Although it was a question born out of pure curiosity, Veronia was taken aback when she heard it.
It was natural to have such doubts.
‘Actually, I’m not the real Veronia who lived in the imperial palace all her life.’
Swallowing the secret that she could never reveal to anyone, Veronia simply smiled brightly.
“You’re right. To be honest, I’m surprised at myself too. It’s a bit uncomfortable, but not unbearable. Aren’t I quite admirable?”
As she smiled lightly, closing her round eyes halfway, Onyx’s eyes also narrowed.
This woman, who was once an imperial princess, had been very intriguing from the beginning. Especially that gaze of hers.
‘It’s as if she sees right through me. As if she’s known me for a long time. As if… she knows things about me that even I don’t know…’
He thought she would be a naive young princess who knew nothing about the world outside the palace, but that wasn’t the case at all. Onyx thought that Veronia, who was smiling innocently, might not actually be that innocent of a person.
“I think I should attend the memorial service. It would look strange if I didn’t go when my grandmother and grandfather are going.”
“I suppose that’s true.”
“Would it be alright for me to go?”
“Hmm…”
Onyx paused for a moment.
“It’s a historic event, and also an important national ceremony. So I agree that it would be more suspicious if a young person who isn’t even physically impaired didn’t attend.”
“I thought so too, right?”
“Yes. I think it would be good for you to attend. Anyway, the important thing is to behave in a way that doesn’t stand out among the public.”
“I understand.”
Veronia nodded.
“Attending one’s own memorial service… It’s quite remarkable in a way.”
“It really is.”
The two people sharing an enormous secret looked at each other and smiled faintly.
‘I suppose there’s no need to specifically mention the news about Count Killian Drea?’
Onyx quietly revised his plan in his mind.
It seemed that Count Killian Drea, the princess’s former fiancé, still hadn’t accepted her death.
Judging by the fact that he was still secretly continuing the search operation.
‘There’s no need to unnecessarily increase her worries by telling her, right?’
Onyx recalled the moment he had encountered Killian at the entrance of an alley yesterday.
It was when the sun was setting. Onyx was on his way to Mackin Street after leaving the Charard shoe store.
In the narrow alley, knights in plain clothes were conducting a search, holding a portrait.
Although half of the face of the woman in the portrait was hidden by a deeply pulled-down robe, Onyx immediately knew it was Veronia.
“Have you seen a woman like this in the past month?”
Killian stopped Onyx and asked, showing him the portrait.
Onyx glanced at the picture and shook his head without answering, to which Killian, trying to hide his disappointment, spoke again.
“If you remember anything later, please report it. There’s a reward for any meaningful information.”
“Alright, I understand.”
Onyx answered perfunctorily and started walking again.
As he trudged along, he felt strange and stopped to look back.
And his eyes met directly with Killian, who was still looking this way. The gazes of the two men clashed sharply in mid-air.
Killian nodded first in greeting, and Onyx nodded back, then both men turned simultaneously and walked in opposite directions.
Veronia couldn’t fall asleep easily, thinking about how she would have to go to the capital in a few days to attend the memorial service.
‘In the original story, the princess’s death ignited the flames for the rebels. The imperial family was conquered by the rebels just a week after the princess was executed. And following the already dead princess, the rest of the imperial family members were all executed too.’
Veronia carefully recalled the contents of the original story.
It wasn’t difficult to remember, as she had read it several times in web novels and webtoons.
‘But this princess’s death happened almost a year earlier than in the original story, so there probably won’t be any big events like riots at this memorial service, right?’
Moreover, unlike the death in the original story, the current death was perceived by the citizens as a tragic accident, so it wouldn’t incite people’s anger.
The spark of rebellion that started with the southern province’s civil unrest had not yet grown sufficiently.
It would take a year for a large number of nobles and commoners to come together and organize a rebel army.
‘So it should be fine for now. For now…’
As she tried to push away her fears, Veronia suddenly became curious about news of Killian.
‘Is he doing well? Is he thinking about me at all? Or… has he already forgotten everything?’
She searched through newspapers, but there was no news about Killian. Although she knew it was a relationship that needed to be cut off, it wasn’t so easy for her heart.
Whew, a long sigh escaped her lips.
Veronia slowly caressed her belly and said,
“Baby, Mommy will love you even more, enough for Daddy’s share too. So don’t feel too sad, okay? Got it, my little one?”
[This is the timeline separator]Just as dawn was breaking, Veronia boarded the carriage with Louisa and Hugo.
“It’s fortunate that it doesn’t look like it will rain.”
Hugo said, looking at the clear sky. He soon turned his head and began to drive the horse, holding the reins and saying, “Giddyup.”
Louisa covered Veronia’s knees with a blanket.
“It’s still cold at dawn, so cover yourself with this.”
“Thank you.”
Indeed, the dawn air was still chilly. The cool breeze touched Veronia’s face, which was stiff with tension.
On the way to mourn her dead self.
Veronia’s heart became entangled in complexity and sank heavily.
Whew, exhaling a shallow sigh, Veronia prayed inwardly. That she could get through this day safely.
As they entered the capital, despite the early morning, many people could be seen coming and going on the streets.
“It seems much more crowded than usual, probably because of the mourning period.”
But the scene at the entrance of the capital was nothing compared to the center, where the crowd grew larger and larger.
Finally, they arrived at Central Street, which cuts through the center of the capital.
If you walk straight down this main street, you’ll reach the main gate of the imperial palace. The memorial space was said to be set up at the central fountain in front of the main gate.
The wide street was already packed with people. Unable to drive the carriage due to the crowd, the three left it at a storage facility and started walking.
The expressions of the people filling the street were all gloomy.
There were no sounds of conversation or laughter. Instead, there were sounds of sighs and sniffling noses.
The line for laying flowers was so long that Veronia and her family had to wait for hours. It was almost sunset when it was finally their turn to pay respects.
One had to pay money to buy flowers and message cards for the memorial, and even though they were more expensive than those commonly sold in the city, no one complained.
It seemed that people thought it wasn’t too much to leave home at dawn, wait in line for over 5 hours under the scorching sun, or spend a week’s worth of food money on a single flower and card for the sake of the princess.
But Veronia felt bitter inside.
‘They widely advertised that the proceeds would be used to improve the livelihood of the southern provinces, but I wonder how many percent they actually plan to use.’
Will they use even half? If so, that would be somewhat fortunate. The rest will silently go into the imperial family’s pockets. She felt enraged at the imperial family’s behavior of using people’s sorrow as a means to make money.
‘Even in death, Veronia is being used by the imperial family…’
Thinking about Veronia’s life, which had been used from birth to death, made her heart ache.
Veronia stood in front of the memorial platform and looked around.
The water had been drained from the central fountain, and a circular platform had been created covering the entire top.
In the center of the platform was a lavishly decorated golden coffin, but it was empty. The body was said to be enshrined in the palace temple for safety reasons.
Several portraits of the princess were neatly arranged around the platform.
Thanks to this, people could see all of Veronia’s images, from her cute childhood to her recent young and beautiful appearance.
The pretty blonde princess in the paintings was smiling brightly.
Veronia stared intently at her own face in the portraits. Even Louisa and Hugo standing beside the platform showed no signs of imagining that the princess in the portrait could be the Nia standing next to them.
Veronia gently placed the flowers and card she had just bought on the platform.
Her chest felt suffocatingly tight.
It felt as if all the organs in her body had gathered to form a large, heavy stone, pressing down on her chest.
Sobbing sounds could be heard here and there. Louisa, who was prone to tears, was also sniffling.
Veronia closed her eyes with her hands modestly folded. And she bid farewell to the consciousness of the real Veronia that had long since disappeared.
‘Goodbye. Forget the difficult life you’ve had until now. Erase the life you lived as a puppet of the imperial family. …You’ve been through a lot.’
For a moment, something hot rose up her esophagus, but Veronia bit down on her molars and held it back.
‘I will live happily and comfortably with good people, making up for the share you couldn’t enjoy. I’ll give birth to a healthy baby and raise it as a happy child. Watch over me. And… wish me luck. Be on my side. …I’m sorry.’
Tears had already welled up in Veronia’s eyes.
Just as she was about to turn around after paying her respects, a commotion broke out in the area, and a group of nobles was approaching the memorial space.
This memorial space was mainly for commoners. Most nobles went to the space prepared in the palace temple.
‘Then why did those nobles come here? Is it to show themselves to the public?’
Veronia moved her steps quickly while harboring doubts.
They probably wouldn’t recognize her, but just in case, she pulled her robe down more deeply over her head.
It was then. A murmuring sound was heard from one side.
“It seems they’ve come from the House of Drea.”
“Oh my, you’re right! That person over there is the count who was engaged to Her Highness the Princess, isn’t he?”
“Yes, I think so. Oh my… look how gaunt he’s become. Well, he must be going through a lot of emotional pain.”
When the name ‘Drea’ was heard among the murmurs, Veronia’s heart sank.
It seemed that Killian had come to pay his respects along with his parents and vassals.
‘Of all places, to run into him here!’
Veronia hastened her steps even more. This time, she heard the guards whispering.
“Count Drea comes to pay his respects every day.”
“It’s understandable. How heartbroken must he be, losing his fiancée overnight?”
“That’s true. According to the rumors, the imperial family was in the midst of discussing their wedding.”
“I heard that too. Ah… what a pitiful man.”
Deep sighs kept escaping from the guards’ lips.
‘Killian comes to mourn me every day?’
Veronia’s heart broke as she heard news of Killian amidst the murmurs. She felt sorry and guilty, her mind uneasy.
‘I’m sorry, Killian. I’m truly sorry. Please… never forgive me.’
She wanted to see his face one last time, just once more.
She thought it might be okay to take a quick peek, since it was a face she would never see again.
Veronia, with her robe pulled down low, slightly turned her head and rolled her eyes, searching for Killian.
‘Ah, there he is! He really has become much thinner.’
Was it because of her guilty feelings, or because she missed him? Veronia couldn’t take her eyes off Killian’s pale face.
It was then.
Killian’s head slowly moved, and for a moment, his gaze met Veronia’s.
When scheming men desperately battle for her favor in the male harem
This one’s also on my reread list! The rivalry, scheming between the men in the imperial harem are just as intense and thrilling as in classic palace drama novels, where concubines fight to the death. Give it a read, girls! I promise you won’t be disappointed.
Synopsis:
“I am not worthy of her… but I still want to be by her side, even if only as a loyal dog…”
Those were the painful whispers of Yue Guanyi – the proud Crown Prince of the Great Qi, who was torn between deep love and a guilty conscience. Despite holding the supreme power of the Imperial Guard, he still could not forget the dark past when he was sold into a brothel.
Fate played a cruel twist when Qiu Shuzhi – a young female official who had just passed the imperial examinations with top honors – stepped into his life. She did not know that she was the one who had saved him from a tragic fate many years ago. And now, her heart was the target of pursuit for both Yue Guanyi and the powerful Empress Dowager Qin Qing.
While Yue Guanyi only dared to silently care for and protect the one he loved from afar, the Empress Dowager Qin Qing openly expressed his feelings and did not hesitate to take advantage of his power to approach Qiu Shuzhi. The covert struggle between the two most powerful forces in the imperial court began…
Trigger warning: All men in this novel are yandere style.
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