CHAPTER~09
The Witch’s Tomb (6)
[Aserk Year 19, a cloudy day.]
[While preparing the stage, a man lingered near me.]
[Even at a glance, he looked like someone of noble status.]
[He said I resembled him and gifted me flowers.]
[Aserk Year 19, a day with harsh sunlight.]
[At first, I only intended to get along with him moderately since he was handsome.]
[But this man unexpectedly had a caring side.]
[He shaded me with an umbrella, saying the sunlight was harsh, and gently offered a handkerchief asking if I wasn’t hot.]
[His clear smile looked… strangely a little cute.]
[Aserk Year 20, a rainy day.]
[The man cried as he confessed.]
[He said he actually had a wife.]
[But still, the only person he loved was me, and he begged me to become his second wife.]
[What should I do?]
Did I really need to read this trash carefully?
‘So a married man hid his marriage and played around with another woman?’
What a lunatic.
Death penalty.
Just as I was about to throw away the filthy diary that had turned from a romance record into a cheating report—
“How awful…”
A genuinely sympathetic voice came from behind me.
Kyrus, who had somehow approached beside me, was reading the diary with deep focus.
His golden hair was messy with sweat, and his green eyes were filled with pity as if he were an overly immersed reader.
The fact that Kyrus empathized with such a story was simply absurd.
I hid my true thoughts and gently flipped the diary forward as if encouraging him to keep reading.
“I, I think I’ve read enough already. Do you want to read more?”
“Your Majesty the Empress, what do you think? About the diary’s contents.”
Kyrus’s eyes sparkled, as if he wanted to have a deep emotional discussion.
‘I don’t care about the diary’s feelings. I just want a clue about the Awakening Stone.’
But if I said that honestly, his affection points would probably crash.
Suppressing the twitch in my lips, I answered:
“Which… part do you mean?”
“If you were to end up liking someone who was already married… what would Your Majesty want to do?”
What would I do?
First, I’d tell her to break up immediately.
Then I’d lecture her—Was she dating a married man because there were no other men left in the world?
But then, a part of the diary caught my eye.
“Oh, wait…”
I wasn’t suddenly becoming invested in someone else’s messy love life.
The diary’s content had started changing completely in the later sections.
[I saw him at today’s coronation ceremony.]
[To think that he was the Emperor of this country.]
[I knew he was of noble birth, but I never imagined he was the Emperor.]
[…It seems my choice to end things back then was the right one.]
[I went to the doctor because I felt nauseous, and he said I was pregnant.]
[A child.]
[Can a woman raise a child alone and survive?]
[I’ll need a lot of money, so I should work hard.]
[Lately, I think strangers have been wandering around near my house.]
[I told the guards, but they keep lurking.]
[I’m scared.]
[I should leave this place.]
Rustle, rustle.
I forgot to answer Kyrus and kept flipping the diary.
As I turned the pages, a faint metallic smell reached my nose.
Why…?
There was nothing made of iron nearby.
But after turning a few blank pages, the reason became clear.
[die die die all die die die]
Red letters filled the entire page—written in blood.
My heart pounded wildly as the dried crimson filled my vision.
The letters were pressed with such hatred and malice that goosebumps crawled over my skin.
I never imagined I would personally open such a cursed object.
I nearly screamed but bit my lip to stop it.
The diary slipped for a moment before I managed to catch it.
My body trembled beyond my control.
“A-are you all right, Your Majesty the Empress?”
As I staggered, Kyrus grabbed my shoulder.
I gently brushed off his hand and looked back down at the diary.
The reaction on his face no longer mattered.
I felt certain something crucial was ahead.
With trembling hands, I turned the page.
[My stomach hurts I went to the doctor he said the baby is dead my baby my poor babyyyyy]
[I begged saying I really didn’t know please spare me but they didn’t listen those people the Former Empress’s people or was it the Emperor? They said it was His Majesty’s order]
The spacing was broken, the punctuation nonexistent.
I held back nausea.
[I can’t see well I burned my face with fire I can see with one eye this is the last my belly jaw feet all hurt]
[I curse this Imperial Family. The Emperor and Empress who ruined my life, who stole my child and my life. And your child as well.]
[May you trust no one, be loved by no one, and die alone.]
[Let’s dance. I must pray. If not to God, then let even a demon hear my voice.]
[Even in death, I will curse you.]
Thud.
I closed the diary after finishing the final page.
Now that I knew everything, I had reached a conclusion.
But first—
“Kyrus, I want to confirm something.”
“Ah, yes, please ask.”
“Can a mage move after death?”
“…Pardon? Mages are powerful, but they can’t escape death… ah.”
Kyrus stroked his chin.
“There is one exception.”
“If a mage with insufficient mana-control training dies, their body may move even after death.”
I stayed silent.
“If they fail to manage the mana remaining in their body before dying, that leftover mana may move the body.”
Ah.
As expected.
The woman wandering in the tomb was likely the owner of this diary.
Her face had been crushed.
Her jaw and ankle were twisted.
The wounds perfectly matched what was written in the diary.
‘…Besides the romance and curses, even the descriptive lines match.’
If my guess was correct—
The woman was a mage with insufficient training.
A witch.
A self-taught mage, not professionally trained.
‘Which explains why she’s still moving after death.’
Everything matched Kyrus’s explanation: “A mage lacking mana-control training who dies.”
It all fit.
She must have used her remaining mana before death for one purpose—
To curse the Imperial Family inside this tomb.
Kyrus lightly tapped my shoulder.
“Your Majesty the Empress? Are you all right? Your complexion…”
I flinched.
If that curse was aimed at the Emperor and Empress…
Then I was included.
I was now the Empress.
A member of the Imperial Family.
‘Sh*t.’
Now I had one more reason to run from Kallio.
I had to find the Awakening Stone quickly and secure an escape route.
I quickly answered Kyrus’s earlier question.
“Kyrus, you shouldn’t love someone who already has a partner. It only makes life harder.”
“…Huh?”
“You asked earlier. Even if you already like them, if they’re married, you must give up. Right?”
“…I… suppose so.”
Kyrus shut his mouth and lowered his head.
Clearly, he didn’t like my answer.
Still, I couldn’t say something like “Love conquers all, even adultery.”
I immediately began searching through the piles of items near the stage.
I had thought of a way to find the Awakening Stone.
I needed something to start a fire.
Among the piled items, I found two pyrite rods.
I tucked them into my arms.
Then—
A faint scent brushed past my nose.
Step. Step.
Regular footsteps echoed from afar.
I froze instantly.
There was no reason for a smell or footsteps here.
No incense had been burned.
Kyrus and I were standing still.
Yet the footsteps continued, and the smoky scent grew stronger.
Had the woman come back?
No.
She had no scent.
And her footsteps were not this heavy.
Unease gripped my ankles.
My body stiffened under the crushing wave of fear.
Then, a low voice scraped out, echoing through the corridor.
“Time’s up, Radi.”
The voice rang disturbingly loudly along the long corridor.
Radi.
There was only one person in this Empire who called me by that name.
Kallio, the Emperor of this Empire.
“And I hear another voice.”
“A man, huh?”
Kallio was coming toward us.
