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Episode 1
-Ex-Empress Luzentia de Arodel
“Come out.”
The tower door opened, and a nobleman in charge of the execution entered.
His sticky, scrutinizing gaze clung to Luzentia’s skin.
She closed her eyes without showing even a fragment of emotion.
The elderly noble, as if disappointed, smacked his lips and placed a black hood over her head.
It was an act that signified death, but Luzentia accepted it calmly.
Finally, when the hood covered her eyes completely and she could see nothing, her body trembled involuntarily.
Seeing her shaking hands, the noble sneered with a snicker.
“Do not worry. I told the executioner to sharpen the blade well, so it will be over in one strike.”
Luzentia did not answer.
The noble clicked his tongue, as if it didn’t matter, and dragged her outside.
On the spire’s steps, he nearly fell several times, but he was busy throwing Luzentia into the crude cage he had prepared.
As soon as the nobleman mounted his horse, he waved his hand arrogantly.
“Move out!”
Finally, the prisoner, now locked in the cage, began leaving the palace.
The fresh air that had seeped through the hood changed into the heavy smell of sweat, and the murmuring of voices gradually grew louder.
Luzentia realized that she was approaching the guillotine, prepared as a spectacle for the citizens.
As the shabby cage, with her face covered in cloth, passed by, excited voices pierced her ears:
“Is that the empress? The one who betrayed?”
“Look at that black hair. She’s a real witch, not a rumor! No one has hair like that in the world!”
The cruelty of people who believed rumors, without even knowing when they began, was harsh.
For those despairing under the weight of life and the social hierarchy, the truth did not matter.
They needed someone to blame—and that someone happened to be Luzentia.
The people, with faces twisted like demons, threw filth, insults, and malice at her cage.
“Daughter of a traitor!”
“Die! Just die!”
Luzentia remained unmoved by their anger, even when their filth touched her body.
She repeated only one name to herself, reflecting on her life:
“Luzentia de Arodel.”
Her own name felt strange, and she let out a hollow laugh.
She had been a count’s daughter and an empress, yet she had never been properly called by her real name.
‘What a miserable life.’
Indeed, a gilded golden life might look glamorous, but it was only a tool to be used at others’ will.
As she smiled bitterly, she remembered the woman who had been the first to die when their family fell.
‘You should have died!’
The countess glared at Luzentia with a sharp, venomous gaze.
‘An illegitimate daughter as empress! I warned you repeatedly that you would destroy the family! Look! See, I was right!’
Even as she died, the countess mocked her husband, Count Arodel.
Luzentia felt no regret toward the countess.
As a woman, as a person, her life deserved some pity.
She was born from an affair, but she was not the first nor the last.
Her father, Count Arodel, had no conscience.
He was patriarchal, selfish, and used everyone as his tool.
What he did to the countess was horrifying.
Not only did he have affairs, but he also registered the children born from his mistress in the family registry, forcing the countess to recognize them as her children.
Among them, the countess particularly hated Luzentia because she resembled her mother, unlike the other illegitimate children.
If her eyes weren’t sky blue, the countess would have expelled her by any means.
‘For the other illegitimate children, she could deceive herself into thinking they were only the father’s children… but with me, it was impossible.’
When Luzentia was in the annex, the countess could almost forget the mistress’s existence.
But after she became the crown prince’s fiancée and then empress, she suffered constantly.
Even as she was dragged out, the countess did not hide her hatred.
‘You should never have been born.’
Bowing her head beneath the hood, Luzentia slowly spoke:
“I never asked to be born either.”
Even without seeing anything, she stubbornly faced forward.
Then the noon sun’s heat touched her skin.
Feeling warmth on her cold body, she moved without realizing it.
The ex-empress lifted her filth-covered hood to feel the last rays of sunlight.
Even amid the crowd, she faintly sensed the fresh air and its clear taste.
“A criminal is lifting her head? Let’s give her a taste!”
A drunken voice shouted, and the excited crowd shook the prisoner cart.
“Ugh.”
The wounds on her back, cut by a blade, opened again.
She tried to endure the pain, but it was impossible.
The scabs over the slashed skin hardened, making every movement excruciating.
Blood had stiffened her dress, and every breath worsened the pain.
At the same time, the faint smile at her lips vanished, replaced by her father’s voice crushing her heart:
‘Greet him, Crown Prince Hin.’
“Hin…”
The word slipped from her lips, invoking fear, anger, and hatred.
The monster who had left cut marks on her back now filled her mind.
She bit her lips as memories of her first encounter with Hin, introduced by Count Arodel, filled her blackened sight.
The crown prince, golden-haired and blue-eyed, captivated everyone, from legitimate children to illegitimate ones.
Only Luzentia avoided and feared him.
Despite her efforts, Hin pointed at her, the twelfth illegitimate child.
Thus, as a political tool, she was easily traded.
“Haha…”
Thinking of the past, she could only laugh at the absurdity.
The crown prince, whom Count Arodel had chosen as a puppet emperor, turned out to be a monster.
Hin was too smart and, after gaining the throne, weakened the noble faction in just a few years.
Of course, Luzentia was no exception.
At first, it was just a small rumor.
Something to nibble at for amusement.
But it quickly grew.
The mask she had worn as empress seemed frail, but people began seeing her as cruel and jealous.
Even nobles who knew the truth whispered behind her back.
Small talk was exaggerated and twisted as it spread.
Thinking about it made her laugh bitterly.
‘Damn emperor.’
With her scandal and the weakening of the noble faction, her father’s influence decreased rapidly.
He foolishly tried to replace the emperor instead of accepting his lost power.
‘Stop.’
‘It’s none of your business.’
Luzentia shouted at her father as he walked straight into the emperor’s trap.
‘You’ll die. Don’t you know the emperor is an idiot? Stop this foolishness. If you stop now, the Arodel family can survive.’
‘Ridiculous! That guy never planned to leave me alone. You go!’
Then her father, having an idea, grabbed Luzentia.
‘Take this.’
‘What is it?’
‘Poison.’
She could not help laughing at the absurdity.
‘You want me to poison the emperor? The man who crushed the noble faction with his brilliance is fooled by such a cheap trick? Even a passing dog would laugh, Father.’
Her father was cornered, unable to recognize that this was not the usual Luzentia.
Even if it failed, he thought people would believe the jealous empress was responsible.
Father, emperor.
Both would do anything for power.
Blood, a named empress—nothing was untouchable, even death.
‘Impressive, really.’
Swallowing her disgust, Luzentia placed down the poison and moved to leave.
At that moment, as if waiting for her, the door burst open, and the emperor and knights entered.
“Prisoners, kneel!”
Her father pointed at Luzentia, trembling.
“You dare betray me!”
Luzentia closed her eyes tightly.
The emperor had even anticipated her father’s actions, and the thought sent chills down her spine.
The emperor slowly entered, his eyes scanning both her and Count Arodel.
His cold gaze seemed to penetrate her very soul, freezing her body in place.
He smiled, mocking Count Arodel as if showing the mercy of a victor.
“Count Arodel, surrender your head, and I will end it in one strike.”
“You ungrateful wretch! I placed you there! To repay kindness with betrayal—are you even human?”
The emperor glanced at the bottle of poison.
Hin drew his sword, as if no words were worth saying.
“Who said you could kill at will!”
In a split second, her father seized the opportunity and threw Luzentia in front of the emperor.
Without hesitation, he used his daughter as a shield to escape.
As she was thrown, she saw Hin’s blade cutting toward her without any hesitation.
Her back split, blood sprayed, but it took an eternity before the pain became a sound.
Her scream was so horrifying it could chill onlookers, yet no one came to help.
Panting, bleeding, she faced the emperor’s polished shoes.
He bent slightly, met her eyes, and said in a mockingly tender tone:
“Thanks to you, Empress.”
The emperor spoke as if watching a ridiculous play.
“Do not worry. Your father will be caught soon. Using his daughter as a shield—it is unfortunate, isn’t it?”
Indeed, as he said, the emperor’s enemies were soon purged.
All nobles who opposed him were destroyed.
Luzentia was deposed and locked in the tower.
And today, she would be executed.
To the emperor, she had outlived her usefulness.
Luzentia laughed quietly as the impatient citizens shouted:
“Kill her! Why are they taking so long!”
Finally, someone broke the cage holding Luzentia.
“Hey! You idiots!”
The noble shouted, but the enraged crowd did not care.
People poured in, hiding her small body in a sea of black mass.
The noble raged and shouted:
“Madmen! Stop them immediately!”
Soldiers threatened with swords and spears, and the crowd finally backed away.
“Step aside! Move quickly!”
“Baron, it’s fine. The prisoner is here.”
“Damn, what a fright! Move those miserable people far away! Damn it.”
The baron decided to hasten the execution, fearing more trouble.
Normally, the ex-empress’s crimes would have been read aloud, and a priest would offer prayers, but all was skipped.
The executioner, as if chased, sharpened the guillotine.
“Ex-Empress, Luzentia, be executed!”
With the noble’s solemn words, her head was cut off.
It was a pitifully simple end.
Ex-Empress Luzentia de Arodel—deceased.
A single line was sent to the palace to explain her life.
Officially, at least.
The next day at dawn, on a quiet road, people with deep hoods were leaving the city gates.
Only after riding far from the walls did they remove their hoods.
A red-haired youth and a gray-haired middle-aged man spoke to the woman hidden in darkness.
“Lady Luzentia, the dolls prepared by the alchemists performed their role perfectly. The spies finished the cleanup flawlessly, so now you can be completely at ease.”
The woman raised her head, showing the face of the ex-empress who had been beheaded.
She shook her head.
“Luzentia is already dead.”
“Then what…?”
“Call me Roze.”
“As you wish, Lady Roze.”
The gray-haired man, Gray, looked at Roze with sparkling steel-blue eyes.
The red-haired youth popped his head between them.
“So, Roze, where do you want to go?”
Roze, still pale with the pain in her back, smiled coldly.
“Anywhere, as long as it’s not here.”
