“Haa….”

Henry let out a deep sigh and gazed up at the ceiling.

‘Was I really this bad after all?’

His father, the previous emperor, had not produced an heir from his union with the former empress.

The emperor, known for his natural inclination towards promiscuity, used this fact as an excuse to establish numerous concubines, Henry included, as one of the consequences.

According to the nation’s laws, a child born of a concubine could never ascend to the throne.

As a result, Henry walked a narrow and dangerous path to becoming the empress’s adopted son and the emperor’s enemy.

Henry’s mother, who had to take care of him during those years, was always more concerned about her own future than her son’s well-being.

To her, he was the means to make her empress, nothing more, nothing less.

The relationship was cut short when Henry became her adopted son.

The boy grew up lonely and had five near-death experiences.

Three of them were at the hands of his half-brothers, and two of them were self-inflicted.

When he woke up in despair after his last suicide attempt, he still remembers seeing Valliere in front of him.

She had cried so hard that her eyes were puffy and barely open, and her nose was white and dry from the snot she hadn’t bothered to wipe.

Snickering, Henry couldn’t help but burst into laughter as he looked at Valliere’s comical expression.

“What’s so funny? Do you know how worried I’ve been?” Valliere protested with a pout, and as Henry gently caressed her cheek, he suddenly felt as though everything had returned to its rightful place.

He realized that he still wanted to live, to stay by her side.

While he had reluctantly joined forces with House de Françoise and entered into a strategic marriage with no affection for the sake of becoming the emperor, he had always intended to remove Ermedeline once she had served her purpose and make Valliere the official empress.

Unlike his father, he planned to love her, his first love who had given him a reason to live, until the end of his days.

However, he began to feel a sense of weariness towards her, of all people.

As he watched Valliere struggle to catch her breath, fear rushed over Henry.

All the fears he had overcome with Valliere by his side had not disappeared; he had merely been unable to feel them thanks to her.

When he thought about the possibility of Valliere dying and him being alone once more, an overwhelming terror consumed him.

For a brief moment, he thought his feelings for her had cooled, and he despised himself for it.

‘No! This can’t be! How could I… How could I ever…,’ he muttered to himself, staring blankly into space, and tears began to flow from Henry’s eyes.

***

A life where you didn’t have to do anything was truly comfortable.

When you woke up in the morning, warm water for washing was ready, and in the evening, you bathed in a luxurious bathtub while maids entertained you with their singing.

There was nothing to do, not even preparing your own meals or putting on a dress.

‘I understand why everyone wants to become rich.’

Of course, there was the fear of the impending doom of the curse and the annoyance caused by Valliere, but strangely, as her body became more at ease, it seemed to relax her mind as well.

She didn’t have to worry about what to eat tomorrow, what to wear, how to afford dental treatment for her painful teeth, or how to cover this month’s rent. There were no such concerns in this luxurious life.

‘After moving with a real estate loan, the best part was that I didn’t have to worry about monthly rent on the moon…’

Despite the fact that she was paying off both the principal and interest on the real estate loan she had taken out to buy a house, it was a relief to her that she was indebted to the bank rather than worrying about rent every month.

‘But what happens if I can’t make the loan payments before it’s fully paid off?’

Suddenly, one day she woke up and found herself back in her original world, but her house had disappeared, leaving her in a dreadful situation.

‘Ugh… Ugh… I hate this! Absolutely hate it!! Ah, but could that really happen…? I’m already dead, right?’

Rooney look at Ermedline, whose expression was constantly changing strangely while chewing her brunch, with a suspicious gaze.

“Your Majesty, does it taste bad? Should I bring something else?”

“Hmm? Why?”

“Your expression suddenly turned very serious.”

“Oh, I was just lost in thought.”

“Lost in thought? What were you thinking about?”

“It was nothing important.”

“Your expression for ‘nothing important’ is a bit too… Ugh!”

Ermedeline, who didn’t want to engage in deep conversation, stabbed a fork into the dessert and fed it to Rooney’s mouth.

“Is it delicious?”

Rooney tried to send a resentful look to Ermedeline, but the sweet aroma that filled her mouth melted away her confusion in an instant.

“It’s delicious, but what if people find out that the Empress fed me food? I’ll be in big trouble!”

Rooney may say she’d be in trouble, but just how delicious it was rekindled her appetite.

“Come on! Sit here! Let’s eat together!”

This time, Ermedeline grabbed Rooney’s arm and seated her right beside her.

“Oops! I might really get scolded for this!”

“Why would you get scolded? I’m the Empress, and I told you to sit! Besides, no matter how delicious something is, it doesn’t taste good when you eat it alone! Let’s eat together! Together!”

To Ermedeline, who still saw Rooney as a cute little sister in her early teens, Rooney’s thick, golden hair looked endearing.

After Ermedeline affectionately tousled Rooney’s hair, she once again fed her dessert by hand.

“Oh my! Our Rooney eats so well!! You’re pretty!!”

Although the taste was there, Rooney found herself embarrassed by Ermedeline’s sudden babying, and her gaze towards Ermedeline grew narrower.

“I eat meals and snacks alone every day anyway. I just wish someone could be with me from time to time.”

Eating alone gets tiresome.

She had grown up in an orphanage, surrounded by people, but suddenly she was alone.

Of course, she had a boyfriend before, but their busy lives revolved around their respective schools and jobs, so they spent very little time together.

Eating alone made her feel melancholic.

In the orphanage, she was always busy taking care of her younger siblings, but still, having someone sit at the table with her meant a lot.

But the intense life of her previous incarnation was so busy that even loneliness felt like a luxury.

After finishing work and part-time jobs and returning home, she would simply stuff food into her mouth to survive and then go back to bed—a monotonous routine.

‘As my body relaxes, I can feel the loneliness.’

Henry always had meals with Valliere, and the maids who used to serve her tea never visited anymore.

Thus, even after her reincarnation, Ermedeline had to eat alone all the time.

She didn’t need a husband who despised her or maids who ignored her.

The maid, or rather, this girl who shyly said the Empress was good, was much more comfortable and pleasant.

Ermedeline’s words made Rooney wear a pained expression.

“You don’t have to do that. I’m living comfortably enough, well, sort of. Come on, take another bite!”

Ermedeline quickly pushed the next dessert into Rooney’s mouth, and her brown eyes seemed moist, almost childlike.

As their relatively pleasant brunch was coming to an end, they heard the news that Valliere had collapsed.

Ermedeline wanted to applaud the news for various reasons, but she knew that the woman inside her had just become an adult, so she felt uneasy.

‘Yeah. You must have been under a lot of stress. Let’s talk about it again sometime.’

***

Ermedeline went to Valliere’s residence. Although Valliere’s maids gave her suspicious looks, she was still the Empress, so they eventually made way for her.

Ermedeline felt determined, especially when she saw Rooney giving a stern look to Valliere’s maids.

For the first time since coming here, she felt like she had an ally.

‘I hope I can become friends with Margo too…’

Seeing Margo, who still seemed awkward, reminded her of a child who had been particularly shy at the orphanage.

‘I wonder if she’s adapting well.’

Now, she thought she was unnecessarily concerned about a world that was no longer her own, as she entered the bedroom and saw Valliere lying on the bed.

Valliere was not lying on the bed as much as sprawled out, still unconscious.

“Goodness…”

Her normally blushing peach-like cheeks were now pale, and her face was even covered in cold sweat.

Ermedeline was 27 years old, and Henry was the same age, while Valliere was two years younger at 25.

In the novel, they were of a similar age group, but what Ermedeline had inside her was a 27-year-old adult, and what Valliere had inside her was a girl who had just turned twenty.

Looking at Valliere’s face, which still seemed more fitting for a girl than a woman, Ermedeline thought, ‘Yes. I’m one year older, so I should bear with it. After all, our goals are the same.’

Ermedeline, with a heavy heart, dampened a towel placed next to the bed with cold water and carefully wiped away the cold sweat on Valliere’s forehead.

“What are you doing? What is this?”

How long had she been doing this? Valliere’s voice, now conscious, cracked as she spoke.

“Oh, you’re awake. I was just worried when you collapsed…”

*Thwack!*

Without even listening to Ermedeline’s words, Valliere swatted her hand away, holding the towel.

“Worried? Wow, your acting skills are impressive. Do you think I wouldn’t know you’re pretending to be nice just to push me away?”

She was flabbergasted. She had come worried, and now she was met with this kind of response?

“I came because I was genuinely worried about you. Is that all you can say?”

“What? Is this all? Unbelievable. If it were in my past life, someone like you wouldn’t even be allowed near me. Got it?”

Ermedeline remembered how, in their brief introduction, Valliere had emphasized the status of their households. She tried to maintain composure when mentioning her orphanage background, but the way her eyes twitched came to mind.

She couldn’t believe it, but it seemed that Valliere, who resided inside, was indeed a third-generation chaebol troublemaker who enjoyed bullying.

“You seem to have quite the bullying tendencies. Considering the way you keep talking.”

Ermedeline decided she couldn’t tolerate it any longer. To think that someone with such a personality had all the privilege from birth, made her have no sympathy for them.

“You’re sitting here talking about bullying. Our household wasn’t that uneducated. How is this bullying? I’m just protecting what was originally mine.”

“Originally mine? Neither I nor you were the original owners, you know.”

“Now I’m the owner. And you, your words and actions are so different. You said you have no regrets about the Empress’s position?”

“That’s right. No regrets. Really. As long as I can leave here with my life.”

Ermedeline looked at Valliere with a pleading gaze, hoping her sincerity would get through, but Valliere’s light brown eyes grew even colder.

“No. There’s no need for that now! Before you die, I’ll become the Empress and set your body on fire myself. I won’t let it go anymore. I’ve always been someone who does things on my own, unlike your expectations of me being a chaebol bully.”

She was too shocked. Even though Valliere was known for her ruthlessness, she didn’t expect her to say that she would personally set her on fire. Ermedeline felt cold sweat running down her back.

I never expected to witness the depths of human despair in this strange world.

And then, suddenly, a large hand appeared out of nowhere and gently touched Valliere’s cheek.

“Are you awake?”

Henry’s abrupt appearance left both Ermedeline and Valliere frozen.

“When did he start being here?”