Ilia strolled slowly through the imperial palace.
Though she deeply despised the emperor to the point of wanting him dead, there was no benefit in drawing his ire.
Thus, she found herself wearing clothes she had never dared to try on before.
Even after walking for just a few minutes, she could already feel the pressure on her feet from the high-heeled shoes.
The blue dress adorned with frills, the necklace and earrings embedded with dazzling jewels—all of it felt foreign to her.
Aren had complimented her, saying she looked beautiful, but Ilia didn’t feel the same way.
‘Well, Aren likes me, so of course he’d say that.’
Ilia remembered her father once telling her that when someone loves you, even your smallest actions seem endearing to them.
Reflecting on Aren’s behavior, her father’s words seemed undeniably true.
‘Who would’ve thought he’d be such a fool…’
Aren was nothing like the person Ilia had imagined.
‘I thought he’d be more serious.’
Unfortunately, that illusion shattered within five minutes of meeting him.
‘Well… Aren isn’t a bad person, though.’
Objectively, Aren was a good man.
He smiled all day, which made him seem approachable, but if he ever stopped smiling, he’d be the epitome of a cold, handsome man.
His dark hair and eyes only amplified that aura, and it just so happened to align perfectly with Ilia’s tastes, which sometimes left her feeling strange.
And then there was his personality.
Though they hadn’t spent much time together, Ilia had never seen Aren lose his temper.
‘If anything, he’s almost overly considerate.’
From the smallest gestures, it was clear that Aren cared deeply for her.
‘His way of speaking, though… I don’t like it.’
Ilia couldn’t understand why he insisted on making such awkward jokes.
But aside from that, Aren was the kind of man one could spend a lifetime with.
‘…And in the future, he was willing to die for me.’
The future.
The reason Ilia knew about something she couldn’t possibly see was, absurdly, because she had dreamed of it.
On the day she realized her parents were gone and cried herself to sleep, Ilia saw a vision of her future self.
She saw a version of herself, slightly taller and with shorter hair, writing a letter.
Tears streamed down her face, and her body trembled like a leaf, but her eyes were filled with love, and her lips were curved into a smile.
A letter—or perhaps a suicide note—filled with love, awkwardly written.
Her trembling hands made the handwriting messy, and tear stains smudged the paper, but she smiled as if satisfied.
Unlike other dreams, this one remained etched in Ilia’s memory long after she woke up.
And then there was another strange occurrence.
The tarnished silver necklace her mother had left her.
Whenever Ilia wore it and looked at Aren, her heart ached.
As if merging with something, emotions she had never experienced before took root, and her gaze became fixed on Aren.
Because of this, on the final day of the funeral, Ilia couldn’t tear her eyes away from Aren as he boarded his carriage outside the mansion.
If she hadn’t retained at least some semblance of rationality, she would have kept wearing that necklace.
‘And I would’ve been dragged around by emotions that weren’t even mine.’
Just the thought of it made her shiver.
But she couldn’t bring herself to throw away her mother’s keepsake, so she ended up hiding it deep in a drawer.
‘Aren, there’s definitely something about him.’
Ilia didn’t like relying on uncertainty, but her intuition was screaming at her.
That all these strange phenomena were connected to Aren.
Unfortunately, Ilia didn’t have the courage to confront Aren about it.
‘What if he thinks I’m crazy?’
Dreaming of the future, experiencing emotions she couldn’t explain when wearing the necklace—it all made her feel like a witch.
Besides, Aren was her fiancé.
Though their engagement was a shallow one, arranged by the emperor, marrying Aren was still preferable to marrying a complete stranger.
‘…And he’s handsome, and he only has eyes for me.’
The more she thought about it, the more she didn’t want to lose Aren.
Her feelings for him hadn’t yet reached the level of love, but she certainly felt a strong fondness for him.
‘…This is inevitable.’
A man who perfectly matched her tastes, who clearly adored her—how could she not be drawn to him?
‘…Besides, he said he’d help me.’
Once, after the funeral, when she had lashed out at him with misplaced resentment.
Another time, when she had deliberately said harsh things to test his sincerity.
In both instances, Aren had stepped forward to support her, and that was why she had come to trust him.
Though they had only spent a few days together, she already felt empty without him.
The colorless days after losing her parents were gradually being filled with Aren’s presence.
But not now.
As she went to meet the emperor, her world was once again being drained of color.
It was as if she had woken from a dream, leaving only a hollow emptiness behind.
The expressionless version of herself, the one she didn’t want Aren to see, was reflected in the window.
“His Majesty is waiting,” said Marquis Blake.
Ilia nodded in response.
Blake Seligard.
The head of the Seligard family and Aren’s older brother.
‘How can two brothers be so different?’
Ilia didn’t like Blake.
After all, he served the emperor who had killed her parents.
Moreover, his actions were contradictory, which made her even more wary of him.
Blake knew full well that the current emperor had killed his former master, the previous emperor.
Yet, he hadn’t opposed the current emperor’s rise to the throne.
‘Does he have some weakness the emperor is exploiting, or…’
Ilia stopped herself from thinking further.
The doors to the audience chamber were slowly opening, pushed by two knights standing guard.
Ilia swallowed hard.
As much as she hated the emperor, the sheer weight of his title was overwhelming.
“Welcome, my niece,” the emperor greeted her with an unpleasant smile.
Ilia almost grimaced but bit her cheek and forced a smile instead.
“I greet the sun of the empire.”
“No need to be so formal,” the emperor said, though his tone suggested otherwise.
Ilia knew why the emperor had chosen to receive her in the audience chamber.
‘He’s reminding me not to overstep.’
Ilia knelt and looked up at the emperor.
The man she loathed sat on the imperial throne, and without his permission, she couldn’t even inherit the title her parents had left her.
That fact cut deep.
“I’ve been busy, which is why I’ve only called for you now,” the emperor said, though he didn’t offer an apology.
Ilia kept her expression neutral as she spoke.
“…May I ask why you’ve summoned me?”
The emperor’s unpleasant smile widened.
“I thought you’d already know.”
“Is it about inheriting the title?”
The emperor nodded.
“The Rigmond family has long been a loyal house, protecting the continent and the imperial family.”
‘…What’s his angle?’
Ilia knew the emperor wouldn’t praise Rigmond without a reason, and she was right.
“Therefore, to become the head of Rigmond, I believe a test is necessary.”
“…A test, you say?”
Ilia sighed inwardly.
Of course, the emperor wouldn’t simply grant her the title.
In a way, the emperor was a very consistent person.
“Recently, two members of the imperial family died tragically. It has caused quite a stir in the empire.”
“And you want me to… quell that unrest?”
“Surely you don’t think I’d expect that much from you.”
Ilia looked into the emperor’s eyes.
As he said, there wasn’t a hint of expectation in them.
His smile didn’t reach his cold, lifeless eyes.
“There have been reports of a witch sighting in the Alenas territory.”
“You want me to hunt down the witch?”
“I expect you to finish the job thoroughly.”
“…Understood.”
For Ilia, the answer was clear.
She had no intention of giving up her claim to the Rigmond family.
“May I take my leave now?”
The emperor’s smile remained as he replied.
“I’ve been looking forward to some leisure time. Won’t you join me for tea?”
Naturally, Ilia declined.
“…I apologize.”
“What a shame. Then you may go.”
“…I’ll take my leave.”
Ilia turned to leave, but the emperor’s voice stopped her in her tracks.
“Ah, one more thing. I heard Count Alenas has a daughter.”
“…”
“I trust you understand.”
Ilia left the audience chamber without another word.
But inside, she was seething with anger.
‘That mad emperor…!’
Count Alenas was a noble known for his loyalty to the previous emperor.
Naturally, he had been one of the voices opposing the current emperor’s rise to the throne.
‘He wants me to frame Count Alenas’s daughter as a witch.’
Unfortunately, Ilia wasn’t foolish enough to miss the emperor’s implication.
The emperor was seeking revenge against Count Alenas by targeting his beloved daughter.