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 one directly involved, stood there with a composed expression, as always.

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

The emperor glared at such an Aristine and twisted his lips.

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

At first, it sounded like a tender voice, but soon it carried a venomous tone.

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

Despite the insult, Aristine's face showed no change.

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 laughed, looking around.

"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 sighed in sympathy for her plight, but Aristine, boarding the carriage, remained composed.

Her unwavering, composed 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 changed as if her previous demeanor was a lie.

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, subjected her to all sorts 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 scratched 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 then.

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 meat, asked,

"How was it? Did you awaken?"

In a daze, Aristine looked at her father and realized,

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

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 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 protected itself by developing the ability to see her past life.

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 monsters.

"The Ilugo savages mate with monsters, creating beings that are neither human nor monster."

"You will sleep in the same bed with a man who has mated with a monster."

"Maybe he prefers monsters to you, who are so stiff."

The words her father whispered in her ear echoed again.

Aristine, who could have cursed her fate, knew that 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 one who played a significant role in 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.

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

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 monsters, continuing the war was a heavy burden for Ilugo.

Originally, this story would have ended with peace between the two countries.

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

The emperor's proposal for a ceasefire 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 easiest and most convenient reason, which also suited the emperor's taste, was one.

'Killing me and blaming Ilugo.'

Aristine smiled in the swaying carriage.

Would the emperor, who sent her to die, realize that this discarded card would deal him a huge blow?

For that, she needed one person's cooperation.

"Tarkan."

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

* * *

'What is this now?'

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 mine.'

She couldn't even wash or change her clothes.

She tried to take off the 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 said politely, the tone and attitude were more like a command.

But Aristine silently took her seat.

'Not yet.'

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

'It's not the right time yet.'

Aristine's eyes scanned the armed guards.

Whether they were guards, monitors, or... 'assassins.'

In any case, the empire, which was just beginning to reorganize, needed time.

It wasn't time for Aristine to die yet.

But that also meant she could do anything except die.

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,

'A......'

Something else was reflected.

* * *

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

'Her attire is the same as mine.'

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.

"Oh my! I'm so sorry, Princess."

Despite her words, her face was full of undisguised mockery.

The cold towel used to wipe her face was rough and harsh, likely to worsen the injury.

"You look like a rat drenched in water."

"A fitting look for a savage's bride."

Other maids nearby 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 an ability Aristine thought she had not obtained.

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

The Imperial Eye, manifesting through a water mirror.

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

But it wasn't something Aristine could see just because she wanted to, or avoid seeing if she didn't.

In short, it was uncontrollable.

'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 hint of anticipation.

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

"Ouch!"

The maid, who had the boiling water spilled on her, screamed.

Reacting instinctively to the figure suddenly appearing in front of her, she leaned back, and the water she was carrying spilled on herself.

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, shocked, quickly brought cold water.

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

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

"What are we supposed 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 on your own. 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...

She left the rest unsaid, but the slight upward curve of her lips conveyed more than a thousand words.

"What... 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. It was too absurd and ridiculous.

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

'From someone like her...!'

Humiliation made her face flush.

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 having washed or changed for ten days, her demeanor was as composed as ever.

The maids watching her let out a sigh.

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 far from right.

Yes, it must be a fluke.

But everything was just beginning.

Now, about the husband and making money.