HRFGV 08

Chapter 8

At Julius’s words, I could only freeze with my mouth hanging open.

What did he just say?
He pushed who into a pit crawling with bugs?

‘You did something like that?!’

And he said he did it just to check whether the screams sounded like Marigold’s?
My face turned pale in disbelief, and Julius shook his head as if it were unfortunate.

“Nothing could be done. I’m the only one who knows the Empress’s scream.”

No—why are you the only one who knows my mother’s scream? If the Emperor ordered the Crown Prince to do it, then the Emperor himself probably doesn’t know either.

‘I’m afraid to even ask what kind of story lies behind that.’

By now, I had already realized that everyone here was out of their minds.

Stay alert. Don’t relax. Absolutely don’t relax.

While I kept repeating that resolve to myself, his long fingers tapped lightly on my shoulder. Tilting his head, he murmured,

“I heard you were summoned by Father yesterday… Why do you look so fine? You must have gone in looking like something that would anger him. Perhaps Father’s memory is finally starting to fade.”

He whispered in a gentle tone.
But my body felt as if ice water had been poured over it.

‘How does he know I went to the Emperor looking like that?’

How else could he know? There was only one possibility.

If the reason I appeared before the Emperor in that condition was all part of this man’s scheme.

‘And what does he mean his memory is fading? Don’t tell me provoking the Emperor wasn’t just a one-time thing.’

The Emperor had gone mad only when he saw the turquoise necklace I wore—but apparently there had been other things meant to provoke him too.

The yellow dress.
The earrings.

‘Maybe even the high heels.’

Thinking about it that way, what I felt wasn’t anger—it was chilling fear.

While I stiffened with my shoulders hunched, Julius smiled brightly, saying such horrifying things as if he were someone sincerely worried about me.

“Isn’t it sad for you too? The Empress’s whole meaning was that she drove Father mad with love. But if he’s slowly forgetting her… doesn’t that make their love seem fake?”

This guy was just as insane as the Emperor.

‘I want to shove him away and run right now.’

But strangely, that option didn’t even cross my mind anymore. Even while trembling, I couldn’t push the Crown Prince away.

Meanwhile, he stepped closer and slowly brushed down my shoulder as he whispered,

“I can’t wait to inherit the throne. Then I’ll finally see how this little game ends. To be honest, I didn’t want to pull you out of that bug pit. I didn’t want to treat your wounds either. Your screams sound exactly like the Empress’s.”

…What kind of brother says something like that to his younger sister?

‘Looks like perversion runs in the family.’

Just like the Emperor, how could even the elder brother be like this? They even looked alike, and their behavior wasn’t much different.

‘No wonder her personality ended up ruined.’

At this point, it was strange that options like “kick the Crown Prince in the groin” weren’t appearing.

‘Ugh, I want to punch this bastard in the solar plexus so badly!’

And I wanted to shout at him to stop spewing nonsense.

But could I really live according to my temper like that? Wouldn’t that just push me toward a dead ending?

I clenched my trembling fist tightly. Otherwise it felt like my fist would shoot out like a rocket punch and slam into him.

‘This man is the Crown Prince. The Crown Prince of the Empire.’

Just like the Emperor, he obviously possessed tremendous pride.

‘The second most powerful person in this country. If I hit him here, the bad ending caused by Daniel would just turn into a bad ending caused by the Crown Prince.’

If I stayed still, I might survive a hundred days.

But if I acted wrongly, I could die in a single day.

Endure it. Endure it. Change the ending and live happily ever after.

Even after calming myself rationally like that, the twisted feeling inside me wouldn’t go away.

‘Especially the way he says horrific things while pretending to be kind and gentle—it’s disgusting.’

Unable to hide my instinctive disgust, I raised my head and glared at the Crown Prince.

That action irritated him.

Julius’s expression suddenly stiffened, and he spoke to me in a cold voice.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

His question made me even more dumbfounded.

Why that look? Did he think I’d laugh happily after hearing that garbage?

‘Did Sienna really never resist him?’

That couldn’t be true. Something this painful—someone like Sienna, who wasn’t even as timid as me, must have shown resistance.

‘It’s not that she didn’t resist. They just ignored it.’

The Emperor and the Crown Prince must have used violence against her despite her refusal.

‘Those bastards are worse than animals.’

Seeing the condemnation in my gaze, Julius’s face twisted viciously. His ferocious expression looked even more like the Emperor’s.

Then harsh criticism poured from his lips.

“How dare you look at me like that?! If you didn’t have a face that resembles the Empress, do you think you could even set foot in the Imperial Palace?!”

‘Because she resembles the Empress?’

Sienna lived in the palace because she was an Imperial Princess. But Julius spoke as if it was only because of her face.

And it wasn’t just him.

The Emperor.
The maids who looked down on her.

‘They’re all looking at her as if she’s just a reflection of her mother.’

In a situation like this, how could someone not become twisted?

I had only spent two days here, yet I already felt my sanity wearing down.

Sienna had grown up in an environment where becoming a villainess was almost inevitable.

The moment I realized that, I finally snapped and cursed.

“Damn it. I can’t put up with this crap anymore.”

Enduring it had finally reached its limit.

Meanwhile

Someone like the Crown Prince could never walk around alone. Even if it was the disgraceful situation of going to bully his half-sister.

Naturally, a knight of the Imperial Knights had followed him to Sienna’s palace for protection.

Standing in the garden beyond the corridor where Julius was threatening Sienna, the knight frowned.

‘This happens all the time, but today it feels particularly unpleasant.’

Inside the palace, hardly anyone sympathized with whatever happened to Sienna.

Sienna Riata was the “villainess.”
Whatever happened to a villainess was simply her paying for her sins. Feeling pity for her would only be presumptuous.

But this knight, unusually, felt sympathy for her.

That was because he had served as the Crown Prince’s guard for a long time.

‘It’s always the same pattern. When Her Majesty the Empress vents about the late Empress to the Crown Prince… the Crown Prince goes to torment Princess Sienna.’

It was truly a chain of hatred.

And it was only natural that sympathy gathered toward Sienna, who stood at the very bottom of that chain.

The sad part was that it ended at sympathy.

‘Helping Princess Sienna would only bring trouble.’

A knight who upheld chivalry shouldn’t think that way. But the current knight order was less a military force and more a political organization.

There was no reason to help Princess Sienna, who held no political value.

And the one who had given that command was the commander of the Imperial Knights.

Duke Percy Stewart.

—

“Under any circumstances, remain strictly neutral. Especially when it comes to the Imperial family.”

—

Remembering Percy’s words, the knight restrained his urge to step in.

‘His Highness has another schedule soon anyway. He won’t stay here long.’

But right after that thought, something unexpected happened.

“What are you doing here?”

“C-Commander!”

The Commander of the Imperial Knights himself, Percy Stewart, had appeared at Princess Sienna’s palace.

Facing his blood-red hair and eyes as cold as ice, the knight stammered.

“I-I’m guarding His Highness the Crown Prince.”

“His Highness Julius is here?”

“Yes.”

Percy raised his head.

The corridor where Julius and Sienna stood was quite far away, but with his sharp hearing, he could clearly hear their conversation.

Sienna brushed back her hair and sneered.

“This is so damn miserable. I can’t put up with this anymore.”

At those words, Percy’s eyes widened.

Meanwhile – Percy Stewart

There wasn’t any particular reason Percy Stewart came to Princess Sienna’s palace.

‘Strangely chilly today.’

The Empire was hot all year round, yet today a cool wind blew as if a spirit of autumn had arrived.

Maybe that was why, even after finishing his night duty, he didn’t leave the palace immediately and instead walked around the grounds.

And while wandering like that, he had unknowingly reached Sienna’s palace.

Letting out a low sigh, Percy muttered,

‘I’ve come to a pointless place.’

Sienna Riata.

The greatest villainess in the Imperial Palace—
a foolish woman who couldn’t even make use of what she had.

In high society, people openly whispered that Sienna Riata was not the Emperor’s real daughter.

There were two reasons.

First, although Sienna was the oldest among the imperial princesses, she had only been granted her princess title fourth.

Second, instead of receiving the Emperor’s family name Zulatan, she was given the name Riata.

Percy didn’t know the truth.

More accurately, he simply wasn’t interested.

The order of titles?

The day Sienna was born, her mother died.

When a beloved empress died, would the Emperor really care about the daughter she left behind?

He probably forgot about her entirely.

And when three more daughters were born afterward, he must have suddenly realized something.

That she looked exactly like the late Empress.

‘That’s why her title was granted fourth.’