Natasha temporarily sent Cayena, who must have been surprised, back to her hometown. Although this meant she would have to endure hell alone, she hoped that Cayena would find stability this way.

Upon returning to the duke’s residence, she began to suffer from a fever.

“Ugh……”

Nearly three weeks had passed. Although it was almost a month, there were still no signs of recovery. Her forehead was always hot like a fire pit, and dry coughs followed with every breath.

Natasha reached out her hand, feeling the pain of her throat tearing. Fumbling with her fingers, she accidentally knocked over the water glass. The glass, pushed away weakly, toppled over and spilled its contents.

“Ah, uh…!”

She gasped for breath. The endless thirst affected even her breathing.

She frantically shook the bell pull, but there was no response from beyond the door.

Just then, the sound of firecrackers echoed from outside in succession.

Startled, her eyes opened slightly. Beyond her narrow vision, the calendar hanging on the wall caught her attention. She traced her gaze slowly and finally confirmed today’s date.

Today was the Victory Commemoration Day of the Letius Empire. A glorious day when they had taken the kingdom’s territory and made a peace agreement with the duchy. Since last year, the empire had been holding nationwide festivals to celebrate the victory.

They were also holding a festival in the duchy, so it seemed all the servants had gone to enjoy the festivities.

‘Ah….’

As Natasha confirmed what day it was, auditory hallucinations began to cast over her. Voices that had become faint due to faded memories whispered right beside her.

‘Why did only you survive?’

‘Are you happy being the only sister to survive alone?’

‘Save me, save me….. It hurts, it hurts….’

‘Cut off my head. Bring me the head of the enemy who killed me. I’m wronged, wronged, wronged. Why did I have to die?’

They were her family members.

Terrible voices that resented her for surviving alone, begged to be saved, and asked for revenge, constantly tormented Natasha.

“No, no, uh…. Go, a, way….. Please…..”

‘Do you remember?’

‘How we died that day.’

‘You who abandoned us wouldn’t know! You knew everything and ran away, didn’t you?’

‘Wretched woman! Not even knowing the grace of those who raised you!’

Even covering her ears couldn’t block out the voices. Rather, they clung more deeply and viscously. They seemed to get angry at Natasha for rejecting them.

‘The blade of revenge slit my throat, child. Even after it fell off, your father who survived flailed in the oncoming pain.’

‘It hurt like having a rotten apple planted in my heart! Shall I plant that apple in you too?’

‘When my lovely home was burning down, my corpse burned with it. The smell of roasting flesh made me nauseous.’

Scenes she had tried hard to forget flashed through her mind.

On that day, Natasha had hurriedly turned her head away from the horrific sight she encountered. But the tragedy had already been captured in her vision.

The crumbling castle walls. The heads that bumped against her feet. The grass soaked in blood and the ashes floating in the air.

And the maddening, quiet silence.

Smelling the deeply engraved scent of blood in the cloth Lord Dante had covered her with, Natasha ruminated. She clearly engraved the scenes she should never forget, the end of her family and home.

‘I’m sorry…..’

And she recalled them whenever she wanted to die.

She consoled herself that there must be a reason she survived. And she thought her reason for existence was to continue the lineage of the Charliee royal family.

But she failed.

She bore fruit with the man she loved, but everything was a deception.

Their marital relationship was first and last on their wedding night, so there was no time to conceive life. Continuing the lineage seemed impossible from now on.

In the end, Natasha failed to fulfill the last mission left by her family.

‘That’s right, you fool! You ruined this good opportunity! It was the only chance to rebuild the royal family, but because of you who believed in love…!’

The resentful voice echoed in her ears. Natasha kept hitting the blanket as if in agony. Thick blood vessels gathered over her throat, which emitted groans, as if swollen.

Save me.

Please rescue me from here.

Natasha cried loudly. No matter how many times she shook the bell pull, no savior entered the room.

Only after fainting could she finally escape the nightmare. She barely fell asleep with her forehead throbbing as if a heart had been planted there.

When she was vaguely straddling the boundary between dream and reality, the door to the room opened.

Muffled footsteps followed. There was a sound of chair legs being dragged, followed by someone plopping down right next to the bed.

‘Who is it?’

The identity of the intruder was indiscernible.

Her eyelids were too heavy to bear, making it impossible to open her eyes. Her fingers only twitched in place, unable to move forward. She failed to find a way to identify the other person one after another.

‘It’s warm….’

At that moment, the other person wrapped Natasha’s fingers. The unstable hand movements that had been hitting the sheets suddenly stopped.

Despite the enveloping hands wearing gloves, a temperature as hot as a fire pit was conducted. Her hands and lips, which had been trembling from the cold, miraculously stopped.

A wet cloth was placed on Natasha’s forehead. What seemed to be ground herb powder entered between her slightly parted lips. As bitter as it was, its effect was also tremendous.

“Th….”

As the pain subsided, her lips seemed to open. Her vision was still blacked out.

“Thank you……”

She continued speaking while gasping for breath. It was still difficult to speak at length. She swallowed and took a break.

“You can go enjoy the festival now……”

Outside, fireworks continued to explode. The festival, which would last for days, continued non-stop day and night, allowing one to go out and enjoy it at any time.

Natasha hoped that the life-saving benefactor who had helped her would now go and enjoy themselves happily.

The man who heard those words let out a hollow laugh. After a deep sigh, a mumbling sound followed.

“……Festival.”

At first, he seemed to be repeating the word she had uttered. The man continued to mutter to himself in an even quieter voice. It vaguely sounded like he had no interest in the festival.

Is that so, there are people who don’t enjoy such a grand festival.

It’s strange, but thanks to that, I lived…..

Natasha muttered inwardly, unable to reach out, and then lost consciousness to the drowsiness overwhelming her body.

The next day, her body was surprisingly better. It seemed the herb powder that her life-saving benefactor had arbitrarily poured in had taken effect.

It wasn’t perfect, but at least she wasn’t inconvenienced in her movements, which was enough. Except for her body feeling limp as if soaked in water, it was even easy to move.

The servants, using the festival as an excuse, had neglected Natasha’s safety and livelihood. As a result, she hadn’t consumed anything for two days and was in a state of hunger. She needed to eat bread or fruit from the kitchen to soothe her empty stomach.

After bringing some food from the kitchen and eating, her head finally started working.

Sitting at the table, she threw the prepared divorce papers into the trash can.

As long as the emperor was around, divorce was impossible. She had to find another way.

As Natasha pondered ways to escape safely, an emergency measure occurred to her. Although she would lose more than she would gain, it was the best option for now.

‘The duchy would be better than the mad emperor.’

It was to cooperate with the Duchy of Kshant.

The Duchy of Kshant had brought and kept the royal seal from the ruined palace that day. If the royal seal were to be handed over to them, all authority would pass to them, but the condition for transfer required royal blood.

They must have been half-resigned, unable to find the blood of the extinct royal family. Natasha’s survival was a golden opportunity for them as well.

They probably hadn’t dared to approach due to concerns about the princess’s non-cooperation and the duke’s family’s response.

Rather than being threatened later, offering conditions first would increase the chances of concluding a contract.

「I’ll give you the opportunity to establish the Kingdom of Kshant.

Please save me and my people.」

The letter was written as concisely as possible due to concerns about the content leaking.

“Huu……”

Natasha sighed briefly.

Now she was about to lose even her last remaining inheritance.

After handing over the royal authority, her status, which would be left as just a shell, and even the royal family itself would disappear into history.

It didn’t matter anymore. It was best to escape rather than live in hell.

Lord Dante, who was in the annex, was to deliver the letter to the duchy. It was impossible to secretly make a trip that would take two or three days when she was under surveillance every time she went out.

Coincidentally, she sent the letter along with Lord Dante’s favorite snacks to Cayena, who said she had business in the annex today.

“I’m counting on you.”

“Trust me. I just need to send it to Lord Dante, right?”

“Yes, and also hint that he should take the letter to the Duke of Kshant.”

Cayena, who left like that, returned to Natasha in the early dawn. She handed over a note sent by Lord Dante as a sign that it had been safely delivered.

「I have confirmed.

However, it is also difficult for me to go and meet the Duke of Kshant directly. After crossing over to the duchy, I will bribe someone to deliver it. Since the Duke of Kshant knows your whereabouts, the reply will go there.」

But even after ten days, no reply came.

Natasha sent another letter to Lord Dante. The kind Lord Dante confirmed that the letter had been well delivered to the duke, and comforted the lady’s heart, saying to wait a little longer.

It had been almost a fortnight. Lord Dante advised that it would be better to interpret their non-response as a rejection.

‘Why on earth?’

Natasha couldn’t understand the duchy’s decision.

The Duke of Kshant was a person who had dedicated himself to protecting the kingdom, which was left with only land. Establishing the duchy was not merely for honor and power.

There was no reason to refuse the offer to hand over the royal authority. Wouldn’t he prefer a complete kingdom to a half-baked duchy? Even if it took a long time to reclaim the territory that belonged to the empire, it was certainly achievable.

‘There must have been… some mistake. I should go to the duchy myself.’

Natasha, having failed even her last resort, became confused. She even made the rash decision that she should meet the duke herself.

It was when she was hurriedly packing her coat and gold coins, about to go out.

The door, which shouldn’t have had any visitors, opened.

“Where are you going, Princess?”

An unexpected figure revealed itself.