At those unexpected words, my eyes widened in shock as I stared at Kavala.
The eerie atmosphere of the Empress's chambers pressed against me like a physical weight. I flinched involuntarily.
The palace wasn't constructed in shadow—sunlight filtered through the windows well enough. Yet every time I entered these rooms, an inexplicable chill settled into my bones. A sense of wrongness that made my skin crawl.
Kavala approached with her characteristically elegant gait and settled beside me.
"Chloe."
She spoke my name with saccharine affection and took both my hands in hers.
Cold hands.
Goosebumps erupted across my arms the moment her fingers closed around mine. I had to suppress the instinct to wrench myself away.
"You're going to do something very important for us."
"What do you mean...?"
I let my voice trail off with deliberate timidity—a habit I'd been working diligently to overcome, but one that resurfaced automatically in Kavala's presence.
Old patterns died hard. Especially when maintaining them served a strategic purpose.
The Empress smiled with theatrical sadness, her expression dripping with fabricated concern and pity.
"You've heard of Ronheim, haven't you, Chloe?"
"I don't know much about it..."
I answered with calculated ignorance, uncertain where Kavala intended to lead this conversation.
She responded with the kind, patient tone of a teacher instructing a particularly slow child.
"Ronheim is a territory the Arental Emperors have been attempting to civilize for centuries. We Arentals have made tremendous sacrifices for the unfortunate people of Ronheim."
"..."
"We've been bringing Arental's beautiful culture to people who existed outside civilization—teaching them to live as humans should, rather than as beasts."
She spoke as though Arental's conquest of Ronheim had been some noble philanthropic endeavor. A sacred mission to enlighten barbarians.
The standard justification for wars of aggression. Always so magnificently self-righteous.
After all, when an Emperor initiates war, he can't very well shout: "Young people, I will enjoy myself in the palace while you march out to die for my greed!"
Kavala sighed with theatrical distress, as though genuinely burdened by her noble cause.
"But those ignorant, primitive people still don't comprehend what a precious gift they've received from the Arental Empire."
"I see..."
"The former rulers who remain in that region constantly seek opportunities to reclaim Ronheim. It would be a tragedy for the people there—condemning them to revert to living like animals."
Kavala tightened her grip on my hands.
"That's why, Chloe, your father and I have decided to entrust you with the sacred responsibility of caring for those poor people."
"What do you—"
"The Marquis of Rodrian, governor of Ronheim, has sent a marriage proposal. You will accompany him to Ronheim as his bride."
"You want me to... marry him?"
The words that concluded her lengthy preamble were so unexpectedly aligned with my own desperate hopes that I nearly bit my tongue with joy.
Perhaps my stunned reaction registered differently to Kavala, because she looked at me with exaggerated sympathy and stroked my hair with maternal tenderness.
"It's a sham marriage, darling. You're going as an observer—someone to watch the Marquis. This won't be permanent."
"A watcher...?"
"We appointed the Marquis of Rodrian—a member of Ronheim's former royal family—as governor specifically because we feared a sudden change of leadership immediately after conquest would provoke violent resistance."
"..."
"However, I've received disturbing reports that the Marquis has been secretly preparing to rebel against Arental rule and restore Ronheim's independence. If these allegations prove true, we'll have justification to replace him."
So that was her game.
She wanted me to personally investigate whether Callius was genuinely plotting rebellion.
She intended to plant me as a spy in Ronheim—to manufacture an excuse for eliminating Callius.
I deliberately let my body tremble and allowed anxiety to cloud my expression.
"I... I don't know if I can manage something like this..."
"You simply need to observe the Marquis's actions and report everything to me. Can you do that much?"
"Y-yes... I will try..."
"As a member of the Arental royal family, you must have a sense of duty, Chloe."
Kavala spoke with forceful conviction, then softened her expression to something warm and benevolent.
"My poor child... it pains me to send you on such a long journey."
Then she pulled me into her arms.
My body went rigid with shock.
This was unprecedented. Never in my previous life had Kavala embraced me with such apparent tenderness.
Since my mother's death when I was seven, no one had held me like this in my entire existence—except Karl.
Kavala's strong perfume seemed designed to cloud rational thought, to make me pliant and confused.
Kavala conspired with Andrea. And Andrea murdered me. There's no possibility Kavala wasn't involved. Andrea is her puppet.
Even knowing this with absolute certainty, I felt treacherous tears threatening to fall.
The maternal love I craved so desperately... even counterfeit affection tastes sweet when you're starving.
Kavala had identified my weakness with surgical precision.
I bit my lip so hard I tasted copper.
Wake up, Chloe.
It would be pathetically easy to let myself be seduced by these honeyed words and manufactured gestures.
Kavala continued her manipulation, holding me close as I struggled internally.
"Don't worry, darling. This mother will bring you home very soon."
She gently stroked my cheek.
"You've been my daughter for such a long time, Chloe. My precious girl—I won't let you suffer unnecessarily."
That loving voice, perfectly calibrated to burrow into a heart exhausted by isolation.
I closed my eyes tightly.
Tears escaped and rolled down my cheeks.
Even this could be fabricated. All of it.
If I hadn't experienced that miserable death—if I hadn't learned the truth in my final moments—I would never have escaped Kavala's psychological snare.
Go ahead. Believe you're controlling me. Play your game within what you think are my limitations.
I looked up at Kavala with tear-filled eyes that communicated perfect submission.
"I will do exactly as you say, Mother. But... I have one small request."
The moment Chloe left the Empress's chambers, Dnieper materialized as though he'd been waiting in the shadows.
"Are you truly sending the Princess to Ronheim, Sister?"
Kavala stood by the window, watching Chloe's retreating figure disappear down the corridor. A smile curved her crimson lips.
"There's no better method to plant someone directly in the Marquis of Rodrian's inner circle."
Dnieper studied his sister's profile in silence.
Kavala felt his scrutinizing gaze and turned to face him.
Their eyes met—a strange, charged moment passing between siblings.
Dnieper broke the weighted silence with a casual-sounding question.
"Will the Princess actually perform as expected?"
Kavala laughed—a sound like breaking glass.
"That idiot can't accomplish anything independently. She'll just tremble and obey. I'm sending Chloe to run my errands like a good little messenger."
"But what did the Princess request earlier?"
"Oh, that."
Kavala shrugged with dismissive amusement.
"She asked for the Szeged Trading Company and the Rosendal territories as wedding gifts."
"What? Those are more demanding requests than I expected. Are you actually granting them?"
Kavala's laughter rang through the chamber—loud, sharp, and genuinely delighted.
"She requested the Empress's most prized possession—the trading company—and the most worthless asset imaginable. What a fool! Asking for a failing business and barren wasteland!"
Disposing of such things seemed trivial.
"It's irritating that she dared negotiate in front of me, but if I consider it her final gift before departure... I don't regret the generosity."
Dnieper nodded and asked the question that truly mattered.
"What do you intend to do with her ultimately?"
Kavala looked down at her palm.
Small crimson letters glowed ominously against her skin—the same hand that had been gripping Chloe's moments earlier.
"I planted a curse."
The blood-red symbols pulsed once more before fading into her flesh as though absorbed.
"Once we locate the key to the relic, Chloe will perish from Ronheim's bitter cold."
A seductive yet utterly chilling smile deepened across her features.
"She's far too young and fragile to survive in such a harsh place, don't you think?"
Following my meeting with Kavala, my marriage to Callius was finalized with startling speed.
Apparently Viscount Pelsus—whose engagement had been abruptly terminated—caused quite a disturbance in the palace, protesting loudly to anyone who would listen.
Since I'd never been meaningfully involved in either the engagement or its dissolution, I had no reason to intervene.
Kavala handled the matter of Viscount Pelsus with ruthless efficiency.
I've escaped Viscount Pelsus.
Joy so intense it brought tears welled up inside me.
I changed the future.
The realization filled me with profound satisfaction.
Confidence bloomed—the certainty that if I took action, circumstances could shift. I wasn't helpless. I wasn't powerless.
I had saved myself from that pit of hell.
Plus, I secured the Szeged Trading Company and Rosendal territories.
Kavala had granted them readily, considering them worthless assets.
They may seem trivial now, but...
Very soon, their value would increase a thousand-fold beyond their current worth.
When that happened, Kavala would weep tears of blood, regretting her casual generosity.
Just wait. It's going to happen soon.
Laughter bubbled up unbidden.
This incident had given me something beyond mere revenge motivation.
A new driving force emerged—one that made me want to be more proactive, more daring.
So I began planning my next bold move.
Before departure, I'm going to rob the palace treasury.
Though I'd acquired valuable estates and commercial enterprises, the income from those wouldn't materialize immediately. I needed liquid funds to spend upon arriving in Ronheim.
And I knew precisely where the imperial family's most valuable treasures were stored.
Kavala's personal vault.
All the best pieces were there—jewelry, artifacts, rare gemstones worth fortunes.
I possessed no trusted confidants. No physical strength. No freedom to roam the palace without surveillance.
But I had something infinitely more powerful.
Knowledge of the future.
That alone could compensate for every weakness.
And I knew an excellent opportunity was approaching very soon.
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