🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter : 01
“Your Highness, please wait! Oh dear heavens! Lord Bellis!”
As the desperate voice calling from behind grew more distant, the child running boldly through the long imperial palace corridor only increased her speed.
Her small frame was almost buried inside a voluminous dress, and her silver hair swayed just above her shoulders.
Every time sunlight streaming through the large windows touched her hair and eyes, it seemed to scatter brilliant flashes of light.
“Mom! I’m here!”
The little girl burst through the wide-open door as if tumbling in, spreading her short arms wide as she shouted.
The attendants who had been standing silently like statues in the still room flinched in surprise and looked toward her.
“Your Highness!”
“Please be careful, Your Highness!”
One of the Empress’s personal maids reached out to catch Etern, who looked like she might fall at any moment.
But Etern slipped right past her arms and ran straight toward the Empress’s bedroom.
“Mom, good morning!”
Despite her daughter’s lively greeting, Empress Meikellen, lying in bed, did not move at all.
Her eyes were closed as if she were in a very deep sleep, and even her breathing was faint and shallow.
Hmm… let’s see.
Pretending to simply look at her sleeping mother, Etern made a circle with the thumb and index finger of her left hand and placed it over her eye.
As her light green eye shone through the ring, a faint cloud visible only to Etern appeared above the Empress’s body.
— Meikellen Sot Apier
Empress of the Sidernel Empire, 30 years old.
- …….
- …….
- …….
Hmm…! Again today. Still nothing…
Letting out a deep sigh, Etern plopped down beside the Empress’s bed and rested her chin on her hand.
Though she looked like an ordinary child with her small fist supporting her chin and her head slightly tilted, her expression was unusually serious.
“Oh my goodness, Your Highness…!”
At the sound of her nanny’s voice behind her, Etern glanced back and again formed a circle with her fingers over her eye.
Another hazy cloud appeared above the nanny’s head.
— Rib Dora
The princess’s nanny, 52 years old.
- Oh heavens, at this rate I’ll die of a heart attack!
- I’m already over 50… when will our princess finally understand that?
- She must have missed her mother so much… that soup again!
Suppressing a giggle as she read the words above the cloud, Etern removed her fingers from her eye and said:
“Dora, don’t worry. I won’t die of a heart attack just because I ran a little. If anything, my heart will get stronger.”
“Excuse me? No, Your Highness!”
“Then why did you insist I finish all my soup? I told you I had to go see Mom quickly.”
“But still, you must finish your meals— I mean… never mind. Oh dear, Your Highness…”
As the large-built nanny exhaled deeply, Etern smiled mischievously again and looked at her sleeping mother.
I can see everyone else’s thoughts, but I can’t see Mother’s. That must mean she’s sleeping very deeply…
Pouting her lips like a sparrow’s beak, Etern blinked her large round eyes twice.
There was a level of delicate worry in her gaze that did not suit her age.
— One month earlier
What on earth is going on…?
Lying on the bed with her short limbs stretched out, Etern stared blankly at the ceiling.
The patterns were unfamiliar yet somehow recognizable. The moment she noticed a small stain on one side of the chandelier, she became certain this was the room she had used as a child.
“This is ridiculous. I really did become young again.”
Her fingers slowly wriggled as she held her hand up toward the ceiling.
“And I’m even alive.”
She had definitely died.
She could still clearly remember the face of the person who had climbed on top of her and strangled her.
When she took her final breath, a whistling sound came from her throat.
And then…
There was nothing. It felt like floating somewhere in a dark and empty space.
To still have my consciousness after death… am I becoming a ghost?
As she repeated those thoughts over and over, she saw a faint blue light flickering somewhere.
Like a drifting boat finding a lighthouse in the vast ocean, Etern unconsciously moved toward the light.
As she got closer, the light began pulling her in with increasing force.
What? My body… it’s breaking apart? Wait a second. Becoming a ghost with just a head left isn’t very appealing—!
After her limbs and body disappeared in different directions, her vision suddenly turned blindingly white.
Then countless pieces of knowledge flooded into her mind.
Along with it came pain so overwhelming she thought death would be preferable.
And after that…
I came back to life.
Still lost in thought, she suddenly sat up.
Whether it was a gift from a god or a curse from a demon, Etern had returned to the body of a child.
And she was given a second chance to live the same life again.
No… it’s not the same situation. It’s much better!
At the moment she had begged to just be allowed to die again, she instead received knowledge and abilities that would normally be impossible to obtain in a lifetime.
This was an opportunity.
I won’t die like that again. Never again.
To avoid such a horrible death and instead live peacefully.
That became the ultimate goal of her second life, decided while lying on that wide bed.
“Hey, Dora.”
Sitting beside the sleeping Empress, Etern swung her dangling legs under the chair.
“Yes, Your Highness?”
“Mom is definitely alive, right? She just can’t wake up?”
At the innocent question, Dora’s expression noticeably darkened.
“Of course, Your Highness. Her Majesty is simply very tired.”
Etern glanced at her again and formed the finger ring over her eye.
— Rib Dora
The princess’s nanny, 52 years old.
- Her Majesty can’t possibly die. She was such a kind and healthy person.
- But seeing her like this now… it almost feels like…
- Dear God, how heartbroken our princess will be!
When Etern lowered her hand, the cloud above Dora’s head scattered like mist and disappeared.
So dying and coming back to life gave me abilities like this.
One day, while she was still struggling to adjust to her younger body, Etern had accidentally discovered this unexpected power.
If she made a ring with her fingers and looked through it like a monocle, she could read the thoughts of whoever she saw through it.
However, she couldn’t see everything.
At most, she could see three thoughts.
Some people only had one. Others had two.
And some, like Empress Meikellen, showed nothing at all.
Maybe you can’t read the thoughts of someone who’s asleep. I couldn’t see Dora’s thoughts when she was napping either.
Dora, her nanny, was always filled with thoughts about Etern.
Etern remembered that even before her death, Dora had taken great care of her.
But back then, Etern hadn’t treated her well.
[Don’t question what I do! If you don’t want to die!]
[Nanny? So what? Are you trying to pretend to be my mother?]
As those embarrassing memories resurfaced, Etern quietly covered her slightly flushed cheeks.
Back then, she had always been angry.
No matter what anyone did for her, she never felt happy or grateful.
She only believed everyone was secretly mocking her misery, and she lashed out cruelly.
It was foolish.
I’ll repay Dora properly this time. Little by little.
“By the way, Dora. Why doesn’t Father come to see Mother every day?”
At the casual question, Dora’s face turned slightly pale.
Because it would break his heart to see her like this.
But she couldn’t say that out loud.
Any careless remark about Emperor Wintier could bring trouble someday.
“He is simply very busy.”
In the end, that was the safest answer she could give.
Whenever Father comes up, everyone shuts their mouths like this.
Pouting again, Etern let out a small sigh and closed her eyes.
He’s not infamous across the continent as a complete madman… but he’s still frightening enough even now. I understand.
