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Chapter 02
“So you’re just going to brush off something as important as an imperial engagement with a single sentence?”
Even in the webtoon, this part got heavily criticized for making no sense.
Dayton smirked faintly and looked down at me.
“His Majesty collapsed before he could even approve it, so wasn’t it a meaningless promise anyway?”
“……”
“From now on, we have nothing to do with each other.”
After finishing, he gave a perfunctory nod.
“I wish you well.”
“You mean after I die?”
Dayton paused mid-step.
“To side with the Second Prince, you’ll need me dead.”
“……”
He turned back to face me, his eyes sharp.
“…Are you accusing me of killing you, Princess?”
“Not you.”
I shrugged, and his expression darkened further.
“Today, you’re acting a bit—”
“What, did you think I wouldn’t talk back? Because I’m the naive, foolish Princess Melissa?”
His gaze shifted instantly.
“…Did you eat something strange?”
“I might, soon.”
How did Melissa die again?
Did she cough up blood? Was she stabbed?
I only remembered blood everywhere.
Once Dayton left, the assassin hired through the Second Prince would arrive.
“What are you—”
“Don’t pretend you don’t know.”
I slowly examined his face as if admiring a piece of art.
Sharp nose. Firm jawline.
As expected—good-looking people look even better up close.
“Just as handsome as I remember.”
“…What?”
He blinked at my casual muttering.
“But rotten on the inside.”
Grabbing his collar, I yanked him down roughly.
His startled eyes met mine from below.
Better.
This height difference felt right.
“You and I might actually get along.”
I smiled.
For a split second, he inhaled sharply.
I was no longer the foolish Melissa he knew.
I wouldn’t live giving everything away like in my previous life.
I wouldn’t be robbed. I wouldn’t die easily.
This time, I’d take first.
And I’d claim everything I wanted.
“I’ll change the genre.”
Into one where I take it all.
In the webtoon “Flower of the Empire,” Melissa barely appeared.
She died too early and didn’t impact the story much.
Her death was only used by the Second Prince to expose how she had been treated.
That was her entire role.
A signal flare for the power struggle in the imperial palace.
A meaningless extra who never even crossed paths with the protagonist.
The original story went like this:
After Melissa’s death, the First and Second Princes clashed.
The Third Prince met a brutal end.
Eventually, the Second Prince took the throne.
After becoming emperor, he eliminated the First Prince as well.
But that wasn’t enough.
Ambitious beyond measure, he set his sights on conquering the continent.
While he ignored internal affairs, war dragged on endlessly—
and it was the citizens who suffered.
The female lead, Riche Kaiser, was the daughter of a military family who suffered under this rule.
She developed a personal grudge against the emperor.
In the end, she led a rebellion, overturned the empire, and became the first Empress.
“I really enjoyed that story…”
Strangely, Flower of the Empire had no male lead.
It was truly a story where the heroine destroyed everything on her own.
A masterpiece of strategy and satisfying revenge—
“…but it flopped because there was no romance.”
At that moment, Dayton, who had been staring in shock, finally spoke.
“…What kind of rudeness is this?”
“This much counts as rude?”
“Princess!”
He, who handed over a defenseless lady to the ruthless Second Prince—
complaining about “rudeness” just because I grabbed his collar?
Ridiculous.
As I sneered, his confusion deepened.
When I released him, he stood up, grinding his teeth.
His shock had turned into anger.
“I don’t know how to interpret your behavior.”
So the polite act was already gone.
His tone shortened. His voice grew sharp.
“Are you listening? Explain yourself. What is the meaning of this?”
“Hmm.”
I looked him over calmly.
“Being handsome really is an advantage.”
Even when he’s this irritating, he still looks good.
“So that’s why people say—if you marry, marry a handsome man.”
“What nonsense—”
“So how do I die?”
“…Stop talking nonsense.”
“You leave, an assassin comes in. And they won’t even bother hiding that it’s the Second Prince’s doing.”
He let out a short laugh.
“If that were true, why would I come all the way here to break off the engagement?”
“Aren’t you still undecided?”
His brow twitched.
“You haven’t decided whether to abandon Princess Melissa yet, have you?”
“……”
Got him.
I smiled slightly.
In the original story, no one cared about Melissa.
Not in life—certainly not in death.
Even Dayton eventually abandoned her.
But at least—
he was the only one who hesitated, even briefly.
After a moment of silence, he admitted it.
“…That was true before I came here.”
“Before?”
“The moment I entered this room, I made my decision.”
“……”
“And regardless of how you found out, it doesn’t change anything.”
I shrugged exaggeratedly.
“Really? Because if it gets out that the Grand Duke is playing both sides while the princes are fighting…”
“What?”
“Don’t you think my dear brothers would be delighted?”
His expression froze.
They wouldn’t purge him outright—
he was a war hero and head of the only ducal house.
But still.
Right now, the empire was a battlefield of politics.
The emperor, on the brink of death, had yet to name a successor.
Or rather—refused to.
Every time the council brought it up, he’d explode in rage.
At times, he even drew his sword.
The nobles had learned to keep quiet.
So the princes began fighting among themselves.
Everyone had to pick a side.
Neutrality wasn’t an option.
Those who tried to play both sides?
They didn’t last long.
“Careless people die like that.”
I looked at Dayton and casually raised my hand.
He flinched and stepped back.
For someone so big, he startled easily.
How did he even become a war hero?
“Maybe it’s a villain buff.”
I muttered playfully.
“If they find out you tested both sides… no, that’s not right.”
“……”
“You didn’t just test them—you tried to play both. Do you think they’d leave you alone?”
“That’s baseless speculation. Why would I—”
“I heard House Colin has been declining lately.”
It was still just an internal rumor—
but later, the heroine would use it to bring him down.
The reason was simple.
Dayton’s trauma from war—and the cracks it caused.
“In this era, they wouldn’t even understand what that is.”
The great general who slaughtered thousands—
screamed and cried every night.
By day, he pretended to be fine.
But he was already desperately searching for healers and shamans.
“You’re mistaken, Princess.”
He smirked.
“If you’re going to lie, at least do it well.”
Right.
With that expression, who would believe him?
I pointed at his clenched fist.
Only then did he relax it.
Blood rushed back into his pale knuckles.
“No need for shamans or doctors. I know how to fix it.”
“……”
I smiled.
A crack finally appeared in his rigid expression.
“Take my side.”
He laughed in disbelief.
“I can hardly believe you’re the same Princess I knew. Have you been pretending all this time?”
“Pretending? I just didn’t bother showing it.”
As he ran a hand over his face, his gaze changed.
Mockery turned to confusion—
then to shock.
“…How does a princess know things even the princes don’t…?”
“That’s not what matters.”
There would be plenty more for him to be surprised about.
He clenched his fist again, trying to steady himself, and looked at me.
