Chapter 5
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Before he died, Cutter told his sons about the witch’s curse.
“All the children your wife bears will die! If not, then everyone around you will try to kill them. There is no one in this world who can save them!”
That day, Louisville finally understood the Empress Dowager’s actions. Was that why she had denied him and his younger brother so strongly? Was that why she never gave them love?
But at the same time, he also couldn’t fully understand.
Louisville and his brother Harry were of Gardener blood. That meant the curse shouldn’t have affected them.
Still, he could guess why she hadn’t believed it.
So many dangerous things had happened that threatened her sons’ lives—
Assassination attempts, poisonings, attacks by strangers, betrayal by close aides, and even kidnappings.
Each time the sons almost died; the Empress Dowager’s condition worsened.
Louisville felt pity, sympathy, and even resentment toward her madness.
“Sigh…”
Because of what happened yesterday, Louisville had skipped his usual morning greeting and now stood uneasily in front of the Empress Dowager’s palace, unable to move.
Meanwhile, Clark, who had spoken briefly with the gatekeeper, returned.
“Lady Anier has been hanging around all last week, apparently.”
“Anier?”
“Yes. And yesterday, she asked Hilton and me how to get into the Empress Dowager’s palace.”
Louisville narrowed his eyes and rubbed his chin.
“Hilton told her the fastest way would be to dream of Her Highness the Empress Dowager… But why would she want to meet her?”
As Clark tilted his head in confusion, Louisville thought of Anier’s beautiful red hair.
He had appointed her as the imperial prophet because of the day he fell from his horse.
It wasn’t the first time Louisville had fallen off a horse. Horses had collapsed beneath him or been struck by arrows more than once.
And each time, he had survived on his own.
No great knight, not even his most trusted man Clark, had ever saved him.
He always got hurt, and all he could do was try to find ways to get hurt less.
But that day, the small-framed Anier had caught him as he fell.
Thanks to her, he didn’t even get a bruise.
It was the first time in his life that had happened. Louisville was secretly surprised, but pretended to stay calm in front of her.
The woman who had saved him begged to be taken in as a prophet.
Her red hair had been suspicious, but the prophet he had met before had red hair too.
And before officially appointing Anier, he had her background investigated.
“Her real parents died long ago, and she was adopted by a man named Flip. He was a useless gambler, so she suffered a lot.”
If she were a witch, she would have killed her adoptive father already—there’s no way she would’ve suffered.
Still, she had now started showing great interest in the Empress Dowager’s palace.
Louisville grew curious about what Anier was really after.
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The next day, I went to the emperor’s office.
There were three offices exclusively used by the emperor, all inside the main palace.
I remembered reading in a book that this was to prevent assassinations.
After confirming with Hilton which office the emperor was using, I went there.
Inside the dark-toned room, the emperor sat at a desk with his back to the window.
“I had a dream about the Empress Dowager today.”
It was a lie. The dream I actually had was about stubbing my pinky toe on a bed leg.
But even if it was a lie, I needed to see her now.
“I want to tell her something, so please let me into her palace.”
For the past month, I’d been trying to find a way to meet the Empress Dowager, but no opportunity came. In the end, I took Hilton’s advice and decided to use my status as a prophet.
“Oh? Then tell me. I’ll deliver the message.”
The emperor leaned back and looked at me calmly. I felt nervous and raised my voice on purpose.
“I need to tell her directly.”
“That’s not allowed.”
He shook his head firmly. If I gave up now, I wouldn’t know when I’d see her again. I’d have to keep lying, pretending to be a powerful prophet.
I’d waste time here, knowing nothing about why I came, or why I entered the body of a witch.
If I got caught one day for being a witch, I might be burned at the stake.
If I died like that, I might never return to my original world.
True, I was in a car accident in that world, but it wasn’t certain that I had died.
Even if I was lying in a hospital ICU, that world was still where I—Ahn Yeji—belonged.
But this place felt like someone else’s life.
This country called the Louis Empire, the name “Anier,” and this witch’s face and body—all felt like someone else’s.
To return to myself, I had to leave this body.
I stood still, thinking—why was the emperor so against it? In the novel, the emperor never let the heroine see the Empress Dowager.
More exactly, he never let her see the Empress Dowager denying her own child.
I stiffened my expression and looked straight into his eyes. But I wasn’t the heroine.
“I already know about the Empress Dowager’s situation.”
A strange glint passed through the emperor’s blue eyes. I straightened my shoulders and raised my chin slightly.
“Because I’m a prophet.”
Ahem. I cleared my throat.
“All the children your wife bears will die.”
To prove I was a great prophet—and to meet the last witch—I spoke the curse I read in the book.
“If not, then everyone around them will try to kill them.”
I didn’t avoid the emperor’s gaze.
“There is no one in this world who can save them!”
The Empress Dowager had changed after learning of this curse. She refused to sleep with the late emperor, and wouldn’t even see her children.
“That was the last witch’s curse. I know everything, so please don’t worry…”
“The only person who heard that curse at the burning was the late emperor.”
The emperor cut me off, then slowly stood from his chair.
“So if someone outside the royal family knows about it, there are only two possibilities.
You’re either truly a prophet…”
The emperor walked slowly toward me and drew his sword from his waist.
“Or you’re the last witch.”
When the tip of his sword reached my neck, I realized I had been too confident.
The man I had saved twice didn’t trust me at all.
I mustered all the acting skill I had and pretended to be offended.
“You think I’m a witch?”
But the sword at my neck made my voice tremble. I had thought he was like a kind romance novel emperor—but no, this was the male lead.
I stared straight at the emperor, whose grip on the sword seemed ready to stab me.
He might not be the story’s protagonist, but I am the protagonist—
In my life.
“I just saw the curse in a prophetic dream when the late emperor died three years ago.”
I recalled the conversation Clark and Hilton had and used it to defend myself.
Then I raised my voice to point out something important.
“And the symbol of a witch is red hair and red eyes.”
But the emperor didn’t flinch.
“I know. But if the last witch really had red hair and red eyes, I would’ve found her by now.”
His logic was too sharp. I had no response and closed my mouth.
“She may exist in this world, but since she’s so hard to find, I began to wonder—maybe she doesn’t have red hair or red eyes after all.”
Deep down, I was impressed. Just like last time, he was an overpowered character.
Still, drawing a sword without knowing the sad story of a lady who reincarnated into a witch’s body was a serious flaw.
“If I really were a witch, why would I save Your Majesty twice? Watching you get hurt would be the most fun thing for me.”
I opened my eyes wide and tried hard to persuade him. His beautiful blue eyes wavered slightly.
“Hm. That does make sense.”
Even so, the sword didn’t move away from my neck. In fact, it felt heavier.
“Then why have you been asking how to get into the Empress Dowager’s palace?”
The emperor shot a sharp question. As expected of the ruler of the palace, he knew everything happening inside.
I quickly came up with a believable excuse.
“Because I kept sensing bad energy from there.”
“Bad energy?”
“Yes. Hasn’t Her Highness been acting more sensitive lately?”
Of course she has—there’s a witch inside her body. Her condition must be awful.
“In my dream, that’s how it looked.”
Then the emperor gave a cold smile, as sharp as the sword’s blade.
“Just like Hilton advised you.”
Of course, he even knew Hilton had suggested I dream of the Empress Dowager.
I felt a jolt of fear, but I tried not to show it.
“You can doubt me all you want. But I’m only telling you what I actually dreamed.”
Still, this extremely suspicious man didn’t lower his sword.
