Episode 20
Layla hadn’t gone to the garden in a long time. The roses, which usually bloomed so beautifully, looked disgusting to her today.
She grabbed one rose and crushed it in her hand.
“You’re just a product for the Emperor.”
A product. That’s what Duke La Rose called her.
But she wasn’t a product. She was a person. Someone who could feel emotions and pain.
Just because she was born beautiful, did that mean she had to live like a doll, unable to die or escape?
Layla let the crushed rose fall from her hand. It dropped to the ground and was stepped on by her shoe.
The rose, which had just looked so lovely, was now destroyed and unrecognizable.
In that moment, Layla felt like that rose. Crushed, broken, and stepped on.
Feeling frightened, she quickly turned and rushed back into the mansion.
She didn’t care what the servants thought of her strange behavior. She just kept running.
As she reached the stairs to the second floor—
“…How could you say something like that…?”
It was the voice of the Duchess of La Rose.
‘The Duchess…?’
She hadn’t come out of her room since Prinelle’s death.
Curious, Layla slowly walked toward the voice.
“Prinelle was your rightful heir! He was supposed to take over the La Rose family!”
“He’s already dead. Why waste time mourning? Besides, I don’t need a weak successor like him.”
“How… how could you…!”
The Duchess staggered in shock.
She had always known her husband wasn’t human on the inside. But to feel no guilt after pushing his own child to death? He was worse than a monster.
“How can you say such things?! Prinelle died because of you! And it’s not just Prinelle… Do you think I don’t know?”
Her eyes were red with tears as she glared at him.
“Layla… that child’s mother.”
At those words, Layla gulped and focused even more on the conversation.
“You forced yourself on her. And then she died giving birth.”
“Hm…”
“If I had known that sooner, I wouldn’t have hated that woman and Layla so much…! If Prinelle hadn’t told me, I would’ve hated them forever!”
The Duchess pulled at her hair and cried out.
“Hah. So if you’d known the truth, you wouldn’t have abused her? What a lie.”
“It’s not a lie!”
“No. You’re just a coward. Whether I forced myself on her or loved her, you still abused a five-year-old child. That makes you the villain.”
“Shut up…!”
“You sure have a lot to say to your husband.”
Then, without warning, Duke La Rose slapped the Duchess across the face.
“Aaah!”
She collapsed to the floor.
“Layla is better than Prinelle. That girl… she…”
He looked down coldly at his wife and twisted his lips into a cruel smile.
“I’ll make her a member of the royal family!”
“…What did you say?”
“If she becomes the Empress, the La Rose family will be the Empress’s relatives. That’s no different than being royalty. And that foolish Emperor is already under my control.”
Duke La Rose spread his arms wide and laughed like an actor on stage.
“This entire Empire of Inverno is practically in my hands.”
Layla almost gasped but quickly covered her mouth.
“She can’t be serious…”
“When my own blood becomes Emperor…”
The Duke’s smile turned twisted and frightening.
“This empire won’t even be called Inverno anymore.”
Layla’s legs trembled, and tears filled her eyes.
She barely managed to hold herself up by grabbing the wall and slowly climbed the stairs.
She walked like a drunk, staggering with each step, but she couldn’t stop.
Her hand shook as she reached out to steady herself on the wall.
Then, finally, she stopped walking.
‘So that’s his final goal…’
Everything the Duke had done pointed in one direction.
No matter how hard he tried, there was one thing he could never truly get—
the throne.
He planned to place a child with his blood on the Emperor’s seat and change the very name of the empire.
Layla clenched her teeth.
So this was why he didn’t care about the value of life.
To him, only his desires mattered.
Even his children and wife were nothing more than tools.
Shivering, Layla looked up.
Her feet had brought her to a place she hadn’t visited in a long time.
“…Brother.”
Her trembling voice called out toward the closed door.
It was Prinelle’s room.
She had always missed him, but pretended not to, hiding her feelings deep inside.
She hadn’t come here before because of guilt.
Prinelle had basically died because of her.
She could visit his grave, but she couldn’t face this room—not until now.
Layla slowly opened the door and stepped inside.
The room looked just like it had fifteen years ago, when she was five. Not a speck of dust anywhere.
“I’m sorry…”
She whispered and sat down in front of his desk.
“Don’t come back. Never. There’s no one here who’ll care for you or love you. Don’t come back.”
She remembered his final words on the day they parted.
Only after growing up did she understand what he meant.
He wasn’t being cold. He was telling her to escape from this cruel place.
Layla slowly raised her hand.
On her finger was a ruby ring Prinelle had given her long ago.
“I didn’t know…”
She whispered softly.
“That your mother… had cursed you like that.”
“That’s right…”
“You’ll make everyone unhappy. Your luck is stolen from others…”
She remembered Maeve’s final words too.
The puzzle pieces were finally coming together.
She wasn’t born from an affair.
Duke La Rose had forced himself on her mother. Layla was a child born from violence, not love.
She was born by taking her mother’s life.
Maybe it was natural that she brought bad luck to those around her.
Tears rolled down her cheeks as she slowly opened the desk drawer.
Inside was an old, faded envelope.
“A letter…?”
The envelope read “To Layla.” Her eyes widened and she quickly opened it.
As soon as she did, a small golden orb rolled out.
It was a memory crystal left behind by Prinelle.
“A memory stone…?”
These magical stones were expensive and could store a person’s memories.
Especially golden ones—they were used to record thoughts and feelings.
Layla gently touched the crystal.
It glowed warmly and released a soft, misty light.
Then she saw Prinelle’s memory begin to play.
After Layla had left for Elton, Prinelle investigated her mother’s death. He discovered that she had been killed by Duke La Rose.
And then…
“Give this poison to Psyche.”
He was ordered to poison the Emperor’s little sister—his friend’s younger sibling.
“If you don’t, Layla will die.”
He was threatened. If he disobeyed, Layla would be killed.
With a determined look, Prinelle walked toward the palace with a strawberry cream cake.
In front of Psyche, a bright ten-year-old girl, he set down the box.
She smiled happily and reached out to take it.
“Huff… huff…”
Layla couldn’t bear to watch any more.
She stopped the crystal.
Knowing something in her head and actually seeing it were completely different.
It felt like someone was choking her. She couldn’t breathe.
Her whole body shook with shock.
Then she noticed one last line written in the letter:
“I’m sorry… I couldn’t protect you.”
What couldn’t he protect her from?
Her vision blurred. Tears dripped onto the back of her hand.
Everyone had been destroyed by Duke La Rose.
Prinelle, Maeve, her mother who must’ve died cursing her, even her first love…
If not for him, none of them would have suffered like this.
It wasn’t her fault.
It was his.
And now, she was being used by him as a tool for life.
Layla clenched her fists so tightly they trembled.
She remembered what he had just said to the Duchess—
And finally, she broke the iron bars that had trapped her heart.
She made a decision.
She would never do what Duke La Rose wanted again.
Even if she was broken in the process—
“This entire Empire is already in my hands!”
—she would shatter his desires too.
