“Aaack!”

And for a moment, I forgot that the warp was on the altar, thinking it was the floor, and stretched my foot forward, only to kick at empty air, and then fell forward with a short scream.

“Kwaeeeeek!”

Poppy, who had followed right behind me, hurriedly bit the hem of my dress and flapped her short arms, trying her best to hold on, but it was only for a few seconds.

Rip—.

Soon, I heard the sound of fabric tearing, and my body lost balance and fell.

“Your Highness!”

The one who quickly rushed over and lifted me in both arms was Lilith.

“That was a close call.”

Lilith, who hadn’t thought I would fall since I was 10 and not 3 years old, looked down at me with a pitiful expression, and I had an averse reaction to the situation of being held by a snake.

“It seems you were quite shocked by the appearance of the World Tree.”

Lilith, still holding me, examined me for injuries with a sympathetic expression.

“Just put me down quickly.”

It’s not that I wasn’t shocked by the fate of those I truly considered friends, like Yongyong.

But what bothered me more than being lost in such sentiments was that Lilith was showing sympathy and pity towards me.

I hated when someone looked at me with such eyes. I, who always had to be perfect, was the strongest and at the pinnacle of all things, couldn’t stand it when anyone, no matter who they were, looked at me with such eyes.

That’s why when I was reincarnated as a miserable beggar, I spent my entire life in pessimism until death.

“Oh my, I seem to have upset Your Highness.”

“If you know, then put me down already.”

When I hit Lilith’s arm repeatedly with a sullen face, he reluctantly put me down on the ground.

“Even being glib has its limits.”

“Still, if I hadn’t caught you, you would have been seriously hurt.”

“I know. But that’s not what I’m talking about.”

I sighed, saying “Oh boy,” and hurried to say we should go back.

After returning to the reception room where we had opened the gift through the secret passage in the underground space with Lilith, I acted naturally as if nothing had happened.

“This culprit is you. Got it?”

“Quack?”

After quickly sending Lilith away, before ringing the bell to call the maid, I pointed my index finger at the torn hem of the dress that Poppy had ripped.

Since I couldn’t reveal that I had secretly gone to the temple through the warp in the underground space, even though the dress was actually torn when Poppy tried to save me, I had to explain it as if the dress was ruined while playing around.

“Kwaeeeek~.”

Poppy didn’t seem to have much complaint as she tilted her head and then jumped up and down in place, and I patted her head as praise for being obedient before going to the place with the bell and pulling the cord repeatedly.

“Your Highness, oh my, how did this precious dress get torn?”

“Ah, that was Poppy…”

Act well, you fool.

As I opened my mouth, I looked at Poppy and showed three fingers from the fist I had hidden behind my back. It meant I would give her three cookies as a reward after completing the mission.

“Kwaeeeek…”

Then Poppy, who had been flustered, suddenly put on a guilty expression and sat down dejectedly on the floor, and Miranda and Hayley made troubled faces but lightly scolded her, saying she shouldn’t do that next time, and let it pass.

And that evening.

“Ah, I really can’t concentrate.”

On days when I had to deal with guests or the children of the Fleur family, there were no separate classes, and autonomous study was possible in the classroom until late, so I had been engrossed in reading for a while.

“Let’s summarize, the ones associated with me are being punished, but…”

As I was reading several thick books and my concentration was starting to bottom out, I pushed all the books to one side and lay down with my forehead on the desk.

‘As you know, the World Tree is the only being promised eternal life by God.’

‘The punishment the World Tree received is to dedicate its eternal life to all beings on this earth.’

When I was with Lilith earlier in the day, the words he had said came to mind one by one, and the question I had put aside for a while caused intense ripples.

Clearly, I was the only one who couldn’t say the answer God was thinking of, and so I alone was driven out of paradise and seeped into the world where the second humanity lives, but why is the punishment shared like willow leaves connected to a single branch?

‘But what’s certain is that all beings gathered around you receive the same punishment as the World Tree.’

‘Moreover, when you think about it, punishment is something you should receive for doing something wrong, but they chose it themselves.’

‘That’s right. Because they’re beings who either liked or hated you.’

Lilith said he didn’t know the intention because it had been a long time since he left paradise, and in the end, it was like struggling with all my might to pull out a sword stuck in a huge ore that wouldn’t break no matter how much I pounded it.

Living hundreds of years of life, mixing among the second humanity, I learned a lot of knowledge and power that I didn’t know during the time of the first humans, but I don’t know what I want to know.

“There were so many who liked me that I can’t even remember who was who.”

I turned my face to the side and puffed out my cheeks, expressing my irritation. Poppy, probably because she had been scolded before for hanging around when I was in a bad mood, was just staring blankly at the ceiling, slightly stiff.

“But were there even any who disliked or hated me in the first place?”

There were countless people who felt affection for me or blindly worshipped me, so if all of them are being punished together, it would mean that the second humanity should be punished for generations, but that’s not the case.

Therefore, it means that only some of those who like me are being punished together, and conversely, only some of those who don’t like me are being punished together as the years go by.

“Snakes always speak ambiguously, that’s the problem.”

Well, since the snake isn’t God and didn’t directly specify targets to be punished with me on the spot, it’s understandable that he doesn’t know, but even if I narrow down the range reasonably, I can’t get a clear answer.

“Wait, there was a demon among those who disliked me!”

I suddenly sat up as a thought flashed through my mind, but remembering that I had never encountered a demon before, I lost energy and lay back down.

“At this rate, I can’t know who the beings the snake talked about are. I don’t know except for the World Tree and Yongyong.”

I wondered if perhaps God’s representative was somewhere on earth, but if such noble beings who had particularly frequent contact with me were nearby, there’s no way I wouldn’t recognize them, so I pushed them out of the list of possible answers.

Knock, knock—.

“Your Highness, the Empress has sent a letter.”

“Come in.”

It was good timing as I was getting irritated because nothing was working out. I raised my body that I had been deceiving and stretched my arms upwards.

‘She always comes to visit, why a letter now?’

It would be more fitting for her to appear in pairs with Jeff, tears welling up in her eyes, asking if I was still studying and not sleeping, but this was unusual.

“She said to check it immediately.”

“Alright.”

Meanwhile, Miranda handed me the letter and then only brought something to drink before quietly closing the door and leaving. It was an action implying that she wouldn’t disturb me until I called her back after checking the contents.

“Hmm…”

Regardless, I skillfully removed the wax seal attached to the envelope with a small knife and took out the letter to examine it. Although it seemed hastily scribbled, the writing that exuded dignity showed that I had taught her well.

‘How funny that I’m suddenly reminded of the time when Hecate used to have terrible handwriting.’

I thought this was quite amusing, shrugged my shoulder once, and examined the contents of the letter.

[To our beloved Darjeeling.] [Daughter, Mom has urgent business to attend to in the Vladimir territory.] [The Duchess has invited me, saying there’s something she absolutely needs me to confirm, you know?] [By the time you check this letter, Mom will already be on a running horse.] [I’m leaving this letter in case our daughter anxiously looks for Mom.] [I’ll be back soon.] [−From Mom who loves Darjeeling very much−]

What is this about now? As someone who was an emperor in a past life, I sensed something was off.

‘Even though the Vladimir family is close to the imperial family, for the Empress to move directly…’

If she had received an official invitation, either Hecate or Jeff would have told me in advance when we were having a meal together.

Those two are so desperately attached to me that they always try to take me along when they go out, or if they can’t, they tell me various reasons why we’ll be apart for a while.

‘I know how overzealous they are, but they’re leaving suddenly with such a vague explanation?’

It’s not like it’s a war, so what could it be?

‘This is very strange.’

Although I had an uneasy feeling, being the Grand General, she probably took one or two trustworthy people with her. Given the nature of the matter, it’s not something that requires leading a large number of people.

I thought that maybe she took Lilith with her, hoping nothing would happen, but at that moment, I recalled the condition of the Duchess when I first went to the Vladimir mansion, the oddly strange attitude of the Duke, and the pervasive aura of the dead within the mansion.

‘Come to think of it, Sasha said he had completed the medicine to cure his sister.’

There were many unsettling things, but the most likely possibility was Sasha’s sister.

Coldly speaking, sick and weak nobles who can’t participate in social activities and don’t make their presence known are treated as useless, so the Duchess might have secretly called for something related to this.

‘Is it related to that? Or is it for another reason?’

Whether they’re planning to hide the news that their sick child suddenly regained health and reveal it later. If so, I understood that a cautious move would be right.

Still, I didn’t like the feeling of daring to secretly summon the Empress of the Empire and Grand General at such a late hour to tell her this or that.

I strongly felt that this was news that could have been secretly conveyed through close aides by letter.

“Just wait until she comes back. I’ll have to ask.”

I crossed my arms and resolved to find out no matter what, but Hecate said that since it was a matter that required careful investigation, she couldn’t spread unconfirmed and unclear matters as if they were true.

“Ah, this makes me want to know even more.”

She should know that I’m not someone who would gossip about it everywhere! I was frustrated because things weren’t going as I wanted, but since it wasn’t so urgent that I would die if I didn’t find out right now, I let it go and eventually forgot about it.

Afterwards, my interest naturally shifted to other matters, and the incident faded in my mind like dye diluted in water.

“Darjeeling, you don’t have to study all day today.”

A few days later.

As I was enjoying the meat dish that came out for breakfast with the refreshing outdoor air, I internally shouted ‘Yay!’ repeatedly and jumped for joy at this unexpected good news.