way, I've only come to understand the significance of the individuals who stood by me, took care of me, and unconditionally loved me.

My eyes had a tendency to close out everything else in the room when Caliere's bright light surrounded me, leaving only him visible. He turned into my vision of the future, the person I wanted to live out the rest of my days with, and the place I wanted to be.

I wanted to be the one he needed, but I couldn't. He started to feel so negatively impacted by my presence.

As a result of being blinded by his light, I failed to notice that my family had perished; consequently, the emperor brandished his sword at me, executed my father and mother, and abandoned me in a state of desolation and hopelessness.

I had no idea what to do at the time—would I murder myself or would I rebel against the person I loved as well? The royal family went so far as to forbid me from even enjoying the luxury of dying myself.

Where did all of the mistakes occur? While I knew I couldn't take these recollections on my soul's journey, I still yearned for the truth behind them.

"Stop," the imperial warriors repeated to me.

My gaze dropped from my path to the blades in front of me; the woods are designed to hold my head in the centre of the cutting edge. I wanted to chuckle. This love has already blinded my heart; I should have reminded myself of the consequences of pursuing it.

I heard the knight next to me say, "Crazy lady." I simply gave her a headshake.

Where had my thoughts gone? I gasped as I strained my eyes and stared at that enormous monster.

Without recalling that lovely day when a woman dressed in garb from another era and speaking a language none of us had ever heard appeared in the midst of South Lake, I might not have felt the chill.

Since the moment she appeared before Caliere, the young man fell in love with her and provided her with assistance, shelter, sustenance, and expensive clothing. He started to cherish the woman.

I acknowledged feeling envious of her. The royal family hailed me as the next crown princess from an early age. I exerted every effort to meet and exceed their expectations. I worked alone in the imperial palace, showing everyone respect.

However, an unknown lady unexpectedly seized my position as the next empress, and all I had fought so hard for fell like a sandcastle.

Our family oath prevented my relatives from complaining.

The emperor reduced me to the rank of queen, yet I bore it all. I had always known that someone would replace me; maybe my growing fear on the day she arrived validated my suspicions.

But one day, Caliere told me that the emperor had killed my father. I wanted to know why, but it became a problem when my mother started telling me the same thing. The emperor put her in prison for trying to kill the future empress because of the enormous shock.

My parents, I'm sure, would never act in such a way. They took an oath with the imperial family, loved me, and looked out for the people of the land. How could they have done anything so horrible? This didn't make sense to me, and it brought me to disaster.

The emperor I most admired brandished his sword in my direction, while the person I fell in love with, Caliere, stood grinning next to him. They imprisoned me then and have kept me there until today, waiting to let me die.

I turned around one final time to see if I could spot Caliere, who had become emperor the day before my execution, so that I might gauge his reaction.

Then it occurred to me that maybe he would prefer to watch over his empress, who just so happened to be carrying his child, than witness my execution since I had also just so happened to miscarry his child.

How much more pitiful could I get? Perhaps my only option in this cruel world before saying goodbye to my feelings and him would be to remember the past before someone takes it away.

I would imagine that seven seconds would be as long as I am.

****

Located in the western region of the empire, the Monsiore family is in charge of bringing renowned knights into the imperial home and ensuring the safety of those residing under its protection.

Three nobles reside there: Vestia Monsiore, the daughter of the nobles, and the two other noble adults, the Duke and Duchess of the estate.

As my parents' only child, I wish I had siblings, but business has taken priority over family time, so until my engagement to the crown prince, they hardly had time for me.

I went along and met the crown prince, and a lot of things happened. My parents would regularly visit the imperial palace whenever his majesty announced an audience.

As soon as I laid eyes on him, my heart began to race. I could speculate that it might be love, but I couldn't be positive until I made one inquiry to my mother. Her description of what it meant to be in love with someone matched my feelings for Caliere.

Initially, seeing Caliere from a distance would pique my interest, but as time went on, I would partake in all the activities typical of a woman in love, such as baking cakes and cookies, cooking, and learning how to embroider items, especially for him.

I would often engage in covert reading of a book pertaining to love remedies, despite their fictitious nature.

I had so many crazy thoughts going through my head that I forgot how quickly time went by and how much I loved him. But he never got the chance to give it back, even though he used to hate me, because a bright light showed up at that moment.

In front of Caliere, a woman with strange features and garb materialized as though a prophecy had been fulfilled. Then, when their eyes met, I started to feel anxious.

Knowing that she looked all too good, I never imagined that Caliere would fall in love with her at first sight.

He took her, raised her, taught her the language of the empire, and I bore all the humiliations inflicted upon my household and myself, including my demotion from empress to queen and the callous treatment I received from the nobility who stood by me.

The emperor disobeying my orders because he grew fond of the foreign woman would be the most tormenting.

I begged for an investigation, but no one would act, and then the emperor pointed his sword at me. In the flash of an eye, my parents had been proven guilty of crimes they never committed, and my home had been ruined.

The final words I heard from Caliere destroyed my meagre chance of survival.

"Keep in mind that you mean nothing to me, so don't let the fact that you've survived so long raise your hopes. You'll be put to death in a few days."

"Why?" Grasping the corroded metal of the prison cell, I questioned

"Why Does It Matter? Due to the fact that you exist at all. Maybe when you pass away, I'll be content at last."

***

Author-nim note: Why do you think Caliere is harsh towards Vestia? Hmm... Also, please forgive my grammar; English is not my first language. ^-^

Edited