Chapter : 04
“Villain Seaworld Loves Me Too!”
“It means the fall may be coming very soon.”
Even though my brother was gone, there were still people left to me.
Collin.
The female lead, Beatrice.
And Liam—this novel’s second male lead, and another one of my brothers.
Get a grip.
I couldn’t just drown in grief over my brother’s death and let us all stumble into a destruction ending together.
I sprang to my feet and opened my door—only to find an unfamiliar boy standing outside.
“Who… are you?”
Round eyes, dark brown hair, and a clear, youthful face. He looked about my age, a beautiful boy radiating a strangely sacred aura rarely seen in the empire.
At the center of his silver-gray robe was an embroidered black cross.
“I am Xevino Augusto, a priest of the Julius Temple. I greet Her Highness the Imperial Princess, the glory of Castien.”
Xevino Augusto.
Something stirred faintly in my memories from my previous life.
In the original story, Xevino was a minor, barely noticeable supporting character from the Pelosite territory. If I remembered correctly, he had a one-sided crush on Beatrice.
Wait… was he a priest?
That was odd. In the original, I was sure he had been an imperial knight.
“Nice to meet you. But what brings a priest here? You don’t really have a reason to see me yet—no, not ‘yet,’ just… none at all. Right?”
Perhaps amused by my stumbling words, Xevino let out a small laugh typical of a boy his age.
Then, prompted by a sharp look from another priest accompanying him, he straightened and continued in a polished clerical tone.
“I am a member of the investigative team appointed by His Majesty to uncover the truth behind the wormhole incident. I was ordered to escort Your Highness in connection with the case.”
Xevino led me to the council chamber.
I followed, thinking I was simply needed for a detailed investigation.
But when I arrived, I found not only the imperial family present—there were priests, nobles, everyone.
And then I heard—
“The cause of the wormhole’s manifestation is the Light Ability, Your Majesty.”
“The Light Ability? Are you daring to accuse the imperial princess of being the culprit? Before the imperial family and the nobility—what utter nonsense is this!”
“But it is the truth, Your Majesty. According to our investigation, this is the conclusion. There are records of it here as well, in the imperial archives.”
The elderly high priest opened an ancient tome and handed it to the emperor, who began reading slowly.
“Three hundred years ago, the Fifth Prince Cassios—who inherited the Light Ability—lost control, causing ten wormholes to appear within the imperial palace. As a result… hundreds, if not thousands, of palace servants went missing or died.”
“Furthermore, only the Light Ability can arbitrarily manipulate the conditions necessary for the creation of wormholes. Light is the only substance capable of freely traversing the gaps in space and time.”
My head spun.
So you’re saying the wormhole appeared because of me?
Gabriel’s fate—him dying as a tragic male lead—was, strictly speaking, not entirely inconsistent with the original story.
But me suddenly becoming the target like this? That veered far too far off the narrative rails.
The once-quiet chamber erupted into chaos.
Everyone cast fearful, sidelong glances at me. Even the few attendants seated nearby began whispering among themselves.
“If it’s the Light Ability, that’s Her Highness’s power, isn’t it?”
“Then doesn’t that mean the imperial princess created the wormhole?”
“My goodness! She handled all the wedding preparations—was it all for something like this?”
“But why? Weren’t she and the crown prince close?”
Even Empress Evelyn, who had always been kind to me, looked at me with resentment in her eyes.
“No—Your Majesty the Empress. It wasn’t me! I didn’t do it!”
I was confused and wronged.
Princess Karena had never been a prominent figure in the original story. She was merely the male lead’s helper—not exceptionally powerful, nor involved in succession struggles.
Something had changed.
Was it because I’d been too active within the imperial palace, blinded by my desire to secure the protagonists’ happy ending, and ended up drawing attention to myself?
But why should I, someone who wasn’t even a main character, have to suffer like this? At this rate, I was practically raising a death flag.
And why on earth had that insane author bothered to flesh out such a detailed setting from three hundred years ago?
To make matters worse, Prince Cassios’s wormhole incident had never even appeared in the original novel—so I’d never anticipated a variable like this while planning Gabriel’s happy ending.
What do I do now?
I wracked my brain, but no brilliant solution came to mind.
“Your Majesty.”
At that moment, a woman’s low voice cut through the noise of the chamber.
Beatrice!
Standing at the entrance, she looked like she’d endured unimaginable hardship since Gabriel’s death.
She appeared so thin she could barely stand on her own. Her eyes were sunken, her skin deathly pale.
Her once softly rounded cheeks were hollowed out, as if she hadn’t been able to eat properly.
Beatrice staggered forward and bowed solemnly to the emperor.
“I don’t know if I have the right to speak, but if you would permit it… may I say a few words?”
When the emperor nodded, Beatrice descended the steps with the help of a maid.
“I know everyone here suspects Her Highness the imperial princess, but as you all know, His Highness the crown prince, Her Highness, and I were—hic… I’m sorry.”
She wiped the tears flowing from her eyes with her long sleeves, then raised her head again.
Her moist, pale-blue eyes locked directly onto mine.
“We were closer than anyone. Even when there were small issues between the crown prince and myself, it was Her Highness who personally stepped in as a mediator.”
Despite barely being able to take care of herself, Beatrice willingly stood against the high priest for my sake.
Yes. Testimony from the crown princess herself will definitely help me.
“Even on the day of the wedding, when the wormhole incident occurred, Her Highness transformed the Glass Hall into a place as beautiful as heaven. And yet…”
Everyone in the chamber was utterly captivated by Beatrice’s words. You could even hear the sound of someone swallowing.
“The wormhole appeared. His Highness the crown prince was clinging to its edge, and before him lay the imperial princess, stretched out on the ground.”
Her frail appearance, combined with her trembling voice, made her words all the more heartrending.
“The crown prince was slowly climbing up while holding Her Highness’s hand. So I felt reassured and went to rescue the other palace servants. Because I trusted the princess.”
Looking around, I saw nobles with reddened eyes, as though they had already become one with Beatrice’s emotions.
Yes—this is enough. You’re doing great, Beatrice!
I clenched my fists, silently cheering her on.
Beatrice looked at me with dry, empty eyes, then slowly opened her mouth again.
“But shortly after… I witnessed a shocking scene.”
A shocking scene?
Don’t tell me—
An inexplicable sense of dread washed over me.
“Princess Karena… released the crown prince’s hand and pushed him into the vortex of the wormhole.”
No, Beatrice! That’s all a misunderstanding—just a misunderstanding!
The eyes that had looked so tearful moments ago were now filled with burning fury.
Her anger and hatred were directed entirely at me.
Up until that moment, I believed Beatrice was simply mistaken.
That belief shattered with her next words.
“And she did it… while smiling.”
The entire chamber gasped in horror.
I, too, was struck dumb—though for a very different reason than everyone else.
“I still can’t believe it. No… maybe I saw it wrong. I want to believe that I did. Sob…”
This wasn’t a misunderstanding.
That I smiled while pushing my brother.
Someone I’d thought of as family. My only sibling.
What on earth is going on?
One thing was certain.
This was intentional.
End Of Chapter : 04
