146.
“Then let us go as well.”
Rowa and Lady Blake followed the Imperial Princess through another door. Inside was a long corridor, and at its end, a narrow staircase appeared. After climbing the stairs, they came upon an iron door leading directly to the palace garden. The Imperial Princess manipulated several mechanisms to open the door.
“Come out carefully.”
The courtyard was empty, but the twilight cast a bluish hue. The grass blades were soaked with dew, dampening their hems with every step. The Imperial Princess pulled a sandglass from within her robe.
“Once this door opens, the Royal Knight Corps will be alerted. They’ll arrive within five minutes. Follow me quickly. We’ll get wet with dew, but we must return by the path Owen showed us.”
Dew. Suddenly, a line from Demecaron, long forgotten in Rowa’s mind, resurfaced.
‘Holy water, or the first dew of dawn, and the blood of a pure soul.’
She quickly looked up at the sky—intense sunlight was just beginning to emerge. Once the sun rose, all the dew would vanish. Rowa grabbed the Imperial Princess’s arm.
“Your Highness. Could you give me that sandglass?”
“We must leave before time runs out. Is it urgent?”
“Yes. It’s urgent, and absolutely necessary.”
“In that case… here.”
“Thank you.”
The moment Rowa received the sandglass, she detached the glass container holding the sand from its frame. She placed the empty half on the ground and stomped on the sand-filled half with her foot, shattering it.
“My Lady, what on earth—!”
Ignoring the Imperial Princess’s outcry, Rowa lifted the unbroken half of the glass container. Her craftsmanship was so precise it seemed as if the bowl had originally been made only as a half-circle. Rowa swiftly knelt and began collecting dew into the half-bowl. In moments, most of the container filled with dew.
“There. Now we’re ready. No need to run anymore.”
The Imperial Princess stared at her, her expression worried, as if fearing Rowa had lost her mind. Rowa securely tucked the crafted item into her robe and spoke with a relieved face.
“There’s something Your Highness must do for me. Please take me to Lady Audrey.”
* * *
“Who might this be?”
Audrey, wearing Lea’s appearance, brazenly greeted Cardier and Rowa in their reception room. She smirked with a face that looked all too familiar.
“The Imperial Princess… and who is the child beside her with covered face?”
“You know her well enough.”
“Me?”
“It’s me, Lady Audrey.”
Rowa said, removing the hood she had pulled low. Under the bright sunlight, the creature’s appearance was eerily identical to her own. It widened its eyes, glancing back and forth between the Imperial Princess and Rowa. Then, it burst into loud laughter, showing no effort whatsoever to conceal its identity.
“Ah. I escaped from the underground prison last night. I wondered how you slipped through the secret passage—so you helped, Your Highness.”
Addressing the Imperial Princess simply as “Your Highness” was an act of extreme arrogance. But what could they possibly do now? Soon, Scylla, she would become a god.
Everything was already on Scylla’s side. Loyal knights surrounded the palace, the Imperial Princess’s limbs were severed, and even if somehow the army received word and marched here, they couldn’t arrive in time. By tonight, when the full moon touched that flower and it bloomed fully, everything would be over.
“So you didn’t run like a worthless wretch. Instead, you walked right in so obediently. Should I thank you?”
“I came here willingly because I have a proposal.”
Rowa clenched her lips tightly and glanced around. The faces of the people she had passed on the way here looked pale, rapidly losing vitality. The flower’s bloom seemed to intensify the poison. Rowa glanced once at Anna’s deathly pale face, then knelt down.
“I’ll cooperate… with everything that’s about to happen.”
Rowa stared unflinchingly into the aquamarine eyes—identical to her own, yet completely different in gaze.
“I mean it.”
“Just like that? You surrender so easily?”
“This way is better than me resisting to the end. You know exactly how far I can go.”
“…”
“Do whatever you want. Frame me as a royal assassin, or make me do something else. I’ll obediently comply.”
“Why the sudden change of heart?”
Audrey narrowed her eyes suspiciously. In the blink of an eye, the facade vanished.
“Because no matter how much I think, there’s no hope.”
It sounded sincere because it was Rosetta’s true feeling. Honestly… it was true. No matter how hard she struggled, nothing changed. She had imagined that if she just opened Calypso’s box, Pontos might appear and drive Scylla away. But even after opening the box, Calypso never appeared, and now she was desperate enough to cling to a mere line she’d read in a book.
“Hmph.”
Audrey scoffed, as if mocking her for only realizing this obvious truth now. Rowa lifted her previously downcast gaze.
“I have only one condition.”
“What is it?”
“Spare Cardier, Montrosa, and the Imperial Princess. And that maid girl too.”
Audrey paused briefly, then grinned repulsively.
“Well, not a bad offer. Believers are absolutely essential for a god’s existence. I’d prefer as many people as possible witness me reclaiming my goddess form tonight.”
“…”
“And they will worship me forever. I shall become a greater god than that Deus.”
“…”
“But you, my dear sister’s saint.”
Audrey stepped forward, her aquamarine eyes flashing. Claw-like fingers stretched out and tightly gripped Rowa’s chin.
“Your soul is mine. You won’t see it… but it’s a beautiful rose color. Perfect for carrying in a soul vessel.”
“Anything. Do whatever you want.”
“Good. Then it’s settled.”
At that moment, the image of Lea standing before them began melting like mud. In its place appeared Audrey, her body blotchy and rotting. She clapped her hands and commanded.
“Anna.”
At Audrey’s order, Anna silently approached and swiftly began applying makeup to Audrey’s body. Rowa would have gladly bet her entire fortune that if Anna had any consciousness left, she’d scream and run away. Audrey massaged her shoulders tiredly.
“Wearing someone else’s dead body and layering illusions over it is exhausting. I was worried about how to dress up Audrey for the banquet if you kept kicking up a fuss, but I’m relieved now.”
“…”
“Let’s wrap things up. The Emperor will be declared dead by your hand, my dear Diego will ascend the throne, and the Imperial Princess—so long as she keeps her mouth shut—will be given a suitable marriage. Though I’ll need to tweak her mind a bit first.”
“…”
“And your husband… even without your request, I never intended to kill him. I plan to alter his memories and use him as my messenger. I do love beautiful things so much. Is that fine with you?”
Rowa clenched her teeth instinctively, hiding the grinding sound, and barely managed to reply normally.
“Whatever you wish.”
* * *
Lady Audrey declared she would keep Rowa and the Imperial Princess confined in separate locations until the evening banquet began, to prevent unnecessary rumors from spreading. Oddly meticulous about her reputation, even as she was about to become a god.
“I wonder if Lady Blake made it out safely?”
“She should have. If she uses the jewelry I gave her properly, she can even escape the capital.”
That was all the conversation they could manage. Immediately after, maids entered and separated them. Rowa was led straight to a bathroom. While she soaked in hot water, maids scrubbed her arms and legs with sponges, seemingly determined to remove every trace of grime from the previous night.
The maids served her with great care. Different scented oils were applied to her fingernails, toenails, elbows, and knees. Then, she was dressed in a fresh, clean gown. Rowa realized this was the same dress Lady Audrey had once held against her body in the Cyclid marketplace.
“Don’t throw that away!”
Rowa snatched Calypso’s box and the glass containing dew from the maid’s hands. Apparently, Audrey had given no special orders, so the maid simply stared blankly, watching Rowa’s actions. Only about two-thirds of the dew remained from what she had first collected. Rowa carefully secured it inside her clothing to prevent further spillage.
“My precious offering!”
The moment her hand emerged from her clothes, the door burst open with force. Lady Audrey entered, her face glowing with joy.
“At last, the sun is beginning to set.”
Male lead reborn without memories — but he still falls for her.
The person he finds displeasing in this life turns out to be his cherished wife-master in previous life…
Xie Zhi and Fang Xianxing who had known each other for less than three days through a blind date sat in the same car in front of the civil affairs bureau. They had a disagreement and failed to get married.
Xie Zhi immediately took out his phone, slid through his contacts, and randomly selected the next marriage candidate.
The woman snatched his phone and hung up. Looking at his phone wallpaper, she awkwardly changed the subject: “An ancient painting, eh? It looks pretty good, it’s just that the person in the painting looks a bit like me.”
When he heard this, he sarcastically mocked her for being so delusional, completely unaware that, the person in front of him was the reincarnation of Wen Ru, the famous prime minister of Yuan Shun whom he most admired…
The female CEO who doesn’t want to get married with a divorce agreement in hand × The male archaeological researcher who will only get married if he’s sure he can get divorced
