Chapter 1

My younger sister, the Fifth Princess Marianne, was a child loved by everyone. When she smiled brightly, no one could take their eyes off of her.

When she talked, everyone listened. She was beautiful and charming, and she had golden eyes that were said to be the most beautiful in the empire.

I, on the other hand, had raven-black hair and green eyes. I was quiet and timid, so there was a world of difference between her and me. Everyone adored my sister, and I was no exception.

Marianne’s appearance and personality were very different from mine. But we were family—we shared the same blood.

Even though people whispered comparisons between her and me… I loved her with all my heart.

Or rather… I used to love her.

Until I was falsely accused of poisoning her.

* * *

I rarely opened my eyes. Even when I did, it was hard to tell the difference in this solitary dungeon cell. Not even a single ray of light came into this space.

I wet my lips with my tongue and wondered, When will food arrive today...?

A glass of water and a piece of bread were delivered to me once a day.

Like a conditioned dog, I waited and waited for that moment. That was the only stimulation I had.

What will happen to me? I anxiously chewed on my lip.

Even though I was the Fourth Princess, I was thrown into the dungeon with no protection and without even a proper trial.

Whenever I felt like I was about to go crazy from loneliness and boredom, I thought about what happened a few days ago—the incident that had sent me to this dark place.

On that day, the sky was particularly blue and the sunlight, warm. The green trees and gorgeous spring flowers in bloom were so beautiful, I thought it would be a shame if I were the only one enjoying them.

For the first time in a long time, I invited Marianne to have tea with me in the garden. When she arrived, she smiled brightly and chatted with me as usual, and I responded cheerfully.

We were having a fun time together. Nothing was out of the ordinary.

But then, she suddenly started to vomit blood and collapsed. The white tablecloth turned bright red from the blood she ejected.

“M-Marianne?”

It felt like I was in a dream, so I just stared blankly at her. She looked at me with reddening eyes. Crimson dripped from the corners of her mouth, and her hands shook.

“Alisa…”

And then her eyes closed.

I was just standing there, stunned, when the guards dragged me away. People said that I had tried to poison Marianne.

My father, His Majesty the Emperor, loved Marianne very much. And so, he acted quickly. He threw me into a cell in the dungeon without looking into the circumstances.

On my first day in the cell, I thought to myself that I was fortunate that I was not being tortured, due to the fact that I was a member of the royal family.

Darkness, silence, and loneliness ate at me.

If water and bread had not been delivered to my cell once a day, I would have gone crazy long ago.

When will I be able to clear my name?

I had already been locked up for a week. What if I were locked up here for the rest of my life? When that thought came to my mind, I quickly shook my head.

Someone will discover the truth soon.

But so far, nothing was being done to get me out of prison. My heart pounded with anxiety.

Thump, thump…

The sound seemed unusually loud today. I blinked.

Do I hear footsteps?

It wasn’t just the sound of my heartbeat. I could hear footsteps far away. I tried hard to hold on to my consciousness.

The food, the food is here.

I struggled to sit up. My dulled mind rejoiced at the thought of having a glass of water and a piece of bread.

I looked toward the small opening for food, but instead, the iron door of my cell suddenly opened.

Startled, I opened my eyes wide. The dim torchlight in the hallway illuminated the guards standing there.

“Come out.”

“W-wait...”

The guards roughly pulled me to my feet. I trembled from the harsh treatment. Something like this would have been unthinkable just a few days ago, as I was a princess of this empire.

However, they showed no hesitation as they dragged me along. I bit my lip gently.

Right. To them, I was just an evil woman who tried to murder her younger sister.

My name will be cleared soon, I tried to console myself.

When I left the dungeon and came up above ground, the light was so bright it hurt my eyes for a moment. But soon they adjusted to the light, and the beautiful scenery of the imperial palace came into view. It was a day in March when everything was starting to bloom.

Ohh.

My whole body shook.

Oh, how warm and beautiful the sunlight is. The world outside is such a mysterious and amazing place.

After being locked up for a week, the blue sky, flowers, and fresh breeze felt more precious than anything else in the world. But there was no time to admire the beauty of it all.

The guards quickly dragged me away. My hand reached out to helplessly caress the edge of the garden.

I was taken to the emperor’s reception room. When the guards knocked on the heavy door, it opened instantly. My brothers, sisters, and father were gathered there.

To my father’s left, the First Prince Lakias and the Second Prince Elsis were standing side by side, and to my father’s right were the Third Princess Adeline and the Sixth Prince Loris. Sitting right behind my father was the Fifth Princess Marianne.

Mari!

When I saw her, the anxiety that remained in my heart disappeared. I was worried about what had happened to her after the tea time we had in the garden.

Marianne looked a little pale, but otherwise she seemed to be alright.

What a relief, she’s okay…

The sense of relief I felt almost made me cry. I was seeing my lovely family for the first time in what felt like forever.

My father, older brothers, older sister, and younger brothers…

I slowly looked at their faces. I wanted to run to them and tell them that I was innocent.

But the next moment, I hesitated. Their gazes toward me were so cold. My father’s heavy voice cut through the air.

“We shall now begin the trial of the criminal.”

My eyes widened in disbelief. “Th-the trial...?” My voice shook terribly.

“Trials” that were held for members of the royal family were trials in name only, held by the family to determine which member was at fault.

But I never thought that I would be the one facing such a trial. It was a possibility that I had never even imagined, even in my dreams.

“Criminal, the Fourth Princess Alisa,” my father said coldly. “Do you admit your crime of trying to poison your sister Marianne because you were jealous of her?”

I gaped blankly.

I poisoned Marianne because I was jealous of her?

What did I just hear? Why would I be jealous of Marianne?

As I stood there with my mouth open, Third Princess Adeline shouted at me sharply.

“Answer the question, criminal!”

Her fierceness startled me and made me flinch. “I-I...”

My brain wasn’t working very well. It was partly due to being locked up in solitary confinement for a week and only being fed a glass of water and a piece of bread each day.

It was time to defend myself, but I couldn’t speak properly. As I stood there struggling to get the words out, my younger brother, Loris, sneered at me scornfully.

“Are you not able to defend yourself because you know what you have done?”

He had always been a kind, endearing child, but now the words he was speaking felt like daggers to me. There was nothing but contempt in his eyes when he looked at me.

My mind was numb.

It was then that a palace maid was dragged out of a corner. Her face was frozen. My father gestured at her.

“Tell us in detail what you saw.”

“Yes, yes. I’ll answer...”

I blinked my widened eyes. What on earth did she see? Whatever she had to say, I didn’t think I had anything to worry about. Because I hadn’t done anything wrong.

But what the maid said was completely unexpected.

“The day when Her Highness Princess Alisa and Her Highness Marianne were having tea together…”

She hesitated as if it was hard for her to get the words out.

“I saw Her Highness Alisa put white powder in Her Highness Marianne’s teacup.”

“What?” I muttered distantly. I absolutely did not touch Marianne’s teacup.

But everyone was listening intently to the maid as if she was telling the truth.

The maid continued, “When I saw that, I thought it must have been sugar. I didn’t know it was poison...”

When the maid finished her testimony, my father sent the maid away with a nod.

“We searched your room and found the remaining poison powder in your closet. It was the same type that was found in Marianne’s teacup.”

Th-that’s not possible... I was too frozen in shock to speak.

“As you know, the attempted assassination of a member of the royal family is a crime punished most severely. This is especially true when a member of the royal family tries to kill one of their own.”

My father’s voice rang in my ears. It was only then that I came to my senses and finally opened my mouth to say something.

“I...”

“You?”

It felt like my head had been bleached white. Whatever I had imagined while lying down in a pitch-black cell feeling like I was about to go crazy, it wasn’t this.

I had thought they would soon find out that I was falsely accused, apologize and ask for my forgiveness, and all give me a big hug.

But right now, everyone in my family was looking at me with only contempt and hostility in their eyes. No one was on my side. No one was defending me.

This couldn’t be happening. I hadn’t done anything wrong.

With a trembling voice, I continued, “I... didn’t try to kill Marianne.”

When I finally blurted out the words, I heard astonished gasps erupt from various places.

“How dare you?!”

“She’s so shameless...”

But I was desperate. I looked around the room and noticed a person who hadn’t said anything: Lakias, my older brother. We had the same mother. Even if no one else believed me, I somehow thought that he would be on my side. He had to be.

“L-Lakias, my older brother.”

My legs were shaking, so I couldn’t walk properly. So instead, I crawled on my knees toward Lakias.

“I... didn’t do it. You know I would never...”

Maybe because I was speaking for the first time in a week, I slurred my words. Nevertheless, I wanted to convey the truth.