“Your Highness… please spare my life.”
Albert groaned, pretending to be weak.
Regrettably, I felt no sympathy for him. I responded more firmly instead.
“You’d better think carefully.”
After another moment of hesitation, Albert finally began to reveal the truth.
“You must never let His Majesty know.”
I nodded. I had no intention of letting my father catch on.
“After Princess Riley had her accident in the Ramsey Empire, a prophecy related to the royal bloodline was given.”
Albert recited the details of the prophecy clearly.
If a child with tainted blood were to become part of the royal family, the integrity of the empire, which had lasted for a hundred years, would be shaken.
“…!”
As soon as I heard the prophecy, chills ran down my spine. It was exactly like what the sorcerer had said.
‘Everything the sorcerer said was true.’
My father must have been involved in Eddie’s death because of this prophecy.
He likely didn’t take action directly but had urged Helena to do so. I was certain of that.
What is this prophecy? It’s just an unexplained phenomenon.
I wanted to scream at my father.
‘Father, is the empire more important than me and my child?’
I felt he would say… that the empire was more important.
No, I was certain he would say that.
I clenched my fists tightly, so hard that it felt like the blood was no longer circulating.
I could not help but grimace in anger.
“So, when will I receive the ownership of the mine…?”
Albert, oblivious, was pursuing his own ambitions.
My father believed this man’s words blindly, put his faith in him, and had Eddie killed…
I sighed, my voice heavy with despair.
“I’ll send someone to the temple today.”
“Thank you, Your Highness.”
Albert quietly left the room.
I stared at the spot where he had been sitting for a long time.
The emotion that quelled my raging anger was emptiness.
Everything felt hollow.
My love, my family, my power, the empire, the title of princess…
The only thing that held meaning for me now was Eddie.
I missed him so much.
I wanted to look into his sparkling eyes and kiss his sweet cheeks.
“Eddie…”
Even knowing there would be no response, I wished to hear Eddie’s voice.
‘Eddie, even if it’s an illusion or a figment of my imagination, please appear before me and comfort me, even if just for a moment.’
I wished so desperately, but all that surrounded me was a crushing silence and loneliness.
☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓 ☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓
I sank deeply into the bathtub filled with hot water, lost in thought.
The earliest I could confirm that I was pregnant would be five weeks from today.
I planned to live as Princess Riley for the next five weeks.
After that, I would cross over to the Ramsey Empire and live as someone else, leaving behind my identity, my family, and everything else.
I felt no regret or lingering attachment to what I had.
What I looked forward to more than anything was the future I would have with Eddie.
That was why I chose the Ramsey Empire as the place to start my new life.
The Ramsey Empire had an atmosphere that did not reject outsiders.
In fact, they actively interacted with various other empires, and people of many different races lived in the Ramsey Empire. It would be a suitable place to hide.
There was quite a bit to do in the next two weeks.
I needed to create a forged identity and embezzle funds to live with Eddie.
And the most important task was…
“I must repay my father and Helena in kind.”
My father had been trying to marry me off to the prince of the Ramsey Empire, a man named Gran.
I planned to use the marriage to make a fool of my father.
Of course, I felt a bit sorry for Gran, who I had never met.
‘But it was Gran who first proposed the political marriage and came here on his own. I’m sorry, but it can’t be helped.’
As for Helena, I planned to bring up the things she had done around this time.
There were things I had suspected in the past but had overlooked because I thought they weren’t very important.
So what should I do about Henderson?
“I have no idea how to take revenge on Henderson…”
I couldn’t think of any way to take something from him. Both then and now, he had far too little. He didn’t even have anything precious to him.
Before meeting me, Henderson seemed like a lifeless doll, someone who desired nothing and valued nothing.
“He was truly a pitiful person.”
Regardless of his unfortunate background, infidelity was unforgivable.
Even if his infidelity was a misunderstanding, I couldn’t forgive Henderson for coldly treating me and Eddie for a year.
Even if he had unavoidable circumstances.
It seemed like it wouldn’t be too late to decide on how to deal with Henderson after punishing the other two first.
“By the way, I wonder if Henderson has realized that the woman he spent the night with is me?”
Although it was dark around, there weren’t many women with pink hair and green eyes.
Would Henderson soon figure out my identity and start looking for me?
That thought made me slightly, just a tiny bit, curious.
☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓 ☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓
Henderson, who had been deep in sleep, suddenly opened his eyes wide. A bead of cold sweat trickled down his forehead.
He wiped his forehead and took a deep breath.
As he slowly blinked, the strange dream he had last night came back to him clearly.
In his dream, a beautiful woman with green eyes appeared.
She looked at him with loving eyes.
Henderson swore to spend his life with her, and soon after, they had a son who resembled him closely.
It was a happy time.
But the dream, which had started so happily, grew more unfortunate towards the end.
Many people tried to separate him from his wife, and he ultimately earned her disdain.
The misfortune didn’t stop there.
Due to his own mistakes, even their child died.
The green eyes that had once been filled with affection now shimmered with hatred.
She looked at him as if blaming herself, tears streaming down her face.
That was how the dream ended.
“Haah…”
It was truly a strange dream, as if it had actually happened…
One thing that weighed on his mind was that he hadn’t been able to apologize to her in the dream.
Would he be able to dream the same dream again?
And if so, would he be able to apologize to her then?
As he regained his full senses, memories of what had happened before he fell asleep flooded back.
The masquerade ball hosted by the duke’s family, the fateful woman he had met by chance on the balcony.
The unforgettable night he had spent with her.
Henderson believed that she felt the same sense of destiny as he did.
But…
“……”
He propped himself up and looked to the side.
The woman, whom he had believed to be his destiny without a doubt, was gone.
The rumpled sheets and a single pearl earring she seemed to have left behind were proof that the previous night hadn’t been an illusion.
Where had she vanished to?
And why did she disappear?
Had she not been satisfied with last night?
Amid the overwhelming feeling of disappointment, Henderson realized something astonishing.
‘Pink hair and fresh green eyes… She looks just like the woman from my dream.’
The faces of the wife he had seen in his dream and the woman he spent the night with seemed quite similar.
It was indeed a strange coincidence.
☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓 ☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓
I quietly left the city without telling anyone.
I had something to investigate at the guild in the back alley.
That guild provided information to anyone, regardless of gender or age, as long as you paid them.
When I was still a duchess, I had secretly used that guild to gather intel and leverage against the servants of the duke’s family who had looked down on Henderson.
This time, I had two requests for the guild.
The first was to find out about Helena and Henderson, and the second was to prepare the necessary things for settling down in the Ramsey Empire.
☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓 ☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓
A week later, the second prince of the Ramsey Empire, Gran, visited the palace.
Accompanied by an envoy from the Ramsey Empire, he also brought various luxury items.
My father welcomed his visit with open arms, as if our marriage had already been confirmed.
In the audience room of the palace, I stood like a doll next to my father, who was seated on the throne.
The cumbersome dress I wore at my father’s command was uncomfortable.
I found all of this tiring.
Yet, I obediently came out because Gran was essential for my plan to get back at my father.
I watched Gran approach my father.
He was oddly covering more than half of his face with a veil.
I examined the part of his face that was visible.
He had flawless white skin and a perfectly straight nose… and Gran had black hair.
It was the same color as Henderson’s.
As I observed him, our eyes met—his eyes were as dark as the night sky.
Gran’s eyes curved like a crescent moon.
Even though more than half of his face was hidden, I had a feeling that he was handsome.
