Chapter 01
A piercingly blue moon rose in the sky.
The night, cold and lifeless, felt utterly desolate.
“I can no longer bear to see your arrogant behavior. Why on earth did you decide to become Empress?”
The Emperor, Rashid, asked.
His voice was dark and emotionless.
Even those who understood his coldness—aware of everything Azelina had done—found themselves holding their breath at that moment.
Azelina, resolutely denying it, swiftly waved her hand toward the Emperor.
“Your Majesty, it’s not like that…!”
The Emperor believed that Azelina was the one who had poisoned his half-sister, Princess Shulia II.
Azelina felt unbearably wronged. It was as if someone were stabbing her all over with a sharp awl; her whole body ached, and she was on the verge of bursting into tears.
“…You’re going to pretend until the very end that you don’t know?”
This meeting was meant to interrogate Azelina and determine whether she truly had poisoned Princess Shulia II. But Rashid seemed already convinced that she had.
Azelina wanted to explain, but her throat tightened, and after hesitating for a long moment, she murmured softly:
“Your Majesty… please don’t abandon me…”
Tears poured out. They spilled over her constricted chest as sobs overtook her.
Without being able to offer a single explanation, Azelina was dragged away somewhere.
Everyone in the palace treated her with a cold indifference, as if she weren’t even worthy of being called Empress.
Soon after, she felt the chill of a blade against her neck for the last time before a thick darkness descended, and her vision went completely black.
As her consciousness gradually returned, Azelina felt intense dizziness and barely lifted her heavy eyelids.
When she tried to rise, the world spun before her eyes. Closing her eyes tightly and opening them again, the blurry scenery slowly came into focus.
What had happened? Azelina retraced her memories step by step, and suddenly sat up on the bed in shock as the events before she lost consciousness came back to her.
“…How… how can this be…?”
Just moments ago, she had died powerless, falsely accused. Yet this place… according to her memories…
“Your Majesty!”
At the call of her head maid, Iana Rashel, Azelina absentmindedly touched her waist-length, pure white hair.
This wasn’t a new sensation. She had experienced this body before.
‘What… is this…’
“Your Majesty!”
Iana, who approached Azelina, immediately dropped to her knees.
Until that moment, Iana’s face had been full of worry, but the instant their eyes met, her expression twisted.
“Iana…?”
Azelina blinked wide, startled to see Iana trembling before her.
Iana lowered her head and sobbed.
“I-I was so so worried… Your Majesty… you suddenly f-f-fainted…”
I fainted?
Not dead?
“….”
Seeing Iana’s fearful demeanor made Azelina uneasy.
Of course, she understood perfectly why Iana was acting this way.
Because Azelina had never received the Emperor’s affection, she had often vented her frustration on her innocent maids, relentlessly tormenting them.
So it was only natural that Iana now knelt before her with a frightened expression.
“…Your Majesty…?”
Azelina stared blankly, and Iana hesitated before speaking softly.
“So… how come… you’re here before my eyes…?”
Was she dreaming?
It felt stifling, as if she were inhaling acrid smoke. Azelina struggled to breathe in and out repeatedly.
Finally, when she saw her face reflected in a small hand mirror on the table,
Azelina realized with a shock that this wasn’t a dream—the situation was all too real.
Memories buried deep within her heart surged up unexpectedly.
“How… how can this be…?”
Barefoot, Azelina dashed out of the bedroom.
Her feet were cold, a chill crawling through her entire body, sending shivers down her spine—but she didn’t care.
Her unfocused blue eyes scanned the surroundings, fear written across them. The familiar scenery had not changed.
Selina Palace. This was where Azelina had lived for years, ignored and unloved by the Emperor. How could she ever forget it?
“…Your Majesty!”
Iana hurried after her. Azelina, unable to control her staggering, grabbed the sleeve of Iana’s robe.
Her head felt dizzy, as if she had been in a violent storm.
“Your Majesty…?”
At Iana’s frightened voice, a thick fog spread through Azelina’s chest.
Hesitantly, she raised her hands and first touched her neck, then her chest.
Here, a blade had pierced deeply, constricting her breath.
She remembered the black-clad knight, striking her neck with a long sword, and even plunging a thick dagger into her chest to ensure her death.
Recalling the memory, Azelina clutched her chest and curled up, as an excruciating pain radiated from her chest throughout her body.
Tears gushed like a broken dam, and her vision turned a hazy white.
Azelina had been the beloved eldest daughter of the prestigious Duke Lartis’s family.
Now, she was the Empress of the Great Egretta Empire.
Yet her situation was worse than that of any other noble lady.
The reason? Because she lacked the Emperor’s attention, she had thrown off decorum and propriety, causing daily chaos.
For someone who could have had anything as the cherished daughter of a prominent ducal family, the first time she desired something unattainable, it turned into obsession.
Naturally, people could not view Azelina favorably.
She was the sole consort of the Emperor of the Egretta Empire. Beautiful, noble, but with an inherently selfish and frivolous personality—the only one the Emperor treated coldly.
Yet she spent her days in the palace, begging for the Emperor’s attention, abandoning her pride and living in isolation—a whimsical Empress, inspiring the joke that only those who betrayed the country in a past life became palace servants of Selina Palace.
Of course, Azelina acknowledged her mistakes, but some rumors had been exaggerated, leaving her deeply wronged.
Her suffering wasn’t solely due to matters with the Emperor.
Being the eldest daughter of the prestigious Duke Lartis and the Emperor’s only consort, she naturally provoked jealousy.
People maliciously spread rumors about her, and maids who liked gossip spread them throughout the palace.
Azelina, unwilling to tolerate this, hadn’t shown friendliness toward those who spread rumors or the palace staff, which only made the Emperor frown and ignore her explanations.
The Emperor, Rashid Luan Egretta,
was diligent in his duties, attending social events appropriately, and treated his staff warmly, earning a reputation as a benevolent ruler both within the empire and abroad.
Azelina knew of his kindness and charm—she had been captivated by it and became Empress.
When she was young, she often visited the palace with her father and met Rashid when he was still a prince.
Though they now fought as if mortal enemies, for about a year after their wedding, their relationship had been somewhat good.
Some days, Azelina would spend the whole day hugging Rashid from behind, and on other days, he would invite her to eat with him.
Even when she was falsely accused of harming young ladies or other princesses, he had comforted her, believing in her alone.
Azelina didn’t care how others viewed her or what rumors circulated.
As long as Rashid noticed her, nothing else mattered.
Yet, he did not like her.
About a year after Azelina had begun sitting in Selina Palace, raising her voice and causing trouble daily,
she had spent her first New Year with Rashid.
They had eaten together, spent some time outside the palace alone, and she had even vaguely hoped they might share a bed, lost in happiness.
But Rashid only sent a note via a servant, saying that today’s meeting at Selina Palace was impossible. He never came to see her again.
