Prologue
“They say that man eats people. He’s a cannibal.”
“A savage. Completely uncivilized.”
The whispers of those who had gossiped about him buzzed around my ears on the wind before gradually fading away.
I looked up at the man standing before me.
With the sun at his back, his towering shadow completely swallowed my own.
A biting wind, sharp enough to make it difficult to stand still, lashed across my body. My shoulders hunched instinctively against the cold.
“Drink.”
He held out a bowl toward me, urging me to take it.
As I stared at him blankly, I noticed beads of sweat mixed with droplets of blood glistening across his forehead.
His face, hands, and even his clothes were drenched in blood.
Only then did I realize that, despite the raging blizzard and freezing cold, he wore only light clothing—and was even sweating.
Doesn’t he feel cold?
Meanwhile, I was shivering uncontrollably despite being bundled in several layers of underclothes and a thick fur coat that let not even a sliver of wind through. I felt pathetically weak in comparison.
Sniffling, I lowered my gaze to the bowl he was offering.
“Before it gets cold. Hurry.”
Bloodstained hands.
A bowl soaked crimson.
I didn’t want to, but I pulled off my fur gloves and accepted it.
“Ah…”
The instant it touched my bare skin, an unfamiliar sensation shot through my body, raising goosebumps from head to toe. An involuntary groan escaped my lips.
A slippery, strangely viscous liquid ran over my fingers and dripped onto the snow below.
Drop.
Drop.
Bright red stains spread across the pristine white earth like scattered flower petals.
Steam was still rising from the unsettling liquid that filled the bowl.
I glanced past him toward the altar erected upon the frozen ground.
There lay the sacrifice.
Wrapped tightly in cloth that must once have been as white as snow but was now completely soaked red.
What’s beneath that cloth?
I was curious.
But I didn’t want to know.
“Drink it before it cools. That’s the only way it will work.”
Seeing me hesitate, the head maid urged me from behind.
Holding the bowl, I looked around.
Everyone was watching me.
Some smiled as though they were being entertained.
Others sneered with undisguised contempt.
“She won’t be able to drink it.”
“The precious Southern Princess, raised like a delicate flower. As if she could.”
“She’ll probably burst into tears and beg to be sent back to the Imperial Palace.”
“If someone as weak as a Southerner can’t even manage something this simple, what does she think she’ll accomplish here?”
I stared down at the bowl.
I have to drink it.
They didn’t know.
They didn’t know that I wasn’t some pampered flower nurtured in the warm south.
I was a weed from the Imperial Palace—trampled over and over until I had finally been ripped out by the roots.
Now I would use this blood as nourishment.
I would force my roots into this barren land and bloom into a poisonous flower.
And with deadly venom, I would one day swallow this world whole.
My eyes wide open, I raised the bowl to my lips.
I refused to turn away from the reality before me.
The foul smell.
The thick, dreadful liquid crawling over my tongue.
And above all, the metallic taste unlike anything I had ever experienced before.
A violent wave of nausea rose in my throat.
Even so, I forced every last drop down.
If I were going to be defeated by something like this, I never would have married this man in the first place.
I wiped the blood from the corner of my mouth with the back of my hand.
Clenching my teeth to keep myself from vomiting, I looked up at the man with grim determination.
“Well done.”
He smiled at me.
“Wow…”
Someone gasped in amazement.
“Waaah!”
“Whoooo!”
Cheers erupted all around me.
Before everyone, I raised the now-empty bowl high into the air.
“Long live the Marchioness!”
The cries praising me echoed across the endless snowfields.
I would take root here.
And then…
I would have my revenge.
Against those whom I had loved more than anyone—
The very people who had destroyed me so completely.
Chapter 1
Yes.
I had died.
By the schemes of my half-brother, Andrea, who coveted the imperial throne, and his mother, Empress Consort Caballa.
According to the laws of the Arental Empire, an emperor was legally permitted to have multiple wives. The rank of each wife determined her children’s place in the line of succession.
Originally, Andrea, the son of the Imperial Consort, had been the emperor’s only child and the unquestioned heir to the throne.
That would have remained true…
…if I had not been born at long last to the Empress, who had suffered countless miscarriages.
The moment Mother gave birth to me, Andrea was pushed down in the line of succession.
To Andrea, I was the one obstacle standing between him and the throne.
At seven years old, I knew nothing of that.
“Don’t cry, Chloe. From now on, your big brother will protect you.”
The day my mother was found hanging from the magnificent chandelier in her chambers, the Imperial Palace was thrown into chaos.
The attendants of the Empress’s palace were arrested and interrogated. Every familiar face disappeared, scattered without a trace. A sinister atmosphere engulfed the palace.
Amid the whirlwind of events, it seemed the adults had forgotten I even existed.
Only Andrea came to me.
He was eighteen at the time.
“It’s going to be all right, Chloe. From now on, don’t trust anyone but me. That’s all you have to do.”
His warm embrace.
The gentle hand that comforted my terrified little self.
As a child, I had no choice but to cling to the affection offered by my only remaining family.
Andrea soothed me with sweet words and tender comfort.
“You don’t need to know anything. You’re still too young to understand the affairs of adults, Chloe.”
Sheltered by Andrea and the care of Empress Consort Caballa behind him, my peaceful days drifted by.
During that time, strange rumors began spreading throughout the empire.
The Empress had suffered from insanity and hanged herself.
And Princess Chloe…
…was slowly losing her mind just like her mother.
The imperial physician insisted my mother had long been plagued by madness, claiming it ran in the family.
It was the first I’d ever heard of such a thing, but every objection I raised was silenced with the same words.
“You’re too young to understand.”
“Chloe, sometimes I’m afraid you’ll lose your mind too. But no matter what happens, your brother will always protect you. You’re my only little sister. Just remember that.”
Andrea comforted me with concern and affection.
He seemed so dependable.
I didn’t dislike how he visited me over and over to check on me.
So I welcomed him into my life.
“Don’t you think you’ve been cooped up in your room for too long? Go take a walk once in a while.”
“I’m only worried about you. Don’t go walking around at night. Wandering alone like that makes you look strange.”
“I never said you couldn’t go for walks. I said don’t go alone. Don’t you understand what your brother means?”
Yet somehow…
Every time he left, fear swallowed me whole.
Why am I like this?
Am I really going mad, just like Mother?
What will happen to me if Andrea isn’t here?
Whenever those thoughts came, I couldn’t do anything.
“Don’t worry. I’ll always be by your side. Who else do you have besides me? I’m the only person you can trust.”
I did everything I could not to worry Andrea.
After all…
He was all I had.
“His Highness the Prince is right. Spending some time in the sunlight would do Your Highness good.”
The imperial physician’s advice always seemed to change according to Andrea’s opinions.
Yet I never dared resent it.
“They’re only worried about you.”
Yes.
That had to be it.
But whether I followed the physician’s advice or ignored it, everything I did somehow ended up being wrong.
“His Highness is concerned that you’ve been neglecting your daily routine just to go on walks. Excessive walking could actually be harmful.”
It was always like that.
Little by little, I grew confused.
Without Andrea, I eventually became incapable of making even the smallest decision on my own.
“Chloe, you weren’t like this before. Why have you become so broken? Are you still suffering that much?”
“You say you’re fine? No. To me, you look like you’re in terrible pain. It’s heartbreaking.”
Do I really look miserable?
Am I suffering?
Then… I must be suffering.
“They’re just worried about you. Don’t tell me you’re getting annoyed with me? You’re not? Then why are you arguing with everything I say? Isn’t that irritation?”
Did I… get angry without realizing it?
What’s wrong with me?
“You’ve become so irritable and unpredictable lately.”
“Just like Her Majesty the Empress.”
“You’re so frustrating.”
At some point, every word I spoke was labeled as anger or irritability.
Even when I had never raised my voice, I became known as someone with an uncontrollable temper.
“My poor little sister… The grief of losing the Empress has finally driven you insane.”
And so…
I became the mad princess.
Andrea and everyone in the Imperial Palace insisted I was insane.
So I believed them.
Everything was my fault.
I just needed to do better.
I repeated those words to myself over and over.
Then my marriage became the greatest point of conflict between Andrea and me.
“Chloe, why are you refusing this marriage? Do you think I’d ever introduce you to an unsuitable husband? If you keep acting this selfishly, we can’t remain the close siblings we once were.”
“You think I’m doing this for my own benefit? You’re a member of the Imperial Family. It’s time you started contributing to the Empire. Don’t you think it’s about time you fulfilled your duty?”
Andrea forced a marriage proposal upon me without warning.
For someone who had never even begun preparing for marriage, it was far too sudden.
But I felt that if I refused him…
Our relationship would end forever.
So I accepted.
It was the beginning of my nightmare.
“How dare you look at me with such insolent eyes! Just because you’re a princess, you think you’re above me?”
“I never… I never looked down on you.”
“Oh? Then you’re saying I’m the one who’s wrong? You crazy bitch! You’re lower than an animal!”
“I’m sorry… I was wrong…”
The man Andrea chose for me was Baron Felsus.
He had once been a wealthy merchant who had only recently purchased a noble title.
For his entire life, he had been tormented by an overwhelming inferiority complex about his humble origins.
He vented all of that resentment by humiliating and abusing me.
By then, rumors that I had completely lost my mind had spread throughout society.
No one believed I was capable of rational thought anymore.
My husband violated and degraded me in every way imaginable.
Every single day was hell.
One day, Baron Felsus returned home drunk, seething with rage.
“You must have whispered poisonous lies into your brother’s ear! Why else would he refuse to grant me a count’s title?”
He had beaten me countless times before.
But that day…
…was different.
“P-Please… spare me…”
Without a shred of mercy, Baron Felsus stomped on me as I struggled to breathe and begged for my life.
I don’t know how I escaped him.
When I came to my senses, I was desperately running toward Andrea.
But the man I reached after risking my life…
Only looked annoyed.
“Seriously? Can’t you solve your own marital problems? Do I have to take care of that too? Is there anything you can do by yourself?”
“B-Brother…”
“Stop being such a burden. Why should I be responsible for you? You’re no different from a stranger to me.”
“No…”
“No.”
“You’re the most troublesome obstacle in my life.”
The only person I had ever believed I could rely on…
Thought of me as nothing more than a burden.
“W-Why are you saying that, Brother? How can I be a stranger…? I’m sorry… I’m sorry. It’s all my fault.”
“Do you even know what you did wrong?”
“W-What did I do…? Tell me. I’ll fix it. I’ll fix everything.”
He laughed.
“What’s the point? Even if you died and came back to life, you’d still be hopeless.”
Then he slowly looked over my blood-soaked body.
“You’re going to die the moment you go back anyway, aren’t you?”
“So… hurry up and die already.”
“Once you’re gone…”
“…everyone will finally be happy.”
“B-Brother…”
“I have one last favor to ask of you.”
“For your dear brother’s sake…”
“Go die quietly.”
“Perfect.”
“We’ll just say Baron Felsus murdered you.”
He was right.
If I went back…
Baron Felsus would kill me anyway.
I had nothing left to cling to.
Nothing.
The knight Andrea ordered to execute me dragged me into the forest, laughing.
“Your mother had the exact same expression when she died.”
“W-What… are you talking about?”
“You’re unbelievably stupid.”
“The whole empire knows it was the Imperial Consort and the prince who drove your mother to her death by branding her insane.”
“You’re the only one who didn’t.”
“…!”
“Know why they kept you alive?”
“Because if you died too while everyone already suspected them, it would’ve looked too suspicious.”
Only when I stood at death’s door…
…did I finally understand everything.
My mother had been murdered.
And I had been nothing more than a pawn.
“Good thing someone as foolish as you never became emperor.”
Listening to the knight’s mocking laughter…
I died.
Or at least…
I thought I had.
My fading consciousness suddenly jolted awake.
I opened my eyes.
I was in my room at the Imperial Palace.
When I gathered my bearings…
I realized I had returned to late summer, ten years earlier—
I was twenty-two years old once again, and the marriage negotiations with Baron Felsus had only just begun.
