Evelyn quietly inspected herself in the mirror. She was drawn to her long, silky silver hair.
“Evelyn Macbeth.”
In hushed tones, she murmured her name. It felt distant, like calling someone else by their name.
Evelyn tilted her head. A satisfied smile soon formed around her mouth.
“I’ve adjusted well, I suppose.”
Evelyn said proudly as she looked at her descendant’s face.
Evelyn MacBeth. The name belonged to the body but not to the soul. Audrina Beces is her real name.
She was a witch.
Currently, all witches are thought to have been exterminated, but they were actually continuing their lives through their descendants in a way that violated the law.
“Edin, come here.”
Beces called her cat playing with some wool on one side of the bedroom. The cat, frantic with her call, approached her as if it had discovered a tasty fish.
“Cute thing. Good boy.”
Edin was as quiet as if he were dead in Beces’s grasp. Subordination, one of the witch’s spells, was demonstrating its power.
“I’ve grown a lot stronger.”
Going against the law of survival demanded a heavy price. The low rate of soul engraftment was one of the many negative effects.
Witches were forced to live in constant fear that their souls would vanish because, in the first place, taking a descendant’s body amounted to a betrayal of causality.
‘I can’t believe this Beces Audrina has to suffer from fear.’
What a joke.
Beces was the witches’ leader in the past, when they were at their peak. Of course, Beses, who had taken over Evelyn’s body, continued to rule the witches just like back then.
However, the difference between then and now was simply a difference between heaven and earth. Sitting on a false throne was more insulting than she thought.
“That fellow Sigius is to blame for everything,”
Sheeesh~
The sound of tight teeth squeezing came from Beces’s clenched lips.
Sigius Hevon Huizeniac. This name is probably one that Beces will never forget. The name of the emperor who ruled the continent 300 years ago.
‘That abominable fellow.’
Nowadays, being called a witch is regarded as terrifying and terrible, comparable to disasters. It wasn’t this bad in the past. Rather, it could be said that it was close to a position similar to a wizard.
Naturally, the witches continued to live as a profession even then, being hired to perform tasks that they were unable to discuss with others, such as curses, magic, or other tasks.
In society, there must be a necessary evil. The world won’t function if everyone withdraws.
Witches were frequently visited by the nobility and the imperial family. Beces could assure that they were closer to the witch than anyone else because the witches’ tactics were so useful in their rivalry for interests.
“Yet you dare strike me in the back of the head.”
The witch’s paradise vanished in an instant. Like sand seeping through the cracks in their hands, they were powerless to stop it.
‘Witch, you’ve crossed the line that shouldn’t be crossed.’
She could still clearly hear Sigius’ icy voice speaking while pointing a sword at her.
‘Bringing the dead back to life is too dangerous. You did something really stupid. Are you not afraid of causality?’
‘Who’s the stupid thing! Didn’t you use the witch’s curse to play with people’s lives? What the hell is the difference between that and reviving a dead person?’
‘You still don’t understand. There is also no room for compromise. Unfortunately, this is where the history of witches must end.’
After seeing with her own two eyes how the powerful witches’ paradise crumbled, Beces decided what to do. She will undoubtedly exact revenge.
Huizeniac wasn’t the only target of her revenge. The same suffering will befall the dogs of Huizeniac, who bravely stood by them and destroyed their paradise.
“Oh, my poor compatriots, the day of liberation is just around the corner. In a little while…”
Building a new paradise for the witch was Beces’ ultimate objective. That was enough.
She wasn’t particularly concerned about chaos. If they could create chaos on the continent, Lasette vowed to restore their paradise. Beces joined them solely under that stipulation.
She didn’t have a strong sense of belonging, and she wasn’t as fixated on chaos as the others.
‘Well, we’re all here for our own reasons, so whatever.’
Beces muttered, raising the corner of her mouth.
“It will be the most satisfactory result if the unpleasant temple disappears as a bonus.”
The witches were not close to the temple where the gods were worshiped, just as the wizard and the temple had a strained relationship.
“Arrogant things.”
They reject other ideas as heresy and believe that only the god they worship is absolute. Witches are completely rejected by them, with their magic being specifically cited as an example of blasphemy.
The Vishna religion was particularly harsh. Witches and the Vishna religion were like water and oil.
‘It’ll vanish when chaos awakens anyway.’
Beces turned back to look at Evelyn, the MacBeth Princess. The royal princess who lost her family and countless others in a terrible disaster.
***
It was dawn. It didn’t take long for thousands of people to fill the conference room in the middle of the Imperial Palace.
“It won’t be simple,”
“How much harm will it do to the Empire?”
“Marquis, The empire has already sustained significant harm; what we can do at this time is to minimize further losses.”
The Huizeniac aristocracy, particularly those who were associated with the Emperor’s faction, sighed as they observed the influx of envoys from other nations. It was the first time that envoys from different countries came together at the same time, despite the fact that they were all politically strong-willed. Moreover, it radiates blatant animosity.
“It would be nice to just get rid of them.”
“I wish I could do that, but it’s impossible, so I’m suffering from a headache.”
Adelia Yurpheon. She had already attained the status of a nobleman in the Duchy of Hamilton. Prior to that, she was a young lady from a renowned family in the empire known as the Sorne family. They had been a part of the Huizeniac Empire since its founding.
So even if they want the empire to dismiss her at this time, they wouldn’t do so without a fight.
“Did they truly believe the baseless rumors and come here solely to seek justice?”
“……No.”
Every person in this room is a businessman who acts paralyzed by reason. Despite knowing their chances of winning are unfounded, the moths rush to see how they can win.
“By the way, I have no idea how the Duke will react.”
Looking at Giorgio, who was seated across from him and keeping quiet, Marquis Malonde stated.
Duke Valkyr will act appropriately on his own because he is a Huizeniac nobleman as well.
“I believe there will be a favorable reaction if the Duke, who is the saint’s adoptive parent, comes forward.”
“If that were the case, he ought to have taken action sooner.”
The imperial nobility groaned and squinted their eyes at the words. They were left with no option but to wait and see what the emperor would do at this point. Supporting the emperor is the ideal course of action.
They wanted the meeting to be postponed even a tiny bit, but they also hoped that the emperor would show up as soon as possible.
The scheduled time has finally arrived as this contradictory wind intensifies.
“Your Majesty is entering!”
With the servant’s voice announcing the emperor’s arrival, the enormous door slowly opened.
“Everyone’s already here, huh?”
Theo spoke in a casual tone after taking a look around the conference room. With the ease he displayed, those who followed him felt a glimmer of hope, while those who would challenge him felt uneasy.
The importance of demeanor increased with the degree of division among them. Even though this small difference ultimately has a significant impact, one might argue that it is imaginary. Theo, who had been through this countless times, slowly opened his mouth.
“I hope everything works out, even though it was an urgent meeting.”
It sounded like the words of a peacemaker. The meaning would have been different if the person who said that had been the Emperor.
‘Are telling us not to touch your temper and to speak clearly.’
‘Do you wish for us to give up and leave?’
‘It’s not going to be easy.’
The conference room quickly became uneasy after the emperor’s words.
No one could easily open their mouths in that environment. In this dense atmosphere, someone spoke without holding back.
“It’s been a long time. The sun of the Empire.”
“Oh, you’re the first Macbeth princess.”
“It’s Evelyn Macbeth.”
At her appearance, all eyes in the hall turned to her.
His assertiveness in this instance also drew attention, but Evelyn noticed something else that seemed oddly to catch her interest.
“I, too, expect that today’s negotiations will come to a peaceful conclusion, but wouldn’t that necessitate one prerequisite?, Your Majesty.”
Theo asked, obliquely lifting the corners of his mouth.
“What’s that?”
“It is Your Majesty’s understanding; even though the burden is heavy, all of those gathered here today have lost something precious as a result of the disaster, so I want Your Majesty to understand this first.”
In other words, he needs to take a step back if he wants to get this meeting over with quickly.
Evelyn’s fearless remarks caused Theo to burst out laughing. He wanted to leave right away, but he showed patience.
“Well, I have a different opinion.”
“Are you denying our loss?”
In order to provoke the emperor, Evelyn deftly twisted his words. The emperor, however, was a difficult foe.
“Oh, no. It appears that the princess has already fallen into delusion and is unable to escape; that’s not what I said. Shouldn’t we first consider whether it’s true or not?”
Evelyn raised the corners of her mouth as she stared at the emperor with indifferent eyes.
“You’re right, but is there a way to show that Viscount Yurpheon is not a witch?”
“I called someone to help me with that. Let him in.”
The door to the conference room opened once more upon Theo’s command. Theo’s witness soon showed up.
After confirming the identity of the person the emperor summoned, Duke Valkyr, who had been quiet thus far, leaped to his feet.
“That man…!”
