CHAPTER 01
“Why am I here?”
It was a gloomy, gray day.
Having been imprisoned for so long, even that dull light felt intense to Linaria, and she frowned as she thought.
“Linaria Obel. For squandering the national treasury on luxury, plotting treason, and attempting to murder the Empress out of jealousy…”
A list of crimes she did not commit was read aloud.
At that moment, a memory blurred by pain resurfaced.
“The royal physician says I’m carrying your child, Your Highness.”
“Rusalka, is that true?”
The Crown Prince of the Empire—her fiancé, to whom she had devoted five years—was overjoyed to hear another woman was pregnant.
“People have always whispered about your origins. We must marry quickly to stop any more rumors.”
The Crown Prince had been bewitched by a low-born, mixed-blood woman. They said he was so obsessed with a siren, whose voice was enchanting, that he rarely left her chambers.
The rumor spread.
And then it became her cruel reality.
“But Your Highness, you’re engaged to Lady Linaria. I heard it’s been a long time. Shouldn’t you marry her first?”
“That stiff, lifeless woman is only my fiancée because of her noble blood. She’s useless aside from her lineage.”
Linaria, summoned by Rusalka, overheard their conversation and froze.
“Unlike you, she can’t even bear children.”
“Really? I didn’t expect that from Lady Linaria.”
“Yes, Rusalka. You’re the only one I truly love.”
I’ll give you a beautiful wedding soon.
For five whole years, Linaria was strung along with that false hope.
She never even expected to hear that he loved her.
After all, their engagement wasn’t out of love—it was a political alliance between noble families.
Still, she quietly underwent training to become a good wife, awaiting the day when the engagement would become a marriage.
After her engagement, she moved into the palace immediately and was forbidden from going out.
She couldn’t meet her family, or even contact them.
Not that she had any friends to confide in, either.
It was a life no different from imprisonment.
All to become a suitable match for him.
She had lived the past five years entirely for him.
And then Rusalka appeared, and all of that was flushed down the drain.
“I’ll give you a beautiful wedding soon.”
He kept delaying his promise to his fiancée with every excuse in the book, yet fulfilled his promise to his lover without hesitation.
He even committed parricide to ascend the throne.
And as soon as he wore the crown, he began eliminating anyone who opposed him—and ultimately made the siren his Empress.
His behavior was that of a mad tyrant blinded by love.
But no one could oppose him.
Not even Linaria, his former fiancée.
“Linaria Obel is sentenced to hanging.”
Bound and standing on the execution platform, there was no trace of Linaria’s former beauty or glory.
Her silver hair, once praised by her maids for its softness, was cut short. Her alabaster skin had become rough.
When she lifted her head, she saw Rusalka seated beside Emperor Maximilian.
The woman who falsely accused Linaria of attempting to kill her was now nestled in Maximilian’s embrace.
It was an unbearably repulsive sight.
“Does the criminal have any last words?”
Linaria opened her mouth.
But no sound came out.
Her body was wrecked from torture, and her voice was gone from all the screaming.
What came out was a distorted metallic wheeze of barely formed words.
“…”
She should have killed them before being falsely accused of trying to.
If she had known she would be framed for embezzling the treasury, she should have emptied it completely.
If she was going to be accused of treason, she should have committed it for real—overthrown the tyrant.
That demon who killed not only his own father, but mine as well…
She should have torn him apart.
Linaria, who had repeated these curses in her heart countless times, glared at them with bloodshot eyes.
The executioner stepped forward and presented the noose for her neck.
Lowering her head, she felt the rough rope wrap around her neck, along with the stares of the crowd below.
And then—
The floor beneath her feet gave way.
“Father, I want to become the noblest person in the Empire. Someone no one can ever look down on.”
Her past wish, to be a proud daughter for her family, was shattered.
As death crept closer, Linaria made a vow.
She would never forgive them, not even in death.
No matter what—
“Milady, happy birthday!”
Linaria had surely died.
Yet when she opened her heavy eyelids, she saw a familiar face presenting her with a birthday cake.
“…Anna?”
She was Linaria’s personal maid.
The reason for using past tense was because Anna had been a tragic casualty of Maximilian’s tyranny.
But now, she was alive.
“Yes, Milady. You’re surprised… huh?!”
This time, it was Anna who was startled.
“Why are you sweating so much? Did something happen last night? You don’t have a fever.”
Setting down the cake, Anna took out a handkerchief and gently wiped the sweat off Linaria’s forehead. Her touch was warm and kind.
“I had a nightmare.”
“They say dreams mean the opposite. Whatever you dreamed, today will surely be full of good things.”
But it had been far too vivid to be just a dream.
She could still feel the sensation of the rope tightening around her neck.
If this isn’t a dream… is this the afterlife? Hell? Or perhaps—
She had returned to the past.
Dazed, Linaria looked down at the cake.
It had the number “17” written on it.
Her seventeenth birthday.
She had never been congratulated for her birth before.
Her mother had died of postpartum fever after giving birth to her, making her birthday a day of mourning.
“You must not be happy today. This is the day you killed your mother by being born.”
Each year, her birthday passed in silence.
But my seventeenth birthday had been different.
Anna had prepared a cake with help from the kitchen staff.
The memory of that morning when Anna showed up with a cake was so joyful, it felt like yesterday.
“Raspberry cake?”
“Yes! How did you know?”
The white cream and colorful icing made it hard to guess the flavor without cutting it open.
“Did you smell it or something?”
Sniffing around, Anna gave up and pulled out clothes for Linaria to change into.
“Have a taste later. The chef put his name on it—it’ll be amazing.”
As Anna left to tidy up, Linaria sat in front of her vanity.
There, she saw her reflection.
Long, soft silver hair brighter than freshly spun thread.
Deep crimson eyes.
Unblemished skin.
The woman in the mirror wasn’t the disgraced Linaria accused of attempting to assassinate Rusalka.
It was seventeen-year-old Linaria, before the engagement.
“I’m back.”
Linaria had never believed in gods.
She had not been chosen by a divine beast and was labeled incomplete for it.
But in this moment, she could believe in a god.
“If you’ve pitied my life and returned it to me, I will repay that mercy.”
Tears welled in her eyes as she clasped her hands together.
She would absolutely fulfill the vow she made before death.
Those who had trampled her life would suffer until they begged for death.
Exactly as she had suffered.
“Oh, Milady!”
Anna returned, excited.
Linaria already knew what she was going to say next.
Good news!
“Good news!”
A birthday gift.
“There’s a line of carriages outside. All filled with your birthday presents!”
Anna chattered on excitedly.
“From His Highness the Crown Prince?”
“Yes!”
At this point in time, Linaria was in marriage talks with Crown Prince Maximilian.
The engagement was practically confirmed.
The Imperial Family sent a grand display of gifts under Maximilian’s name.
A political move, ensuring all nobles knew the engagement was a done deal.
That man isn’t the type to remember the birthday of a fiancée he hasn’t even met.
Even the gifts were political strategy.
“He said if there’s anything else you want, don’t hesitate to ask.”
Anna, unaware of Maximilian’s true nature, spoke cheerfully.
“He said this is just a small gesture since you’ll be his wife. Hearing that, it really hit me—Milady will be part of the Imperial Family!”
Linaria looked at the beaming Anna.
Everything’s the same as I remember. I really have come back.
Back then, it felt like the perfect marriage.
One anyone would call a success.
But it ended in catastrophe.
Even Anna would die in less than four years just for siding with Linaria.
All because of the tyrant, Maximilian.
Even if my memories of death were only a nightmare, it doesn’t matter.
Linaria now wanted to protect not only her future but the smile of someone precious.
They say nightmares are the opposite of reality.
Since this was now reality, she would make it the opposite of that nightmare.
“Send everything back.”
“Huh? All of it?!”
Linaria nodded.
“But…”
Anna looked crestfallen and tried to persuade her.
But Linaria was quicker. She firmly ordered:
“Tell them there’s only one gift I want.”
What could be more precious than gold and jewels?
A famous painting? A priceless gem?
Anna waited in anticipation.
And then—
“I want the current marriage negotiations called off.”
“…Pardon?”
Looking directly at the stunned Anna, Linaria repeated:
“The only gift I want is to cancel this engagement. That’s all.”
