Chapter 1

Prologue. Here, take this.

"Prepare to leave for Ilugo."

The hall buzzed with the emperor's words.

Though he did not explain why they were to leave, everyone in the hall knew the reason.

A political marriage.

And not just any political marriage, but one with the Ilugo, their sworn enemies.

It was called a marriage, but she might die at some point.

Perhaps what the emperor truly desired was her death.

Aristine's death.

But Aristine, the subject of this decree, stood there with her usual aloof expression, showing no reaction.

In the noisy hall, she alone seemed like a different being.

The emperor glared at Aristine with displeasure and twisted his lips.

"Still, isn't it fortunate, my daughter?"

His voice seemed affectionate at first, but it soon carried a venomous undertone.

"You are useless, but the blood that flows in your body is noble, and thus can be used in some way."

Aristine's face showed no change at this insult.

Her long eyelashes, slightly lowered, her eyes calm like deep lakes, and her lips like fragments of the moon, remained motionless.

The emperor snorted.

"Keeping you around, who are utterly useless, made me feel like my insides were being turned inside out. This is for the best."

He looked around and laughed.

"Cleaning up trash, helping the country, and you can prove your existence as trash. This is a threefold benefit."

People joined in the emperor's laughter, mocking her.

Aristine stood there, still showing no reaction.

Her slightly lowered eyes seemed to indicate obedience to her father.

* * *

A month later, Aristine set off on her journey to Ilugo.

A few people who knew her situation sighed, but Aristine, boarding the carriage, remained composed.

Her unwavering, aloof demeanor left a deep impression even on those who mocked her.

As the carriage door closed and the curtains were drawn,

"Disappear from this world. You're a waste of air."

Aristine's demeanor changed as if her previous behavior had been a facade.

She raised her middle finger towards the emperor.

Her smiling face looked like an angel who had just descended to earth.

Chapter 1. You're quite shy, aren't you?

'Finally, freedom!'

Aristine barely restrained herself from cheering.

She was finally free from her hateful hometown and even more hateful father.

'Really a madman.'

Her father, the emperor, had subjected her to all kinds of abuse with the single-minded goal of making her a 'success.'

'When he burned me, I thought I was going to die.'

At first, she felt not the heat but the acrid air.

The dull sensation of her lungs being scorched and her throat being torn woke Aristine from her sleep.

If she had woken up just a little later, she would have died.

When she opened her eyes, the windows were blocked, and she was surrounded by flames.

She was only six years old at the time.

She would have died under normal circumstances.

But Aristine survived. If you could call it living.

Her father, looking at her, who was charred like a piece of burnt meat, asked,

"How was it? Did you awaken?"

Aristine, dazed and confused, realized:

'Ah, the one who blocked the windows and set the fire was Father.'

Her heart ached more from this realization than from the blisters on her limbs or the burns in her lungs.

The pain was so intense that she wanted to burn it away.

'If my heart turns to black ashes, it won't hurt anymore.'

More than ten years later, Aristine's heart had burned to ashes.

After the incident with her half-sister, Aristine was exiled.

Living in exile since her childhood for over ten years, it was strange that her heart still beat warmly.

'At least being exiled allowed me to see my past life, so that's one good thing.'

Aristine's mind had developed its potential to protect itself.

She could 'see' her past life, which kept her from going mad.

'...Leaving is good, but it might get a bit annoying later.'

Thinking of her half-brother, who was not in the palace, Aristine sighed.

Regardless, now was the time to think about where she was going rather than where she had come from.

'What kind of place is Ilugo?'

A land of savages.

A place ruled by fire and iron.

An isolated plain surrounded by demons.

'The Ilugo savages mate with demons, creating beings that are neither human nor demon.'

'You will sleep in the same bed with a man who has mated with demons.'

'Well, they might prefer demons to your stiff self.'

The words her father whispered in her ear echoed again.

Aristine, who was a spirit, might have wanted to curse, but the emperor had always hated Ilugo.

Silvanus and Ilugo had a long-standing enmity.

Silvanus, proud of its conquests, had only one place it could not invade: Ilugo.

The current emperor, Aristine's father, had a grand plan to subdue Ilugo in his reign.

However, the war took an unexpected turn, and Ilugo began to gradually take over Silvanus's territory.

The person who made a significant contribution to Ilugo's victory was—

'My future husband, Tarkan.'

Aristine thought of her political marriage partner.

The emperor, realizing that continuing the war would be detrimental, proposed a ceasefire to Ilugo.

In response, the Ilugo king demanded a high war indemnity and one more thing:

'The emperor's direct bloodline to marry Tarkan.'

The idea was to end centuries of hostility and form an alliance through a political marriage.

The Ilugo king truly wanted to end the war.

Surrounded by demons, continuing the war was a heavy burden for Ilugo.

This story should have ended with peace between the two countries.

'But my father had no intention of ending the war.'

The emperor's ceasefire proposal was merely a delaying tactic.

He planned to break the current momentum of Ilugo and prepare for another invasion.

'So he sent me as a discarded card.'

A reason to declare war on an allied nation.

The only thing that could be easily fabricated at the right time and suited the emperor's taste was:

'Killing me and blaming Ilugo.'

Aristine smiled in the swaying carriage.

Did the emperor know that the discarded card he sent to die would give him a huge surprise?

For that, she needed one person's cooperation.

"Tarkan."

Aristine whispered the name of the man who would be her husband.

* * *

'What is this trick?'

Aristine looked at the simple tea table set before her with a calm gaze.

She had expected something would happen from the moment they started the journey on the old carriage road instead of using a portal.

Sure enough, she was confined in the carriage for almost ten days.

'Now my limbs don't even feel like my own.'

She couldn't even wash or change her clothes.

She tried to take off her uncomfortable dress, but the knights kept knocking on the window, making it impossible.

Then, suddenly, they told her to come out, and there was a simple tea set prepared...

'Telling me not to be suspicious is ridiculous.'

"Please sit down."

Though it was phrased as a request, the tone and attitude made it clear it was an order.

But Aristine silently took her seat.

'Not yet.'

She was still acting obediently, as she did in the palace.

'The time is not right.'

Aristine's eyes scanned the armed guards.

Whether they were guards, monitors, or assassins, the empire needed time to reorganize.

It wasn't time for Aristine to die yet.

But that also meant she could do anything except be killed.

Ironically, as a princess of Silvanus, Aristine could only be protected in the hostile nation of Ilugo.

'Whether I will truly be protected remains to be seen.'

The teacup was full of tea.

Aristine's calm face was reflected in the rippling surface.

Without touching the cup, the surface began to ripple on its own, and soon Aristine's face disappeared, becoming unrecognizable.

Instead,

'Ah......'

Something else was reflected.

* * *

The reflection showed the maid who had just ordered Aristine to sit.

'The same attire as now.'

Unlike Aristine, the maid was clean and well-dressed, having washed and changed every day.

The maid was carrying a pot of boiling water, heading towards the tea table, specifically towards Aristine.

In the reflection, the maid poured the boiling water on Aristine.

Aristine's face, burned, swelled up red.

Despite the pain, her face was full of hidden mockery.

The rough and harsh hands that wiped her face with a cold towel seemed to worsen the injury.

Nearby, other maids giggled and whispered.

"......"

The surface rippled and then calmed down.

The image disappeared, leaving only Aristine's calm face.

As if it had been that way from the beginning.

This was Aristine's ability.

The ability her father, the emperor, had so coveted.

But the ability Aristine thought she had not obtained.

The reason she was a 'failure' instead of a 'success.'

The Imperial Eye, which manifests through water.

Not just a future-seeing eye, but one that could see the past, present, and future.

But it wasn't something Aristine could control.

'What to do.'

Tap, tap, tap.

Aristine's index finger slowly tapped the table.

She saw the maid approaching out of the corner of her eye, carrying the boiling water.

For a moment, Aristine's eyes showed a glint of anticipation.

The moment the maid was right in front of her, Aristine sprang up.

"Ouch!"

The maid, scalded by the boiling water, screamed.

She had reflexively stepped back when she saw a figure suddenly appear in front of her, but the weight shift caused the water to spill on her.

The maid's face instantly swelled up red.

"Oh my."

Aristine placed her hand on her mouth in a feigned gasp.

"My, my face, my face......!"

Other maids rushed over with cold water, shocked.

The scene was different from what Aristine had seen with the Imperial Eye.

After a commotion, one of the maids stood up and approached Aristine.

"What are we going to do about this!"

"Why are you asking me?"

Aristine's retort left Rosaline, the maid, speechless.

Was this ragged princess daring to talk back to her?

"I just stood up."

"That's......!"

"Blaming me for something you did yourself. Do I have to play the role of your nanny as well?"

Aristine tilted her head.

"Indeed, you seem to need a nanny."

The level of it.

Though she didn't say it, the slight upward curve of her lips spoke volumes.

"Wh, what did you just say......!"

"If you didn't need a nanny, you should have been more careful."

Her tone was as if she was patiently explaining.

Rosaline couldn't respond. She was too flabbergasted and indignant.

But the most frustrating thing was that she couldn't think of a rebuttal.

'Of all people, to this ignorant girl......!'

Her face flushed with humiliation.

As Rosaline fell silent, Aristine sat down and sipped her tea.

Her straight posture, the elegant angle of her wrist like a swan's neck.

Despite not washing or changing for ten days, her demeanor was as composed as ever.

The watching maids gasped.

They wondered if this was really the princess they knew.

They didn't really know the princess well.

But it was 'that princess.'

The princess who had fallen out of the emperor's favor and received worse treatment than common children.

The fool who had no opportunities to learn or improve.

The madwoman who had lived most of her life alone, with an unstable mind.

'But......'

'Is that really the mad princess?'

It's unbelievable.

This is way off.

Yes, it must be a fluke.

But everything was just beginning.

Forget about the husband, I'll make money.