CHAPTER 01.
“Lloyd, are you okay?”
The young man with violet hair was gasping for breath. They were helpless against the endless waves of demons.
His handsome face was twisted in sheer desperation.
“Ha… damn it. @#&$#&?”
He often muttered in an unknown language whenever he was overwhelmed or in trouble.
The imperial family called it the ancient tongue.
Watching him visibly shaken, Irene’s thoughts grew complicated.
This was the first time they had been pushed this far, so in a way, his reaction was understandable…
‘Still, he’s the leader here…’
She felt he ought to show a bit more composure, but she didn’t let that thought show. Lloyd likely understood that himself.
“@$&$?@#@#.”
Muttering in that unknown language, he looked at Irene and offered an awkward smile.
“Irene, I need to ask you a favor…”
Sensing something off, Irene nodded slowly.
“What kind of favor?”
She was already prepared to accept whatever it was.
She didn’t care if others called it blind loyalty.
He had accepted her when her own family had cast her aside for being illegitimate.
But her family never approved of Lloyd.
‘I thought they just lacked everything else, but it turns out they lack judgment too.’
‘It figures. You keep company with a nobody like that — says everything about you.’
‘Birds of a feather, huh? What a perfect match.’
Her half-siblings wounded her with words like daggers, as if eager to hurt her.
Irene, already lonely, became disillusioned with them and eventually chose to leave home.
“The defense line is falling apart. I think we’ll have to end it here.”
Lloyd’s voice was grim.
He was right.
The front line had long since collapsed, and now even their last defensive position was on the brink.
There was no telling if they could hold out until Saintess Isabella completed the purification ritual.
Lloyd took her hand and said,
“Irene, I’m asking you… please.”
Irene instantly understood what he meant.
He was asking her to hold the line as long as she could — to buy time so no more demons would break through.
But holding the line meant certain death for her.
Lloyd couldn’t possibly be unaware of that. Her chest ached at the thought, and she couldn’t bring herself to speak.
‘Yes… this is probably the best option.’
It wasn’t because he didn’t love her that he asked this.
His golden eyes wavered with anxiety the longer her silence stretched.
Finally, Irene opened her mouth.
“All right, Lloyd.”
A look of relief spread across Lloyd’s face.
His composed expression, without a hint of sorrow, made her a little sad — but she steeled herself.
‘This is about saving lives.’
If this final line fell, the entire empire would be at risk.
Lloyd was worried about the people more than her.
That was just like him. Irene smiled.
“This is the end of the line for us, Lloyd.”
“Don’t say that. We’ll see each other again — both alive.”
Lloyd smiled brightly, absolutely confident they’d survive.
“I love you, Irene. And I’m sorry.”
He looked at her with tender eyes as he held her hand.
“Even if you’re gone, I’ll protect the empire. I swear it.”
Irene suddenly felt ashamed of the bitterness she had held onto.
They had sworn to protect the empire together. Yet here she was, doubting his sincerity.
So, she fought on — alone — at the defensive line for half a day.
“Lady Isabella, victory!”
Cheers erupted from the knights. A brilliant pillar of rainbow light rose into the sky.
The saintess’s purification ritual was complete.
“Kraaaagh!”
The demons screamed in agony as they were sucked into the light.
“Lloyd…”
Mortally wounded, Irene opened her eyes with effort, her vision blurry.
She couldn’t clearly see Lloyd kneeling beside her.
Isabella approached and shook her head.
“She’s already… gone.”
“Irene, I’ll never forget your sacrifice. Thank you.”
Then, Lloyd took Saintess Isabella’s hand.
Seeing that, Irene closed her eyes, unable to bear the pain.
Thinking she was dead, they began whispering.
“Are you sure this is okay? I could’ve healed her…”
Lloyd’s response was shocking.
“Don’t. If she survives, she’ll just become a liability.”
‘He’s… letting me die?’
Irene forgot how to breathe, stunned.
“The only relief is that the Ricayon lot died, so there’s no one left to raise a fuss.”
She had wondered that, too.
Why had the Ricayon family died for her?
Just a few days ago, her half-siblings had come to the battlefield.
‘I thought they came to kill me…’
But instead, they did the opposite.
They sacrificed themselves to save her from a demon’s trap.
They died knowingly, without hesitation or last words.
‘Why…?’
Those chaotic, painful memories came crashing down like a tidal wave.
“Well, they were scary people,” Lloyd muttered.
Just as he and Isabella turned to leave—
Cough.
Irene coughed.
Lloyd jumped back with a scream.
“Ah! What the hell! You’re still alive?!”
“…Ha, you bastard.”
Next time we meet, I’ll kill you myself…
Before she could finish the thought, Irene lost consciousness.
***
‘Is this divine mercy… or a cruel trick?’
Irene blinked, dazed.
To be exact, she was staring at her reflection in the mirror.
A tangled mess of black hair, red eyes sharp like a cat’s.
It was her… but something was off.
She looked like a child.
‘Is this a dream?’
But only the living could dream.
She was certain she had died.
Yet when she opened her eyes, she was a child again — standing before a mirror.
‘Nine? Maybe ten?’
Around that age.
None of it made sense.
Then — a sudden headache struck.
‘What? This is inside a book?’
New memories flooded her mind.
Memories of a past life — specifically, those of Lee Yeon-hee.
Irene let out a hollow laugh. So this world was actually inside a novel.
≪Surviving as a Royal Bastard in the Imperial Palace≫
The title was rather plain. The story was about Lloyd — or rather, Kim Tae-heon, a Korean man reincarnated into a fantasy harem novel as a villainous side character.
Reborn as the imperial family’s disgrace, Lloyd, he tried to shed that image and solve conflicts one by one.
Naturally, a harem formed around him.
And among the many women in that harem… was Irene.
Her crimson eyes darkened.
‘I’ll kill him…’
When she first heard that the Ricayon family had fallen, she hadn’t felt much.
There was neither love nor hate left for them.
But Lloyd had whispered that all of Ricayon’s misfortunes were the crown prince’s doing.
‘So the one who destroyed Ricayon was Lloyd — no, Kim Tae-heon.’
Everything had been lies. Betrayal.
And in the end, the world was destroyed anyway.
Irene’s burning eyes slowly dimmed.
‘…The real fool was me.’
Thinking back, Kim Tae-heon had never treated her like someone he loved.
Those who did act that way…
Were the Ricayon family.
Suddenly, the faces of those who had died for her flashed through her mind — one by one.
‘Why?’
They had no reason to sacrifice themselves for her.
“……”
For a moment, her red eyes reflected only the sky — silent.
Then, a spark began to burn within them.
Irene Ricayon.
From birth, she was not one to live in anyone’s debt.
Whether that led to good…
Or evil…
Her path was now set.
