Chapter 9
Whack—
She bent down and roughly grabbed a handful of my hair.
“A prophet, you say? Then show me some of those mysterious powers.”
I swallowed dryly at the Empress Dowager’s fierce glare. At the same time, I quickly thought of a way to strike back at the witch.
“I had a prophetic dream,” I began.
The emperor turned toward me, and Duke Harry walked closer.
I kept my eyes on the Empress Dowager and continued.
“Soon, His Majesty the Emperor will get married.”
The fake prophecy the emperor had asked for flowed smoothly from my lips.
“His bride will be the last witch.”
The Empress Dowager showed a strange expression. Then she twisted her lips into a sneer.
“Hah—”
She released her grip on my hair. As expected, she looked shocked.
“I’m tired. Everyone, leave.”
As soon as she turned around, I wanted to collapse on the spot, but I gritted my teeth and stayed on my feet.
❖ ❖ ❖
As Louisville watched Anier get hit with a shoe, he was reminded of his own childhood.
The Empress Dowager used to throw things when she lost control.
Louisville had always shielded his younger brother, afraid he might get hit.
To be honest, those moments were more terrifying and painful to him than any assassination or poisoning attempt.
They hurt so much that even after fifteen years, he still remembered the pain in his back.
Maybe that’s why he followed Anier all the way to her room.
Anier kept clutching her stomach.
“Is it bad enough to see a doctor?”
She shook her head and sat weakly on the sofa. Louisville knelt on one knee in front of her and rested his arm.
“Then let me take a look.”
“Look where?”
“The spot where the shoe hit.”
When Louisville pointed to her violet dress, Anier straightened up and answered stiffly.
“I’m fine. It’s not the first time I’ve been mistaken for a witch.”
With a cold expression, she walked to the window. She opened it and let out a long sigh into the dark night.
“Hoo…”
Louisville stood up and looked at her back. After a moment, he joined her at the window, gazing out at the sky under the moonlight.
“When I first heard about the witch’s curse, I wasn’t afraid,” he began quietly.
Anier turned to him. Louisville slid his hand into his uniform pocket and explained.
“Because to someone with Gardener blood, all witch’s spells are powerless.”
He had been confident that no matter what the witch tried, it wouldn’t affect him. But he had been completely wrong.
“But Her Majesty the Empress Dowager believes in the curse. Because she’s not of Gardener blood.”
That was the real problem. Anier pointed it out sharply, and Louisville silently met her gaze.
She looked a bit conflicted. Louisville nodded and spoke.
“You’re right. At first, my father tried to convince my mother that a dead witch couldn’t cast a curse.”
Louisville’s deep blue eyes reflected his memories.
“But after I kept falling from horses, getting poisoned, surviving ambushes and attacks… my father eventually started to believe in the witch’s curse too. So he took me with him to dangerous battlefields.”
As he spoke calmly, the corners of his red lips lifted slightly.
It was a bitter smile.
“But isn’t it strange? Even if my mother was cursed, I have Gardener blood. I should be safe.”
Sure, being on a battlefield was dangerous. But even before and after the wars, he had constantly faced death.
“So why have I always been in danger, as if I were cursed?”
Louisville’s intense gaze landed on Anier.
She hesitated for a moment, then licked her dry lips and answered.
“Because the curse itself is a curse in words.”
Louisville lifted his chin slightly, urging her to explain further.
“Because of that curse, the Empress Dowager is tormented, and those aiming for the throne freely threaten His Majesty’s life.”
The witch’s curse wasn’t terrifying because of the words. Its very existence caused pain for some and gave opportunity to others.
“That’s a pretty good interpretation.”
Louisville sincerely praised her.
He thought Anier was quite smart for seeing it so clearly.
He smiled with a long curve of his lips.
“In that case, I now know exactly what I have to do.”
Anier opened her mouth but didn’t respond.
Louisville didn’t seem to expect an answer and said it himself.
“I’ll find the real last witch and marry her—just like you predicted.”
Anier’s dark eyes trembled slightly.
Louisville didn’t look away from her as he continued.
“That way, I’ll break the Empress Dowager’s curse.”
A strange silence settled between them.
And then—
Knock, knock—
There was a knock, and Harry burst through the door.
He walked straight toward Louisville and Anier standing by the window.
“I found this on the way.”
Harry handed Anier a small, round container of ointment.
“It’s supposed to help with bruises.”
Watching the scene, Louisville started to understand why his younger brother was so popular with women.
“Oh, thank you.”
Anier took the ointment with a surprised expression.
Harry studied her face briefly, then stepped back.
“Well, I’m off.”
He dashed across the room and left.
Anier stared at the ointment in her hand.
“Then Duke Harry must’ve had a hard life too.”
“Hm?”
Louisville tilted his head at her sudden remark.
Anier looked away from the ointment and added,
“He’s also affected by the curse, right?”
“Ah.”
Of course, the witch’s curse applied to Harry too.
But Louisville tilted his head again.
“I don’t remember Harry getting hurt much.”
Sure, both brothers had been injured a lot as children.
But most of the time, it happened when they were together—
When arrows flew or assassins attacked, they got hurt side by side.
But when they were apart, it was Louisville who got hurt far more often.
He had always thought it was because he was first in line for the throne.
“What are you talking about? Duke Harry currently suffers from sleepwalking, doesn’t he?”
At Anier’s retort, Louisville gave a dry laugh.
“True. I guess I’ve been too careless.”
❖ ❖ ❖
As soon as the emperor left my room, my legs gave out and I collapsed onto the carpeted floor.
“I’ll find the real last witch and marry her. That way, I’ll break the Empress Dowager’s curse.”
The emperor meant it.
At this rate, I might really end up marrying him.
But the curse won’t break just because he marries me.
“No, more importantly, I’m someone who doesn’t believe in marriage!”
I had never even dated because I was too busy trying to be a good daughter to the father who raised me alone.
I was a lifelong single.
Of course, there was another reason I avoided relationships.
Whenever I liked someone, I would dream about their future.
I realized this after dreaming about my family or close friends.
Even if it was only a moment from their day,
I was afraid to see the future of someone I loved.
That’s why I’d lived so carefully and alone until now.
But now, I might get married?
I trembled with frustration and grabbed my red hair with both hands.
No way—I absolutely can’t let this marriage happen.
There’s only one way to stick to my no-marriage beliefs:
I have to get out of this witch’s body.
To do that, I must meet the Empress Dowager again. This time, alone.
But even though I predicted that the witch would marry the emperor,
why hasn’t she reacted at all?
Suddenly, I remembered how she screamed at me.
“She’s a witch!”
I didn’t understand it then, and I still don’t now.
Why would a witch call herself a witch to someone else?
She could get hurt—or even die.
Something doesn’t add up.
Why would the witch act like that?
As I kept thinking about it, a chilling thought flashed through my mind—
What if… there’s no witch inside the Empress Dowager?
