Chapter 127

* * *

[There is only one way for our family to survive.]

[Mother, do I really have to go to the palace today…?]

[What are you saying? This isn’t something you can refuse because you don’t like it! You absolutely must do it!]

[B-but.]

Young Dobae couldn’t refuse her mother’s orders.

The desperate image of her shouting mother remained vivid in her eyes.

Dobae had to swallow her tears as she felt her mother’s trembling hands on her shoulders.

[…Mother, I.]

[You’re too old to be throwing tantrums now, aren’t you? You must win the princess’s favor for our family to survive, understand? Now go, go to the palace right away!]

In the end, Dobae headed to the palace dejectedly. Her mother’s expression was desperate, and Dobae loved her mother despite everything.

About a month had passed since she was suddenly called to be the princess’s companion.

At first, entering the palace was wonderful. It was exciting, joyful, and thrilling.

Until she learned of the princess’s cruel nature.

[What shall we play today?]

[Y-Your Highness.]

Princess Iviet, though young, was cruel by nature. She had a fierce and vicious personality, but because she was a princess, no one dared to rebuke her.

Even Empress Nastia rarely scolded Iviet, her own daughter. The Empress herself was naturally cruel, so she actually liked that her daughter resembled her.

[Ah, yes! I saw the knights recently, and horseback riding looked so fun!]

[Horseback riding…?]

[I begged Mother to let me ride a horse, but she said I’m still too young.]

The princess was not yet ten years old. Dobae was also around the same age.

That’s why she had no choice but to comply with whatever unreasonable demands the princess made.

For her, her mother was everything in the world, and her mother had told her to obey the princess.

[Today, you’re going to be the horse. Got it?]

[What? A h-horse…?]

[Why are you being so dense? Hurry and get down on all fours! I need to climb on, don’t I?]

[B-but Your Highness, if I accidentally make you fall…]

Dobae desperately tried to change the princess’s mind. But the princess was unreasonable. No, she went even further.

[Yes, I noticed that when horses don’t perform properly, they get whipped. Since you’re my horse today, you’ll need a whip too.]

With the whip in hand, the princess smiled wickedly.

Dobae became the princess’s horse without resistance, but it was impossible for a child to carry someone on her back for a long time.

[Your Highness, it’s too hard… *sob*]

[Ah! I’m falling! Do it properly!]

The whip lashed out. Though it lacked the destructive power of an adult’s swing, it was strong enough to knock out a fragile young child.

[Aaaaah!]

As Dobae collapsed, the princess also tumbled to the ground.

And because of that incident, Dobae’s family, the Baronial House of Hertig, was annihilated.

During that process, no royal or noble stepped in to save the Hertig family.

Knock, knock, knock.

At the soft knocking sound, Dobae woke with a start.

The remnants of the dream trickled down her temple.

‘Suddenly dreaming of the past.’

The memory of that day, which tormented her constantly no matter how much she wanted to forget.

She was waiting for death as a slave when she met “That Person.”

[Don’t you want revenge? Against those arrogant royals?]

All royals were the same. High-ranking nobles were no different.

But… Lady Silver Lily was different. She realized this too late.

“Yes, come in.”

Wiping away her tears, Dobae straightened herself. Having fallen asleep while lying down briefly, she was confused whether it was day or night.

How was Lady Silver Lily doing? Had she awakened?

If something happened to her, I would…

Just as Dobae’s thoughts reached that point—

Click. The door opened, and a familiar color entered her sight.

Silver hair, like the ethereal moonlight gathered and crafted.

And those silver eyes, always filled with warmth.

“Ah…”

Her first thought was singular:

‘Thank goodness. You’re safe. You’ve awakened safely.’

Her eyes grew hot. As her vision blurred, a gentle voice reached her ears.

“Why are you crying? We have much to talk about.”

The voice was still warm.

Dobae had been prepared from the moment she was confined here.

That everything had been discovered. That she might even be executed.

If she could just see that Lady Silver Lily was safe before that, it would be enough.

Ashaella scratched her cheek as if perplexed, then smiled gently and asked:

“Stop crying, and, um. Will you tell me your name… your real name?”

Finally, the tears that had been hanging from the corners of her eyes fell to the floor.

As Dobae wept with a choked voice for a while, Ashaella quietly waited for her.

* * *

Yullia Hertig.

That was Dobae’s real name.

“Yes, I was the Princess’s… companion.”

It was the position I had refused. Not only did I have a poor impression of the Princess from our few meetings, but more importantly, I couldn’t bear to leave Hadel alone at home, so I declined.

It was much later that I learned the Deache family had fallen out of favor with Empress Nastia because of this.

But hearing Dobae’s story, it seemed problems would have arisen even if I had become the Princess’s companion according to the Empress’s request.

“I’m sorry. I’m truly sorry, Lady Silver Lily…”

Dobae… no, I should call her Yullia now. She continued to apologize while confessing everything to me.

In truth, she hadn’t done anything particularly harmful to me.

She had merely passed information about me to the person she served, someone she referred to as “That Person.”

“I thought all royals were bad. Because no one protected me even though they knew my family was innocent…”

Yullia’s shoulders trembled slightly as she hung her head.

“And this Emperor… Emperor Lahadert has a notorious reputation as a tyrant. So I believed this empire no longer deserved to exist. I arrogantly thought it was time to end it all.”

What she said was actually true, so I couldn’t entirely blame Yullia.

The late Emperor had no talent for politics and ended up being manipulated by nobles before being poisoned.

There were several legitimate princes, but none of them were particularly capable.

Among them, Hadel had grown up the best. Perhaps because his mother was a normal person.

In any case, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the Sieria Empire was in decline.

Most nobles were corrupt, and Hadel was the only one left of the imperial bloodline.

Now there was one more in my womb… but since it hadn’t been born yet, I’d set that aside.

The declining empire reached a stalemate after Hadel ascended to the throne.

This was possible due to Hadel’s absolute military power.

There were numerous assassination attempts against the last remaining royal, but they all failed.

When they tried to start a civil war, Hadel resolved it immediately, leading to more failures.

The tense relationship between the Emperor and the nobles had continued for 10 years now. It was enough to tempt foreign countries to invade the empire.

It was about time for something to happen, one way or another.

The Duke Balkyrino faction was probably trying to take advantage of that.

“I was confused about Lady Silver Lily. At first… I thought you were so kind because you were originally a commoner. That’s why you treated subordinates so well and were so virtuous. That’s what I thought.”

Suddenly, a flood of compliments directed at me started pouring out.

“To learn that you weren’t a commoner… but had been nobility all along was truly confusing. But I had already accepted you as the master of my heart. It’s true. I really… *sob* never intended to hurt you…”

The more Yullia spoke, the more my face flushed for no reason.

Her slightly trembling voice was filled with sincerity, making it even more embarrassing.

“It’s fine. I wasn’t hurt. I just lost consciousness temporarily.”

I quickly interrupted her, fearing she might continue with more exaggerated praise. However, however she interpreted my words, she immediately began to shed tears like a flood.

“Lady Silver Lily, *sob* *sob*…”

Summarizing what she said through her tears:

She was afraid of being abandoned by me if she told the truth. So she kept hiding the truth from me, but she hadn’t disclosed any more information about me.

She claims she knew nothing about this incident. That’s why she was shocked when I suddenly collapsed.

Other unnecessary comments—such as praising me—were occasionally mixed in, but there was also quite important information.

“The Princess Hae of the Eastern Empire?”

“Yes, yes. I definitely heard it that way.”

The one who recently came to rule the Eastern Empire.

A woman rumored to have killed countless people to ascend to the throne as a princess.

I had heard that it was nearly impossible for a princess, not a prince, to ascend to the throne in the East.

To think such a person was Balkyrino’s collaborator. Or rather, didn’t Yullia say she wasn’t Balkyrino’s person to begin with?

“So the ‘That Person’ who created you as Dobae Hamolli and sent you to the palace is Evan Tiret, the winner of the recent sword tournament?”

“That’s right. Do you remember the homeless person we encountered in the alley when we went out with Lady Silver Lily?”

When I went outside the palace to prove my usefulness to Duke Balkyrino.