“E-exit prohibited? What in the world does that mean!”

“As it literally means, Your Highness. The Emperor himself has ordered that no one is to enter during this important moment.”

In front of the Emperor’s office, a silver-haired knight stubbornly prevents Yuli from entering.

“But… I’m his daughter!”

“I’m sorry, but there are no exceptions to the imperial order.”

The knight’s eyes betrayed a disgust that couldn’t be hidden. Especially when he heard the words “his daughter,” his face twisted even more.

Why he reacted like that and why he was disrespecting her as a member of royalty was painfully obvious.

It was all due to that cursed rumor.

Her second friend.

The one who had exposed all her secrets.

Losing the most trustworthy knight she had was hard enough to bear, but a terrible string of misfortunes had followed.

The sky was stained red.

The ominous black sun only continued to grow larger.

Destruction.

It was impossible not to envision such catastrophic events.

And the cause of this destruction was none other than… herself. Someone who had never dabbled in demons or dark magic in her entire life.

In an instant, she had become the saintess of evil.

A fake saintess who had disguised herself to bring about the Empire’s ruin.

Just when she thought she couldn’t fall any lower than being labeled a troublemaker, she had now become the worst villainess in the Empire’s history.

“At this point… there’s no explaining my way out of this.”

This was the Imperial Palace.

A place where disrespect toward royalty was never tolerated.

Yet that man brazenly displayed his hatred for her, showing no hesitation in revealing his feelings. No one was there to stop him either.

If this was how they reacted here… the situation outside must be even worse.

Yuli’s face turned to despair.

She knew better than anyone that believing in people was pointless. No matter how much she tried to explain, no one would listen to her.

And she knew it well.

Everyone was in a panic.

Nothing terrified people like the unknown.

They would desperately try to pin down the cause of the strange phenomena and resolve this ominous situation by any means necessary.

As for the rumor that if they killed the saintess of evil, all these calamities would be resolved… that was precisely what everyone wanted to believe.

The truth was irrelevant.

The rumor continued to spread, and with anxiety came madness. The crowd would be ready to burn her at the stake at any moment.

If she wanted to live, there was no time to waste.

Now that the knight had vanished, she had only one ally left to rely on.

“Hey, wait! What are you doing right now!”

So, Yuli dashed towards the office door, although knights tried to stop her.

No matter how disastrous the situation had become, there was no one in the palace who could attack royalty.

Especially since the other side was a princess who could barely handle her mana—an attack gone wrong could easily spell death for her.

Thus, she was able to boldly fling the door open.

Beyond the office door, a pair of deep blue eyes stared at her.

The Emperor of the Empire.

A man with golden hair that shone like the sun was gazing at Yuli.

And then…

“…Huh?”

Her body floated.

As if something invisible had grabbed her, she was lifted into the air.

…She was suffocating. The horror radiating from him was so overwhelming she felt she might collapse.

Someone was choking her.

But no matter how hard she looked, there could only be one person capable of doing this here. Yuli couldn’t grasp the situation at all.

Regardless, her body was tossed aside, and she fell unceremoniously to the ground, gasping.

“…”

That deep blue gaze looked down upon her.

There seemed to be no emotion in those eyes, which only terrified Yuli further.

‘W-why?’

Her father was wise.

So he must know.

He must know that her life was hanging by a thread because of her status as royalty. And it was becoming more precarious by the moment.

In a situation like this, behaving as if she were not his child… would only cause things to spiral out of control.

As expected.

The knights who had been standing earlier were now glaring down at her.

With faces clearly filled with hostility, as if looking at an evil witch rather than something they should protect.

If those knights spread this story outside, the mad citizens would surely try to push her to the stake.

Did he really not notice that?

Yuli’s mind spun in confusion. Even though the pressure was gone, she still couldn’t breathe properly. That was hardly surprising.

She wasn’t stupid.

She knew exactly what was happening here. She was just desperately turning a blind eye.

But…

“I have no obligation to save someone like you. Disappear from my sight and don’t interfere with this important moment.”

That statement. With it, she could no longer deny reality. The faint light that remained in her eyes faded.

The truth she had spent her life avoiding and denying now stood cruelly before her.

‘There really was never anyone on my side…’

She was alone.

Not a single soul cared for her.

Everyone wanted the downfall of the troublemaker princess.

And the death of the saintess of evil.

…That was all there was to it.

*

Her head was spinning.

She didn’t even know what day it was today.

After locking herself away, she hadn’t drunk or eaten anything. She hadn’t taken any action in what was surely deteriorating circumstances.

She simply couldn’t find a reason to do so.

If everyone hated her, if everyone wished for her death, and if no one would be happy even if she lived.

Even if she herself found being alive torturous, what reason could there be to continue living?

The black sun. The red-stained sky.

Portents of destruction, strange rumors.

[The Emperor’s fate can be ambushed!]

Even the strange voice ringing in her mind.

Everything was filled with questions, but it didn’t matter anymore. She wasn’t planning on struggling anymore.

Thus another day passed by.

She just sat there, staring blankly at the wall, as time dripped away endlessly.

Yet… why was it?

No matter how long she waited, peace didn’t come.

The enraged mob didn’t burst in, nor was she sent to the stake.

Surely the disaster hadn’t been resolved yet.

Considering how that rumor was spreading, it had to be someone deliberately fanning the flames.

There was no way those rumors would be buried before their objectives were achieved. Yet nothing bizarre was happening.

Accepting she was ready to die, that didn’t really matter. That was certainly true, but…

It was bothering her.

She had this nagging feeling that she needed to know what was happening. Such inexplicable premonitions filled her head.

The closed door opened once again.

She stepped out of her room almost as if in a trance.

However, the scene before her was bizarre.

There were surely people gathering to kill her here. Yet she was still alive, which meant the Imperial Guards were exerting themselves.

Yet those soldiers who should be fighting were simply standing inside the castle like it was another ordinary day.

Of course, that made some sense. The Emperor’s comments essentially meant that her fate didn’t matter at all.

But then what was the furious chanting of the crowd outside? The sound of swords clashing?

If the Empire’s soldiers weren’t fighting, who was actually fighting for her?

In that moment, a single hypothesis flashed through her mind.

A ridiculous, irrational, and extremely emotional one. There was no way it could come true.

“Don’t worry. You’re surrounded by knights. Even if it costs me my life, I will fulfill my duty.”

That was just a lie.

It was something Zeon said to win her favor as a spy for the second prince.

“You should just die.”

Not to mention she said something so harsh.

Even if Zeon really wasn’t a spy for the second prince, there was no way he would defend someone who said something like that.

But why?

Her breath quickened. Her feet moved ahead of schedule.

She ran endlessly toward the castle gates.

And what appeared before her was…

“…Ah.”

A knight, who had become a wreck but still stood defiantly with a spear piercing his heart.