I left the mansion and wandered through the unfamiliar streets before entering a small cafe in a back alley.

The space was quiet with no customers. I occupied a small table. After a while, a cup of warm tea that I ordered was served.

I silently gazed at the clear tea in the cup. And I thought of Her Majesty the Empress Dowager, whom I had seen this morning.

‘I wanted to stay by her side, even if only for a moment. Daringly, shamefully.’

I closed my eyes.

The Emperor who hates the Grand Duke of Belfast. Lahert, the assassin of the Crown Prince, whom the Emperor protects.

How can he trust the one who killed his own son?

The Emperor who embraces the killer of his own child without recognition, and casts out his loyal subject.

I detest him.

I resent this whole situation.

And the one I resent the most, the one I cannot forgive, is myself.

Why did I foolishly believe Medeia and take the lives of so many? Can I make the excuse that I was simply deceived?

‘I have to make everything right.’

I must pay for my sins and obtain conclusive evidence to prove the crimes of the Southern Grand Duke.

[Build a friendship with Julia Nugent.]

The voice of the red caterpillar rang in my ears.

Julia Nugent.

In my previous life, a few years from now, she becomes engaged to the Northern Grand Duke. At Medeia’s instigation, she frames the Northern Grand Duke with decisive evidence of treason.

Because of that evidence, the Emperor was able to tie the Grand Duke to the execution ground and kill him.

It was I who continued to relay Medeia’s incitement to Julia Nugent.

‘She’s trying to get to Julia. The North is in danger.’

It was then.

– Thud

A drunk man bumped into me as I sat at an outdoor table. He quickly apologized and walked away.

But.

There was an unfamiliar white note on the table. I hastily unfolded it.

[Bella, I’ll send a nice gift to the North. Look forward to it.]

‘It’s Medeia!’

I quickly chased after the drunk man. But the man was truly just an ordinary drunk. The one who had handed him the note had already disappeared.

[This is the timeline separator]

I hurriedly returned to the northern mansion. The sun had already begun to set.

Only when I faced the mansion, unchanged from usual, could I suppress my tense, trembling heart.

‘Thank goodness, nothing has happened.’

I thought the North that Medeia said she would send a gift to was this place, the northern island mansion.

The gift she said she would send could not possibly be a real gift. Her gifts always bring pain, or rather, false seeds of division.

Fortunately, it seems nothing has arrived yet.

But at that moment.

‘!’

A chill ran down my spine.

What if the North that Medeia referred to was not this island mansion, but the Northern Grand Duchy?

It was then.

“Esther.”

The Grand Duke’s voice was heard in the empty corridor.

I looked up to see the Grand Duke standing on the stairs, looking at me.

His blue eyes… felt like blue blades.

“Your Highness, you’re not asleep yet?”

I asked, forcibly suppressing my trembling voice. The Grand Duke smiled faintly.

“The sun hasn’t even set yet. I’m not a heavy sleeper.”

“……”

“Where did you go?”

“I just… walked around here and there.”

“…Lost in thought?”

“No.”

I tried to show a smile. But it was not easy to force a smile.

“You, there’s a place I want you to come with me tomorrow morning.”

The Grand Duke said in a slightly subdued voice.

Together with the Grand Duke?

“Where is it, Your Highness?”

“Her Majesty the Empress Dowager wishes to see you.”

Her Majesty the Empress Dowager?

Why me, whom she’s never even met?

Did I stare at him with eyes filled with too much surprise? The Grand Duke opened his mouth.

“When I went to attend Her Majesty the Empress Dowager, I mentioned you once. As the ‘precious one’ I took from Lahert. That you are being a great help to me.”

As the precious one.

Me.

“…Someone like me dares not.”

“You are a prospective knight of the North. It’s not daring. It is also Her Majesty’s command.”

“…I understand.”

I climbed the stairs. I was about to pass by the Grand Duke when he flatly asked.

“Is something the matter? You don’t look well.”

“It’s nothing, Your Highness. May I ask… how long you will be staying on the island?”

“Something is going on.”

I was momentarily flustered.

How does this person so easily see through my state?

I definitely tried to hide it.

As if he’s looking inside me.

“It’s nothing.”

I end up lying.

Why, why can’t I tell him about the note?

How could I? The tragic future that I know had already existed in the past, and I was the mastermind who aided in that tragedy.

I feel wretched.

Is it because I’m by this person’s side that I keep drawing ominous events to him?

It’s agonizing.

My weakened heart keeps sinking endlessly.

“I need to stay until the budget is passed.”

“Your Highness, the Grand Duke.”

Mustering my courage, I showed the Grand Duke the note from Medeia.

The Grand Duke’s face stiffened as he read the note.

“When did you receive this?”

“Just now, when I went out. She bribed some drunk person to deliver it to me. It’s clearly a message from Lady Medeia.”

The note crumpled in the Grand Duke’s hand.

“Esther. For now, we will go see Her Majesty the Empress Dowager as planned tomorrow. The North the note refers to is probably the Northern Grand Duchy. The North is far from here.”

‘!’

“How can you be sure? That it’s the North, not here.”

“…Last time, Medeia’s subordinate said it, remember? To get close to Julia Nugent. It’s intuition…”

The Grand Duke went up to his office. I gazed at his back figure endlessly. Only when I heard the sound of the door closing did I head to my room.

As soon as I entered the room, I leaned against the door and let out a long sigh.

“Your Highness, the Grand Duke.”

I called out to him quietly.

Grand Duke, you are strong and beautiful. Remarkably wise and brave.

“I’m sorry, and thank you, Your Highness.”

While feeling fearful and guilty, my heart races at the thought of meeting the Empress Dowager tomorrow.

I’m such a fool.

I don’t think I’ll be able to fall asleep easily tonight.

[This is the timeline separator]

I entered the imperial palace, escorting the carriage the Grand Duke was riding in.

The place where the Empress Dowager resides is the Moon’s Detached Palace. As she is not the Empress, the Empress Dowager cannot stay in the Moon’s Main Palace.

Despite being vacant for a long time, the Detached Palace was cleanly maintained.

Along the silver marble corridors on both sides, as if welcoming back the owner, newly planted white mist flower pots were placed.

I thought of Her Majesty the Empress Dowager from yesterday.

The one with dignity, who subdued the heinous Medeia with a few short words.

“His Highness has already arrived.”

The head court lady with graying hair stood in front of a white door where sunlight shone through.

I closed my eyes for a moment and tried to anticipate the questions I might hear today.

But that anticipation evaporated from my mind the moment the door opened.

There stood a woman with her back turned towards the window.

Beneath her coiled, softly vivid pink hair, her still elegant and long nape was visible.

A plain green dress with no special adornments enveloped her slender body and fell down.

Faint wrinkles of an ‘adult’ who had experienced both pain and liberation were lightly etched on the face of the woman with her back turned.

Her Majesty the Empress Dowager stands in the diagonally entering sunlight.

“You’ve come, Grand Duke.”

“Your Majesty, did you summon me?”

The Grand Duke standing in front of me bowed his head towards the Empress Dowager.

For a moment, I was relieved that the Grand Duke was much taller than me. Standing behind him, I could avoid the Empress Dowager’s gaze. Pretending to show proper etiquette, I deliberately bowed deeper.

Because I didn’t want my trembling heart to be noticed.

“Is that woman the spoils you obtained from the South, Grand Duke?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“The uniform suits her.”

“She is a prospective knight of our Northern Knights and my attendant, and is assisting Knight Vice-Captain Nugent. Her name is-”

The Grand Duke, unlike usual, stopped speaking in the middle of his lengthy explanation. And after a moment, he opened his mouth.

“Esther.”

“…Esther. Does it mean the morning star?”

“Yes. In ancient Northern language, it means the morning star.”

The morning star. My name has such a meaning?

I didn’t know.

“Are you showing me another star in advance when you said you’d find me a star, Grand Duke?”

The Empress Dowager smiled faintly. And she commanded.

“A woman who wields a sword, I’m curious. Raise your head.”

I’m afraid.

My face, half of it distorted and fallen, even though I covered it with a mask.

[What a monster.]

The Emperor’s words are still stuck in my heart like a dagger.

Suppressing the fear that I might be shunned again, I slowly raised my head. Unable to look directly at Her Majesty the Empress Dowager, I kept my gaze on the floor.

“Beautiful silver hair. But why are you covering half of your face?”

The Empress Dowager asked carefully.

I couldn’t open my mouth, not knowing how to answer.

The Grand Duke spoke on my behalf.

“For unknown reasons, half of her face was badly injured.”

“I see. Fortunately, the other half of the face was not hurt.”

I bowed my head.

“There’s no need to be so afraid. I called to see you because I heard you are being a great help to the Grand Duke. Raise your face so I can see your eyes.”

It was a stern command.

‘She wants to check on me.’

I raised my head very slightly.

The Empress Dowager waited for me.

I had no choice but to lift my downcast eyes and look at her.

“In the South, you were Grand Duchess Medeia’s-”

The Empress Dowager’s words were cut off.

‘?’

Her eyes widened greatly.

Not knowing why, I just faced the Empress Dowager. Then realizing it was rude, I bowed my head.

“Raise your head.”

At the Empress Dowager’s eager words, I raised my head again. The Empress Dowager was staring at me intently.

“You said… you were Grand Duchess Medeia’s subordinate?”

“…Yes. In my foolish and young days, I was.”

“And that you greatly helped the Grand Duke in the South and achieved meritorious deeds?”

“I merely did what I had to do.”

“Your name is… Esther?”

“Yes. That’s right.”

“Who are your parents?”

‘…!’

A question that abruptly came in.

For a moment, my heart dropped into my stomach.

What could be the intent behind that question?

A question that was not even among the anticipated ones that had evaporated the moment I entered the room.

A trembling premonition swept through my heart.

Could it be… that in my face, Your Majesty sees someone you know?

I unconsciously clenched my fists tightly. Sweat soaked into my clenched fists.

“Your parents… who are they?”

The Empress Dowager’s voice trembled slightly.

‘I was right.’

The tips of my fingers grew cold with tension.

A faint thrill warms my heart.