Chapter 1
It was a night of heavy rain. Belita staggered as she burst out of the room. Her wet footprints marked the marble floor.
“I must… see His Majesty.”
With unfocused eyes, she stood before the emperor’s bedchamber. The captain of the imperial guard eyed her with a discreet gaze. Bare feet, a thin slip over her pale body, and rain-soaked silver hair—nothing about her seemed normal.
“What is your business here?”
He asked flatly.
“Speak.”
“Lady Belita cannot have an audience with His Majesty at this time.”
A mad glint flickered in her violet eyes.
“Are you saying… I am not of the status to see His Majesty?”
The captain’s shoulders twitched at her fierce tone, but he quickly masked it with a look of disdain.
“Compose yourself and return when you are presentable.”
“If you do not announce me, I will kill you.”
“On what authority?”
His eyes glinted coldly with mockery. How dare she, and with what power, bring down the captain of the empire’s guard?
Belita’s eyes turned bloodshot. She was already half out of her mind.
“Move. Now.”
“As His Majesty’s mistress, maintain your dignity.”
“Ha…”
Belita wanted to tear that sneering mouth apart.
“What is this commotion?”
At that moment, Emperor Kairos appeared. His enchanting blond hair and blue eyes gave him a perpetually bored look.
“Your Majesty.”
The captain knelt before Kairos.
“I asked what the commotion was.”
“Lady Belita wishes to see Your Majesty.”
“Then why did you not let her in?”
“Well…”
When the captain faltered, Kairos turned and saw Belita’s wretched state.
“What on earth is that look?”
Though Kairos frowned, Belita approached him with a bright smile as if nothing were wrong.
“I want to sleep with you, Your Majesty.”
“In that soaked state?”
“You must love me. You must take responsibility.”
You ruined everything for me, didn’t you?
Belita gripped the hem of her dress tightly, maintaining her radiant smile.
“Or shall we bathe together?”
At her words, desire flashed in Kairos’s blue eyes.
“Well, that doesn’t sound too bad.”
When the emperor opened the door wide, Belita smiled coldly as she stepped inside.
“Shall we head to the bathroom?”
Kairos removed his luxurious robe, his eyes roaming up and down her wet body.
Belita was a small, pale woman. Kairos liked that about her. Seeing her shiver in humiliation as she accepted him often awakened a euphoric sensation within him.
“But before that, I have a question, Your Majesty.”
“What is it? If it’s not important, ask later.”
Kairos frowned, clearly unwilling to wait.
“Gores.”
At the single, sharply spoken word, Kairos’s expression turned indifferent.
“What about it?”
“Ha…”
Belita barely held herself together, fighting against the collapse of her spirit.
“Are you telling me this is all because of that?”
‘Because of that?’
“You promised, didn’t you? That if I became your mistress… you would leave my homeland, Gores, alone.”
The emperor had broken his promise. He had turned Gores into a sea of fire. He had filled her with hope only to strike from behind.
She could almost hear the screams of her people. Her last hope had been trampled to dust.
But instead of showing sympathy, Kairos grew angry at her.
“Do you still think of that tiny kingdom as your country? Do you still believe you’re the noble princess of that insignificant land?”
Kairos grabbed Belita by the collar and spoke in a low, scathing voice.
“Get a grip. You are the mistress of the emperor of the great empire.”
“Impressive.”
Belita let out a brief, bitter laugh. The fool had been herself all along. It was her own folly to believe his sweet words.
Kairos ruthlessly stripped off her thin slip. Her small, pale body, drained of color, filled the emperor’s eyes.
“…Everyone, leave.”
When the courtiers left, Kairos embraced her and whispered softly,
“No need for the bathroom. I sometimes like this disheveled look.”
“…”
Ignoring his lips on her skin, Belita scanned the bedroom. She knew the room’s layout well, having entered it more times than she could count.
That was why she could spot the emperor’s dagger on the left side of the bedroom and the exact position of the handle. She had imagined killing him with that dagger more than a hundred times, every time he violated her.
Today would be the day she made that fantasy a reality.
As she endured Kairos’s unwanted kisses, Belita stretched her hand toward the drawer. Her fingers closed around one of his prized possessions—a small clock on the desk.
“Goodbye, Your Majesty.”
She whispered softly and struck Kairos’s head hard with the clock.
“Aargh!”
As Kairos screamed, clutching his head, Belita kicked him away and grabbed the dagger in one swift motion.
‘I must kill him before the guards rush in.’
She swung the dagger at him. Handling a weapon had never been difficult for her. She had endured only because she had something to protect.
The screaming stopped. For a moment, Kairos did not comprehend what had happened to him.
“What is… this…?”
The white bedsheets, Belita’s pale body, were now splattered with dark red blood. Still naked, Kairos coughed up blood.
“I’ve completely lost my mind.”
“…”
Kairos’s bare body filled Belita’s vision. She closed her eyes as if repulsed.
“Do you know what that means? It means I have nothing left to fear.”
She gripped the dagger tightly and laughed, her voice edged with madness.
Kairos, his face flushed red, pointed a trembling finger at her, but no words came out.
Moments passed, and he moved no more.
“Your Majesty. It is I.”
Was it merely coincidence? At that exact moment, Empress Drusilla’s voice came from outside the room.
‘Heaven is giving me a second chance.’
Belita straightened the bloodied dagger. Drusilla was just as responsible for Belita’s misery as the emperor—perhaps even more.
It was Drusilla who had whispered to the emperor, urging him to take away what Belita cherished most.
“Your Majesty, no matter how much you enjoy your mistress, you must respond. Should you not?”
Instead of answering, Belita held her breath and gripped the dagger tighter.
“Your Majesty? I am coming in.”
The moment Drusilla opened the door, Belita lunged at her with the dagger.
But Belita had to stop in her tracks.
Because walking in with Drusilla was none other than Marchioness Agatha.
“Why…?”
She had given her gold and told her to run—so why was the marchioness here?
Marchioness Agatha had been the only person who stayed by her side until now.
“I am sorry, Princess. My body was too frail to escape. Please, do not mind me…”
‘At least you, Princess, must survive.’
The marchioness could not finish her sentence.
The captain of the guard standing beside Drusilla cut her down in a single stroke.
The marchioness’s body crumpled to the ground.
“You must… survive…”
Bright red blood flowed from her lips. Despite everything, a gentle smile rested on her wrinkled face, as if to say none of this was Belita’s fault.
‘No… No… Why…’
Drusilla looked at Belita with a face full of contemptuous mockery.
“Aagh!”
Belita screamed like a madwoman as she lunged forward, but she was quickly subdued by the captain of the guard.
“Just as I expected, Ve6lita. You killed the emperor quite cleanly.”
Drusilla spoke calmly as she stood over Kairos’s corpse.
‘Cleanly?’
Drusilla curled her rose-red lips into a smirk as she approached Belita.
“Everything went exactly as planned, you fool.”
Drusilla gently caressed Belita’s blood-soaked cheek and whispered.
“…Take your hand off me.”
“You planned to get rid of the emperor and then kill me next, right? And then maybe take your own life?”
Drusilla laughed, as if Belita’s intentions were all too predictable.
“Take your own life… Did you think I’d let you off that easily?”
“No… No…”
Belita wanted nothing more than to bite off her own tongue and end it all. Her heart, already shattered into a thousand pieces when Marchioness Agatha died, now felt as if it had been torn into ten thousand.
“Gag her.”
A white cloth was ruthlessly shoved into her mouth. Her teeth could not meet her tongue; no matter how hard she bit, she could not sever it.
“Mmph… Mmph…”
Tears of frustration welled in her eyes. Mixed with the blood on her cheeks, they resembled tears of blood.
Drusilla, ever so gentle, wiped her tears away. Then, she leaned in close, speaking only for Belita to hear.
“Thanks to you, the hunt went smoothly. Now, my son can ascend to the throne without any trouble.”
Drusilla’s crimson eyes gleamed with greed.
Everything had been part of her plan.
She had whispered into the emperor’s ear, provoking Belita’s anger and thirst for revenge. She had told him to utterly destroy the kingdom of Gores, to direct all his vile desires onto Belita.
All of it, just to kill her own husband. To pass the throne to her young son and seize the empire for herself.
“Mmph…!”
Belita struggled violently, her entire body burning with rage. If she could only tear Drusilla to pieces, she would endure a lifetime of burning agony without complaint.
“The hunt is over, so it’s time to put down the hound. Don’t think you’ll die peacefully now that it’s come to this.”
With those chilling words, Drusilla issued her command in a cold, low voice.
“It is treason. The assassin of His Majesty, Emperor of the Carnavan Empire—the emperor’s mistress, Belita—is hereby sentenced to death by dismemberment.”
