Chapter 2. The Executed Crown Princess Returns
“Sniff… Your Highness, the Crown Princess… sob…”
“I will never forget the loyalty you showed me, even in death. Now, dry your tears.”
I bowed my head and gently patted the shoulder of the sobbing princess, then lifted my head toward the warden.
“Gag her.”
The warden bowed to me, then fastened the gag over my mouth and bowed again.
“…I owe Your Highness a debt from the past, so I won’t drag you along in chains.”
As I walked down the underground prison corridor dimly lit by a single torch, I felt the shadow of death creeping ever closer.
I could accept dying alone, but what would become of my family? Of our house?
As soon as I stepped out of the prison, they threw a hood over my head and shoved me into a carriage. Even as I boarded, I could still hear the desperate wails of the princess crying out for me.
After a long ride, the carriage finally stopped, and I could hear the murmurs of a crowd.
“It’s the mad, deposed Crown Princess!”
“She’s a devil wearing the Crown Princess’s mask!”
“Off with her head—kill the Crown Princess!”
When they pulled the hood off, I finally saw where I was. The Plaza of Reinos.
It was packed with people, all gathered to watch my execution.
Their eyes, filled with disgust and hatred, glared at me as if they were witnessing the most monstrous thing in the world.
“Kill the Crown Princess who murdered the Crown Prince! Kill her!”
“She’s a witch! Burn the witch!”
The furious crowd pelted me with stones. Not long ago, I had been crowned Crown Princess, blessed by the entire empire.
But now I was branded a monstrous murderer, stoned by the people.
In the center of the plaza, the Emperor and Empress looked down at me coldly, while beneath them lay my husband, Karzan’s body, resting as if asleep, surrounded by white lilies.
I didn’t kill him! I didn’t kill him!
I wanted to scream. To shout until my voice broke. That it wasn’t me! I was innocent!
I had never killed the Crown Prince! I had simply fallen into someone’s scheme! I was just a scapegoat!
But the cloth gag in my mouth silenced me. I wanted to raise my head high with dignity, but the sharp gazes of the crowd, full of contempt, made it impossible to meet anyone’s eyes.
The executioners shackled my ankles with heavy, iron chains so I couldn’t run.
Then another group of executioners brought forward a cart covered in straw, its edges soaked in blood.
“Uncover it!”
I knew what it was and turned my head away, but a soldier beside me grabbed my chin and forced me to look.
“If she closes her eyes, cut off her eyelids and make her watch!”
On the cart lay my mother, father, and brother—eyes closed as if sleeping peacefully. But the blood-stained shrouds over their bodies made it clear they were no longer of this world.
The moment I saw their horrifying state, the tears I had fought to hold back spilled uncontrollably.
Just before my wedding, they had softly called my name—one they would never again be allowed to say.
[Vanity. My daughter. Tomorrow you’ll become the Crown Princess. Let me call your name one last time, Vanity, my precious child.]
My brother, who had quietly made custard for my wine-loving younger sibling and left it at her door. Our only crime… was sending me to the Crown Prince as his bride.
Was that truly such a terrible sin? Did our house deserve to be annihilated for that?
Behind me, the sound of a sword being unsheathed rang out ominously, signaling my death. A sharp blade flew toward my neck.
I clutched the sheet music of the witch’s song—the one the princess had given me—tightly to my chest.
If I were to be reborn, I would never live this kind of life again.
If given another chance at life, I would never again be sacrificed by betrayal and conspiracy.
As I closed my eyes, I began to sing the song of a witch wrongly executed long ago.
All of it was a dream.
A long, cold, and cruel dream.
Now I shall fully awaken from that brutal and sorrowful dream.
“Lady Vanity!”
Tasha! That voice was unmistakably Tasha’s. As I sat up abruptly in bed, I saw her youthful face.
“Lady Vanity, do you know how worried I was when you wouldn’t wake up?”
“T-Tasha?”
Was it all just a dream? But even now, this moment felt too vivid to be just a dream. I did something I’d never done before—I rubbed my cheek against Tasha’s.
Even if this was a dream, I didn’t care. I was so happy in this moment.
“Lady, what are you doing?”
Tasha’s flustered voice rang out clearly, but I only felt relieved.
“Tasha, is this a dream?”
“What are you saying? Did you have a nightmare last night, my lady?”
“A nightmare?”
“You’re drenched in sweat. You’re acting strangely…”
Could it really have been a dream? All of that agony and horror?
I hugged Tasha tightly, as if to confirm that this was indeed real.
The witch’s score had truly given me another chance at life, just as the princess had said.
“Vanity!”
My brother, Barein, burst through the door with a worried face.
“Vanity! Are you alright?!”
“Brother!”
I jumped off the bed, letting go of Tasha, and ran to him, throwing myself into his arms. He looked completely shocked, not knowing how to react—but that didn’t matter. The fact that I was holding my living brother meant more than anything.
Barein, still embracing me, then pulled back to examine my leg. My ankle was wrapped in bandages.
“Vanity, I heard you fell off a horse. How’s your leg? Is it okay?”
I fell off a horse?
Tasha trembled at the memory.
“It was awful. You’ve been asleep ever since, and now you’ve just woken up… and it seems you had a nightmare.”
“A nightmare?”
“Yes. You suddenly hugged me and started crying.”
Barein nodded, understanding.
“The shock from the fall must’ve been severe.”
The horse incident… That was when I was seventeen. I clearly remembered spraining my ankle after falling while riding. It happened a week before I received an invitation to join the list of candidates for the Crown Prince’s bride.
I checked the calendar. It was September 2nd, Year 502 of the Reinos Empire.
I was seventeen again.
“Vanity, your ankle hasn’t healed yet. Sit down. Tasha, could you bring a wheelchair?”
“Yes, right away!”
“Barein. Where are Father and Mother?”
“They’re outside, speaking with the physician. Should I call them?”
I slowly turned to look out the window. There, in the garden, my parents sat on a bench talking with the doctor. The sight of their familiar faces brought a rush of emotion.
My room was on the first floor. I climbed out the window immediately.
“Vanity! Are you crazy? Where are you going on that injured leg? Come back!”
“Oh my! My lady!”
Tasha had just returned with the wheelchair and was flustered, hopping nervously. Barein chased after me, but I was too fast for him, even with my injured ankle.
I felt no pain. I missed my parents too much.
I ran across the lawn, sobbing and calling out.
“Mom! Dad!”
My parents jumped up in shock at the sight of their barefoot daughter running and crying out to them.
“Vanity! What’s going on?!”
“Vanity!”
I threw open my arms and rushed into my father’s embrace. He immediately wrapped me in his arms.
“Vanity, what’s wrong? What happened?”
“Vanity! You shouldn’t be running around with that injured foot!”
I buried my face into Father’s shoulder, tears flowing down my cheeks.
“I just… missed you.”
“What?”
My mother’s voice was full of disbelief.
“Vanity! You’re the daughter of a duke, and yet you run around like this in the garden? On an injured foot, no less!”
I held out my arms toward her too, silently asking for a hug. Though she looked completely bewildered, she soon gave in and hugged me.
“Vanity. What happened? Are you still shaken from yesterday’s fall?”
“Yes. I’m sorry, Mom.”
Held in my mother’s arms, I made a vow—over and over again.
In this second life, I would never become the woman who lived in the shadow of Karzan, who treated me with cold contempt. I would not live a miserable, pitiful life under him.
Most of all, I would uncover the powers behind the destruction of my family and make them pay.
As the princess had asked me in her final moments, I would set everything right.
I would find them and tear them out—root and all.
