CHAPTER 1
“Her Highness the Princess has passed away.”
My daughter was dead.
My one and only daughter — the princess of this nation — had drowned.
Yoon Soo-ryun walked with faltering steps, forcing her way through the palace women weeping in anguish.
As she passed, the people who had been sobbing wiped their tears and parted before her like the Red Sea.
Before long, her daughter’s lifeless form came into view.
The girl who would normally have run into her arms, beaming with joy.
Now, lying still without the slightest movement — the sight of her was unfamiliar, terrifying.
“Y-Your Majesty the Empress…”
A palace maid called out to her in a grief-stricken voice, but nothing could stop Soo-ryun’s approach.
She soon reached the bedside and leaned down.
Her hand trembled as it touched her daughter’s face — so pale it had turned blue.
“Se-hee…”
She gently stroked the child with trembling hands.
The soft, warm skin she had always known was now as cold as ice.
Her body shouldn’t feel this cold.
She should make her warm again.
Frantically, she pulled the blanket up over her daughter’s tiny frame — but nothing changed.
“…Se-hee?”
No matter how many times she called, her daughter didn’t respond.
And finally, Soo-ryun collapsed.
“Your Majesty!”
A court lady nearby rushed forward to catch her as she fell.
Soo-ryun cried out toward the heavens. Her voice echoed through the palace wing in utter agony.
“Why… Why?!”
Just earlier, before leaving the palace, her daughter had been perfectly fine.
She had even hooked her pinky around Soo-ryun’s and asked her to read a book by her bedside when she returned.
But now, that same child greeted her not with joy — but as a cold, lifeless body.
In response to Soo-ryun’s cries, Jeong-ah — the head court lady and Se-hee’s former nanny — dropped to her knees.
“I… I deserve to die, Your Majesty. Her Highness the Princess suddenly wanted to play hide-and-seek…”
Tears streamed down Jeong-ah’s face as it twisted in guilt.
“So I became the seeker and went to look for her, b-but…!”
Jeong-ah stammered slowly.
“No matter how much I searched, I couldn’t find Her Highness, so I gathered others to look with me, but…”
Unable to continue, she hung her head in shame.
One of the other palace women stepped in to finish.
“When we found the Princess… she was already floating motionless in the Hyangwonjeong Pond…”
“Ahh…”
A deep, helpless groan escaped Soo-ryun’s throat.
Hyangwonjeong — a small pavilion in the center of a pond.
She had warned her daughter countless times not to go near it, since the water surrounding it was deep and dangerous.
But the princess was only five years old.
How could a five-year-old possibly understand the danger?
It was a horrifying accident.
“I deserve death…! Your Majesty!”
Jeong-ah slammed her forehead to the floor and wailed.
Soo-ryun didn’t even have the strength to blame her.
No, to be exact — she no longer had the will to hold anyone accountable.
After all, blaming someone wouldn’t bring her daughter back to life.
Though the palace attendants were still speaking around her, none of it registered in her mind. Her thoughts were blank, her heart crumbling.
Then—
“Your Majesty.”
Her husband entered the room.
Lee Jun.
Empress Soo-ryun’s husband, and the Emperor of the Korean Empire — a nation now in its 133rd year as of 2030.
“Where is the Princess?”
Disheveled from his rush to the scene, he looked like he had come the moment he heard the news.
He hurried to their daughter’s side.
Just like Soo-ryun had done, Lee Jun ran his hand repeatedly over their child’s face — then suddenly shot to his feet.
SMACK!
Without warning, he struck Soo-ryun across the face.
He seemed to forget all about the many eyes watching, his voice rising with rage.
“What kind of mother doesn’t even know her child is dying?! What the hell were you doing?!”
Her cheek burned from the blow.
Instead of receiving even a shred of comfort, all she got from him was blame — and that made the pain unbearable.
But Soo-ryun couldn’t utter a word in defense.
Because she truly did feel like it was her fault.
Se-hee had been a miracle.
All children are precious, but Se-hee had been born after years of trying with IVF — a cherished royal descendant.
Though the royal family had frowned on her for giving birth to a girl, both she and Lee Jun had genuinely loved and treasured Se-hee.
They even tried to amend the succession law so that a princess could ascend to the throne.
That’s how precious she was to both of them.
But Lee Jun didn’t stop at the slap — his anger lashed out in words, too.
His grief at losing their daughter turned into rage toward his wife.
“I should’ve known something was wrong when you started that ridiculous women’s organization!”
Soo-ryun had created a women’s rights group, believing gender equality must improve for Se-hee to one day inherit the throne.
It was all part of Soo-ryun’s efforts to secure their daughter’s future.
But the Empress Dowager had always disapproved.
“Stop with the nonsense and just focus on supporting your husband. A nation falls when a woman oversteps her place.”
Soo-ryun said nothing in response to his reproach.
Because part of her did believe he was right — that this was all her fault.
Even if it had been for Se-hee’s sake… in the end, her daughter was gone.
If only I hadn’t left the palace today.
If only I had taken Se-hee with me instead.
If I had… my daughter would still be alive.
Soo-ryun cried silently.
A heavy, mournful air loomed over the Taewonjeon Hall, where the funeral was being held.
There, before the lone coffin of the princess, Soo-ryun sat blankly.
She had yet to accept her daughter’s death.
The entire nation mourned the loss of the princess.
At the same time, news outlets and social media erupted with a mix of sympathy and blame directed at Soo-ryun.
She couldn’t breathe.
Her reputation had never been great in the media anyway, so the criticism didn’t surprise her.
But hearing people say her daughter had died because of her — it felt like hands were closing around her throat.
Like this whole tragedy really had happened because of her.
Like her daughter’s death was her fault.
Tears streamed down her cheeks.
She couldn’t imagine a world without her daughter in it.
Rising shakily, Soo-ryun reached out and gently caressed the coffin.
“I’m sorry, baby…”
Before letting her go, she gave one final farewell to her daughter, who lay with eyes closed.
“In your next life, may you be born to a better mother.”
Not to someone like me, too busy to play with you.
But to a mother who reads to you every night and holds your hand at the playground…
A tear hanging from her chin dropped onto the coffin.
Soo-ryun’s hollow voice echoed through the hall.
Just then, her mother-in-law, Empress Dowager Min, entered.
She looked at her dazed daughter-in-law and clicked her tongue in disdain.
“This is why the right kind of people need to marry into a family. One wrong person and look what happens — a funeral.”
The Empress Dowager showed not the slightest trace of sorrow, even after losing her granddaughter.
In truth, she had never cared for Se-hee, who couldn’t inherit the throne.
When Se-hee was born, she hadn’t even come to see her until Soo-ryun personally brought the child to her.
Now she simply delivered orders to the grief-stricken Empress.
“Once the funeral’s over, go stay somewhere with fresh air and rest. Recuperate.”
It sounded like concern — but it was essentially exile.
And she wasn’t finished. With a sharp voice, the Empress Dowager muttered:
“What man would want to see the wife who killed his child?”
