Chapter 1.
Return (1)
My father was an infamously terrible ruler.
He held the title of a puppet emperor, and he handed out official positions in exchange for bribes. He had twenty-eight lovers recorded in history, and the number of his illegitimate children was beyond counting.
In short, he was the worst monarch.
His biggest flaw was… that he was an absolute idiot.
If he had at least been blessed with good fortune in people, he might not have become a spectacle at his death. But an idiot can’t build useful connections, can they?
This man, who left a singular blemish on the 500-year history of the Kisomalos Empire, ended his life on the guillotine in the capital square.
Honestly, I thought he deserved it. As the emperor’s only legitimate heir, I nodded, thinking, ‘That idiot got what he deserved after messing around like a dog.’ My mind was at peace. That was until a man who appeared out of nowhere and called himself a Grand Duke sentenced me to death by quartering.
Quartering is painful. It’s humiliating, but most of all, it’s excruciatingly painful.
I couldn’t understand why I was sentenced to quartering while that idiot got the clean death of a guillotine.
I was the last princess of the 500-year-old empire and the legitimate heir of the emperor. Shouldn’t I have been treated with some respect?
Especially since I was someone who tried to save the crumbling nation.
Couldn’t they have given me poison to die elegantly or sent me to the presence of Kisomalos with a single blow on the guillotine?
I was so indignant that I shouted at the upstart who seemed to have crawled out of nowhere and called himself a Grand Duke.
But that upstart told me that since the emperor ended up in such a state, the legitimate heir who did nothing about it deserved to be punished even more severely with quartering.
‘Who says I did nothing!’
I was so flabbergasted and enraged that I was speechless, and in the end, I couldn’t argue.
But it was different the second time. By then, I had enough presence of mind to start with ‘Hey, you bastard!’ and then shower him with every curse I knew.
I am proud of myself.
Do you think the imperial finances would have lasted until that day if the legitimate heir had been idling around?
I did my best at every moment.
While other children played outside during my childhood, I was confined to a small room learning the art of rulership. I rolled on the ground to master techniques to protect myself, and while my peers laughed and chatted in social circles, I was in the emperor’s office working away, surviving on glucose infusions.
During that time, I thought of overthrowing that idiot millions of times. I never acted on it, though.
Patricide can be a significant blemish on one’s claim to the throne.
Was my downfall due to not having created a network of hands and feet to act on my behalf because I was too busy studying and working?
When that upstart spoke of my alleged dereliction of duty, only one thought filled my mind.
I’ve wasted my life. From now on, I should live recklessly.
“Sigh…”
I closed my eyes and fell into meditation.
Surely, I was drawn and quartered repeatedly yesterday.
But today, when I woke up, I was lying in my bed, and my limbs were as stubby as if they’d been torn off by four oxen.
“Sigh…”
I wiggled my tiny fingers, opening and closing my fist. If I had been treated after having my limbs torn off, these little hands wouldn’t be attached.
“This… is so… messed up…”
Why am I speaking so awkwardly? This is really pathetic.
