“The criminal Katharine Roberfon attempted to assassinate the queen, so her crime is extremely serious.”

The man now delivering the verdict once left his seed in her womb.

When was it that he whispered sweet nothings, asking her to become this country’s queen?

He was the fiancé who threw her away like trash when she miscarried due to a carriage accident and was diagnosed as unable to conceive again.

“I, Charlen Riche, king of the Kan Kingdom, hereby classify her as a traitor to the state. I strip her of all rights and will carry out the royal family’s ultimate punishment of burning at the stake.”

All she had wanted was just a warm word, a sincere apology, and a little faith.

But he eagerly made her sister Rose the queen, and now, falling for her shallow tricks, he mercilessly tries to burn her heart.

A heart already broken and scarred countless times by his harsh words and cold treatment, with no part left unscathed.

“Sob…”

Rose, the queen clinging to his side like a shadow, slowly rolled her pitch-black eyes and began to pretend to cry.

Her shoulders trembling and thick tears falling, she looked so pitiful.

Even Katharine, who knew it was all an unbelievable act, was momentarily fooled.

“Throw that witch of a woman into the hellfire immediately!”

Katharine calmly watched the people approaching with blazing torches.

Despite facing a situation where her entire body would burn to death in front of everyone, she felt strangely at peace.

Rather, she felt like laughing.

“Don’t cling so pathetically.”

Just before the flames reached her toes, Katharine muttered meaningfully.

Charlen hurriedly raised one hand.

“Wait. What did you just say?”

“It’s what you said when you tossed me aside like an old shoe. Remember?”

“What?”

Irritated wrinkles formed on Charlen’s delicate face, which was as pretty as a blossoming young boy.

His expression said, “What nonsense are you talking about?”

Right. Of course he wouldn’t remember.

“How can I make someone who can’t even bear children anymore the queen? Don’t cling so pathetically.”

Rationally speaking, he hadn’t done anything wrong as the ruler of a country.

However, as a man who had sworn eternal love to a woman, he had done something that should never be done.

“I swear on my heart, Katharine. Even if I have to give up the throne, I will only love you.”

If only he hadn’t told such lies back then.

If only he hadn’t constantly begged to spend sweet moments together in secluded places.

If only he hadn’t chosen his discarded fiancée’s sister as the new queen out of all the women in the world, the situation wouldn’t have reached such a catastrophic end.

“But now you might cling pathetically to me. No, I’m certain you will.”

Katharine spoke with a dazzling smile that left everyone in the execution grounds dumbfounded.

Once destined to be the perfect queen, now a vicious woman who tried to assassinate her sister who became queen out of jealousy.

As she was about to die under the death sentence of her former fiancé, the king, the people gathered in the square murmured that she must have finally gone mad.

Just then, an arrow flew from somewhere at terrifying speed, instantly cutting the ropes binding her arms.

Katharine gracefully descended from the execution platform and smiled brightly as she looked somewhere.

“Em-Emperor Farnese has appeared!”

From among the complex crowd, a man with an exceptional build slowly walked out.

Even with his long cloak concealing his appearance, his unique aura could not be hidden.

His identity was well known to all.

The hegemon of the Western Continent.

The absolute monarch of the Renel Empire, Emperor Farnese Escalo.

“Everyone, show your respect. She is the precious woman who will become the Empress of the great Renel Empire.”

Katharine smiled gently at her former lover, who still stood dazed, unable to grasp the situation.

It was the moment when she, who had been a traitor, instantly rose to become the Empress of the Empire.

‘Don’t think this is the end, Charlen. Your regret is only just beginning.’

And you will surely come kneeling before me.

That too, very pathetically.

* * *

Katharine, the eldest daughter of the Roberfon viscounty, had never envied anyone in her life.

Born beautiful, she was always described as the most beautiful girl in the Kan Kingdom wherever she went, and at 16, she graduated top of her class from the Royal Academy, earning recognition for her talents.

By the time she made her social debut after coming of age, she was already a celebrity.

From the son of a cardinal to the great-grandson of a duke.

She received marriage proposals almost daily from the young masters of all the notable noble families in the Kan Kingdom, but she rejected them all.

She knew that if she stepped into such a mundane life that would at best lead to being the mistress of a duke’s household, she would end up spending her entire life just keeping house and caring for children.

Above all, Katharine already had someone she loved.

“My beautiful Katharine. I feel as if I was born to meet you.”

It wasn’t difficult to nurture a love with Charlen Riche, the young king of the Kan Kingdom.

Charlen was a flawless man.

His features, still not completely rid of their boyish charm, gave more of a delicate impression rather than a manly one.

The bright smile that occasionally showed on his jade-like skin was something Katharine particularly loved.

When they first met at her debutante ball, he was a gentleman who was polite to his elders and never treated those beneath him rudely.

Katharine decided to devote her life to him and become a great queen in the future.

‘Surely a smooth and happy life will unfold.’

She believed this without a doubt.

Not knowing that she would conceive his child even before holding the wedding ceremony.

* * *

“Charlen… I think I might be pregnant with your child.”

She thought she had made a big mistake as the future queen who should have been more careful with her conduct.

Charlen seemed flustered at first too. But before long, he reacted calmly as if it wasn’t particularly surprising.

He even laughed.

“My, it seems the heir to the Kan royal family will be born earlier than expected. We should start thinking of a name for our crown prince.”

Aside from his tone suggesting he had anticipated the pregnancy, to immediately say crown prince when a girl could be born too.

Katharine felt for the first time that his way of thinking was somehow distorted.

But soon she no longer needed to worry about such things.

In a tragic carriage accident that could only be described as a twist of fate, Katharine lost the child in her womb in vain.

The doctor diagnosed that it would be difficult for her to become pregnant again in the future.

All news related to her was reported to the royal palace.

Charlen remained silent for a week before finally visiting her.

He spoke as if making an announcement.

“Let’s break off the engagement.”

She really hadn’t expected that when he finally came to visit his fiancée who was bedridden from an accident, his first words would be to announce the end of their engagement.

If he had just said one kind word, like how much pain she must have been in, or that he was sorry for not coming sooner, it wouldn’t have been this miserable.

“Charlen. What are you saying?”

“I truly regret this.”

Katharine shook her head with a face as pale as a corpse.

“That’s not what I want to hear from you.”

“I believe you’ve understood well enough, so I won’t repeat myself. We’ll take care of the engagement dissolution procedures. You take care of yourself. Well then.”

Charlen turned around without hesitation, as if he had nothing more to say.

A hot emotion, whether sorrow or anger, rose in her throat, and the anguish she had been suppressing exploded.

“Look at these arms and legs! Can’t you see the bandages wrapped all around them?”

“Katharine.”

“When you were sweetly coaxing me with promises of eternal happiness, where was this attitude? Now that the child is gone due to an accident, you’re just going to abandon me!”

“Katharine. The more you act like this, the more unsightly you become. Stop it.”

“Unsightly…?”

Katharine doubted her ears for a while, wondering if those words had really come from his mouth.

Charlen continued, as if driving her further into despair.

“Katharine. I’m not an ordinary man. I’m the ruler of this country. I have a duty to produce an heir as soon as possible and to have a wife by my side who can bear healthy princes. How can I make you queen when you can no longer bear children?”

“Didn’t you say it yourself, on the first night we spent together? That you didn’t need anything else but me. That you could even give up your crown for me.”

A clicking of the tongue was heard.

He looked at Katharine with a very sympathetic expression and slowly shook his head.

“Who would take those words at face value?”

Katharine was at a loss for words.

She limped after him with her still unhealed body.

Her mother and younger sister, who had been anxiously waiting in the living room, bowed their heads awkwardly towards Charlen as he came down with a stern face.

“Charlen. Wait. I’m not finished talking!”

“Ah yes. I’d like you to return the red diamond necklace I gave you last time as soon as possible. You can keep the other gifts, but that jewel can only be owned by the queen. Understand?”

“Fine. Take the necklace, take everything. Jewels aren’t important to me. I just wanted you by my side. That was the only thing I wanted…”

Katharine said this and was surprised herself.

It was the moment she realized she had truly liked him more than she thought.

But he was trying to leave.

Trampling on her wounded heart like a rag.

“Don’t say such clingy things now that we’ve become strangers. You probably think I’m a bad man. But everyone has priorities.”

The Charlen she had known until now was nowhere to be seen.

Before Katharine’s eyes now stood only a strange king, unhesitatingly shattering the memories and affection of the past 10 years.

Feeling his figure receding into the distance, Katharine couldn’t utter a word.

“So don’t cling so pathetically anymore.”

That was Charlen’s last words.

There wasn’t even a simple goodbye.

It became undeniable that all the love they had shared during their engagement period was merely a means to produce a prince.

“So it’s come to this.”

Her stepmother, who had boasted to the neighbors as if it were an everyday occurrence that a queen would be born from their family, cast a contemptuous glance at Katharine.

To her stepmother, Katharine had been a stepping stone to reach higher places and an important means to advance her own daughter Rose’s position, so her disappointment must have been great.

“This is what you get for not behaving properly and rolling around vulgarly! Our family’s honor has been tarnished. Our Rose’s marriage prospects will probably be ruined forever…”

* * *

It was just a few days after receiving the engagement dissolution notice.

An unexpected visitor came to the Roberfon viscounty house, which had been enveloped in heavy silence.

“Excuse me. I’ve come from the royal palace on His Majesty’s orders.”

“His Majesty’s orders? Perhaps Katharine…?”

“No. There’s no more business with Miss Katharine. His Majesty is looking for the second daughter of this household, Miss Rose Roberfon.”

A strange flush of excitement appeared on Rose’s face as she watched the situation from behind the stairs.

The officials from the court walked up to her and bowed politely.

“Congratulations. His Majesty the King has chosen Miss Rose Roberfon as the next queen.”