To My Sister Who Will Be Deposed

I may not have been the one who made you unhappy… but you were the one who made me miserable.”

After the young half-brother who became emperor dies, Evelyn’s neglected half-sister, Mary, ascends the throne.

Though saddened, Evelyn also feels relieved.
Now that Mary is finally free, perhaps the two of them can comfort each other and live peacefully together.

But she soon realizes that hope was nothing more than the naïveté of a flower raised in a greenhouse.

“Why…? Why would Your Majesty do this to me?! What did I ever do wrong?!”
“Well, it’s not exactly your fault. But there’s such a thing as original sin, isn’t there?”
“……”
“And since I can’t take revenge on those already dead…”
“Please!”
“I suppose I’ll just have to destroy you instead.”

At the end of her second life — one in which she devoted her whole heart — Evelyn makes a vow.

This time, she will cast Mary down and survive no matter what.

There is nowhere left for her to retreat.
There is nothing left to fear.

To live, she will depose her sister and become emperor herself.

“Petition the emperor for a marriage between me and him.”

Within the shadows cast by the flickering torchlight, Aiden’s handsome face stiffened for a moment.

“And join me in usurping the throne.”
“……”
“I’ll hear your answer here again in three days.”

Leaving behind the stunned and speechless man, Evelyn turned away without hesitation.