🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter – 01
A Brutal Death
“Gueok!… Keuheuk…”
In the deepest, darkest prison of the imperial capital, where not even moonlight could penetrate, a woman’s ragged sounds, indistinguishable between sobs and strained breathing, intermittently disturbed the pitch-black darkness like retching.
A chilling silence filled the prison each time the clanking of chains would start and then stop.
‘The crime of assassinating the previous Emperor? It wasn’t me!’
No matter how much she screamed in injustice, only a cracked voice escaped the woman’s lips. Her voice, her intelligence guild, her right hand… she had lost everything. Staring out through the bars was useless.
Yesica had endured endless checks and threats, holding on and holding out. But when she came to her senses, she found herself here. In the imperial prison.
There were still those outside who followed her, but what could they do when she was locked in prison, limbs bound in chains, to be executed tomorrow?
‘How could this happen… I never thought he would discard me like this. Darten!’
Her lost voice wandered uselessly through the air, but Yesica’s pupils alone shone brightly in the dark.
She couldn’t end like this. Her life was too precious to end like this, betrayed after having everything stolen from her. Each breath she took, filled with resentment and injustice, seemed to freeze with bitter regret.
‘Why are you doing this to me? After all I’ve done for you!’
The reason Darten had imprisoned her was because she knew all of his sins. She had even committed murder for him, and this was her reward.
She had given everything to Darten, who had cast her aside. Everything she had. The man who had used her, who loved him, and then trampled on her when her usefulness was over: Darten Ert.
‘You whispered “I love you,” and now that you don’t need me, you kill me? To silence me?’
Memories of the countless things she had done for Darten flooded back. To place Darten, the third prince, on the throne, Yesica had to kill the Empire’s first prince, who had respected her abilities.
To kill the first prince, Darten had coaxed her, and Yesica decided to kill the first prince for him.
His aide prepared the poisoned tea, which was poured into both Yesica’s cup and the first prince’s. After drinking the poisoned tea with the first prince, Yesica suffered the aftereffects of the poison and became permanently unable to bear children.
‘What did you say then, Darten, you bastard?’
“It’s a relief you could avoid suspicion.”
He had told her he deliberately put poison in her cup too. So she wouldn’t be suspected. Foolishly, she had believed him. Because she loved Darten, because she thought he loved her too.
Killing the first prince was a dangerous task for him as well. Losing her ability to have children was sad, but she thought Darten was all she needed. That’s how she felt back then.
There were many men who wanted the seat beside her, now that she controlled the ducal house. Sometimes princes from other countries, other times a desert prince, or a young noble from a humble family. She could have lived as the queen of social circles, accepting the affections of those kind men, those who declared their love for her…
‘Why on earth did I make such a choice? I wasn’t even a secret lover, just a mistress.’
Only now did she realize it. Darten had always hidden her. She thought it was to protect her, but now she knew otherwise.
She regretted it, but that regret came too late. A woman blinded by love—the price for such blind love was this brutal.
‘I will never forgive you. Darten! I will curse you even in death!’
Before being imprisoned, during her private audience with Darten, now the Emperor, she had vomited blood from whatever was in the refreshments she ate. Her tongue went numb, her limbs lost strength. And she was forever rendered unable to speak.
If he had only taken her voice, she might have found a way to write a message, but the day after she entered prison, her hand was cut off. Staring with blurred eyes at the empty space where her right hand used to be, Yesica trembled at Darten’s cruelty.
On the fifth day of her imprisonment, she realized there was no escape, no matter what she did. Just as a hunting dog is no longer needed after the hunt, Darten, now on the throne, intended to kill her—a woman who held the real power of a ducal house—to demonstrate the majesty of the imperial family.
With no voice, it would be difficult to plead her innocence at tomorrow’s execution. If she could stay in prison longer, she might try other methods, but he gave her no time for tricks. Immediate execution.
Banatone? Thinking of him, Yesica shook her head. That so-called husband hadn’t even visited her once. The hope that he would save her rolled around the prison floor, worth less than dust. No matter how much she thought and thought, all that came to mind was how she had been used.
Banatone, Darten’s aide who had remarried her to take control of the ducal house, had killed all the people who served her closely. The one who ordered her to remarry was also Darten. The pretext was that he could meet her more often by placing his aide by her side, but she realized now that wasn’t true.
‘It’s too late. Too late…’
How many people had died protecting her? She felt so sorry for those sacrificed because of her. Yesica’s heart, once filled with resentment, now felt a crushing sadness. Tears streamed down cheeks that were once white and smooth, now tangled with grime.
‘Was it wrong to sit in a high position and look down on men? The men of the Empire wouldn’t just stand by and let a woman be above them. No, the mistake was giving my heart to a scoundrel like Darten.’
Just then, thud, thud—the sound of footsteps grew louder, breaking the darkness and silence of the prison. Who could it be? Yesica stopped her tears and swallowed dry saliva.
Squeak! Someone lit a lamp. Yesica, who had been shivering from the bone-chilling cold of the floor, momentarily felt her body warm at the brightened surroundings. But her eyes, unaccustomed to the light, blinked several times before she could see the person before her.
“Here you are.”
“……!”
“I looked for you for quite a while, Yesica.”
When Yesica saw the person standing before her, she almost fainted. An intense, piercing pain surged through her heart. Pain also flooded into her severed hand.
A man with red hair, clad in robes adorned with jewels and gold, the man who had seized the throne, the man she should curse even in death—Darten stood ominously before the bars with his aide.
Agitated, Yesica tried to make sounds, gagging, but only hoarse noises came from her throat, no words. The clashing of iron chains echoed through the prison, and a bleak wind stirred. Even amidst that clamor, Darten didn’t bat an eye.
“I regret having to kill you.”
Darten spoke softly, the corners of his lips raised. The affectionate tone that flowed from his beautiful lips was nothing but cold mockery to Yesica, who met his icy blue eyes.
Regret? You call this regret?
One doesn’t say ‘regret’ even about a guard dog dying. Moreover, she was his lover and the top contributor who helped him ascend the throne. Instead of a reward, he says ‘regret’! His words, implying she was worth less than a household dog, twisted Yesica’s expression into a wretched grimace.
“That expression. I wanted to see that. I never liked your expression, always looking down on others so haughtily. On top of that, your face, shining with conviction even while knowing what deeds you were doing, was disgusting. How dare you be so proud after deceiving and betraying others to put me on the throne?”
His words were contradictory. Was doing something for the person you love something to be vilified for?
“Just die quietly. Someone found out about our relationship, and it’s a headache. From beginning to end, you were the source of my headaches. If it weren’t for you, I could have spent my whole life with the woman I love, but because you got in the way, tears fell from my noble lady’s eyes.”
A noble lady? That’s what Darten always called Yesica. My noble lady. And now he says he loves someone else.
Yesica’s expression grew still. A strangely grim and cold aura emanated from that expression, sending a chill through Darten’s body. As his shoulders trembled slightly, Yesica, seeing this, gave a faint smile.
“The smile of a bug who’ll die tomorrow…?”
It’s only human to be afraid when someone you thought was close looks at you with a completely different face. Yesica, having cast off her docile mask, stopped her faint smile and looked at him with a cold expression.
A chilling face she had never shown him. The face that had earned her the nickname ‘the Witch of the Empire,’ one she could never bear to show the person she loved, now stared at Darten.
Seeing Yesica’s expression for the first time, he momentarily faltered, taken aback, then spoke to her again.
“I always hated it. A mere Marquis’s daughter, just because you were the daughter of a Frontier Count, you looked down on me, a prince. You even took control of the ducal house because the Duke was lucky enough to die on the first night, and that was thanks to me, wasn’t it? But you didn’t know your place, and on top of that, even though you were already married, you said you loved me?”
Saying he didn’t like it, Darten raised his voice. His cold voice echoed hollowly through the prison. The soldier guarding the prison was nowhere to be seen.
‘You’re trying to kill me for that reason? There was no truth from the beginning to the end? You just used me?’
Once again, Darten’s voice flowed out ominously.
“To be acknowledged by the person I wanted recognition from… Why you, and not me?”
At his words, Yesica’s head jerked up.
‘The person you wanted recognition from? Who…?’
The betrayal of the man she loved turned her mind blank, making it impossible to gather her thoughts. Maintaining a cold expression was the best she could do. Yesica had trusted Darten.
When her father left the capital during her childhood, he was the one who sought her out and kindly talked to her. She thought falling in love with that boy was natural.
“You know what’s fortunate? That I no longer need to seek acknowledgment. That person is dead. By the hand of the very person they trusted.”
Why were there so many things she didn’t know? The endless betrayals pushed Yesica to the brink of fainting. Everyone she thought was close had turned their backs on her. Her aide, even the subordinates of the intelligence guild she cherished…
‘There wasn’t a single person truly mine.’
Then, a person flashed through her mind. The First Prince. Saliphe Ert. The man who died by her poison, the one who had been uniquely kind to her. His words came back to her.
“Duchess, you are truly capable. This Empire applies stricter standards to capable women. I understand you have exceptional abilities, but you must know how to hide and conceal them. Otherwise, you will face misfortune.”
At the time, his words didn’t properly register. With her heart full of love for Darten, it was difficult for his words to truly sink in. The words she had dismissed now returned, leaving a deep mark on her.
‘Your Highness, the Prince.’
The man who would have worn the high imperial crown if it weren’t for Darten and her. She, the reason for his death scream, was locked in an underground prison, facing the man who betrayed her. As she realized everything, anger clouded the depths of her eyes. That anger soon turned into flames, engulfing her body, and finally subsided without a trace.
The flames became a cold, icy fire, hidden deep within her heart. Concealing the calmly but fiercely burning rage, Yesica looked at Darten with impassive eyes. His gaze, as he slowly continued speaking, turned cold upon meeting hers.
“It’s a bit disappointing that I can’t hear your thoughts, but it seems there’s no reason for me to watch over you until the very end, since you’ll die tomorrow. You seduced the person I respected with that pretty face, clinging to his embrace, so I think I need to ruin that face to quell my anger.”
His face turned terrifying as he spoke with a smirk. His words, revealing his purpose for coming here, were full of malice. Who had ever called this man the kind and innocent third prince? Blaming herself for being fooled by that innocent face and giving her heart away, Yesica closed her eyes.
Seeing Yesica’s expression remain unchanged, Darten gestured to the aide standing guard beside him. As soon as the aide handed him the sword he was carrying, Darten grabbed it and thrust it through the prison bars towards Yesica’s neck.
Without a moment’s hesitation, the sharp blade, glinting in the light, was swung. Instantly, Yesica’s pale cheek split open, gushing fresh blood.
“You might even try to write a blood petition with the fallen drops. Even with your limbs bound, a wretch like you would squirm enough to manage it. The sleeping poison on the blade is my last gift to you. It’ll be less painful for you to sleep through it.”
Feeling the cold touch of the blade on her cheek, Yesica lost consciousness.
The next day, no miracle occurred for Yesica as she stood on the execution ground. She could hear the voices of the imperial citizens jeering.
“Filthy wicked woman! How dare you poison His Majesty?”
“This is what happens when a woman heads a household!”
“The shame of women! Witch!”
Her body and face were covered in filth. All trash and filth thrown by the imperial citizens. None of the soldiers stopped it; instead, the people watching her misfortune had eyes full of glee.
The misfortune of others sometimes gives humans pleasure. And since she was a noble who had fallen from a height they couldn’t even look up to, the citizens’ catharsis was even greater. Staring until the end at Darten, who was watching her execution from the throne, she recited inwardly.
‘I will never forgive you. I will become a demon in death and punish you all. Oh God! Do not forgive those without righteousness.’
Darten, watching Yesica’s execution, didn’t flinch even at her wretched state. Saela, sitting next to him wearing the empress’s crown, turned her head as if she couldn’t bear to look and leaned her face against Darten’s shoulder.
‘Saela, you probably don’t know. That Darten did this to me.’
Her close friend sat beside Darten, unaware of this truth.
‘I’m sorry.’
She was so sorry to have left her by the side of such a cruel man. Yesica gnawed at her lips at the sight of Darten’s duplicitous face, drawing a gentle smile. The curve of his lips, mocking her until the end, was all too clear. Looking around, she saw everyone waiting for her execution with excited eyes.
“Criminal! Yesica poisoned the previous Emperor and disrupted the discipline of the Empire. Therefore, her noble title is revoked, and she is sentenced to execution.”
Hearing the voices of people saying she deserved to die, Yesica’s eyes flew open. With no voice, even if she screamed, no one would listen. No, even if she screamed, who would believe her? The people who met her furious eyes flinched and averted their gazes.
“The criminal’s eyes are impure! Proceed with the execution immediately!”
Seeing Yesica’s eyes, Saela trembled, and Darten gave the order. In an instant, she was killed.
The sight of her betraying lover and friend sitting side by side,
The pain that felt like boiling rage,
The agony of having her entire life condemned as that of a criminal.
All that terrible pain ended in an instant, and peace arrived.
And then she opened her eyes again.
