🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 02
02. Germination (發芽)
Ariana was wandering through the darkness.
A cold, dark space.
As if even the air itself pressed down on her, she barely managed to take one step after another—how long had she been walking like this?
Far away, she saw a light.
Was that what she had been searching for in the darkness all this time?
The moment she reached out toward it—
“Your Highness Ariana, you need to wake up now.”
A soft, gentle voice called out.
It was a voice she had once heard every morning in the past when someone would wake her.
“Rosa?”
Where darkness had been, a woman now stood.
She had neatly tied up reddish-brown hair, and a faint smile lingered around her eyes.
It was Rosa, the maid who had once served Ariana.
“Why are you here?”
A sharp voice escaped her before she could stop it. Rosa flinched, still holding a damp cloth to wipe Ariana’s forehead.
Avoiding her touch, Ariana forced her heavy body upright and leaned against the headboard, looking around.
Just moments ago—before she had been wandering in darkness—she had been standing on the execution platform, surrounded by jeers, offering her neck to the guillotine.
So what was this?
“This is… the royal palace of Molbian… my bedroom.”
Far too warm and comfortable to be a scene from hell.
Rosa… might belong in hell, though.
Ariana clicked her tongue lightly as she looked at Rosa, who stood frozen—neither withdrawing nor extending the damp cloth, only watching her carefully.
Seeing her again was not pleasant.
The maid who had once clung to her side before she fled the palace, acting as a spy for the second prince.
A clever, opportunistic woman who knew how to read the room and act like she belonged under Ariana’s skin—only to turn out to be a dagger in her back.
She had regretted not punishing Rosa before escaping the palace.
Was this someone’s kindness, bringing her here even after death so she could collect that debt?
“Y-Your Highness? What’s wrong? Did you have a nightmare?”
“A nightmare?”
Impossible.
What she had experienced was not a dream.
It was not something that could be reduced to a soft, fluffy word like “dream.”
Just as anger rose at Rosa’s attempt to dismiss it so lightly—
“What is going on?”
A low, calm voice intervened.
It was Maia, the head maid who had always silently stood by her side with an expressionless face.
Her neatly cut deep purple bob swayed slightly as she moved.
“Maia?”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“Why are you here too?”
Ariana felt that she and Rosa might deserve hell—but Maia did not.
So why was she here as well?
“You said to wake you no matter what today because you had to get up and move, remember?”
“…Ah.”
“Last night your fever was so high I repeatedly told you to rest, but you insisted on waking up. So, as usual, I assigned Rosa to your morning care… Rosa, what happened?”
“I-I don’t know either…”
Maia shifted her gaze to Rosa, who immediately avoided her eyes.
It was always like this.
Very few people could meet Maia’s purple gaze directly; it carried a quiet intensity that unsettled most.
And as Ariana watched them, she slowly began to accept the truth.
This was not hell.
It was reality.
No—she had no choice but to accept it.
The softness of the bedding, the floral scent in the air, the dull ache in her thigh when she secretly pinched herself beneath the covers.
It was real.
“Maia.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“What date is it today?”
“It is the 19th day of April, year 524 of the Imperial Calendar.”
One week before Ariana’s eighteenth birthday.
How is this possible?
She remembered being bedridden with a severe cold right before her birthday banquet.
She rubbed her face and bit her lip.
It shouldn’t have been possible.
Time itself should not flow backward.
And yet she had returned.
She—who should have died with her throat cut open—was here.
I’m… alive.
She did not know how or who had brought her back.
But that was not important.
What mattered was that she was alive.
And that the future waiting for her had been disastrous.
Yet she had returned to a past filled with abundance.
This was an opportunity.
And instinctively, she understood—
This opportunity existed for the “what if” she had thought of just before her death.
“Are you still unwell?”
“I-I’ll go fetch a physician right away!”
Rosa, perhaps sensing an escape from Maia’s gaze, quickly raised the damp cloth.
But her attempt was interrupted by Ariana’s sudden laughter.
“Your Highness?”
Maia’s voice was full of concern.
When had she failed to notice that concern in that voice and those eyes before?
Ariana leaned back against the headboard, drained just from laughing.
“No. I’m fine. I’m just… happy.”
“Pardon?”
The two maids looked confused.
Ariana smiled brightly at them in turn.
A smile the King of Molbian once said was worth more than gold.
“I’m happy. Truly happy.”
She had been given a chance.
And if so, she would do whatever the one who gave it to her wanted.
Or even if that was not what they intended—it did not matter.
She had decided.
“Isn’t my birthday coming soon? I’ve recovered, so the banquet can proceed as planned. I’m just happy about that.”
Maia still seemed unconvinced, but Rosa nodded absentmindedly, as if captivated by Ariana’s beautiful smile.
The flower of Molbian was still beautiful.
But no one yet realized—
That flower had begun to carry poison.
Then I will use it.
At this point in time, she was the powerless youngest princess—beautiful and useless beyond that.
A flower in a garden, no threat to her siblings vying for the throne.
No one would guard against her.
So she would begin to slowly spread poison now.
“I think I’ve sweated too much. I want a bath.”
“You should still rest.”
“No.”
“…Understood. Rosa, prepare the bath.”
“Yes, Lady Maia.”
Rosa obediently headed toward the bathroom.
Once the door closed, Ariana confirmed there was no sound beyond it.
Then she turned her gaze to Maia, who stood quietly waiting for orders.
Unlike Rosa, Maia had done everything she could for her until the very end.
Her loyalty wasn’t to me.
But the concern in those purple eyes was real. That made Maia trustworthy.
“Maia.”
“Yes.”
“You can contact my mother, can’t you?”
“…Pardon?”
“I know you are my mother’s person.”
For a brief moment, Maia’s expression finally cracked.
Ariana enjoyed watching her rare moment of confusion.
“You look surprised too.”
“Your Highness, I—”
“You don’t need to be nervous. I know you are someone my mother prepared for me.”
In her past life, Ariana had believed her mother hated her.
They rarely met except on special occasions, and even then there were no warm words.
Only much later did she realize—
That was protection.
But this version of her did not know that yet.
“Tell my mother this. Her foolish daughter has something she wants.”
“….”
“I will tell her what it is in person, so ask her to wait.”
“…Yes, understood.”
“And one more thing.”
Ariana leaned in and whispered into Maia’s ear.
At those words, Maia’s purple eyes flickered for a brief moment—but only for an instant.
“I will prepare it.”
“Without Rosa knowing.”
“…I will remember that.”
“Good.”
Supported by Maia, Ariana stepped down from the bed.
A beautiful smile rested on her lips.
