Betrayed in love.

It was the first and last love of her life. She thought it was destiny. She believed she was born to meet him, and that her only happiness would be marrying him and having children. She had no doubt that he would make her happy.

Veronica first saw him when she was 15 years old. At 15, a time when she had more than she lacked. On that young day when an innocent girl had gone through a growth spurt and was shyly revealing a fresh beauty, she met him.

Is this what they call an unforgettable moment in life?

The moment she first saw him is still vivid in her memory. How lush the flower path of the dogwood trees was. How warm the air that enveloped us was. How beautiful the colorful anemones swaying among the fresh leaves were. How dazzling you were standing there.

When his blue eyes met hers as he lifted his lowered lashes, she felt an intense shock throughout her body. Her hands and feet trembled, and her heart pounded as if it would burst through her skin. It was an emotion she had never felt before in her life. It was also a moment that couldn’t be fully expressed in words.

“I’ve lived my life to meet you.”

She may have uttered such embarrassing words. His face looked flustered and blushed slightly with a shy smile when he heard those words.

On that day when they introduced themselves to each other, Veronica returned to the duke’s residence and wrote a letter. Of course, it was a letter to him.

Why was even a single line with no real content so nerve-wracking?

Afterwards, she exchanged a few letters with him. She dried the flowers he gave her and cherished them in a box. How much she laughed at his neat handwriting that resembled him. How happy she was with the small flower bouquets he gave her.

She believed he must have felt the same shock she felt that day. In their letters, they always expressed longing for each other and promised to meet again. She counted the days until she could see him. Veronica became completely intoxicated by the sudden emotion.

As time passed, she finally met him for the second time. It could be called fate that Veronica, attending a reading group hosted by Her Majesty the Empress, saw him. No, it couldn’t be anything but fate. Didn’t even God make us meet through the chance of coincidence?

She couldn’t control her emotions as soon as she saw him. It didn’t matter to her that he limped slightly on his left leg and was treated poorly due to his weak constitution.

Veronica couldn’t hold back and said:

“Don’t keep me waiting. We already know we have the same feelings. So don’t be shy and propose to me.”

“Miss Hardness…”

He smiled shyly, just like at their first meeting. His sky-blue eyes lowered, unable to meet hers directly. Veronica gazed in ecstasy at her beloved’s shy appearance. And after what felt like an eternity of waiting, a gentle voice flowed from his lips.

“Honestly, I’m surprised. I didn’t expect to hear such words from you, Miss Hardness.”

“Oh my. Surely you’re not going to say you didn’t know my feelings?”

Though she said that, she wasn’t disappointed at all. She was overjoyed that she could finally receive his proposal. Although asking for a proposal first hurt her pride, it was fine if it was him. Perhaps her impatience showed outwardly, as he burst into laughter while watching her.

“Unexpectedly, you have some cute aspects, unlike the rumors.”

“Rumors are just rumors. Spreading nonsense is a luxury for nobles, isn’t it?”

“Miss Hardness. I appreciate your feelings, but in this position, one has to consider benefits even in matters of love.”

“I know. Don’t worry, Prince Asher. I am the famous Hardness family’s only daughter, and the sole legitimate heir who will inherit all the family’s wealth someday. I can be of sufficient help to you, Your Highness.”

She had her uses. Her high-held nose betrayed her confidence.

“You only need to choose me, Your Highness.”

But little did she know he would mercilessly trample on her confidence.

“My answer is, I’m sorry, Miss Hardness.”

“You’re lying!”

She was shocked. It was an answer she couldn’t have even imagined.

But he smiled apologetically and truly expressed his intention to refuse. Veronica couldn’t accept it. She rushed towards him as he was walking away, forgetting all sense of decorum. There was someone who tried to stop her in between, but ignoring the voice telling her to stop, she only looked at him. She shouted at him not to hide his true feelings.

“I’m sorry.”

His face full of worry caught her attention more than his words. Was it because of the gazes around them? Was he worried people would gossip about her? He turned and left, as if unable to see her getting hurt. Veronica had to return to the mansion in tears.

She wrote a letter that day too, but he didn’t reply. She waited for months. She attended Her Majesty the Empress’s reading group several times wanting to meet him, but she couldn’t see him as if he was avoiding her, and even when they happened to meet in passing, she couldn’t get a chance to speak to him as he avoided her.

In the end, Veronica went crying to her father. And she begged. That she had fallen in love with him. That she wanted to marry him. Her father was very troubled by those words. Perhaps thinking it was the whim of his young daughter, he held her shoulders and tried to soothe her, saying they should think about it calmly.

But Veronica, already blinded by love, shook off her father’s hands and threw a tantrum. Like a child, she sat on the floor, rolling around, insisting she wanted to marry him. She stubbornly insisted on marrying him, not knowing to be ashamed.

“Absolutely not! Give up!”

“Father!”

Her father’s refusal was firm, and Veronica spent her days crying. She lost her appetite and fasted, losing weight, and fell ill with a fever. One day, as she was spending time in bed like that, she asked her father who was checking on her again.

“I want to marry Prince Asher Roel.”

At his daughter’s plea, crying even in a feverish state that wasn’t in her right mind, her father Harry finally had to bend his decision. He immediately went to see His Majesty the Emperor and begged.

And a few days later, he came. The man she loved most, the only happiness in her life. He smiled shyly, just like when she first saw him, and said:

“I have lost, Miss Hardness.”

We got engaged right away. It was the best gift one could ask for on their 16th birthday.

Afterwards, it was a series of happiness. Asher came to see her often. Veronica always greeted him wearing the finest dresses and adorned with the finest jewels, in her most beautiful appearance. The two had many small conversations. Though it was nothing special, just being with him was extremely enjoyable. The streets they always walked felt soft, and even trivial conversations made her unable to hold back her laughter.

Veronica only waited for the day she would marry him. She wanted to hold the wedding ceremony with him right away, but he asked her to wait, saying he wasn’t ready yet, so she endured. Meanwhile, Veronica also devoted herself to bridal lessons in her spare time. This change in her, who had always detested all kinds of lessons before, was solely due to love.

Several years passed like that, and while girls her age were already married and having children, she was still waiting for her wedding ceremony with him. Even then, he was still her only love. Her friends sighed at her blind love, but Veronica was really fine with it.

But patience was certainly not a joy.

“Asher. Shouldn’t we hold our wedding ceremony now?”

Remembering the married couple she met during the day, she seemed a bit impatient that day. She carefully asked Asher, who had a blank expression that day. He turned his head and stared at her.

“Veronica.”

“Yes, my Asher.”

“Do you love me?”

“Of course, Your Highness. I love you very much. More than you think, enough to do anything for you.”

“Veronica. My Veronica. Can you really do anything for me?”

“Of course! For you, my love.”

She thought he would be happy if she said that. Indeed, he did smile.

“I want to set right this rotten imperial court.”

Only then did she understand what he wanted to do. Veronica was moved. So this is why he postponed the marriage all this time. She was more than willing to be of help in his great endeavor.

“How can I help you?”

His request was more trivial than she thought. To steal one letter that came to her father.

Veronica did as he wished and stole her father’s letter to give to him. She also brought books from her father’s study that he hardly read. She took unknown objects too. She brought him whatever he wanted.

She thought it was for the man she loved. Perhaps she was intoxicated with being a woman who risked danger and sacrificed for love. She didn’t even realize it was wrong.

One day, soldiers barged into the mansion and took her father away. The charge was that her father had secretly gathered rebels and led an attempt to assassinate the emperor.

It was an unbelievable reality. Her family had been a knight family that had sworn loyalty to the imperial family for generations.

Veronica immediately went to find Asher.

“Asher, please clear up this misunderstanding. My father, Duke Harry Hardness, absolutely did not lead an assassination attempt on His Majesty the Emperor. He did not plan a rebellion. You know how loyal he has been to this imperial court, how much he has done for the empire on the battlefield. Someone must have framed him!”

“Veronica.”

An unfamiliar, chilling voice unlike him reached Veronica. Those blue eyes she had loved so much were eerily calm.

It was a brief moment. In the blink of an eye, he smiled kindly again and grasped both of Veronica’s shoulders. But she, confused by the immediate situation, failed to notice that fleeting moment.

“I will have a separate audience with His Majesty.”

“Asher. Please, my father…”

“Everything will be alright.”

He embraced her as if to comfort her. Enveloped in his warm embrace, Veronica’s whole body trembled for some unknown reason.

However, the news she was waiting for did not come, and her father’s execution was soon decided. It was to be beheading. Evidence was presented that he had created a rebel army and led an attempt to assassinate the emperor. Familiar things. How could she forget? They were what Veronica had delivered to Asher with her own hands.

Is this what they call the despair of the ground falling out from under your feet?

The family’s wealth and territories were all confiscated, and all the private soldiers were taken away. She was also put under surveillance. She tried to meet Asher but couldn’t. Even chance encounters were difficult. She asked acquaintances for help, but they all turned their backs on her. Meaningless days passed, and the day of execution approached.

The high scaffold cruelly revealed its form. The hero of the Diastara Empire, the great general, the leader of the rebels who led the emperor’s assassination attempt. As befitting his fame, many people gathered.

Harry Hardness was dragged before the scaffold. The hero who had received so much praise had disappeared like a fleeting light, leaving only the appearance of a criminal.

“Father!!”

Veronica ran towards the scaffold, pushing through people. But she was caught midway by soldiers. Veronica shouted at the soldiers blocking her way.

“How rude. How dare you block my way!”

At those words, the soldiers sneered. She tried to move forward, pushing away the spear shaft blocking her. Father, father! Her gaze was fixed solely on her father. Tears came out. No, maybe tears were already flowing.

Her vision blurred. It seemed her father had seen her too.

At that moment, a commotion broke out.

Her father, Harry, ran towards Veronica. People’s screams echoed. Veronica, seizing the opportunity, pushed away the soldiers and ran towards her father.

“Father!”

Veronica smiled brightly towards her father running to her.

“Veronica. My child.”

Her father’s voice came faintly. A faint smile played on her father’s tired face. Father, father. Veronica cried, seeing the dreamlike present.

“Always live proudly, my daughter Veronica.”

That was the end.

Her father’s face was severed and fell before her eyes. A fountain of blood gushed out, soaking Veronica completely. The body, having lost its face, fell helplessly to the ground.

“Ah—”

Asher was standing there. Blood dripped from the tip of the sword in his hand. His pale face and platinum hair were stained with blood.

“Why…”

…why did you do this? Veronica couldn’t finish her words. She looked up blankly at the man she had loved.

“You said, you would help.”

“You believed that?”

“You said you loved me…”

“When did I ever say that?”

Asher chuckled. Then he cupped her cheek with his hand. The touch she had always felt was affectionate now felt cold. The blood on his hand dripped down, soaking Veronica. It was her father’s blood.

“Veronica. I never loved you, nor did I say I would help you. Meeting you was purely to remove Duke Hardness, who was a thorn in my side, in order to become emperor. You provided that opportunity. I’m grateful for that.”

“…”

“But love? Did you really think you would be loved after arbitrarily manipulating someone’s life? You have big dreams.”

The hand cupping her cheek moved away as if shaking her off, and the sword that had beheaded her father was now pointed at her neck. The killing intent was thick, as if he might bring down the blade at any moment.

“Veronica Hardness.”

The man she had loved with her all, wearing the smile she had liked, whispered tenderly.

“You were deceived by me.”

At that moment, she realized. That she had contributed to her father’s death.

Not long after, news spread that Prince Asher Roel Diastara had ascended to the throne after eliminating the incompetent emperor. A prince who hadn’t even been in the line of succession had become emperor.

At the same time, the story of the Hardness family was revealed. It was a rumor that Duke Hardness had created a rebel army to seize imperial power but failed and was beheaded. There were differing opinions on the truth of the rumor, but the headless body of the rumor’s protagonist was hung in the middle of the square. Duke Hardness’s honor was tarnished, and his daughter was pointed at for having sold out her father to survive.

Daughter of a traitor. A heartless woman who sold her father. A woman mad with love. Receiving such colorful condemnation, she despaired. Because while her father was beheaded and her family was exterminated, she survived. Originally, she should have been punished, but it was said to be the new emperor’s generosity or something.

Generosity? This kind of thing is generosity?

“Ahahahahaha!”

She found this situation too funny. How could it not be funny? That laughter echoed beyond the walls, but she couldn’t stop laughing.

How much more miserable must she become? She believed he loved her. She thought the gaze that reached her, the eyes that captured her, couldn’t be different from her own. Regret formed tears that flowed down. Betrayed in love. This was the result of the love she firmly believed was destiny.

When she longed for their meetings, he dreamed of parting from her. When she whispered of their love, he whispered lies disguised as truth. When she was happy in his embrace, he had to suppress the urge to push her away.

There was never any love between us to begin with.

To him, she was just one of the means to gain power. Perhaps it’s an all too common story.

Veronica stood alone in the ruined mansion. She didn’t know how many days had passed since that day. Her senses were numb and her mind was becoming hazy. Watching an ant crawling on the dirty floor, she raised her hand. With the dagger in her hand, she stabbed her own neck. It couldn’t have been a more fitting end for the daughter of a traitor, an unfilial woman who sold out her father, a woman mad with love.

As blood drained and her consciousness flickered, she reminisced about the past. She dwelled on her regrets. She recalled the man she once loved with all her heart and body. And she prayed fervently.

If I could go back… If I were given one more chance…

My beloved Asher.

‘Next time, I will surely kill you.’

Veronica died like that.

And when she opened her eyes, she was lying in bed. When she first opened her eyes surrounded by a soft sensation, she couldn’t understand what was happening. Her hands, which had been dirty and filthy, were clean without a scratch. There wasn’t a speck of dirt on her face or clothes. No, before that, her face seemed a bit younger.

As she looked down at herself in a daze, she was suddenly rushed by maids who began to dress her up. On her way to the reception room, she saw him. The one who betrayed her and framed her father with false charges, exterminating her family. The man I once loved.

“His Royal Highness Prince Asher Roel Diastara.”

“Miss Veronica Hardness.”

The moment she saw his gentle and affectionate smiling face, joy welled up. Veronica ran to the man welcoming her. Then she strangled that detestable face.