Chapter 1
It was a day when the sweltering heat was at its peak.
Evening came, yet the air, heated throughout the day, showed no sign of cooling—thick with warmth and humidity.
A lukewarm breeze drifted in through the wide-open window, stirring the sheer curtains. As they swayed, they revealed a canopy bed adorned with intricate, luxurious embroidery.
“Haah…”
In the moonlit room, where the shadows of objects stretched long and straight across the floor, heated breaths echoed softly.
What had been a single tangled mass slowly unraveled, forming the silhouettes of two people.
They overlapped, separated, entwined, and parted again—repeating the motion as the already stifling air in the room grew even hotter.
“Ugh…!”
A man’s voice slipped out, almost like a stifled moan.
At that, the woman responded, lifting her upper body gracefully.
Rustle.
Her platinum hair, gleaming under the moonlight, cascaded over her shoulders and down to her chest, brushing lightly against the cheek of the man beneath her.
The man, gazing at her as if entranced, let out a low groan and called to her.
“Your Majesty…”
“…Ha.”
The woman, addressed as such, let out a low chuckle.
“Elisa.”
“…”
“You should call me Elisa.”
At her dazzling smile—so radiant it was almost chilling—the man bit his lip.
“Go on.”
Urged by Elisa, the man squeezed his eyes shut as if he had no choice and spoke.
“…Elisa.”
“Good.”
As if praising him, she pressed a kiss to his forehead. His eyes relaxed, unfocused, as though intoxicated.
“Come here.”
Their shadows merged into one once more.
And in the depths of that night, the beginning of a calamity took root.
.
.
.
Elisa Rose von Kaschvalt.
The emperor of the Kaschvalt Empire, a nation with a thousand-year history—she regained the memories of her past life one day.
It happened when she visited the knights’ order in preparation for the upcoming autumn harvest festival.
Hearing from the captain that there would be a demonstration sparring match by newly appointed young knights, she went to the training grounds…
Thud.
…and was struck on the head by a flying wooden sword, collapsing on the spot.
“Y-Your Majesty!”
“Her Majesty has fallen!”
“A physician—call the imperial physician at once!”
Amid the chaotic cries around her, just as her consciousness faded—
Unfamiliar memories, not her own, surged into Elisa’s mind.
Towering buildings packed tightly together, bustling streets filled with people, and cities overflowing with noise.
These scenes, foreign to this world, made her realize something:
She had come from a different world.
And this world—
the one she had been reborn into—
was the very setting of a “novel” she had read in her previous life.
“Ahhh!”
“Ugh?!”
Thud!
When Elisa opened her eyes with a scream, the first thing she saw was the imperial physician sprawled on the floor, startled by her outcry.
It seemed he had fallen off his chair—his legs raised awkwardly in the air, twitching.
Blinking, Elisa stared at him.
“This is…”
What is going on?
Her mind was in turmoil.
It felt as though two incompatible sets of memories were clashing, struggling to push each other away.
But only for a moment.
Soon, the tangled memories settled into place, as if each had found where it belonged.
And then—
“…I remember.”
“Y-Your Majesty…?”
The imperial physician, who had been rolling on the floor, had somehow climbed back onto his chair.
With a face full of concern, he asked,
“A-Are you alright, Your Majesty?”
“Alright?”
Elisa let out a faint, incredulous laugh.
The physician broke into a cold sweat at her expression, but that was not what mattered to her.
Of course I’m not alright!
She wasn’t.
No—this was a disaster.
Because…
If this world truly is the world of that novel… then I—!
In about two years from now,
Elisa Rose Kaschvalt would be murdered.
By the very man who had spent a night with her just one month ago.
The novel “Like the Tears of a Silver Branch.”
Commonly shortened to “Silver Tears,” it was a typical reverse harem story where wounded male protagonists were saved by the female lead and fell in love with her.
The problem is… I’m the one who wounded those male leads.
Of all things, to be reincarnated as the villainess.
Just thinking about it made her head spin.
And to make matters worse…
Who would’ve thought my husbands would end up with another woman… and that woman being the heroine!
As the emperor of the Kaschvalt Empire, she had one empress consort and two secondary consorts.
Including them, there were a total of four men destined to be “male leads” who would be saved by the heroine.
Three husbands—but four male leads?
That was because the fourth male lead was the mysterious man she had spent a night with a month ago.
Could things get any more tangled than this?!
It was already unbelievable that her cunning husbands would betray her.
But the idea that a nameless man, with whom she had shared only a single night, would one day kill her—
that was even harder to accept.
Well… it’s not like I did nothing wrong…!
Right now, she was in her right mind.
But later, she would lose it—and in her madness, she would abuse her husbands…
Wait.
Why did I go mad in the first place?
Elisa—within the novel—had not been a villainess from the start.
Originally, she had been a wise and benevolent ruler, worthy of being called a sage monarch.
But after the appearance of the heroine, who had received a divine oracle proclaiming her destined to become emperor, Elisa gradually lost her sanity.
She had been raised as the sole heir to the throne.
Then suddenly, a rival appeared—and one chosen by divine will at that.
Her pride shattered, Elisa grew increasingly cruel.
In that process, she began abusing her husbands, the easiest targets.
And the result…
I was killed.
Abandoned by Elisa, her former husbands joined the heroine’s side.
Together, they succeeded in dethroning her.
Stripped of her position, she was confined to a tower in a remote corner of the imperial palace.
And one day, a man came to visit her—
and took her life.
It wasn’t even the abused husbands, but some unknown man who killed her… I never understood that!
When the heroine later asked why he had done it, the man answered:
That long ago, he had spent a single night with Elisa—and the memory of that night had tormented him ever since.
I don’t know who he is. I don’t even know the exact reason I died.
The novel “Like the Tears of a Silver Branch” had been discontinued midway.
Of all places, it stopped right after the main villainess’s death, leaving readers furious.
In her past life, Elisa had been one of those readers—leaving countless angry comments directed at the author.
Then, seized by a crushing pain as if her heart were being torn apart, she lost consciousness.
After that, she remembered nothing.
Which likely meant—
Did I die…?
The memories that followed belonged to Elisa herself.
The memories of this life—of being born and raised here.
Let’s not think about it.
Even if it was a past life, acknowledging one’s own death was painful.
Clutching her head from the sudden headache, Elisa slowly took a deep breath.
First, let’s organize the situation.
In her past life, she had been reading the unfinished novel “Like the Tears of a Silver Branch” when she died.
She was reborn into that very world.
The person she became was Elisa Rose Kaschvalt—the emperor of the empire and the villainess of the story.
The male leads were her husbands—and the mysterious man she had spent a night with a month ago.
Finally, in two years, Elisa would be dethroned by her husbands and murdered by that unknown man.
The heroine appears in about a year from now.
There was still time before the heroine would meet her husbands.
In that case…
First, I need to find out who that mysterious man is.
No matter how much of a villainess she was, Elisa was not someone who slept around carelessly.
There had been only one time she had shared a bed with a man who wasn’t her husband.
That man had said the memory of that night tormented him for a long time.
Enough to make him kill her.
I can’t undo what’s already happened. But…
A memory can change depending on how one feels about it, can’t it?
Something that once felt painful might later seem not so bad.
Or something insignificant at the time might turn bitter due to some later trigger.
If that memory no longer torments him…?
Elisa’s eyes flashed.
Hundreds, thousands of people passed through the emperor’s palace every single day.
Imperial family members, nobles, knights, guards, maids, attendants, servants, and laborers.
In such a place, finding one person was like searching for a needle in a haystack.
But who was she?
The most exalted being in the Kaschvalt Empire—the emperor herself, Elisa Rose von Kaschvalt.
With a single command, she could find not just a needle in a haystack, but even a single strand of hair.
…And yet—
“…What did you say?”
Elisa asked in disbelief.
Her guard and secretary, Sir Sheraz, answered:
“It is impossible.”
His response was firm—cold, even.
Elisa’s mouth fell open.
Impossible?
Why?
