Chapter 03
felt strangely hazy.
In her blurred vision, she saw Lia—no, to be precise, Liarna.
Liarna, dressed up and lavishly adorned, was biting her lip as she stared out the window.
Outside the window, the Emperor and the concubine, Freya, were holding hands affectionately. The Emperor was showing Freya a smile he had never once shown her.
Freya seemed endlessly amused, chattering nonstop to the Emperor.
Watching them, the Empress’s hand clenched tightly.
She wanted that too.
She wanted the Emperor’s affection as well.
But the place his affection went to was not her—it was that insignificant woman, Freya.
The Empress knew it.
She knew that her position in the Imperial Palace was nothing at all. People greeted her as “Your Majesty,” acting polite on the surface, but their true feelings were not that.
Everyone in the palace looked down on her.
All the fine goods that entered the palace always went to Freya. As for her, the Empress, she received only a few gifts out of formality.
She could not even interfere in internal affairs. She was an Empress in name only—one who possessed nothing.
They said the Emperor’s favor was power within the palace, but even so, the Empress’s position was unbearably unstable.
The Emperor deliberately excluded her from everything. He entrusted her with nothing. Even when she tried to meet him to protest, he always avoided her with countless excuses.
Even when they happened to cross paths by chance, he ignored her as if she did not exist. He did not spare her even a glance. And when their eyes did meet, they were filled with undisguised contempt.
At first, she thought it was fine.
She believed that even if he did not love her, it was enough just to stay by his side.
But as time passed, it became harder to endure.
Though there was nothing she could rightfully desire, greed slowly took root.
She wished he would look at her. If only she could spend even a moment with him and exchange a few words.
It did not have to be love.
But she did not want to receive looks filled with contempt.
She knew why he treated her that way.
She knew that he had originally intended to give the Empress’s position to Freya, the concubine.
But because of strong opposition from the nobles—and her father, the head of the noble faction—he had no choice but to take her as Empress.
That was why it was a relationship that could never grow affection.
She had hidden the fact that she liked the Emperor, trying not to be hurt by that relationship, but it was unbearably painful.
Being forced to live like a flower trapped in the palace, merely breathing.
Even flowers lived on people’s attention and affection—but she had not even that.
The Empress remembered.
When she ate poisoned food—no one even knowing whose scheme it was—and hovered between life and death, the Emperor never once came to see her.
The maids did not know, but although the Empress could not open her eyes, she heard everything around her.
At that time, the maids hurled cruel words at her collapsed body, saying it would be better to die than live like this.
They said they could understand why the Emperor did not like her, that if it were them, they would have killed themselves out of shame.
That dying would be better—for her own sake and for everyone else’s.
Those words stabbed mercilessly into her heart.
She wanted to cry. She felt like she would burst into tears.
Her father had raised her as a duke’s daughter, telling her never to show weakness before others—but in that moment, she felt as if her chest was collapsing.
Perhaps it was fortunate.
Being poisoned and unable to do anything meant she could also hide her tears.
Lia watched all of it.
Even if she did not want to hear it, she heard it.
Even if she did not want to know it, she came to know it.
The vivid emotions and sensations made Lia frown.
She had thought the Empress might be a pitiful character, but it was far worse than she had expected.
Because this novel had a separate protagonist, the Empress’s story was barely shown in the book.
It only briefly mentioned that the Empress grew jealous after seeing the Emperor and Freya together, and that she acted wickedly.
That was all.
So Lia had never known what kind of treatment the Empress actually received, what kind of words were thrown at her, or what she truly felt.
Yet even though these were merely memories flowing into her, Lia felt a sharp ache in her chest.
They were emotions she had unintentionally synchronized with.
When Lia woke up, she frowned at the lingering aftereffects of the dream.
Even after waking, everything felt painfully vivid. The Empress’s emotions poured into her as if they were her own.
Her already poor mood sank even further.
The Empress’s situation was worse than what she had read in the book.
She had only seen one fragment, yet it felt like this.
She did feel sorry for the Empress.
At the same time, she felt frustrated.
If it were her, she would have quit everything and left the palace rather than endure that treatment.
Did she really like the Emperor that much?
Enough to stay even after being treated that way?
Lia could not understand it at all.
Even when she liked someone, she never fell too deeply. Rather than being swayed by others, she was the one who did the swaying.
From Lia’s perspective, the Empress was someone completely different from herself.
If it had been the original Empress instead of her, she would have rejoiced over the Emperor’s changed attitude.
“Tsk.”
Lia clicked her tongue and sat up.
She did not know how long she had slept, but she did not feel refreshed at all. She felt tired no matter how much she slept.
“Should I go to the library?”
She did not know how long she would remain in this world, but it would be better to learn about it.
With nothing else to do, Lia grabbed the irritating hem of her dress and left her room.
“But…”
Where was the library?
She had stepped out, but she did not know the palace layout, so she had no idea where the library was.
Surely there was one, though.
She spotted a maid and approached her to ask for directions.
The maid visibly trembled at Lia’s appearance and looked flustered. She could not even properly meet Lia’s eyes.
It was obviously because of what the former owner of this body had done, so Lia did not mind.
“Where is the library?”
“Th-the library…?”
“Yes.”
Lia spoke with her usual cynical expression, which made her sharp eyes look even sharper.
“T-the library is… um…”
The maid stammered, unable to finish her sentence.
Lia felt frustrated. It was not a difficult question.
“Can’t I go?”
She was not trying to interrogate her. She simply asked back because the maid seemed to be questioning her in return.
At that, the maid trembled so badly it looked pitiful—as if Lia were about to eat her alive.
“I-I’m sorry.”
The maid sobbed and prostrated herself on the floor.
Lia frowned.
What was this now? It felt like she had become the villain.
The cause lay with the former owner, so why did she have to suffer for it?
“Enough. Just tell me where to go.”
She knew that approaching to help her up would only make the maid more afraid, so Lia asked calmly.
The maid explained the way to the library in a trembling voice.
After hearing the directions, Lia turned away, pretending not to notice. She heard the maid sigh in relief behind her, but ignored that too.
“Haah, seriously.”
Even after walking for a long time, Lia could not find the library.
Maybe being bad with directions was not a body problem, but a personal one.
The maid’s explanation had not been complicated.
So why was she only ending up in strange places?
This damn sense of direction.
She was the type who could not find her way even with a navigation app, so maybe it was inevitable—but she was annoyed that even in this body, she was still hopelessly bad at directions.
The dress was uncomfortable enough already.
Should she just ask someone to guide her directly to the library?
She did not want to, knowing how uncomfortable the maids felt around her.
But at this rate, she might wander the palace all day.
As she scanned her surroundings for someone to ask, she saw familiar figures.
Freya, the concubine, and several noble ladies.
Lia’s gaze met one noble lady’s eyes. The woman pretended not to see her and did not greet her.
Lia did not care. She did not know her anyway.
The problem was that there was no one else to ask for directions.
Still, asking them felt unpleasant.
Thinking that she would either stumble upon the library or meet someone else eventually, Lia continued walking.
Freya noticed her.
“Greetings, Your Majesty.”
Freya bent her knee, holding her dress with one hand.
“Hm.”
Lia stared blankly at Freya. Perhaps because of the dream, Freya felt especially unwelcome.
It was not Freya’s fault. The Emperor liking her was not her wrongdoing. Freya did not use the Emperor’s favor to look down on the Empress either.
But to the Empress—who was already being ignored by everyone—it had felt like that alone was enough to be contempt.
Lia herself was merely someone possessing the Empress’s body, so she had no reason to feel resentment toward Freya.
Her gaze shifted to the noble ladies beside Freya.
They did not move at all, even after meeting her eyes.
So that’s what contempt looks like. That’s pretty unpleasant.
Earlier, she had let it slide, but standing before someone and making that kind of expression was too much—especially when her mood was already bad because of the dream.
“No matter how much you’re the Empress, that’s too much. Lady Freya greeted you properly.”
You didn’t greet me at all, and yet you’re saying that?
Lia turned her gaze back to Freya. Freya was still kneeling.
Shouldn’t she stand up by now?
As Lia was thinking that, Freya suddenly staggered, as if on purpose. One of the noble ladies hurriedly supported her.
“Thank you.”
Freya smiled at her, then looked at Lia with a bitter expression.
“It seems Your Majesty really dislikes me.”
It was not Lia but the former owner who had disliked Freya.
So why say that?
With a face that looked genuinely hurt.
If Freya had acted like that even before the original Empress, it was understandable why she had disliked her.
She might not mean anything by it, but someone who received the Emperor’s affection acting so gentle like that was undeniably irritating.
Whether she was pretending or truly kind.
Someone could be hateful even when doing nothing wrong—the more kind they were, the more hateful they seemed.
Lia spoke.
“I don’t dislike you.”
“Really?”
Freya relaxed her expression and asked again. Beside her, a noble lady scoffed as if that were impossible.
“Is there even a reason to dislike you?”
At Lia’s words, the noble lady let out a small laugh.
“Why are you laughing?”
“Oh, nothing. It’s just amusing.”
Her tone was mocking.
Lia did not like it.
“Lady Rain.”
Freya hurriedly stopped her. “That’s rude to Her Majesty.”
The noble lady, who had shown no reaction to Lia, immediately put on an apologetic face at Freya’s words.
Lia’s expression twisted.
How amusing.
She did not even want to say anything.
Fighting them would only be a loss for her.
Just as she was about to turn away—
“You were rude to us, but shouldn’t Your Majesty apologize as well?”
“Me? Apologize?”
For what?
She could not understand the intent behind those words.
“You deliberately ignored Lady Freya’s greeting and made her keep greeting you. She almost collapsed. She’s not well, you know.”
Lia did not know, but as long as she was the Empress, Freya could not stand up until her greeting was acknowledged.
Most people ignored that rule—but Freya had faithfully followed it.
“I was waiting,” Lia said calmly. “To see when you would greet me. Or has it changed these days so one person greets on behalf of everyone?”
She had not intended to make an issue of it, but since they had started it, she had no choice.
The noble lady bit her lip.
“That aside, what a strong friendship,” Lia continued. “You keep calling ‘Lady Freya, Lady Freya,’ yet while she greets me, you just stand there. Isn’t that contempt?”
She did not know etiquette well, but she could tell this was not proper.
“Well, we knew you wouldn’t accept our greeting anyway.”
“What an excuse.”
Lia let out a scoff.
“I did the same. Just like you didn’t greet me because you assumed I’d ignore you, I assumed you’d stand up on your own even if I didn’t respond.”
She returned the noble lady’s words exactly as they were.
Seriously—she had tried to pass quietly, so why were they so eager to pick a fight?
Just looking at this situation, she could tell how the former Empress had been treated.
Even as a duke’s daughter, she was openly mocked and sneered at.
When Liarna became Empress and lost the Emperor’s favor, the noble ladies pounced on her at the first opening.
No wonder she acted wickedly.
Without power as Empress, she had no choice but to make her personality so vicious that no one would dare touch her.
The thought that she had gone too far toward others faded in light of their behavior.
People like this only understood fear after being bitten back.
“Hah.”
The noble lady scoffed.
But the most ridiculous thing was Lia herself.
Who had started this?
Just then—
A voice cut between them.
“What is going on here?”
It was the Emperor, Kartian.
At his appearance, the tension eased slightly. Freya and the noble ladies hurriedly greeted him.
Lia also greeted him. She had seen him earlier, but with others present, it was better to be polite.
Ignoring Freya and the noble ladies entirely, Kartian took Lia’s hand and smiled at her.
“Lia, you said you were tired.”
There was a hint of reproach in his voice.
“I woke up from a nap.”
“You should’ve slept more.”
He spoke gently.
“I slept plenty.”
Why keep telling me to sleep?
Kartian flinched and looked gloomy.
He glanced at Lia, gauging her mood.
The noble ladies looked shocked.
They had heard that the Emperor’s attitude toward the Empress had changed, but seeing it firsthand was different.
And he did not even react to Freya.
“Lia, what happened here?”
He asked, partly to change the subject, partly because he sensed the bad atmosphere.
“It’s nothing.”
It really was nothing.
Just them picking a fight.
“Is that true?”
Kartian asked Freya, pressing her for an honest answer.
“Well…”
Freya looked troubled.
Ignoring her hesitation, Kartian urged her with a cold gaze.
Instead, the noble lady spoke.
“Her Majesty ignored Lady Freya’s greeting.”
As if that explained everything—conveniently ignoring their own rudeness.
“So?” Kartian said coldly. “What about it?”
The noble lady looked flustered.
“Does the Empress have to acknowledge a concubine’s greeting every single time?”
Because of something so trivial, they had treated the Empress like that?
A faint killing intent leaked from Kartian.
“Enough,” Lia said. “It is my fault for not accepting the greeting.”
According to their logic, it was.
She did not mind admitting it. She just disliked their attitude.
“Lia is too kind.”
Kartian knew there was more to it, but since Lia stayed silent, it was awkward to push further.
“I’m not kind. Anyway, I’ll accept Freya’s greeting from now on, so you should follow etiquette as well.”
“…Yes. We’re sorry.”
Unable to act as before in front of the Emperor, the noble lady bowed reluctantly.
“Your Majesty, are you feeling well?”
Freya asked cautiously.
“Lia, what were you doing here?”
Kartian deliberately ignored Freya and asked Lia.
“I wanted to go to the library.”
“The library?”
“Yes.”
“If you needed a book, you could have told a maid to bring it. Why did you walk all this way when you’re tired?”
He looked worried, afraid she might collapse.
“I want to look and choose myself.”
She did not even know what books were available yet.
“I’ll guide you.”
Lia frowned.
She needed a guide, but the Emperor was not ideal.
Before she could refuse, Kartian took her hand and led her away.
