Chapter 6
Should I say it or not?
Well, it’s just a nickname… it should be fine… right?
Still half-asleep, I mumbled,
“Bambi…”
To be honest, he wasn’t really my bodyguard. He was the head of the assassin guild I used to hire.
“Bambi…?”
“Yes…”
He’s a reckless and arrogant guy who’s hard to read, but he protected me until the very end in my previous life.
But I can’t let him continue anymore. Next time I see him, I’ll tell him to stop targeting my sister…
As we got closer to home, I started coming to my senses.
If someone saw me in this state, Father would probably hit me. I rubbed my eyes and said,
“Could you drop me off near the back gate? I need to sneak in through the dog hole.”
“The dog hole?”
“Do you think I got permission to go out looking like this?”
“That’s true… but how are you going to get a horse through a dog hole?”
Oh, right. I forgot about Thunderroot.
When I turned around, Thunderroot was still following Dagadak from behind, looking kind of sad.
“Um… would you mind taking care of Thunderroot for now? I’ll come get him later.”
Owen didn’t reply, but I decided to take his silence as agreement.
Soon, Dagadak stopped near the back gate of the Bartoli townhouse.
Owen jumped off first and then helped me down.
My injured foot still hurt, but I tried not to show it.
“Thank you for everything today, Prince Glentino.”
“Just go get some sleep at home.”
That’s how he talks.
I pouted and gave him a lazy wave. Still, I was grateful for the help.
I turned around and walked toward the townhouse’s back gate.
I pushed through some bushes, looking for the hidden dog hole—something I didn’t discover until years later in my previous life.
Owen must’ve just been standing there watching me like I was a mole digging around, because he said,
“You should rest tomorrow.”
“Okaaay~”
Why is he still here?
“You’ll regret this.”
“Sure~ Take care~”
At the time, I had no idea.
I didn’t know that he would watch me until I safely crawled through the dog hole, tiptoed up the stairs, and made it back to my room—just in case Father caught me.
I also didn’t know I’d soon see the things inside his paper bag…
Or that Owen ta Glentino could actually ride a horse just fine without a saddle.
Even without Owen’s warning, I ended up staying in bed all day the next day. My body was sore from overexerting myself.
Because of that, I missed the letter that had arrived first thing in the morning.
Of course, it was from my sister, Leonie.
[To Sophia,
I heard your heartfelt words. You really are a good sister.
You always teach me something new.
This time the lesson was: “Never trust your enemy’s words.”You should remember your old lesson, too:
“If someone hits you, hit back twice as hard.”– Leonie]
I also didn’t hear that one of the horses had escaped from the stables overnight, leaving the stable master heartbroken.
But by the time I finally got out of bed the next day…
I heard that my fiancé had died.
Arnold ta Glentino.
The second son of the Glentino family. An average man with average looks and average skills. A bit insecure.
I was the eldest daughter of the noble Bartoli family and the niece of the imperial family through my mother, the First Princess.
Arnold wasn’t really qualified to be my fiancé.
But that wasn’t because of his family—it was because of who he was as a person. That’s why I agreed to the engagement so easily.
I think it happened around the time it became clear that Leonie had won over the Crown Prince.
I didn’t want to go through the hassle of hunting for a proper husband in high society, and I was tired of Father’s nagging. So I just picked someone not too good and not too bad and put him in the fiancé slot. Then I forgot about him.
I even knew he was cheating on me. I had been collecting proof, thinking I’d dump him if he crossed the line.
But Arnold died last night.
He died while sneaking off on a secret trip with his lover.
It just so happened to be the exact same kind of carriage accident I had planned two nights ago—to frame Leonie’s death.
“…”
In my past life, Arnold died too. Same cause of death.
But it had happened much later.
That time, his death was Leonie’s revenge for one of my other assassination attempts. So until then, I had assumed he’d survive just fine.
But now I know why Arnold died earlier than before.
It was because Leonie felt betrayed by me—more than she had before.
As I sat on the bed, stunned, something soft jumped onto my lap.
My adorable fox, Popo.
“Popo, the man who gave you to me… he’s dead.”
Popo, clueless as ever, just rubbed his face against me affectionately.
Then someone knocked on the door.
“Miss Sophia, the Marquess is here to see you.”
“!”
I froze instantly.
I quickly set Popo down, fixed my clothes, threw on a shawl, and said, “Come in.”
Creak. The door opened, and Father walked in.
That look in his eyes. The way he always stared at me like I was worthless, like I disgusted him.
I couldn’t lift my head in front of that gaze. Even when I hadn’t done anything wrong, I shrank back.
And this time… I actually had done something wrong. Though he didn’t know it.
He scowled and snapped,
“You didn’t get out of bed all day yesterday. How pathetic.”
I really was sick yesterday. I only just managed to recover today.
“Stop being lazy and go pay your respects at the funeral.”
“…Yes, Father.”
I’ve never lived lazily.
I trained endlessly to become Empress. I learned everything I could and followed a strict routine.
But no matter how unfair his words were, I couldn’t defend myself.
“I have to remind you of everything. Your sister Leonie already went this morning.”
Wow. That heartless girl. She’s the one who killed him and still managed to pay respects first.
I guess it makes sense. She probably dropped by early when no one was around—quick and easy.
She probably didn’t want to run into me either.
My foot throbbed.
I hadn’t treated the wound properly yesterday. So I stood carefully, putting my weight on the uninjured foot.
Father stared at me for a moment longer before leaving the room.
Once he was gone, I collapsed back onto the bed.
‘At least I didn’t get hit today.’
When Father punished me, it was always with cold slaps—never losing control. That somehow made it worse. I’m not the kind of person who learns through beatings.
“Popo.”
When I softly called her, the little white fox ran out from under the bed and curled up at my feet.
She once tried to protect me from Father and ended up getting badly injured.
Since then, Popo hates all men and bares her teeth at them.
‘Poor thing. You ended up with the wrong owner too.’
I pet her gently for a while. Then I stood up and rang the bell.
Soon, a few of my maids arrived. Among them was Bessie, who looked worried.
She must’ve known Father had been here.
Bessie asked carefully,
“What can I help you with, Miss?”
“I need to go to my fiancé’s funeral. Help me get ready.”
The funeral was held in the wide garden in front of the Glentino townhouse.
It was a duke’s family funeral—the only duke family in the empire. So all the high-ranking nobles came to show their faces.
The garden was full of colorful flowers. White standing tables were placed throughout the grass so guests could chat over light refreshments.
Men in black suits and women in black dresses with veiled hats moved around quietly.
It was a typical imperial-style funeral.
It felt unusually big and solemn for the funeral of just the duke’s second son.
But then I found out why.
It was a joint funeral for the Duke of Glentino and his second son.
‘But the Duke’s funeral didn’t happen until much later…’
And back then, Arnold was still alive.
Something had changed again.
Bessie, walking beside me, looked worried.
“Miss Sophia, can you walk okay? Your foot hasn’t healed yet…”
“It hurts.”
“Gasp.”
“But I should show my face. Go wait in the carriage. I’ll join you soon.”
“But…”
“If you’re really worried, go get fresh bandages ready.”
After I told her several times, Bessie hesitated, then left.
Now alone, I looked around more freely.
Even though Arnold was my fiancé, I’d never been to the Glentino townhouse before.
He never invited me.
People recognized my face. Some whispered. Others waited for the right moment to approach.
‘Maybe I came at the wrong time…’
I slipped away to the back of the garden to avoid the stares.
It looked like I had run away, but honestly, the garden was beautiful.
So many types of flowers were blooming, but they weren’t messy—it all looked perfectly balanced.
I crouched down to admire some roses.
Then I heard soft, quick footsteps.
Light steps. Small steps…
A child’s footsteps
