Episode 16
Before my regression, Aru had undoubtedly stabbed me with this. As I drank the poison and coughed up blood, I saw him plunge this very dagger into me.
So, what is this dagger? Does Aru know its true nature, or is he unaware? Could the secret of my regression be tied to this blade? If so, by what mechanism? No, more precisely—what is this dagger?
As I lifted the dagger, a sudden unease washed over me.
The gem at the end of the handle was missing. The sole ornament on this gleaming silver dagger was supposed to be a blue jewel. In my dream, this dolphin-shaped dagger had concave slots at both ends, where the dolphin’s eyes would be, meant to hold gems. But even in the dream, only one eye had a jewel embedded, and now, there was none at all.
“What’s this?”
I turned the dagger over and over, but no clear method revealed itself to uncover its true nature. Wrapping it carefully in the cloth I’d prepared, I hurried back to my room.
During the long hours I’d been absent, no one had noticed I’d slipped away. I hid the dagger just inside the secret passage behind the mirror, then stepped back into the room. I placed my clothes exactly where they’d been, changed into my nightgown, and slipped under the covers, pretending to sleep.
And so, the night passed.
—
Marie trembled at the feet of Empress Kiyen. Everything had been fine until now! She hadn’t even dreamed that a few numbers in the ledger could be wrong.
All this time, she’d done quick calculations, submitted them for approval, and the higher-ups had always accepted them without issue. To think that her errors had been so colossal!
“I’m innocent, Your Majesty! I swear I never meant to deceive anyone. It was just a mistake…!”
“Silence, you wretch! Where did all that money go?”
“Embezzlement? I’m innocent! Please…!”
“Then where is this massive sum missing from the ledger?”
Marie was genuinely wronged. Sure, she’d slacked off here and there, cutting corners out of laziness, but she’d never embezzled or deliberately tampered with the books. On that, she was innocent, even if it cost her life.
Tears welled in Marie’s eyes.
“Will you only come to your senses when your fingers are cut off?”
Marie’s face turned ashen. She could almost see Empress Kiyen ordering a guillotine to sever her fingers. She pressed her forehead to the floor, desperately shaking her head.
“N-no, Your Majesty!”
Hearing the tremor in Marie’s tearful voice, Kiyen allowed a faint smirk to cross her lips. Then she spoke.
“Didn’t I tell you recently to dye a white cloth pink for use as a handkerchief?”
“…Pardon?”
Had the empress ever said such a thing? Now that she thought about it, a vague memory surfaced. The empress had mentioned looking for fabric to embroider. Marie had retrieved white cotton and embroidery thread from the silk storage.
But had she said to dye it pink for a handkerchief?
“I… I didn’t dye it,” Marie stammered. “I’m sorry. I made a mistake.”
So that was it—she’d been told to dye it! Had the empress grown angry because the cloth wasn’t dyed? Was that why Marie was being made a scapegoat?
She could’ve sworn the empress had asked for plain white cotton. This was bad—really bad.
Marie squeezed her eyes shut. But the empress’s next words were nothing like what she’d expected.
“To use unrefined dye! If your intent wasn’t to kill the emperor, then what was it?”
“What?”
Unrefined dye?
“Is this not the dye you used?”
Empress Kiyen placed a small bottle of pink liquid before Marie.
“What… what is this? I don’t know! I swear I don’t know!”
“It’s the unrefined blood of a wyvern hatchling.”
“…What?!”
Cloth dyed with wyvern hatchling blood shimmered with a mystical pink pearlescence, making it highly sought after. Even though it came from a hatchling, the blood carried a faint magical aura, perfect for embroidering simple magic circles. During the Founding Festival or New Year’s celebrations, nobles would write wishes on pink fabric dyed with this blood, attach them to lanterns, and release them into the sky.
But there was a fatal flaw. Wyverns were fiercely protective of their young, so the blood used as dye required special processing to mask its scent. Yet the empress was holding a bottle of unrefined wyvern hatchling blood. Sealed now, yes, but the moment the cap was removed, the scent would draw a frenzied swarm of wyverns to the palace within two hours.
Marie stared blankly at the bottle in the empress’s hand, overwhelmed by the incomprehensible gravity of the situation. Then, a flash of pain seared her cheek.
Slap!
The sound of the blow echoed through the room.
“You insolent wretch!” Kiyen shouted.
Marie felt a slick, metallic taste in her mouth. Her cheek burned and stung. Something trickled from her lips—her inner cheek must have torn.
Tears spilled over. She was innocent, but there was no way out. The empress had clearly decided to discard her. How could a lowborn maid from a minor noble family stand against the empress of the empire?
Marie realized that crying out her innocence would do no good. She had no leverage, no card to play to sway Kiyen’s heart.
“…”
Biting her lip, Marie understood the gravity of the accusation. Being framed for attempting to kill the emperor wasn’t a crime she alone would bear. Her family would lose their title, and her entire clan would face execution.
“Considering your mistake…” Kiyen said, her voice dripping with feigned regret as she gently stroked Marie’s swollen cheek. To an outsider, it might look like Marie had erred and the empress was graciously forgiving her.
Marie fought the urge to tear into Kiyen’s hypocritical face. This was the empress of the empire.
One day… I swear I’ll have my revenge, Your Majesty. I swear it…!
—
“That’s how it happened,” Empress Kiyen said, her expression unwavering as she stood before the emperor, her face a mask of sorrow. Her performance was even more brazen—she even managed a quivering voice, a perfect act.
“It was a mistake,” she said. “If only I’d paid closer attention… sob!”
Kiyen dabbed at her eyes with a handkerchief, the picture of remorse. The emperor, of course, saw through her crocodile tears.
“So, you’re saying you truly meant to kill me?” he said.
“Oh, how could you misunderstand me so, Your Majesty? It was an honest mistake! I failed to notice the errors of those beneath me, and that’s my fault. I’ll gladly accept any punishment. Sob, sob, sob!”
She broke into full-blown wails.
“If only you were as bad at speaking as you claim…” the emperor muttered, clicking his tongue. He gestured to Count Maron, the chamberlain, to leave. With a discreet bow, Maron slipped out of the room.
The moment he was gone, Kiyen’s tears vanished, and a sly smile curled her lips.
The emperor, already aware of her true nature, clicked his tongue again, unfazed. “So, you cut out her tongue and fingers to keep her from talking or writing?”
Oh, how ruthless. Had she done it out of fear that the maid would cry foul, proclaiming her innocence? Even if the maid had, who would take her side? No, most would already suspect Kiyen’s hand in this—a classic case of cutting off loose ends.
Kiyen didn’t answer the emperor’s question, nor did she wipe the smirk from her face.
Finally, the emperor growled, his voice thick with anger. “I promised you the position of empress dowager, as the mother of the late crown prince. What more could you possibly covet? Were you so desperate for a son of your own because you couldn’t control the grown crown prince as your stepmother?”
To anyone else, his tone would’ve sent them groveling for mercy, but Kiyen didn’t flinch. Instead, she shot back brazenly.
“Then why didn’t you tell me from the start to live like a shadow? Wasn’t it you who promised me the ultimate power as the empire’s matriarch?”
Her audacity was staggering. The emperor felt his blood pressure spike.
“You said you wanted to be empress—empress dowager, even. You said that was enough! And yet… you dare betray me? Did you kill the crown prince too?”
“Why bring up the late crown prince again? That was clearly an accident!” Kiyen snapped, her tone defiant, as if daring him to produce evidence.
“Then what exactly do you want?” the emperor demanded.
“The position of empress dowager,” she replied. “But not a hollow title.”
“You… insolent—!”
The emperor’s face flushed crimson, as if he might collapse from rage. Yet Kiyen stood tall, her chin raised with infuriating confidence.
“Insolent? That’s harsh,” she said coolly.
“Enough. You had your chance with that hollow title. Leave now. Take Volter with you. I pitied you, manipulated by your father’s greed, and swore not to depose you as empress, to keep it secret, to forgive you. And yet you dare humiliate me like this?”
“Why drag Volter into this?” Kiyen shrieked.
The emperor’s hand trembled with the urge to slap her, but he restrained himself. A man of honor couldn’t strike his wife. Patience, patience.
Calming himself, he spoke. “I understood that you, so young, were forced by your father to marry an old widower. I said I’d forgive you, keep your disgrace hidden from the nobles. I told you to live quietly. I promised to acknowledge Volter as my son in public, but to ask for nothing more.”
To anyone else, his words would’ve been shocking, but he held them back with great effort. Had that been his mistake?
It was late, but it needed fixing. Volter wasn’t his blood. Why would he name him crown prince when he had legitimate heirs in Eonel and Amelia? He’d sooner summon a distant royal relative.
This was Kiyen’s greed run amok. Her father, the marquis, likely believed Volter was the emperor’s true heir, destined for the throne. Human ambition could be excused, perhaps.
But Kiyen, knowing the truth, should’ve known better.
He’d overlooked her infidelity, acknowledged a child of unknown parentage as a prince in secret. And yet, she dared this?
Rage turned the emperor’s eyes bloodshot. Kiyen, unfazed, said calmly, “Even if you claim Volter isn’t your son, no one will believe you now.”
“What… are you saying you orchestrated that hunting incident to silence me?”
“Don’t be absurd. What would I gain by harming you, with the crown princess already in place?”
“I hope to the gods you’re right,” the emperor spat.
“Of course,” Kiyen replied, turning with an elegant flourish and striding out, her audacity on full display. The emperor ground his teeth as he watched her shameless retreat.
