IVHMH 01

Episode 1

That letter came again.

It was already the third one.

At first, I thought someone was playing a prank, but I couldn’t ignore it anymore.

The letter contained information about my adoptive parents.

I couldn’t brush it off lightly like I did the first two letters—because of the last line.

[I know it may be hard to believe me, but I have letters that can prove everything I’ve said.]

As I stood there holding the letter, deep in thought, I suddenly heard the sound of hurried footsteps running down the hallway.

— Bang!

Merebel burst into the room without even knocking, out of breath.

She had been my nanny since I was a child, and even after getting married, she continued to look after me.

“Huff… Huff… Milady!”

Merebel was pale and gasping for air.

But it didn’t seem like she was just out of breath from running.

“What’s wrong, Merebel? Did something happen to him?”

Seeing her so flustered, my first thought was that my husband had gotten into trouble again.

Gustao was the type to overreach, chasing ambitions far beyond his abilities.

Though he was Crown Prince Tirchen’s cousin, he was a bastard child.

A noble in name only, he only received his title after marrying me.

It was only after the wedding that I discovered he coveted the position of Crown Prince.

His delusions—that he could have been Crown Prince if only Tirchen didn’t exist—always left me uneasy.

“The Crown Prince has poisoned his fiancée, Princess Lisha.”

“What?”

I shot to my feet at Merebel’s words.

That couldn’t be true.

“The Crown Prince poisoned Princess Lisha? That has to be a mistake, right?”

Tirchen wasn’t someone who would do such a thing.

He was cold and lacked warmth, yes—but he wasn’t someone who would harm others without reason.

To kill his betrothed just months before their wedding? It was unthinkable.

“He’s being arrested right now!”

“Arrested? Isn’t he at the palace?”

“They said he was taken from the old Verato Grand Duke’s estate.”

The Verato estate was Tirchen’s private residence.

The Emperor, having no children of his own, had long ago chosen Tirchen—his cousin’s son—as his successor.

The year I got married, the Emperor adopted Tirchen into the imperial family and named him Crown Prince during the founding festival.

Though Gustao and Tirchen were cousins, they had no real relationship. I had never met him personally.

The only times I had even glimpsed him were during my visits to the palace to see the Empress.

Empress Asta had been best friends with my late mother. She treated me like a daughter and often invited me to the palace.

During those visits, she would often speak of Tirchen.

“The Crown Prince is steadfast and righteous. He’ll be a fine Emperor.”

“He may seem cold, but he loves the people of Netor more than anyone.”

“If he says he can do something—even if it seems impossible—you can believe it. He doesn’t speak in vain.”

Even without the Empress’s praise, I knew Tirchen would never do such a thing.

His engagement to Princess Lisha had been a political one, but it was entirely his own choice—no one had forced him.

So logically, he had no reason to kill her.

I rushed out of the house, headed straight for the estate in a frenzy.

Before I could reach the Grand Duke’s estate, I saw a crowd gathering on the streets.

Peering through the sea of heads, I saw the Crown Prince, his hands bound, being transported in a prison carriage.

I pushed through the crowd to get closer.

He sat tall, head held high, showing no hint of shame—far from how a criminal should look.

“The Crown Prince poisoned the princess from the Khan Kingdom. What’s going to happen between the Khan Kingdom and Netor now?”

“Even if Khan is a small country, if war breaks out, it’ll hurt us too.”

“Why would he kill his own fiancée?”

“If he didn’t want to marry her, he should’ve just broken off the engagement. It’s disgusting to think someone like him is our Crown Prince!”

The crowd murmured anxiously, voicing both concern for the empire’s future and morbid curiosity.

Their voices swirled in my ears like a storm.

“Die, murderer!”

Someone in the crowd shouted, condemning the Crown Prince.

That outburst ignited the crowd, turning their murmurs into a rising tide of hatred.

“A devil like him shouldn’t be our Crown Prince!”

“Execute him immediately!”

“Kill the princess too!”

At that moment, the Crown Prince, who had been facing forward without a flinch, suddenly turned his head sharply toward the voice.

Even from a distance, the pressure he exuded hit me like a wave.

Princess Roena, the Crown Prince’s younger sister.

His affection for her was so well-known that everyone in Netor knew how much he cherished her.

Even in this situation, uncertain of his own fate, it seemed like he was more concerned about any harm that might come to her.

“Out of the way!”

“Ouch, stop pushing!”

“It’s not my fault—they’re shoving from behind!”

As the crowd moved with the carriage, pushing and shoving broke out here and there.

I got swept along and pushed toward the front.

Before I knew it, the carriage was right in front of me.

Our eyes met.

Though his gaze was sharp and cold, I couldn’t shake the feeling that he had intentionally locked eyes with me.

It was a look so cold it felt like it could pierce my soul and freeze my bones.

He held my gaze and lifted the corner of his lips.

He’s smiling? Why does it feel like he’s mocking me?

There was no mistaking it—the sneer on his lips was full of scorn.

His silent accusation struck me like invisible arrows, embedding into every corner of my body.

I felt small and guilty, like I was the criminal in his gaze.

I couldn’t take my eyes off his retreating figure for a long time.

“Poor princess. To think she was about to marry someone like that…”

“Forget it. Let’s get back to work.”

“Yeah. We can’t afford to worry about this stuff when we can barely survive.”

Once the Crown Prince was out of sight, the crowd quickly lost interest.

Though the issue would surely make waves, everyday survival took priority for most people.

The empty street filled only with the hollow wind.

I couldn’t get Tirchen’s gaze out of my head.

My steps were heavy as I turned away—my heart heavier still.

“Could Gustao be involved in this?”

Despite hoping otherwise, a deep unease gripped me.

Why hadn’t the Crown Prince resisted?

He wasn’t someone who would yield easily.

If he’d been falsely accused, he would never forgive the ones responsible.

The consequences of this were terrifying.

“Are you Lady Mares?”

A man stepped in front of me, addressing me by my maiden name.

My instincts told me—this was the one who had sent the letters.

“My name is Bellus.”

“Have you been following me?”

I was uncomfortable that a stranger knew who I was.

I rarely attended social gatherings, so my portrait wouldn’t be circulating. How did he recognize me so easily?

“I have been lingering near your residence, hoping to meet you.”

“I don’t want to hear your ridiculous claims.”

“As I mentioned in the letter, I have proof.”

“Later.”

I had already gone through too much today to listen to him now.

“Just a moment of your time, please.”

“…Fine.”

He was so earnest, I couldn’t refuse him again.

We moved to a different location. Bellus took out a piece of paper and handed it to me.

“What is this?”

“The proof I mentioned.”

I gave him a doubtful look but took the paper.

The paper was old and damaged along the edges—clearly aged.

After reading its contents, I pushed it back toward him.

“This alone doesn’t prove anything you wrote in the letter. It’s not even written by my father.”

What Bellus had brought was a letter from a sailor to his son.

The sailor wasn’t even from Netor, but from the Khan Kingdom across the sea. That made Bellus’s story even harder to believe.

“You can investigate, can’t you?”

I didn’t have an immediate answer.

I couldn’t tell whether the letter’s contents were the truth or just slander against my adoptive parents.

My parents died when I was eight, and my uncle and aunt took me in.

Along with me, they inherited all of my parents’ assets and the Mares dukedom. But they never acted like loving parents.

I didn’t hesitate to believe the letters because I was attached to them.

It was just hard to accept that everything I believed for the past seventeen years might be a lie.

“Are you saying I need to go to the Khan Kingdom to investigate this?”

“If that’s difficult, I’ll bring the old man mentioned in the letter here.”

The old man was said to be someone who had protected my real uncle back then, but even his whereabouts were uncertain.

“I’ll think about it. It won’t hurt to wait a day or two anyway.”

Bellus nodded.

But if I had known what was waiting for me, I would’ve made a different choice.

With the Crown Prince’s scandal unfolding, I couldn’t bother the Empress with this matter.

And it was too awkward to talk to my husband, Gustao.

“Talking to Letisa would be best.”

My closest friend, Letisa.

She had lived with us since we were young.

Her father, Viscount Beck, had died early, and her mother, Porta, remarried without taking Letisa with her.

So my mother took her in and raised her.

When I got married, Letisa insisted on coming with me. She didn’t want to be apart, so she came here with Merebel.

“She should be thinking about marriage soon too.”

We were the same age, but Letisa still hadn’t married.

I should help her find a good husband before it’s too late.

I raised my hand to knock on her door but froze.

Moans of a man and woman in the midst of passion leaked through the door.

Embarrassed, I was about to turn away—when I heard voices tangled in their heavy breathing. And then I froze again.

“…How long do we have to keep hiding…?”

“Just a little longer…”

“You… even the Crown Prince…?”

“The Crown Princess is… you… ah!”

I clamped my hands over my mouth to hold back a gasp.

What shocked me wasn’t the content of the conversation—but the voice of the man.

It was my husband, Gustao.

The friend I trusted and the husband I married—had been making a fool of me under the same roof.