Letia’s dull gray hair, seemingly having lost its luster, covered her face.

She smiled bitterly with empty eyes.

‘This is fine. It’s nothing.’

As Letia barely endured the pain in her knees, Serina grabbed her shoulder and pushed down hard.

“Ugh!”

The glass shards cut deeper into Letia’s skin, and Serina’s sharp voice clawed at her just as mercilessly.

“So if you can’t even remember it, don’t mention it. You worthless pebble discarded from the Imperial Palace.”

“……”

“You’re not still reminiscing about once living in the palace, are you? How pitiful and ugly.”

As Serina sneered, Letia’s mind gradually sank into coldness.

‘I never reminisced. Rather, it’s a memory so terrible I wish I could cut it out.’

“Remember this. You were abandoned and had your engagement broken off because you’re useless and unwanted at the palace. That’s no longer your place. It’s mine. I’m the real one, and you’re just a failure. So.”

Serina’s fingers, which had been on Letia’s shoulder, roughly grabbed her hair as she murmured.

“From now on, show proper respect to me, the future Crown Princess. Bow your head like this and speak with proper honorifics.”

Letia lowered her eyes and continued in a tone devoid of any emotion.

“…I understand.”

Serina raised the corners of her mouth at the sight.

“You may leave now. Choose the perfume for the palace properly tomorrow. That is, if you don’t want to be humiliated at the palace.”

“Yes, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Letia grabbed the doorknob, ignoring her bloodied knees.

But before she could pull the handle, the door opened first, and the Marchioness, Kayla, entered.

“Serina! Are you well prepared for entering the palace tomorrow… Oh my, Letia. What are you doing here? Goodness, what a state you’re in!”

“You’ve arrived, my lady.”

Kayla openly frowned at Letia’s appearance, waving her hands as if worried her expensive dress might get dirty.

“Aren’t you busy too? Hurry along now, quickly.”

Letia left the room with her eyes lowered.

Kayla rushed to her precious jewel, Serina, and burst out in a petulant voice.

“Why on earth are you taking that girl to the palace? The fact that she was driven out of the palace has only just quieted down in social circles!”

Serina, recalling Letia’s pitiful appearance, spoke in a coy tone.

“She’s not going as the daughter of the Marquis. She’s being dragged along as a maid to help with the engagement ceremony.”

“But why entrust that to her? She’ll bring bad luck to the engagement.”

“To make her more miserable.”

At the end of her sinister tone, she elegantly turned and smiled at Kayla.

“I’ll make her realize more clearly that I was the real one from the start, and she was the fake.”

***

The maids were shocked by Letia’s blood-soaked dress as she left the room, but they pretended not to notice.

One of them whispered with an uneasy expression.

“But, but the young lady is injured, shouldn’t we at least give her some medicine……”

“Shh, don’t get involved. She’s not the young lady anymore. You know that, right? Miss Serina treats her like a maid.”

“That may be so, but……”

“Even His Excellency the Marquis, though he’s her uncle, doesn’t even glance at her. Well. She’s a disgrace to the family. To think she was born a Nebula from one of the most prestigious Gemma families.”

“That’s why there are rumors that she might be an illegitimate child. Anyway, just ignore her. Unless you want to end up in the same situation.”

Amidst the maids’ cold treatment, Letia silently made her way back to the attic room, as if accustomed to it.

She removed the glass shards from her knees, applied medicine, and finally caught her breath.

Suddenly, she saw her own pitiful reflection in the broken mirror.

Her dress was in tatters, all discarded clothes from the maids. Her ashen hair, poorly maintained, was dry and lifeless, and her bones protruded from lack of proper nourishment.

An appearance unfit for a noble young lady.

Of course. Letia had been discarded as a useless existence in her clan.

In ancient times, the use of magic was free, but now in this land, magic had almost disappeared, with only one clan able to use it.

Those born with a jewel in their heart, casting magic residing in that jewel, were called Gemma.

But this special ability had one fatal side effect.

The jewel embedded in their heart could suddenly go berserk, leading to death.

The only beings who could control this outburst were the Elmorte Imperial Family.

The blood of the direct Elmorte lineage held a veiled power, so the imperial family chose Gemma and directly inscribed their names on the Gemma’s body with their blood.

The name engraved on a Gemma’s body was proof of allegiance, promising to be together until death, and also acted as a control device to suppress the Gemma’s outbursts.

Through this contract, Gemma could safely use magic and maintain power, while the imperial family wielded the Gemma’s magic as their own, maintaining their absolute imperial authority.

‘On the surface, it looks like such a beautiful alliance. When in fact, it’s just a dirty and ugly relationship.’

Letia smiled bitterly as she clutched her faded hair.

‘They’ll do anything without hesitation, just to protect their own power.’

Born from a marriage of convenience, created solely for the purpose of inheriting the jewel’s power, she was the eldest daughter of the Crystalross family, known as the ice of the gods.

To shine worthily as the Crown Prince’s jewel, she entered the palace at age 7 and until 18…

For over 10 years, she received harsh training to become the Crown Princess.

But on her 18th birthday, Letia’s fate plummeted, losing everything.

Gemma were born with pure white hair, and at 18, their jewel would awaken, gaining light.

However, Letia’s white hair was covered in ash gray.

Ashen children without jewels in their hearts were called ‘Nebula’, but most people ignored and discriminated against them, more often calling them pebbles.

Letia was that Nebula.

Instead, her half-sister Serina inherited the blue light of Crystalross.

“No jewel? Then you’re a failure. There’s no reason for something useless to be here.”

The imperial family, needing a shining jewel for the Crown Prince, mercilessly discarded Letia, and Serina entered the palace instead.

Letia could clearly see Serina’s intention in bringing her to the palace this time.

“She wants to make me miserable.”

Though her fate had changed in an instant, she didn’t feel particularly wretched.

Such emotions had long since dried up with her tears, after her mother suddenly passed away due to her jewel going berserk, and Letia was confined to the house, called a useless existence.

In fact, she wasn’t deeply hurt by being abandoned by the imperial family.

‘Rather, the time I lived in the palace was more painful.’

“Child, from now on, you are only the Crown Prince’s jewel and ornament. Don’t think of anything else, just shine only for the Crown Prince. Quietly. Live just quietly breathing.”

The palace was a suffocating prison where even eating, dressing, breathing, walking, and sleeping required the Empress’s permission.

And for even the slightest mistake, one had to be locked alone in the freezing winter tower as a form of repentance.

Letia shook her head, recalling the piercing cold of that place.

There was only one thing that pained her heart.

She tore up the old floor and took out a blue glowing stone from inside.

Looking at the stone, Letia swallowed a trembling breath with slightly shaking eyes.

“Crown Prince Asiz. I’ll be meeting you again after five years.”

***

Kallion rode tirelessly and arrived at ‘Jewel’, the dazzling imperial capital of the Elmorte Empire.

Though it was his return after five years, Kallion’s expression showed no particular emotion.

As his black horse reached the outer gate, the imperial chamberlain waiting for him quickly paid his respects before Kallion.

Despite winning a hundred victories in a hundred wars.

The welcome greeting him was pitifully small.

“Welcome back, Your Highness Grand Duke Harenclode. We also deeply congratulate you on your hundred victories.”

“……”

“Let us proceed directly to the Imperial Palace. His Majesty the Emperor is waiting for Your Highness.”

Kallion, who had been silent, gripped the reins tightly and spoke briefly.

“The one I must greet first is not His Majesty.”

“Pardon?”

Then he quickly passed by the chamberlain and disappeared in an instant.

The chamberlain called out to his retreating figure with a bewildered expression.

“Your Highness, Your Highness! His Majesty the Emperor is waiting, Your Highness!”

Ignoring even the chamberlain sent by the Emperor, Kallion arrived at a small park abandoned to ruins.

Kallion dismounted and steadied his increasingly hardening expression before taking a step.

The passing wind was thick with the smell of dust.

It was possible to gauge how long this place had been abandoned.

Finally, his steps came to a halt at one spot.

At the end of his gaze was a damaged statue without a head.

Moreover, behind the statue were an uncanny number of tombstones.

For the first time, intense emotion rippled across Kallion’s empty eyes.

He tidied his clothes and bowed his head in a very polite posture.

“Father, I have returned.”

Kallion took a step towards the statue, then unable to swallow his rising emotions, struck the statue with his fist.

Thud−!

Below the headless statue, the name Takel Lukard Harenclode was inscribed, but above that name was scrawled the stigma of ‘loser’.

Glaring at the blood-stained name, Kallion murmured in a tone filled with killing intent.

“It’s been five years. But I still haven’t found anything, so I can only apologize to you, Father.”

The reason why the Grand Duke Harenclode family fell, and Kallion wandered the borderlands as a ghost of the battlefield, was buried here.