The face that should have been there was not visible.

“Ormia?”

It felt awkward to utter the name of my daughter.

The Queen frowned her delicate brow and looked at Count Levler. The Count bowed his head awkwardly.

“She declined the invitation.”

“What nonsense is this? As family, she should come, how could she decline?”

“She’s not coming to a family gathering? This is why I can’t love that child. Everything she does displeases me.”

The Queen’s voice sharpened.

“The princess said she couldn’t commit the rudeness of attending a family gathering when she’s not family…”

“Ha, she dares to reject us?”

“How insolent!”

Caland, who had been quietly listening to the criticism directed at Ormia, opened his mouth.

“Mother, you were the first to abandon her.”

“Caland?”

“When Ormia got married, you said she was no longer a Beltoa and didn’t need to come to family dinners anymore.”

The Queen remembered.

She had been pleased to have an excuse not to see Ormia at family gatherings, though external events were unavoidable due to public attention.

“Even so! She’s divorced now!”

“Yes, and when she divorced, you said she was a disgrace to the royal family and shouldn’t think of attending. That’s why Ormia returned to the palace but continued not to attend family dinners.”

“Because she divorced! A divorce in the royal family! How could she shamelessly show her face at dinners after doing such a thing! No matter what, how can she do this to family when she’s leaving tomorrow!”

Caland’s expression grew somber.

“We’re the ones who fed her infertility drugs and ignored her.”

The Queen bit her lip.

She couldn’t understand why she was being criticized. She had graciously invited Ormia, but Ormia was wrong to refuse.

“That’s enough, Caland.”

“Mother, please sit here. I had them prepare your favorite dessert.”

“Yes, that’s my Leticia. My daughter.”

Guided by Leticia, the Queen sat down with a benevolent smile.

“May I offer the prayer to Lagras today? I want to pray that healthy and happy days like today will always continue for everyone.”

“Yes, Leticia can do today’s prayer.”

“Leticia is really too kind, I worry about her.”

As always, Ormia’s matter was not mentioned again at the dinner. Just as they had always done.

And the day came for Ormia to leave Glishia.

* * *

My eyes opened before dawn.

A light drizzle was falling. The surroundings were dark with heavy clouds.

I laughed.

“They’ll blame even the weather on me.”

If it’s clear, they’ll whisper that the gods are happy I’m leaving this land, and if it’s cloudy, they’ll say it’s because the cursed princess is departing.

Since I’m going on a journey, there’s no need for elaborate attire. I put on something light and looked in the mirror.

“Finally.”

I’m leaving Glishia.

This land that stubbornly clung to me, constraining me and preventing me from leaving.

Now that the day of departure has come, my heart beats anxiously.

Can I really leave?

At the sound of a knock, I gave permission to enter.

Liam entered, wearing the imperial uniform he had worn when he came as part of the delegation.

“Are you ready?”

“Yes, let’s go.”

Looking out the window, I saw quite a crowd gathered.

“The knights are waiting at the capital’s walls. Once we leave the Glishian capital, no one can stop the princess.”

Perhaps worried about the infertility drugs I had taken, Liam offered an explanation I hadn’t asked for.

He is not just an ordinary knight. I know the extent of what he can do and have seen his cruelty firsthand.

His massive fire that subdued the abilities of the four ducal houses burned everything.

Without even a blessing, he had burned his life.

“I’ll protect the princess with my life if I have to.”

At his firm words, I couldn’t take my eyes off Liam.

I believe him.

With this person, I can leave.

Nothing will be able to hold me back.

* * *

If it were just the departure of a simple delegation, only the responsible officials would need to come out to maintain dignity, but this is the day I, a royal, am going to the Empire.

A historic day when a Glishian royal is going to another country for the first time.

The King and Queen, royals, dukes, and some officials came to see us off. They held umbrellas in the drizzle and greeted the delegation first.

My eyes met the Queen’s from time to time. As always, she glared at me.

“I’m not sure if you were satisfied during your stay.”

“Thanks to you, we had a good stay. His Majesty will be greatly pleased that we are even escorting the princess back.”

Customary greetings were exchanged.

I looked at those standing next to the carriage.

The servants, with faces as gloomy as the weather.

They hated serving me, so I rarely received proper service from maids. But on the day of departure for the Empire, there were six attendants to assist me.

I asked Liam who stood beside me.

“How long will it take to reach the Empire?”

“A week by carriage to the border.”

“Then can we leave the attendants behind?”

“Won’t the princess be uncomfortable?”

“I’ll be fine.”

“Princess, this is your first journey, it will be hard to endure without someone to serve you. Let’s at least take them to the border.”

“I’ve been fine without attendants until now.”

It will just take a little more time.

Benjamin tried to persuade me.

“But…”

“Do as you wish.”

Liam casually allowed it.

“Do as you want.”

Even as Marx was greeting the royals, the gaze clinging to me did not waver.

Have I ever received such fervent gazes from them before?

I didn’t turn away pretending not to see, as they had always done. Yet I could still feel their gazes.

‘Did you also feel my gaze while ignoring me like this?’

I had always felt it, and through three lives I had painfully realized it, yet there was a suffocating heaviness in my chest.

Whether anger or whatever else, I thought my emotions towards them had worn away and disappeared like grains of sand.

I thought I was now indifferent, that I would no longer be swayed by them.

But it seems that’s not the case.

Their gazes still stir my feelings like this.

‘Even as I ignore your gazes, they still bother me like this.’

My eyes met the Queen’s.

Her glaring eyes trembled as she forced a smile.

While her eyes still despised me.

‘Yes, because it’s the last time.’

It’s the last appearance not just for me, but for them too.

I approached first.

I had always been the one to approach first, to look at them, until I finally gave up.

“Ormia.”

The Queen’s trembling voice.

The corners of her mouth twitched uncomfortably, this Queen known to all as a loving and benevolent mother, receiving everyone’s love and praise.

The woman who gave birth to a child called the curse of the gods.

Before being a mother, she was human and the Queen, so to survive she had to deny and abandon me.

“Why didn’t you come yesterday? We waited for you. It was our last meal together.”

“Yes, Ormia. Mother was very distressed.”

Ridiculously, Alian spoke in a kind voice. The one who had always slandered and criticized me.

“Because I’m not family.”

“You, even on a day like this! Tch, how selfish. …Let us know when you arrive.”

Alian was about to shout but held back his temper.

“Sister, please be careful of the imperial people. I’m worried they might change if they find out about you.”

Leticia pretended to worry while stoking anxiety.

“There are many followers of Magnus in the Empire as well. Princess, Glishia and the ducal houses are behind you, so don’t worry even in the Empire. We will contact you when you arrive.”

Following Duke Bersi, other dukes said similar things. Though it was the last time, their false kindness pretending to care for me continued.

These are not such people. It seems they still see some use for me.

I didn’t listen to Caland who was about to speak. I nodded lightly and called the Glishian servants and knights standing by the imperial carriage.

“I’ll leave them behind.”

The Queen’s face twisted slightly, but she didn’t drop her act of being a loving mother.

“Take them with you, how could we send you alone to such a far place?”

“I’ve always been alone.”

“You are foolish to the end. You should think of Glishia’s face. Aren’t you worried about how the Empire will see this?”

The Queen grabbed my arm, digging her nails in. With a concerned expression, she whispered venomous words to me.

“You don’t know the grace of being raised! Don’t think what you’ve enjoyed abundantly until now is natural. Don’t delude yourself that you’ll live well in the Empire without Glishia and Lagras’ protection.”

A knife wounds on the outside, but poison seeps in and rots the insides.

How much had I been hurt by their words that seemed so casual?

“No one will like someone like you, abandoned even by the gods. The imperial people will sense your true nature and stay away. When you realize no one loves you, you’ll understand. That only we are your family.”

“That’s right, I’m a child abandoned even by my parents.”

When I readily agreed, the Queen’s voice turned vicious.

“When did we ever abandon you!”

The King, who had been pretending not to hear, put his arm around the Queen’s shoulders to calm her.

I meant it sincerely. In my second life they became slaves, and in my third they were imprisoned.

“Must you be like this even on the day you’re leaving? This is why I hate you! You give me the creeps! How could a child like you be born, not even considering a mother’s feelings after all the suffering I endured, even taking medicines good for the body while holding back nausea!”

Who was it that ignored me until the very last day of my departure?

“Enough.”

“Mother, the Pope is waiting. It’s the day of departure, we should hear his blessing.”

“…Yes.”

At Caland’s words, the Queen glared at me and stepped back. Like a mother concerned for her child, the Queen pleaded with the Pope.

“Please pray for Ormia’s health and safety. If it’s the Pope’s blessing, even Lagras might protect that abandoned child a little.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. Lagras hears everyone’s prayers.”

Long ago, the Glishian royal family was not originally Beltoa.

One day, a saint appeared who could heal those with abilities through blessings.

The ability users who were going mad with pain gained power as they became able to use their powers fully, and the saint ascended to the throne.

That’s how today’s Glishia began.

The temple maintained a close relationship with the royal family, but they merely submitted to power and acted cautiously.

When the Empire invaded, the royal Beltoa family fell.

The Empire did not touch the temple and priests, and the temple solidified the unity of believers by calling this Lagras’ grace.

The royal family was betrayed by the Lagras they had believed in.

It was he who bowed his head before Liam, trampling on Beltoa blood.

‘Pope Grace.’

Pope Grace, who stood before me, made the sign of the cross.

A priest swung the chain of a golden censer, drawing a circle, and the scent of incense made from the temple’s unique white Lev leaves began to spread.

“Princess, please kneel.”

The priest whispered softly, but I couldn’t move.

The choir’s song and the High Priest’s blessing spread.

“O Lagras, Creator of the world, Lord of all things and holy Ethea, today your young believer embarks on a journey…”

My breath caught.

The scent of incense, the choir’s song, the Pope’s voice pressed down on me.

The past came pouring down.

“No…”

Was it in my second life?