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Chapter 3
Because the village chief was usually calm and strict, I had a very bad feeling.
“May I speak with this child for a moment? I beg you.”
The village chief bowed to the captain of the imperial knights. The captain frowned for a moment, then let out a sigh and nodded after seeing the desperate look in the chief’s eyes.
What is this? Why does he look like a prison guard in a drama who feels sorry for a prisoner’s family and secretly lets them stay past visiting hours?
The village chief walked over and tightly held both of my hands.
“Village Chief?”
“Listen carefully, Lucina. No matter what happens, beg His Majesty for mercy.”
“Huh? I didn’t do anything wrong, so why should I beg—”
“You might lose your head before you even get the chance! So beg first!”
“M-My head… cut off?”
“You’ve lost your memory, so you don’t understand how the world works!”
The village chief, who almost never raised his voice, shouted in anger.
Anxiety slowly crept over me.
Just what kind of person is this Emperor that everyone acts like I’m about to die?
“Father. Lucina didn’t do anything wrong, so don’t scold her.”
For once, Baser spoke against the village chief.
But the chief’s expression only became even darker.
“Listen carefully, Lucina.”
I swallowed hard.
His experienced eyes shone sharply.
“Three years ago, His Majesty adopted his niece as his own daughter.”
So she wasn’t his biological child?
But what did that have to do with me?
“But that’s not all. He reduced the Kingdom of Tedan—the kingdom responsible for killing the princess’s father, his younger brother—to ashes in just one year.”
“O-One year?”
“But that’s not all.”
There’s more?
“They say he destroyed Tedan because he mourned his younger brother deeply. But many believe that was only an excuse to invade the kingdom. Rumor has it… he simply enjoys killing. If someone annoys him, whether they’re an aide, a servant, or anyone in the imperial palace… he kills them all.”
…Excuse me?
Not noticing my stunned expression, the village chief spoke with a gloomy face.
“But that’s not all!”
What? There’s still more?!
“Anyone who enters his private room…”
The chief’s face turned pale as he slowly drew his thumb across his throat.
“He cuts their head off.”
“…What?”
He sighed deeply.
“Yes… Well, he’s said to possess the purest dragon bloodline in history, so expecting him to be humane or considerate is—”
“D-Dragon?”
The chief stared at me in disbelief before frowning.
“What? You didn’t even know that? The imperial family’s ancestors were dragons.”
Someone should have told me that!
I woke up in this world and immediately got chased by debt collectors!
My house was gone!
I’ve been too busy paying off debts!
How was I supposed to know any of this?!
A wave of unfairness surged up from deep inside me.
The village chief shut his eyes tightly and sighed.
“Yes… this is my fault. After your suicide attempt, you suffered so much. You always hated anything related to politics, so I thought there was no need to tell you…”
I gently pulled my hands away from his and clasped them together as if praying.
…Oh, dear God.
I want to live.
Please… let me live.
Just then, the knight who had grown tired of waiting spoke coldly.
“Hurry up. Do you intend to keep His Majesty waiting?”
“Um… If I simply explain the misunderstanding, I’ll live… right?”
“……”
Several knights exchanged glances.
A moment later, they quietly closed their eyes and turned away with heavy expressions.
Don’t look away! You’re scaring me!
A chill ran down my spine, and I began trembling.
Get yourself together.
Even if a tiger catches you, you’ll survive if you stay calm.
I just have to go to the imperial palace and clear up the misunderstanding.
Surely they won’t execute me?
I saved the Emperor’s niece.
If I saved his niece… surely he won’t treat me like one.
“Let’s go.”
The captain gestured toward me with his chin.
The knights immediately walked over and grabbed both of my arms.
“Wait. I’ll walk on my own.”
Instead, they lifted me into the air and carried me away.
No matter how much I kicked my legs, my feet never touched the ground.
“I said I’ll walk by myself!”
“Lucina!”
Baser started running toward me before suddenly stopping after noticing something.
Following his gaze, I saw the imperial princess.
She had apparently just woken up, her hair messy and uncombed.
“Y-Your Highness.”
The two knights holding me froze as if their strings had been cut.
Despite her disheveled appearance, the little princess glared fiercely at the knights who were holding me.
The knights immediately stepped back from me.
After a long moment, she clenched both fists, her body trembling.
Then she shouted,
“Don’t bully my mommy!”
“M-Mommy?”
Everyone there tilted their heads in confusion.
The princess suddenly dashed toward us like a charging beast, tears filling her eyes.
“Let my mommy go!”
“Y-Your Highness… Please calm down first…”
The captain waved his hands awkwardly in the air.
He couldn’t approach her, yet he couldn’t retreat either.
Why doesn’t someone just hug her and calm her down? Why is everyone panicking?
At that moment, the princess punched the nearest thing beside her.
My cottage.
“Don’t bully my mommy!”
BOOM!
CRAAASH!
“Huh?”
In the blink of an eye, the little cottage that had been my peaceful home for the past three years collapsed with a thunderous roar.
Crack! Crack!
Wood splintered apart one piece after another as dust rose into the air.
The villagers, the knights, Baser, and even I stood there with our mouths hanging open.
Everyone except the princess.
A while later, the villagers finally regained their senses.
“My goodness…”
“Lucina… How pitiful…”
I stared blankly at the ruins, gasping so hard that my chest hurt.
Then a forgotten memory suddenly surfaced.
A princess with monstrous strength.
Dragon ancestors.
The imperial family inherited dragon blood.
“So that’s it…”
At last…
Three years after arriving in this world…
I finally realized where I was.
I had been transported into the novel <Calamity and Calamity>.
The title referred to only two people.
The Emperor.
And the Princess.
It was the only novel I had ever finished reading, recommended by a high school student who had shared the hospital room next to mine.
According to the history of the Great Dicarte Empire, the imperial family’s ancestors were dragons.
For generations, they inherited both overwhelming magical power and monstrous physical strength.
Every member of the imperial family excelled in one extraordinary ability.
Among them, one emperor possessed the strongest and most astonishing magic in history.
Calix.
The Emperor of the Empire.
And the little girl I had saved…
She was Rubellin.
His niece.
The villain who would eventually destroy the entire world.
The unique aspect of this novel was that the main character was the villain herself.
Rubellin’s life had never been easy.
Despite Emperor Calix’s objections, the Second Prince, Alec, insisted on marrying the princess of the Kingdom of Tedan.
Not long afterward, he was murdered by the King of Tedan.
Enraged, the Emperor completely annihilated the Kingdom of Tedan and brought his orphaned niece back to the Empire, adopting her as his own daughter.
But Calix was cold-hearted.
He never knew how to show affection.
He restricted Rubellin’s freedom.
He never hugged her.
He never patted her head.
Aside from her tutor and attendants, he forbade her from forming close relationships with anyone.
The novel briefly mentioned that he himself had received such abnormal imperial training that he had once been confined like a prisoner.
Having never received love…
He never learned how to give it.
Every imperial child was trained to control their magic and monstrous strength.
But Rubellin failed to control her superhuman strength even after reaching adulthood.
She couldn’t even pick up a spoon without destroying it.
As she grew older and became more aware of her terrifying power, she gradually pushed away even the people who remained by her side.
Then one day, nobles rebelling against the Emperor lied to her.
They claimed that Emperor Calix was actually the one responsible for her father’s death.
“My life was ruined because this world exists.”
Filled with hatred toward both herself and the Emperor, Rubellin decided to erase everything with her own power.
When she finally killed Emperor Calix, she spoke these final words.
“If only… just once… you had shown me a little warmth… I would never have gone this far.”
Even while being betrayed by his own niece, Calix remained seated upon his throne, accepting death without resistance.
Afterward, Rubellin drowned the world in blood…
Before taking her own life.
Readers criticized that ending endlessly.
One reader commented:
“The Emperor is incredibly competent, but his personality is like an impossible boss who’s rude and impossible to deal with. If he’d simply treated Rubellin better, the story wouldn’t have turned into such a disaster. Yet it’s hard to completely hate him… because he also suffered a cruel childhood.”
In short…
It was the story of a villain…
And the person who created that villain.
Rattle… Rattle…
The shaking carriage pulled me back to reality.
Rubellin, sitting across from me, tilted her head.
“Mommy, why are you shaking?”
“I-I’m shaking? N-No way.”
“But you are.”
“N-No, I’m not.”
“Are you cold?”
No.
I’m terrified.
I’m on my way to meet the villain…
And the man who turned her into one.
An emperor with the worst personality imaginable.
It’s terrifying.
I forced a smile while trying to stop my trembling hands.
Rubellin scooted over beside me and stretched out both of her arms.
“Want a hug?”
“Um… Well…”
How do I refuse without hurting her feelings?
I’d just witnessed her terrifying strength with my own eyes.
And I knew from the novel.
If the Emperor’s magic was a living natural disaster…
Then Rubellin’s physical strength was a living weapon.
She could crush a person’s skull as easily as crushing an apple.
One kick could split the earth itself.
There was no way I could simply hug her.
If she accidentally rested her hand on my shoulder…
Every bone in my body would shatter.
What should I do…?
Just then, the carriage suddenly lurched violently as it landed after floating over rough terrain.
Rubellin lost her balance.
“Your Highness!”
Without thinking, I reached out and caught her by the shoulders before she could fall.
Rubellin’s eyes widened in surprise.
Then, once the carriage steadied itself, she smiled brightly.
Blushing slightly, she gently placed her hand on top of mine.
I squeezed my eyes shut in panic.
But…
Nothing happened.
After several seconds, I cautiously opened one eye.
Rubellin was smiling shyly, her cheeks slightly red.
Huh…?
This is… fine?
That’s strange.
Even using a tiny fraction of her strength should have broken my bones.
Before I could think further, the carriage came to a stop.
The sound of boots approached from outside.
I looked through the window.
Already?
It was still daylight.
Then again…
After watching Rubellin casually destroy my house with one punch…
It somehow made sense.
Right.
This really is a world of magic and superhuman strength.
“Hngh…”
The moment I unconsciously removed my hand from her shoulder, Rubellin pouted sadly.
“So cute…”
…Maybe I won’t die if I hug her after all?
“Your Highness. We will open the door now.”
The carriage door opened.
A knight wrapped completely in a hooded robe appeared.
“Excuse me, Your Highness.”
After bowing respectfully, the tense-looking knight carefully lifted Rubellin into his arms
