chapter 27
Helene shouted urgently.
“I am Helene Emeldia of the Emeldia Count family. I am twenty-six years old, lost my husband two years ago, and live with my three adopted daughters. The eldest works as the chief lady-in-waiting for Princess Angelina, and the second is a royal guard for the Crown Prince. I came to the imperial palace on my daughter’s errand, but by mistake, I entered this place. I admit I have committed many sins in my life, but I have been given a second chance by the Sun God. I will accept any punishment, but please allow me to say farewell to my three daughters first! Your Majesty, the Emperor!”
Though her words tumbled out in a rush and were somewhat disorganized, her pronunciation was clear, so the Emperor understood her perfectly.
Some parts of her story were familiar to him.
If what she said was true, she had come looking for her daughter but accidentally entered his secret hideout.
Could this really be true?
The Emperor lowered the greatsword he had held at her neck.
Helene kept her hands raised.
In her previous life, when faced with death, she had once seen a documentary saying that telling one’s personal story to the attacker could increase the chances of survival.
She did not really believe it would work, but at that moment, she had no other option.
Helene closed her eyes tightly.
The Emperor first pulled Helene out of the room.
“Is anyone there?!”
At the Emperor’s booming shout, the guards who had just finished their shift gathered.
Upon seeing Helene, the guards realized there had been an intruder, and their faces drained of color as if they had seen a dead person.
“Verify this woman’s identity.”
“Yes, sir!”
The disciplined soldiers grabbed Helene’s arms and began to check her belongings.
They confirmed she had a pass allowing free access to the palace, and the guards in charge of palace entry verified that they had authorized her entry.
They also confirmed the identities of the eldest daughter, working as chief lady-in-waiting, and the second daughter serving as a royal guard.
She was indeed Helene Emeldia, as she claimed.
The Emperor had heard stories before about the reckless stepmother who caused a scandal with gambling and extravagance but had since repented and changed her ways.
Though the Emperor never voiced it because it went against the Sun Cult’s spirit, he thought it was all just a show.
He had seen countless staged dramas aimed at attracting society’s attention.
He had wondered what kind of woman she really was—and now she was right in front of him.
“You say you took a wrong turn…?”
Even so, she had trespassed into the Emperor’s secret hideout, which was punishable by death.
At best, she would be sentenced to rot in an underground prison for life.
“I-I have committed a grave sin…”
However, the Emperor decided to let her go this once.
He confirmed that her second daughter, the royal guard she was searching for, had just left with the Crown Prince to exterminate the Phemos.
The soldiers who had left with the Emperor were said to have departed in such haste they had no time to properly bid their families farewell.
Her second daughter could be killed by the Phemos.
In a way, Helene, whose child was now in mortal danger, was in the same position as himself—and the Emperor was indebted to her because of it.
“Your daughter just left with the Crown Prince to exterminate the Phemos. They left so suddenly they couldn’t even say goodbye to their family.”
Helene was shocked to hear the Emperor’s words.
If there were such a thing as a daily fortune in this world, today’s would surely say, “Everything will go wrong today. A day of great misfortune. Do not go outside.”
Helene had barely survived.
In the original story, the Emperor would not hesitate to kill her immediately.
Strictly speaking, it was the Emperor in front of her who killed Helene in the original story.
Angelina, the “Angel of the Empire,” had tried to forgive Helene, but the Emperor, unable to forgive Helene for insulting Angelina—whom he loved like his own daughter—had insisted on having Helene beheaded.
Recalling those memories, the Emperor was not a hero of the empire but a lunatic who couldn’t control his anger.
“J-Jaina went to exterminate the Phemos…?”
Helene never imagined hearing the news of Jaina and the Crown Prince together would sound so horrifying.
There was no way the two of them alone could defeat the giant monster Phemos.
In the original story, Duke Zighardt defeated that monster, and even Zighardt, the Swordmaster, had a hard time fighting it.
“…Why did it turn out like this?”
The original story had changed.
Of course, she had tried to change the original story—but not like this.
Helene was confused.
Jaina, who had left with the Crown Prince, might die.
Worried, her face turned pale, which stirred guilt in the Emperor.
“…I understand a mother’s concern for her daughter, but this is the fate of the royal knights. You must understand that.”
The Emperor looked closely at Helene.
Her sad expression was truly beautiful.
For the first time in a long while, the Emperor’s heart raced.
But even so, he wished to decline such feelings on a night like this.
It was a maddening night, worrying about the Crown Prince who had left for Ikellan.
“…The sun has set. I will prepare a carriage so you may return home.”
The guards who failed to properly watch Helene would pay the price instead.
At the Emperor’s word, the guards hurried to move.
“Y-Your Majesty, thank you so much! I will never forget your mercy!”
Helene bowed deeply once again.
Of course, her true thoughts were different.
Afraid that the Emperor—an uncontrollable lunatic—might change his mind, she hurried with the guards out of the palace.
The royal carriage, lavishly gilded in gold, was incredibly comfortable.
Thanks to the horses fed with high-grade magic stones, Helene soon arrived at the count’s mansion.
The day had been very long and terrible.
She could have died.
She struggled to change the future, but today she had almost been beheaded by the Emperor as in the original story.
Could she survive this life without dying?
Helene was no longer confident.
Just as she got off the carriage and prepared to enter the mansion, shadows approached from behind.
Their faces were covered with hoods, and darkness quickly engulfed Helene’s vision.
Just as she was about to scream, a handkerchief was stuffed into her mouth.
‘Wh-who on earth would do this, and why?’
Numerous suspects flashed through Helene’s mind.
Was it one of the victims from the artificial gem business?
Or a noble she had beaten at the gambling house?
‘Damn it….’
Her consciousness ended there, possibly drugged through the handkerchief.
Princess Angelina’s ship, Cloud, arrived at the capital’s Lepia Harbor.
They arrived two days earlier than expected.
The voyage had been blessed with excellent weather and favorable winds.
The navigator admired the divine blessing of the Princess of the Sun God and marveled that in his twenty years of sailing, he had never seen such conditions.
“Are you really sure you don’t want to inform anyone?”
Maid Marisol asked Angelina again as they boarded a carriage brought from Herbient rather than one waiting at the palace.
Princess Angelina instructed that no one should be told about their early arrival.
When asked why, she just smiled mysteriously.
A woman should always keep men waiting.
Zighardt and Luihart always waited for Angelina.
Zighardt once stood in the rain all night waiting for her, and Luihart waited outside the academy until her after-school classes ended.
So sometimes, they must be the ones to go meet her.
Riding in the carriage, Angelina checked her face in a platinum hand mirror.
She looked vibrant—hardly like someone who had just finished a long sea voyage.
While fixing her hair, she suddenly felt something missing.
She took a hairpin from the jewelry box Marisol was holding.
It was a sapphire-studded hairpin given by Duke Revladian on her birthday last year.
The blue sapphire made her lake-like eyes stand out even more.
Angelina hummed softly without realizing it.
The people of Herbient all knew that when Angelina was excited, she unconsciously hummed.
Listening to her beautiful singing voice during the New Year’s choir solo felt like being in heaven.
Even the carriage driver’s shoulders bobbed along to her singing.
Zighardt arrived at Princess Angelina’s chamber in the palace.
He came to check the room where Angelina would stay, as she was due to arrive in two days.
Creak—
Upon opening the door, he saw someone standing by the terrace window.
The white curtains hanging there fluttered in the breeze like a dance.
Though the curtains hid the face, Zighardt walked toward the window, mesmerized.
The white lace-trimmed curtains resembled a bride’s veil.
“…Liliana?”
What documentary is it ?!!