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Chapter 08
“Good job. You’ve worked very hard.”
“…?”
“The prince’s hand.”
A voice that felt carved into memory, impossible to forget even after a long time.
Even after losing his parents to the hands of the deposed Emperor Lazer, wandering across the continent… even after losing countless people who trusted and followed him to enemy armies…
In the end, it was the voice of a girl who made him stand up again.
She probably didn’t even know it herself.
“So this time, I will protect you.”
After a long journey, finally…
Edrion gave a bitter smile and turned his gaze away.
Dawn was breaking beyond the horizon.
Even the thick darkness in the corridor was gradually being pushed away by the bright, cold light of the rising sun.
It was just like Edrion’s heart.
A loud alarm rang in Lyris’s ears as she fell into a deep sleep.
“Beep-beep-beep—”
“Ugh…”
Lyris was a heavy sleeper, especially in the mornings.
One of the best things about settling in the southern region was exactly this—she could sleep late without caring about anyone else’s gaze.
She habitually reached toward the bedside and rolled over.
“Beep-beep-beep—”
“Ughhh…”
So the clock was on the left, not the right.
She turned again, feeling around the bedside, then suddenly froze.
“…?”
Hm.
Did alarm clocks even exist in this world?
No—more importantly, since when did alarm clocks start flying left and right while ringing?
At that moment, something lightly landed on the bridge of her nose, and Lyris opened her eyes as if splashed with cold water.
“Beep!”
The first thing she saw was a pair of tiny, sparkling eyes like marbles.
And… a young green leaf sprouting from it.
“Am I dreaming right now?”
“Bee?”
But if it was a dream, the feeling of the hand—no, rootlets—touching her cheek was far too real.
Lyris sat on the bed and let out a long sigh.
This situation needed some thinking.
“Haa…”
“Bee?”
The leaf that slipped down from her nose wandered around her knees.
She carefully considered how she was supposed to interpret this thing that had legs—rootlets—and was even making noise.
“Don’t tell me…”
A memory from the previous day flashed through her mind.
She had found a yellow leaf among her discarded outdoor clothes.
It looked very much like a World Tree leaf, so she didn’t feel comfortable throwing it away. Instead, she quickly placed it in a cup of water.
But she swore she never expected this result.
She did NOT intend for an unknown leaf to fly around her head making loud noises.
“Bee-bee-bee.”
“Haah…”
Knock—knock.
At that moment, a calm knock came from outside the door.
Lyris quickly grabbed the leaf that was buzzing around like a bee and hid it behind her back.
She had already committed enough blasphemy yesterday; she didn’t want to add more sins on top of it.
What kind of punishment would she get for giving a sacred World Tree leaf eyes and a mouth…?
“W-who is it!”
“Good morning, Lady Doctor.”
It was Jenia.
Lyris, trembling while holding the leaf behind her, sighed in relief.
After being granted permission, Jenia entered. She was carrying clean washing water and grooming tools such as a comb.
“It is time to wake up.”
“Already…?”
Looking outside, it was around 9 AM.
Far too early for her to function properly.
Jenia wouldn’t not know that, so there was only one explanation.
“So I’m finally being exiled from the imperial palace?”
“No.”
“Oh, then there’s no need to wake up early… I’ll just sleep more.”
“I will report it as such.”
As Lyris slowly crawled back into bed, she sensed something strange.
She took the leaf buzzing in front of her and carefully sealed it inside a cup again before asking.
“Report it to who?”
“To Her Majesty the Empress.”
“What.”
“I will inform the head attendant outside that the Doctor wishes to sleep more and therefore has no intention of having an audience with Her Majesty the Empress.”
“…You really want to get rid of me, don’t you.”
Lyris shot up from the bed faster than light.
The Empress Palace, known as the “Moon of the Empire,” was overwhelming from the entrance.
Sunlight poured through crystal windows over white Mediterranean marble like foam.
Every pillar was carved with mythological moons, and the walls were embedded with jewels like scattered stars.
“This way, Princess.”
“But this doesn’t look like an audience hall…”
The place they stopped was the Empress’s private reception room.
Unlike the audience hall where scribes recorded every conversation, this was a secret space where no one outside could know what happened inside.
A place where even a certain doctor could lose his head without anyone noticing.
“Her Majesty wishes to speak with you in a more private setting.”
“Uh…”
I don’t want that at all.
As Lyris stood frozen like a puppy in front of a vet clinic, the attendant gestured insistently for her to enter.
Eventually, she was practically pushed inside.
‘Please, I’m not getting my head chopped off… right?’
Her thoughts didn’t last long.
Someone was sitting on the sofa in the center of the room.
Lyris bowed deeply.
“All glory to the Moon of the Empire. I greet Her Majesty the Empress.”
“You may rise.”
At the Empress Aitana’s permission, Lyris stood up properly.
‘Wow… she really is the heroine…’
An overwhelming presence.
She had never seen the original heroine in person before, so her eyes naturally drifted.
Aitana looked exactly as described in the novel.
Fiery red hair, sharp and confident facial features, deep golden eyes, long elegant limbs.
And above all, an arrogant, natural aura in her gaze that made people look back even if they passed her on the street.
But on her hand was a large scar that clashed with her noble beauty.
A reminder of her harsh past.
‘So that’s from when she was a slave…’
The previous Emperor Lazer was incompetent.
Born as the eldest of the royal family, he ascended the throne by luck, but had no ability to bear its weight.
In contrast, his son, Crown Prince Kairos, was wise and kind, seen as the model of a virtuous ruler.
Naturally, power began to shift from the Emperor to the Crown Prince.
‘Lazer couldn’t stand it.’
He was foolish by nature but greedy, only satisfied when all power and attention were on him.
And the engagement between Kairos and Aitana only fueled his paranoia.
It was easy to see how the Akshad family, the Crown Prince’s powerful support, and his own uncertain future made him uneasy.
And so it happened.
“Execute the Duke of Akshad and his family. Strip the daughter of her noble status and enslave her.”
The Emperor framed the Akshad family for treason.
The Crown Prince knelt beneath his father’s chamber, begging for days and nights to spare his beloved’s family, until he collapsed.
Meanwhile, the Duke and Duchess were executed without even a proper trial.
Edrion was away in his territory at the time and barely managed to escape, but Aitana was not so fortunate.
She had already entered the palace before her wedding to the Crown Prince.
“Aitana! I will save you, I swear…!”
“Don’t. Kairos. I will find my own way to live. You must survive and become Emperor. Promise me you will only think of that.”
As she was dragged out of the palace, Aitana gave him that final request.
Do not think of her—only survive under Lazer and become Emperor.
And true to her promise, once she arrived at the northern slave trade center, she swung a greatsword, killed the guards, shattered the prison to pieces, and escaped calmly.
