TSHF 03

Chapter 03

Since I had formed a contract with spirits to begin with, it was only natural that I was loved by nature.

Growing plants was incredibly easy for me.

When to water them, how much sunlight they needed, how much nourishment was required.

The spirits whispered all of it to me with meticulous care, and the plants I tended grew especially lush and vibrant.

Fortunately, this ability was a great help in cultivating a pure and innocent image.

People simply thought I liked flowers. Even the Emperor built a private glass greenhouse in my palace for my fifteenth birthday.

Without having any idea what I actually do with what I grow.

What’s more, the greenhouse had a locking mechanism that allowed only me to enter, making it an ideal place to hide things.

For instance—this secret laboratory where I now stood.

[Master, you got soaked in the rain so badly yesterday~. Shouldn’t you rest properly today~?]

[I agree with that, Master.]

[Yeah! You’ll catch a cold at this rate?!]

Pulled out of my thoughts by the spirits’ voices, I looked down at what I was holding.

In my hands was my mother’s diary—the one she had kept hidden and written in secret.

During the funeral, it was the very first thing I had smuggled away.

Because I don’t know what Mother wrote in here either.

Of course, my mother hadn’t been careless. The diary was written in a secret code.

She had taught that code to me, saying that only the two of us knew it.

So perhaps there was no need to rush…

But you never know.

There was no harm in being cautious.

Besides, the diary might contain clues about my mother’s death.

Blinking my fever-heated eyes, I muttered,

“I can’t rest right now.”

Outwardly, I was a member of the Lornod imperial family, blessed with extraordinary physical abilities.

I couldn’t very well collapse just because I’d been caught in the rain for a few hours.

“Cough, cough.”

Still, a body weakened by extreme stress was honest.

At my small cough, the spirits around me panicked.

[Master!]

[Shouldn’t you go to bed after all~?]

[Yes, hurry and warm yourself somewhere cozy!]

“I’m fine, so don’t worry.”

Suppressing the rest of my coughs, I turned the page of the diary.

There was no longer a mother to prepare medicine for me.

So to hide my feverish state, retreating into this laboratory—where only I could enter—was more convenient.

And it’s easier to focus on reading the diary here, too.

When I stubbornly insisted on staying, Nesgal, the fire spirit, sighed and formed a warm sphere of heat.

[What am I supposed to do with that stubbornness of yours? Use this instead of a heater.]

“Thank you, Nesgal.”

Leaning against it, I read through the diary quickly.

My mother’s diary was filled with shocking revelations.

I don’t even know how many years it’s been since I possessed this novel. These days, I can’t remember my original name anymore. Is this how you end up forgetting Earth? The beginning of the original story is still so far away… Ah, today I met the Crown Prince. I can’t believe that kid will become the male lead who shares a once-in-a-century romance with the female lead.

That trash bastard showed up in my dreams again today. The jerk who disappeared the day I got pregnant with Neroli. If this was how it was going to be, he shouldn’t have helped me when I ran away from the capital. He shouldn’t have said he’d take responsibility. I want to forget him and live comfortably in the imperial palace too… but it’s hard. On lonely, exhausting days, I keep thinking of him. I miss him. Did he really abandon me like the Emperor said?

Sometimes, I see that man in Neroli. Quiet, not very talkative. Watching a child who only reads books, far too calm for her age, the Emperor laughed and said she was different from himself as a child. That smile was chilling… Neroli’s identity must never be discovered.

When I look at Neroli, anxiety keeps me from sleeping. My daughter doesn’t exist in the original story. She’s a child born because I possessed this world and met him.

I struggled desperately because I didn’t want to become a villain, but in the end, I married the Emperor. When the time comes, I’ll give birth to Moren as well. Everything except Neroli should follow the original story… and that’s what scares me even more. What should I do with that child?

I frowned deeply.

Am I really supposed to believe this…?

Could it be that my mother suffered from delusions?

Though people rarely spoke of it openly, members of the Lornod imperial family possessed powerful bodies, but very few had sound minds.

Delusional disorders weren’t unheard of in the palace.

But Mother only married the Emperor and became Empress. She didn’t have dragon blood.

Then what was this diary?

Skeptical, I flipped past the seemingly useless entries.

Then my hand froze on a single line.

Since I’m having trouble recalling the original story lately, I’ll write down whatever I remember here.

Below it were scattered records of major imperial events.

The ink colors differed, the dates were jumbled, and yet there were no signs of revisions.

Staring at it closely, I let out a hollow laugh.

“How did you even know all this, Mother…?”

Detailed information about pirate suppression operations, the cause of a devastating drought, trade goods that would gain prominence in the future.

Even unknown gossip about high-ranking nobles.

The details were vague, but the core was unmistakably accurate.

Some of this is information even I don’t know yet…

For example, the current whereabouts of the Sandrin Ducal House’s lost youngest daughter.

When I reached the final pages, I found yet another shocking entry.

Today, God appeared in my dream. I don’t remember the appearance clearly, but the voice is vivid. God told me that I originally died unintentionally after being caught in a dimensional rift. Feeling sorry for me, they let me possess a world they created. But does that make any sense? To me, it sounds like nothing but an excuse for their mistake.

The entry continued.

Anyway, that god gave me a gift. They said it was pitiful how hard I struggled to remember the original story. Then they said they’d give me the original novel. I honestly thought it was just a ridiculous dream—but when I woke up this morning, the book was really there by my pillow. The novel I was reading before getting hit by a truck: Flowers Blooming Beside Death. So did the Dahlia God really appear in my dream? What can I even do with this original story?

That was the end of the diary.

After closing it, I shut my eyes.

A god… and an original story.

It still felt impossible to believe. It was far too absurd to be reality.

But I didn’t want to dismiss my mother as delusional, and the information scattered throughout her diary wasn’t something I could simply ignore.

It’s worth investigating at least once.

If what she said was true…

Then the original novel the god gave her must exist somewhere.

It would contain far more detailed information than this diary.

Almost like a book of prophecy.

If it truly existed, I had to get my hands on it before anyone else.

That would increase my chances of surviving.

My standing in the palace had always come from the Emperor.

Because he doted on my mother, he cherished me as well—someone who looked exactly like her.

But the current Emperor had coldly buried my mother’s death, and at the end of the funeral, he looked at me with hostility.

That look meant only one thing.

He’s been suspecting it all along.

Whether I was truly his blood.

Perhaps he simply hadn’t found proof yet—or perhaps he was already convinced.

It felt as though everything had been stripped bare before the one person who must never discover the truth.

I never knew when the Emperor might decide to eliminate me, and times like this were when I had to struggle desperately.

If the original story really contains the future, there’s no better source of information.

And I also had to think about Moren’s future.

My one and only sibling, Moren. A true Lornod, born with the Emperor’s red eyes.

Yet simply because we shared blood, even Moren’s future had become uncertain.

We need to find a way to survive.

Mother must have wanted the original story to be used for our sake as well.

…And it’s her keepsake.

Just like the diary in my hands.

If not her daughter, who else would safeguard such things?

Suddenly, unresolved guilt knotted in my mind.

If only I hadn’t taken my eyes off Mother that day…

Then there wouldn’t even be such keepsakes.

If only I’d been more careful. If I’d moved faster. If I hadn’t hesitated.

Then—

I squeezed my eyes shut.

Enough. Regret can wait until after revenge.

Fortunately, my mother’s maids had long since become my people.

Without my permission, none of her belongings would be touched.

Casting off my thoughts, I stood up from the chair.

I need to go to the Empress’s palace immediately—

“Ugh.”

My legs suddenly gave out, and I grabbed the nearby table.

The spirits rushed in and supported me with their small bodies.

[See~? I knew this would happen~.]

[You fool, Marin! How dare you tease a sick master!]

[Master, you really need to rest now! Something terrible will happen at this rate!]

“Alright… I get it.”

Time was critical.

But I couldn’t ignore the spirits’ worried advice.

My condition truly was terrible.

Fine. I’ll lie down early and pretend it’s because night has fallen.

Just for today.

I’d taken the medicine I made here in the lab—after a full day’s rest, I should recover.

Neroli doesn’t exist in the original story.

As I forced myself to walk, that line resurfaced in my mind.

Doesn’t exist in the original story…

From my mother’s perspective, was I someone who was never meant to exist?

Was that why she sometimes looked so frightened when I was young?

My head grew foggy, bitterness rising in my mouth.

Still, I acted as if nothing was wrong and headed toward my room—

When a rough grip suddenly seized my wrist.