HTSVD 04

Chapter 4

After walking for quite a while, I finally arrived at the Empress’s palace. It was far bigger than my own.

The palace was divided into three large buildings, and the hallways and corridors were decorated far more extravagantly than those of the princess’ palace.

“It looks like a palace from a movie,” I thought.

As I walked, thinking that I should take the time to explore properly sometime, I suddenly found myself in front of the reception room.

“Your Majesty, Princess Eveness has arrived,” said a maid in a neat voice.

The doors opened, and the chatter from inside instantly stopped.

I stepped in, kneeling gracefully with a bright smile.

“Thank you for inviting me, Mother.”

A heavy silence fell over the room. No one answered.

When I looked up, faces froze in shock—mouths slightly open, eyes wide. Each looked as if they had seen a ghost.

I understood why. In the original story, every meeting between Eve and the Empress began in chaos and ended in chaos, and it was always Eve’s fault.

Impulsive and foolish, Eve could never maintain even a fake friendly relationship with the Empress. In fact, I remembered that the original Eve never once called the Empress “Mother.”

The startled ladies quickly exchanged glances, clearly confused.

The Empress, seated at the head, looked equally flustered. She stared at me, stammering.

“Ah… y-yes.”

I maintained a polite smile.

“To show my gratitude for your invitation, I brought tea leaves from the northern regions. It’s modest, but please accept them.”

A maid placed a luxurious box of tea leaves before the Empress.

Finally realizing what was happening, the Empress smiled politely.

“These are fine tea leaves. Thank you, Eve.”

Though smiling, her eyes were wary, as if she had no idea what was going on.

“I’m glad you like them,” I said. The tea was nothing special—I had just grabbed some from my own collection at the princess’ palace—but the Empress was too flustered to inspect it properly.

“Hmm… the Empress is simple-minded compared to the Emperor,” I thought.

The Emperor liked the Empress but didn’t trust her with political secrets. She sometimes acted on emotion without much thought, so he kept her in the dark. She probably didn’t even know about the plans regarding Eve’s death.

I silently took a seat. The maids brought tea cups and small desserts.

A tense silence filled the reception room. Everyone seemed to be waiting for me to react—but I had no intention of speaking first. I just quietly sipped my tea.

Gradually, the ladies holding tea cups began to chat, glancing at me.

“It’s wonderful to have Princess Eve with us. It makes the gathering even brighter.”

“It would be nice if Princess Sorel could join too, but she’s at the front lines fighting in the war with Lasken…”

I froze at the name—Sorel.

Sorel was Eve’s half-sister and the heroine of this story. She was also a princess of the empire, though she hadn’t grown up in the palace. She was the Emperor’s illegitimate daughter with a commoner woman.

According to the original story, Sorel suddenly appeared at the palace one day, wearing the mark of the Emperor’s daughter—a kind of fairy-tale arrival. Most citizens welcomed her. She had the strong magical ability expected of a princess, a pure and kind appearance, and a gentle, noble character.

Eve, by contrast, had only a useless foresight ability. Sorel had powerful healing magic that benefited everyone.

“…Everyone except Eve, that is.”

As Sorel appeared, people began to compare the two sisters. With two princesses suddenly in the palace, comparisons were inevitable.

By every measure, Eve was considered inferior. Her personality, appearance, behavior, and magical power all fell short. Even I had to admit Sorel was better. Maybe it was natural, as Sorel was the story’s heroine.

Eve, pushed into the background, grew jealous and malicious, constantly tormenting her half-sister.

“She healed dozens of wounded soldiers all at once, I hear. The Chancellor praised her magic, saying it has grown stronger.”

The conversation focused entirely on Princess Sorel’s battlefield achievements, while everyone stole glances at me.

“Of course, Eve hated Sorel,” I thought. In the original, Eve was cruel to her half-sister for no reason. She was constantly hurting her, stealing anything good she had, and even contaminating her food.

Sorel had brought a small glass star-shaped necklace, a keepsake from her birth mother, to the palace. Eve, just out of spite, threw it into a pond.

…Reading this made me question Eve’s sanity. She hated her half-sister that much, and yet these people kept talking only about Sorel.

“They must want me to lose my temper,” I thought. Most of the ladies here supported the Empress. They clearly hoped I would explode, creating another scene for the Empress to appear sympathetic.

In the original, Eve always lost her temper, and the Empress was always the victim. They expected the same performance from me.

Of course, I had no intention of giving them what they wanted.

Instead, I paid attention to mentions of the Emperor.

“The Emperor took his two sons and Sorel to the battlefield.”

He had originally planned to return for Eve’s wedding, but due to worsening conditions, he delayed his return. The crown prince came back briefly to manage the empire but returned to the front soon after. None of them would attend Eve’s wedding.

“They must have wanted to make an alibi,” I thought. A malicious princess being killed on her wedding day, with the Emperor away at war, naturally made the Duke the prime suspect.

Even in the original, no one suspected the Emperor. “The Emperor wouldn’t kill his beloved daughter,” everyone thought.

The Emperor had always covered for Eve, allowing her to cause mischief and spend as she pleased. He had no reason to harm her.

Thus, the Duke became the obvious target.

“Thinking back, the Emperor is clever… and ruthless.”

Though outwardly loving Eve, he had no real attachment to her. Killing his daughter to trap the Duke shows his cunning, yet he always protected her from consequences.

Perhaps he raised Eve’s reckless personality intentionally, knowing it would serve his plans.

In the end, Eve’s death benefited the Emperor. By removing a threat to the second prince, he could also trap the Duke.

He was meticulous and cruel.

“I won’t die according to that man’s plan,” I thought. I wouldn’t waste a second chance at life after gaining it. I had to find a way to survive.