HRFGV 07

Chapter 7

Even though the Emperor seemed insane, surprisingly his ability to run the country was perfectly normal. The reason the nobles did not rise in rebellion despite his chaotic private life was exactly that.

In fact, the nobles felt rather comfortable. As long as “Marigold” remained within the Emperor’s embrace, he behaved like a well-fed monster, conveniently overlooking the nobles’ occasional misconduct.

Rather, the truly insane person existed elsewhere within the Imperial Palace.

She had a pale face, hair as black as ebony, and crimson lips. Her fingernails, grown long like claws, gently stroked the face of the young man sitting before her.

“Julius.”

The young man with straight brown hair and narrow eyes lifted his gaze at the sound of his name. The woman smiled in delight and whispered,

“How could you resemble your father so much?”

“Mother.”

She was none other than the Empress of this empire.

From the moment of her marriage, the Emperor’s affairs had begun. Because of that, the Empress had slowly begun to lose her sanity at a young age. Even after she gave birth to a son and that son was appointed Crown Prince, destined to inherit the throne, it changed nothing.

No—in fact, her madness only grew more complex. Even though she had obtained everything, the opponent she needed to defeat had already died.

Forever, she remained the loser.

Her long nails left red marks on the nape of her beloved son’s neck.

“When you find a woman you love, you’ll abandon this mother and run off just like your detestable father.”

Julius looked at his mother’s hand with a faint shudder, then gently wrapped his own hand around it and replied softly,

“That won’t happen, Mother. I am your son, after all.”

“When your father first married me, he swore eternal love too. That was before he met that disgusting woman, Marigold.”

Marigold. A woman already dead.

Her birth was lowly, the kind of woman who would have suited mopping palace corridors. And yet she didn’t even like the Emperor. Nevertheless, the Emperor alone had become infatuated, circling around her endlessly and even granting her the title of Imperial Consort—second only to the Empress herself.

If the Empress had not borne Julius, perhaps he might even have stripped her of the crown and placed it on Marigold instead.

Even though it had never actually happened, the Empress always trembled with the sense of defeat.

“I killed that woman, yet who would have thought her daughter would be born. Every time I pass her in the corridor, I get chills. It’s like Marigold is walking around alive again!”

Julius immediately understood whom his mother was talking about.

The daughter Marigold had left behind in this world.

Sienna Liata.

A princess who did not resemble the Emperor in the slightest, but looked exactly like her mother.

Even as a child, she reminded others of Marigold. As she grew older, she came to resemble her even more.

Surely many people in the palace had nightmares of Marigold whenever they saw her face. The reason she was ignored within the Imperial Palace was partly because her mother had died when she was young and could not protect her—but also because many people were reminded of a terrible past whenever they saw that face.

But at least to Julius, that woman was not entirely dreadful.

Pretty Prince, would you like some candy?

Rather, she was probably the only person who had ever treated him without hidden intentions.

Before, and likely even in the future.

And Julius was the kind of man who could not shed even a single tear at the funeral of someone he liked.

Patting his mother gently, Julius whispered,

“Mother, that woman died during childbirth. You didn’t kill her.”

“Yes… that’s right…”

As his mother nodded, Julius barely managed to suppress a scream that threatened to escape his throat.

He wished it were true.

That she had died from childbirth complications.

It was closer to a desperate hope.

Julius continued speaking, unsure whether he was talking to himself or to his mother.

“You must remain strong.”

“You’re right. The day when my son finally becomes the greatest man in this country is not far away.”

At that, Julius could not bring himself to nod.

I wonder about that, Mother.

Can someone this broken truly sit on the throne?

Julius could not ask the question.

Because his mother was far more insane than he was.

* * *

I should have just stayed locked up in the palace.

I don’t even know how I managed to return here. The moment I got back, I was so exhausted that I fell asleep immediately.

Honestly, I had a thought like this too:

Sleep. Just sleep. When I wake up, I’ll forget everything.

A flimsy bit of self-rationalization.

But instead of forgetting, my memories remained painfully clear the next day.

Curled up on the bed like a grub, I trembled with embarrassment.

Daniel’s expression when he looked at me was unbelievable.

I had been sitting in the Bohanan Count’s reception room, and of all people, Beth had to be the one to bring the tea.

Thinking of the fragile heroine’s face, I buried my face in my hands.

Ah, damn it! I’m sorry, Beth!

Pouring tea over her head wasn’t intentional. That was just the choice the system forced on me.

At least the tea wasn’t hot.

Seriously, why does nothing ever go right?

All I could think about was how I should never have visited the Bohanan household in the first place.

Maybe the tea incident would even cause affection to blossom between Daniel and Beth.

Yeah… like he’ll treat her wound or something.

And it was a burn, too.

Since this was an otome game, it probably wouldn’t be a real burn, but he could still gently apply medicine.

Gentle? Can Daniel even act gentle?

I had no idea.

He had glared at me like I was something lower than an insect.

Ugh, I’m so tired.

Even though I had just woken up, my body felt heavy.

At this point, I almost wanted to forget about death flags entirely, pull the blanket over my head, and sleep forever.

Yeah. It’s over. Judging from Daniel’s expression, if he could, he’d probably kill me.

Maybe I should just run away with a bag of money.

Everything felt so terrible that I seriously considered surrendering after only two days.

After briefly planning my escape, I let out a long sigh and got out of bed.

Forget it. What kind of ridiculous idea is that?

An otome game villainess running away with a bag of money?

There had never been such a villainess in any otome game.

If I did that, the system would penalize me for not acting like a proper villainess.

In severe cases… it said the penalty was erasure of existence.

The fact that it said “erasure” instead of “death” felt unsettling.

Crossing my arms, I groaned.

What exactly does this system want from me? Is it just trying to mess with me?

Maybe the developers worked overnight for a month just to release the game on time, and now they’re mad that I criticized it as the first player.

※ The system does not possess personal feelings.

The notification appeared immediately as if responding to my thoughts.

I snorted.

Sure it doesn’t.

Anyway, I had to avoid the dead ending.

And now I only had 98 days left.

First, I’ll eat. Then I’ll make a new plan.

My plan to prevent Beth from entering the Bohanan household had completely failed.

So I needed a different approach.

Like breaking off my engagement with Daniel.

Thinking that, I left my room.

But why is it so empty here?

There were no maids or attendants in sight.

As I walked through the corridor in confusion—

“Hello.”

A man I had never seen before approached me from the end of the hallway and greeted me warmly.

Who is that?

I had a guess.

His brown hair and neat features resembled the Emperor far too much.

So he must be my brother.

Unlike me, who didn’t resemble the Emperor at all.

Remembering how the Emperor kept calling me “Marigold,” my arms trembled even in the middle of the day.

While I stood there blankly, the man calmly approached.

With a gentle smile, he spoke again.

“Oh? Are you not even going to greet me now?”

At that moment, choices appeared above my head.

Kindly, the system even told me who he was.

▶ Get lost. If you want to be treated like the Crown Prince, go find someone else.
▶ We’re not exactly on the kind of terms where we greet each other warmly, are we, Julius?

So he was probably the Crown Prince of the empire.

Julius.

My half-brother, born to the Empress.

Not surprising that Sienna doesn’t get along with him.

Was Sienna the one who hated him? Or were they enemies who wanted each other dead?

After swallowing nervously, I chose a response.

“We’re not exactly on the kind of terms where we greet each other warmly, are we, Julius?”

Even to my own ears, my voice sounded awkward.

I had chosen the line, but I knew nothing about the man standing in front of me.

At least my stiff tone made it slightly less strange.

What do you mean “less strange”? I wish it sounded completely unnatural. I hope this stupid game crashes.

While I was thinking bitterly—

“Are you still sulking? Come now, cheer up, little sister.”

Julius gently patted my shoulder.

His voice was incredibly warm.

His slightly furrowed brow and narrow eyes were filled with concern for me.

For a moment, I almost let my guard down.

I nearly forgot that this otome game was merciless toward villainesses.

Thankfully, Julius quickly helped me come back to my senses.

With the same kind and gentle face, he said:

“I didn’t want to throw you into a pit crawling with insects either. But Father ordered me to find out whether your screams sounded the same as the Imperial Consort’s.”