CHAPTER 04……………………….
Igrelia did not hide her surprise and quickly stepped toward the princess.
“Oh, Cardia. So it’s true—you’ve regained your senses.”
Her trembling hand reached out to caress the princess’s face, then hesitated and withdrew. It was the hesitation of a woman facing the daughter of her former husband, mixed with a love she could not entirely conceal.
Eleksena smiled brightly at the sight. The servants and maids nearby froze at that disrespectful expression.
But how could she not laugh?
Before being an intruder in this place, Eleksena had already been a spectator—she had heard everything between the maid and Igrelia.
The maid’s desperate pleas for mercy. The lady’s absurdly gentle performance.
—“The young lady… Lady Cardia… has regained her senses!”
The maid’s voice had been dramatic enough to reveal the entire situation. Eleksena had listened like an audience member, arms crossed, storing every detail in her mind.
So the fool’s name is Cardia.
That fool had spoken of everyone she knew—but never once mentioned her own name.
She had described others in detail, too. Though her speech was clumsy like a child’s, it was detailed enough to reconstruct people from secondhand stories.
Cardia.
Why had she never said her own name?
Eleksena rolled the name around in her mouth.
It sounded softer than “Eleksena.” From now on, it would be something she would have to grow accustomed to—as if it belonged to her.
Meanwhile, the conversation in the room reached its climax.
—“Please, milady, have mercy on us.”
—“Very well. I shall go see that fool myself.”
At that, Eleksena could not hold back and burst into laughter.
Fool. A fool, indeed!
Even while pretending to be a gentle lady, Igrelia never once called the girl by her name.
Only then did Eleksena understand.
The original owner of this body—Cardia—had not failed to say her name.
She had not been allowed to.
Her stepmother had stolen her name and insisted she be called nothing but “fool.”
How long must she have been called that, for even the child herself to forget her own name?
Pretending to be kind, while denying even a name to a stepdaughter.
A thousand years had passed, and Eleksena had thought the world might have changed. But perhaps not.
Hatred toward a child of another wife still existed, right in front of her eyes.
Well, the world rarely changes.
Eleksena knew the look of hatred well. She understood the filth beneath their polite faces. So how could she not laugh at a stepmother performing kindness while hiding such malice?
“Yes, Mother. I, Cardia, have come to greet you.”
And how could she not be curious?
How that gentle face would twist at the moment of death.
—“I… curse you… I will never forgive you… even in death…”
Would she crawl at Eleksena’s feet like that woman from before, cursing her?
That would be boring.
It would be far more entertaining if she begged to be killed instead.
But first—she should break that gentle face.
Eleksena grabbed Igrelia’s hand roughly.
To others, it looked like an affectionate gesture between mother and daughter. But the reality was different.
The grip was Eleksena’s casual outlet for frustration.
She applied just enough pressure not to break bones.
For Igrelia, it was likely painful.
“Ugh—”
A groan escaped Igrelia’s lips.
Stronger than expected, Eleksena thought. She released her hand as if granting mercy.
As Igrelia stepped back weakly, a maid blocked her path.
“Such disrespect! Lady Wincedius, is this how you behave upon waking?”
Wincedius.
Right. That fool had mentioned the family name before—Wincedius.
In Eleksena’s time, surnames had not been common, so it still felt unfamiliar.
“Disrespect? I’ve only just regained my senses. If I lack etiquette, is it so unforgivable?”
She shrugged.
She did not lack manners entirely. As Eleksena, she had once been nobility and had studied etiquette. She could perform it if she wished.
She simply did not want to.
And she had already calculated something else.
“Stop. She was never like this before.”
That the gentle lady would defend her daughter in front of others.
At Igrelia’s protection, Eleksena smiled faintly.
“You see? Mother is very forgiving.”
Without waiting for permission, she sat down at the tea table.
“Mother, please sit as well. We have matters to discuss.”
The audacity froze everyone in the room.
But Eleksena casually tapped the table and waited.
Igrelia sighed.
“Very well. Sennia, bring tea.”
Sennia quickly left the room.
Igrelia sat across from Eleksena, smiling gently like a loving mother.
“Cardia, how is your body?”
“It is perfectly fine.”
“Oh—thank goodness. They said you would never wake again from such serious injuries… what a miracle.”
She dabbed her eyes with a handkerchief.
How fake.
She probably wished the girl had never woken again.
But Eleksena simply tapped her finger against the table, bored. The clear tapping echoed in the room.
“It seems the gods are watching over you.”
Igrelia placed her hand over Eleksena’s, as if gently stopping her.
Sennia returned with tea, pouring carefully while avoiding eye contact. Even her breathing was controlled.
“She brews tea very well,” Igrelia said.
Sennia bowed deeply in gratitude.
“Try it,” Igrelia urged.
The tea was a clear amber color.
Igrelia already sipped hers, watching closely.
Eleksena lifted her cup.
Then—
Splash.
She turned it upside down.
The tea spilled onto the carpet.
“Cardia!”
The gentle mask broke instantly.
“So what exactly do you expect me to drink?”
She threw the cup to the floor.
Silence.
No one moved.
“This is not an accusation against you, Mother,” she added softly, smiling.
The tension did not ease.
The servants glared. Igrelia’s eyes turned sharp.
Eleksena stood slowly.
No sane person would drink something offered by someone who hated them. Poison was always a possibility.
So she chose another target.
She stepped behind Sennia and grabbed her shoulders.
“However, this maid was under my care. She mocked her mistress while I was unconscious. I intended to punish her already.”
Sennia trembled.
“So tell me, Mother—what do you think I should do with a maid who whispers lies and disrespects her master?”
Eleksena smiled faintly.
“I am considering cutting off her wrists and tearing out her tongue before banishing her.”
Sennia’s entire body began to shake.
