Chapter 3

As if he were doing me a favor, the emperor spoke to me.

“Do you have any last words?”

My last words.

I pursed my lips. The sharp gazes of people filled with hostility and hatred pierced me.

Did he just ask me if I had anything to say?

I chuckled.

In the cell, I had desperately hoped that all of this was just a dream and that, when I opened my eyes, a normal life would be waiting for me, that my family would look at me and smile.

But that was just a dream. It was funny to me that I had hoped for such things, and I couldn’t help but laugh.

Then I heard an angry voice. “How dare you...!” It was the Second Prince, Elsis.

I laughed and laughed again. My regret was that I couldn’t laugh louder because I was in such a weakened state. After laughing for a while, I finally spoke.

“If I say something... will you listen to me?”

I didn’t do it.

I wasn’t me, it wasn’t me.

Again, Marianne was sitting behind the emperor. And she showed her secret smile only to me. That horrible, grotesque smile.

I remembered her laughing maniacally at me when she came to the dungeon.

Who was going to believe anything I said? They all absolutely trusted Marianne.

Why? Why?

Why didn’t anyone believe me?

“You... are not going to believe anything I say, anyway.”

Hot tears formed at the corners of my eyes. I strained my eyes to hold them back.

“How dare you feel sorry for yourself when you’re a mere criminal?!” said Third Princess Adeline, sounding disgusted.

“You shouldn’t look a death row inmate in the eyes. It’s bad luck,” Loris added.

The emperor spoke in a heavy tone. “So you have no intention of admitting your crime, even now.”

“I... didn’t do it.” I maintained my innocence until the end. “Why would I poison her... or be jealous of her...?”

The emperor did not answer. He simply raised his hand and commanded another servant.

“Put a gag on her mouth and cover her eyes.”

“…!”

I was trembling.

Before long, the servant brought items the emperor requested.

I knew him. He was a servant from my brother Lakias’ palace. He used to happily welcome me whenever I visited.

“Close your eyes,” he said quietly.

But I didn’t close my eyes.

I’m innocent.

I desperately tried to focus my thoughts on that.

However, just then... Marianne’s golden eyes, as she smiled eerily at me from a distance, suddenly turned red. It was a shadowy, hideous color.

What’s that?

But I couldn’t look at it for long, as the blindfold was soon put over my eyes. My mouth felt numb from the gag, and I was scared because I couldn’t see anything.

I clenched my jaw. My heart was breaking, but strangely enough, I couldn’t stop laughing. The family I loved had betrayed me, and no one was willing to believe me.

There was no point, anymore.

Just kill me quickly.

As if he had heard my wish, the guard took me to the beheading stand. With my eyes covered, I couldn’t see anything—I could only feel. It felt cold.

Dear God.

I prayed to Selena, the god of the empire. She was the moon goddess, and also the goddess of revenge.

Will you not allow me an opportunity to get my revenge or to resolve this injustice?

If that’s the case, at least let me die quickly without any pain.

And please don’t let me be born as a human ever again.

I don’t ever want to love anyone, or be betrayed by anyone ever again.

Let me just live life as an insignificant creature.

I laughed. Everything was in vain.

At 14 years old, Alisa del Edenverre’s short life was coming to an end.

The blade came down.

* * *

It felt cold and hot. And after that, I was continuously wrapped in something warm.

Sometimes I heard something that sounded like voices. As if I was wrapped in a membrane, my vision was blurry, but I could vaguely put together that it was the voices of a woman and a boy.

Even though there were times when I heard multiple voices, those two voices were constantly by my side.

“I can’t wait for the baby to be born.”

I felt puzzled by the boy’s voice. Be born?

“Are you that excited, Your Highness?” someone said in an amused tone.

The voice of the woman that was always by my side followed. “Haha, Ysis. The baby will be born in a few months.”

“But I want to meet the baby right now.”

“Your Highness”?

“Meet the baby”?

They were saying things I couldn’t quite understand.

But what was most surprising was that the language they were speaking felt familiar to me. It was the language of the Elmire Empire, the rival of Edenverre for generations. I had learned their language during my general education as Edenverre’s princess.

Why was I hearing that language in my head now?

The question didn’t remain in my mind for too long. Whenever I tried to think about something for a long time, I felt drowsy. I started to nod off again.

But before I completely fell asleep, someone gently stroked above me.

It was the boy from earlier. The boy’s voice said, “Come out soon, my precious little sister.” His voice was full of warmth and delight.

“Everyone in the world loves you.”

His kindness seeped into my heart.

* * *

Many days passed like that. I continued to sleep when I was sleepy and continued to eat and drink when I was hungry.

Aside from the fact that I became drowsy whenever I tried to think about anything deeply, it was an easy life. I didn’t have to lift a finger to do anything.

Then one day, I felt something strange. The area around me that had always warmly enveloped me compressed, and an unknown pressure was pushing me out.

It hurts…

I tried my best to resist the force pushing me out. I didn’t want to leave this place.

Why are you doing this to me?!

But it was no use. The tormenting force continued persistently. In the end, I was forced out.

The air outside was cold. I choked and coughed a few times.

“Kek, kek…”

It didn’t take long for me to learn how to breathe using my lungs, as it was an instinct imprinted in all living beings.

I opened my eyes. Everything in front of me was blurry, as if my eyes were clouded with something. My body was wet, covered in some unknown substance, and I was very cold.

But that was only for a moment. I tried to look around, dazed.

I-I see light.

It had been a long time since I felt sunlight. I could hear people talking around me.

“What a beautiful princess.”

“Congratulations on your birth.”

And I heard a woman’s tired voice.

“Oh, my daughter…”

As soon as I heard those words, even with my infant brain, I knew.

Rebirth. Something I had only heard about had happened to me.

I was born as a human again, as a princess of the Elmire Empire.

Ha, haha…

I cursed God. I didn’t want to be born again. Having to trust and love people was too much of a burden to me now. I was so sick of all those things.

So why?! Why did God let me be born again as a human being?

I curse you.

All the way to the end, Selene, the goddess of revenge and the moon, did not take my side.

At last, I cried like a baby. When people heard me cry, they clapped their hands loudly and cheered, completely unaware of what I was feeling.

* * *

A mobile spun in front of my eyes. It was a cute mobile suitable for a young baby. I grimaced at it.

The nanny came to me and smiled brightly.

“Oh, our adorable princess!”

As usual, the look on her face said that she adored me to death.

“How are you feeling?”

I avoided the nanny’s gaze. As always, it was the worst.

When I was born, I was confused and didn’t know what was going on, but I had figured out the situation since then.

I had been reincarnated as the First Princess of Elmire Empire, a rival of Edenverre Empire.

At least I was no longer a member of the Edenverre Empire, but I didn’t like the fact that I was born in the Elmire Empire or that I was a baby again.

But I swallowed the words I wanted to speak. I would have stated this clearly to her if I could, but I could barely babble at this point.

“Oh my, are you in a bad mood?”

Fortunately, the nanny was quick to catch onto things. That’s what I was thinking when she suddenly tried to make me laugh by making a funny face.

“...”

I didn’t smile, of course. However, I couldn’t help but reflexively look at her, perhaps because of my baby instinct. This made the nanny smile wide.

“I brought you a new doll today. Isn’t it cute?”

She put the new doll next to my pillow. It was a colorful rabbit doll.

Haa…

I just sighed inwardly. Everyone in this room was eager to welcome me and do something for me.

I don’t think I was ever welcomed this much even when I was the Fourth Princess of Edenverre.

The attention people paid to me was a bit overwhelming. I couldn’t understand why they liked me so much, but the nanny and the maids were always smiling at me.

Of course, it was the same for my mother, Empress Iris. She was the only daughter of the powerful Marquess Lucell in the north. She entered the palace as the new empress after the previous empress had passed away from poor health.

I have good parents, so I’ll live a pampered life, I sneered inwardly.

Of all the many paths of life out there, the fact that I was a princess again this time seemed ridiculous to me.

Moreover, I learned later that the children in the royal family of the Elmire Empire were very precious. This was probably because the emperor of this empire was monogamous.

The situation was very different from the Edenverre Empire, where the emperor could take as many women as he wanted as concubines.

In addition, for some reason, girls were even more precious, so people eagerly said that my birth was a blessing to the empire. I wasn’t too sure if it was a blessing for me.

The only princess of the Elmire Empire. A baby with eyes that were like blue jewels, and silver hair as fluffy as clouds.

I thought those praises were excessive for a ten-month-old baby, but thanks to that, I learned what I looked like.

In my previous life, I had black hair and green eyes. I couldn’t be sure since I hadn’t seen myself in the mirror yet, but since my hair and eye color were different, my face probably looked completely different as well.

Oh. I shook my head inwardly. Once again, I was comparing the current “me” with who I was in my previous life. I was sick of doing that.

I wanted to forget, but the memories of my past life kept popping up in my mind.