chapter 3
She was so dumbfounded she could barely speak.
After cursing my mother and me and causing all this chaos, they were holding a party?
And in a place overflowing with white chrysanthemums—the very flowers used for funerals?
“Priest. Was there ever a white chrysanthemum garden in the Empress’s palace? I don’t recall hearing about one.”
Suppressing my fury, I questioned him, and the priest answered awkwardly.
“W-Well… originally it was a white rose garden, but the chrysanthemums Her Majesty ordered just happened to arrive today…”
“Hah.”
I clenched my fist tightly.
Could it really be a coincidence that the Empress was holding a chrysanthemum party on the very day that would become my mother’s death anniversary?
To buy enough chrysanthemums to redecorate an entire rose garden, the order would have needed to be placed at least a week in advance.
‘Is she openly advertising that she planned the assassination beforehand?’
My fingernails dug into my skin.
This was blatant mockery of my mother’s death.
If I had my way, I would storm into that garden packed with nobles supporting the Empress and Crown Prince and scream at them.
How could they swallow food so comfortably after murdering my mother?
‘But if I act without evidence, the backlash will crush me.’
Judging from the symptoms I felt, the one who attacked Mother and me was indeed a mage from the Empress’s family, the House of Duke Zelon.
The memories from my previous life said the same thing.
There was always a description that appeared whenever you entered the location called Forgotten Grave in the game.
[The grave of Lady Roselia, assassinated by the Empress, who was both her political and romantic rival. The truth was never uncovered.]
‘The illustration for that map always felt strangely melancholic. Sometimes I’d visit it for no reason…’
Whenever my mother appeared in the game or the original novel, it was always accompanied by the explanation that the Empress had assassinated her.
Unfortunately, however, things like recovering memories of a previous life or sensing the distinctive traces of Zelon magic could not serve as proof.
If I wanted to reveal the truth with evidence convincing enough for anyone to accept, I had to act more cleverly than before.
Of course, lacking physical evidence didn’t mean I intended to obediently lower my tail.
‘First, I’ll properly send Mother off. Then after that…’
I straightened my clothes while carefully constructing my revenge plan in my head.
Mother’s funeral was held quietly at the detached palace she had loved during her lifetime.
Oddly enough, it felt more peaceful because none of the Empress’s close aides attended.
While the priests prepared the funeral rites, Father—looking far more gaunt than before—approached me and asked,
“Frey, how are you feeling?”
“I’m alright thanks to you, Father.”
As the musicians began to play the requiem, the atmosphere darkened endlessly.
Caressing a white chrysanthemum, Father spoke in a low voice.
“For the first time yesterday, I regretted my decision to bring Roselia into the imperial palace.”
“……”
“……My selfish desire to keep even one person by my side who would care for me caused all of this.”
For a moment, I couldn’t say anything.
The woman he had been forced to marry and make Empress was the daughter of the family that had killed all his brothers.
Having barely survived and ascended the throne thanks to his immense divine power, he lived under constant assassination threats.
The Empress had never wanted anything to do with Father from the beginning.
Even after giving birth to a son destined to become emperor, she entrusted his upbringing entirely to her family and constantly found excuses to keep Father from spending time with him.
[“Don’t worry. When I become emperor, I won’t be as incompetent as that.”]
In the end, even Crown Prince Tahar came to despise Father, true to the blood of House Zelon.
With the Zelon Ducal House on the verge of completely taking over the imperial family, there was no one left who loved Father.
No one except Mother and me.
I held Father’s hand tightly and said,
“I’m glad you’re my father.”
“……”
Was there anyone capable of resisting the fundamental desire to love and be loved?
To the Empress and her family, Father may have been a useless and incompetent emperor, but not to me.
“……Frey. No matter what, I will protect you at least. So stay still and do nothing.”
Father’s voice was gentle, yet firm. As though he wanted me not to take any action regarding the Empress’s atrocities.
‘He doesn’t trust me.’
I had grown up my entire life fearing an attack could come at any moment.
Because of that, even things I was perfectly capable of doing often ended in failure because I shrank back nervously.
Eventually, I stopped attending even small gatherings with pro-imperial families and spent my days alone in my room reading books.
Mother and Father, wanting me to feel comfortable, never forced any duties onto me and instead let me buy whatever I wanted and live freely.
‘Now that I think about it, maybe they spoiled me even more because they knew the Empress and the Crown Prince’s faction were subtly pressuring me.’
After all, even Father couldn’t completely suppress the House of Duke Zelon—a founding noble family that owned massive merchant guilds and mage towers and even controlled the Elder Council.
Perhaps feeling guilty about that, they gave me everything except the ability to crush the Empress’s faction.
‘It’s only natural Father doesn’t trust me when all I ever did was hide behind my parents’ love and avoid everything.’
But now it was time to leave the greenhouse with my own two feet.
‘If I want to avenge Mother and change the future, the first hurdle is making Father trust me.’
The very first thing I needed to do became clear.
“Then… we shall begin.”
Wearing mourning clothes, the High Priest stepped onto the altar, closed his eyes, and began to pray.
Below him, I stared at the glass coffin where Mother rested with her eyes closed, and the funeral mass passed by in what felt like an instant.
The moment I picked up a white chrysanthemum to offer her, my eyes burned with tears.
“……Mother. As you wished, I’ll live happily. So don’t worry and rest peacefully.”
In a tiny voice, I whispered those words and laid the flower beneath my mother’s cold body.
Unlike my cheeks burning with overwhelming emotion, my mind was more rational than ever.
If I wanted revenge against the Empress, House Zelon, the Crown Prince, and all their followers—
‘Strip the Crown Prince of his right to the throne, and destroy the foundation of House Zelon.’
Even merely thinking about it already felt overwhelming.
No matter how much knowledge of the future I possessed thanks to recovering memories of my previous life, destroying the empire’s greatest noble house alone would never be easy.
That meant I had no choice but to join forces with someone.
‘There’s only one family in the empire capable of standing against House Zelon. The Grand Ducal House of Proust in the North.’
The very family currently acting as temporary guardians to the male leads of the original story—who would eventually rebel against the imperial family and perish alongside it.
The status of House Proust was special due to the empire’s unique circumstances.
Undead monsters occasionally appeared without warning throughout the empire, and the only power capable of completely eradicating them was divine power.
‘Father left his seat earlier because undead monsters suddenly appeared.’
Normally, divine power manifested in the imperial heirs, but Crown Prince Tahar—despite being the legitimate successor—possessed none.
On the other hand, the Grand Dukes of Proust carried dragon blood in their veins and possessed a small amount of divine power.
To Tahar, a grand duke with divine power was naturally a threat to his throne.
‘That’s why, the moment Tahar became emperor, he tried to win over the Grand Duke of Proust first—but…’
The method Tahar chose was marrying the daughter of one of his loyal retainers to the Grand Duke.
But the Grand Duke, who had an aversion to women and romance altogether, coldly rejected the proposal.
‘So Tahar assassinated him through special means instead.’
The problem was that the children under the Grand Duke’s protection possessed tremendous power worthy of future male leads.
‘They were called things like “Chosen Ones” and “Transcendents.”’
After the Grand Duke protecting them was assassinated, the children lost control and attacked the imperial palace.
The empire rapidly fell into ruin.
‘To change the future, I need to prevent the Grand Duke’s assassination and make sure the children don’t fall into darkness.’
No matter what happened, I needed to become close enough with them that they would consult me first instead of immediately destroying the imperial palace.
To accomplish all of this, the best option was for me to enter the Proust Grand Ducal estate in the North.
Through something like a contract marriage.
‘If I become the Grand Duchess, it’ll be difficult for Tahar’s faction to marry one of their allies to the Grand Duke.’
The problem was figuring out how to get involved with a man who hated romance and women due to trauma.
‘What kind of person was the current head again? I heard he was a half-dragon.’
Daniel Proust.
By the time the game began, he was already dead, but thanks to his beautiful appearance and noble, gentle personality, he had quite a lot of fans.
Fans even dug through the original novel and squeezed nonexistent screen time out of him, attaching the keyword #VirtuousVirginMan to him.
‘Meaning he coldly shut down every woman who showed interest in him.’
How exactly was I supposed to win over a man like that?
While I was lost in thought, someone entered the funeral hall.
“I heard Lady Roselia’s funeral was being held here.”
The moment I turned and recognized the visitor, the back of my neck stiffened.
Ivril Bliet.
The daughter of Count Bliet, a loyal supporter of Tahar.
And the very young lady Tahar would later try to marry off to the Grand Duke of Proust—only to be rejected.
“Lady Bliet.”
Father called out to her in a cold voice.
But she merely brushed back her black hair and bowed politely.
“Your Majesty. I came to offer my condolences after hearing the news about Lady Roselia.”
“……”
“Her Majesty the Empress and Her Highness the Crown Princess were also deeply saddened by this unfortunate incident.”
Ivril wore an expression that looked as though she might burst into tears at any moment.
Changing her expressions at will was one of her specialties.
Because of that talent, rumors spread throughout high society that the Crown Prince was carefully preserving the beautiful Lady Bliet as a negotiation card.
[“Even Daniel Proust, who supposedly has no interest in women, would surely be different with Lady Bliet.”]
[“She’s a young lady who’ll play an important role. There’s no harm in currying favor with her. The position of Grand Duchess of Proust isn’t just any seat.”]
[“She’ll come of age next year, so the Crown Prince’s faction must already be testing the waters with the Grand Duke of Proust.”]
Those were the conversations I used to overhear while sipping champagne alone behind pillars because I couldn’t find a partner.
Perhaps because she had heard such words so often, Lady Bliet herself apparently fully believed she would become the future Grand Duchess of Proust.
“Well then…”
After bowing to Father, she walked toward Mother’s glass coffin.
Carrying the bouquet of chrysanthemums the Empress had supposedly ordered a week in advance.
Though her manner appeared respectful, it was a perfect mockery.
I had no intention of quietly watching it happen, so just as she passed in front of me, I spoke.
“Father, how old is the Grand Duke of Proust this year?”
