Three months had passed since they escaped the underground.
Kaiden had prepared Reina’s meals every single day.
It was treatment far too generous for a princess of a fallen kingdom.
Everyone whispered about Reina.
Just because she couldn’t see didn’t mean she couldn’t hear—but that didn’t stop them.
“Even in the latest council meeting, His Majesty dismissed the ministers who insisted that Princess Reina should be purged. What’s so special about that pitiful princess that he keeps defending her?”
“Could it be he has feelings for her?”
“No way. He probably just feels sorry for her. I heard she was imprisoned underground for ten years. They say she’s not even sane anymore.”
“In any case, if things go on like this, His Majesty will be in trouble. The nobles are furious.”
Though they served Reina, their hostility was barely veiled.
Even without her sight, she could sense it. The colors of their emotions when they looked at her were cold—icy cold.
But Reina didn’t let it bother her.
Not a word they said was wrong.
She had been the power behind the late emperor, a notorious villainess.
A criminal with no right to complain even if she were to be dragged to the guillotine.
Which is why the person who found Kaiden’s behavior the most incomprehensible… was Reina herself.
“You can eat meat starting today. Don’t leave anything behind.”
Kaiden handed her a plate with neatly sliced meat and a fork as he spoke.
Even as she silently ate what he gave her, Reina’s conscience pricked at her.
It had been so long since she was treated like a human being—it warmed her heart.
At the same time, guilt crept in, knowing she was the one who had ruined him.
As Kaiden had said, her body had improved significantly.
But that didn’t mean she had escaped death.
Reina instinctively knew her time was running out.
And that she still had the strength to use her power one last time.
As she absently picked up and put down her fork, Kaiden spoke.
“If you’ve got something to say, then say it. Don’t fidget in front of meat.”
“I have a question.”
“Why so serious? As long as it’s not you asking me to kill you, I’ll hear you out. Speak comfortably, Princess.”
“Why are you being so kind to me? I heard from a maid that everyone said I should be purged.”
“…”
In that moment, a subtle chill entered Kaiden’s demeanor.
He let out a deep sigh before answering.
“I suppose I’ll have to tell them to watch their mouths around the princess. You heard something you shouldn’t have.”
“Please answer me. If it’s because of my power…”
“Princess Reina.”
Kaiden cut her off before she could finish.
At the sharpness in his voice, which sounded faintly angry, Reina instinctively shrank back.
Noticing this, Kaiden’s initial force dulled, and he spoke again, this time with a trace of irritation.
“I’d prefer it if you didn’t treat me like the late emperor.”
“…”
“I don’t expect anything from you, Princess. Least of all your death.”
“Then why…?”
“Because I want to. There’s no other reason.”
His clear, unwavering response sent a tremor through Reina’s heart.
It was the first time anyone had shown her kindness without condition.
Not as a calculated act to gain something in return, but simply because he wanted to.
She couldn’t fully understand it—but somehow, it felt right coming from him.
“I see.”
Reina lowered her head, a faint smile tugging at her lips.
It felt as if the trembling ground beneath her feet had finally come to rest.
At some point, a dark blemish had begun to spread within Kaiden’s energy.
Now, that darkness had nearly devoured his original light.
Reina recognized that energy well. It was the aura of death.
And in that moment, she understood what she had to do.
She wanted to return something precious to Kaiden.
Even if it meant exhausting every last bit of her life force.
He had already lost so much because of her.
Even if it was merely penance for her sins, that was enough.
She wanted to spend the last of her life force on the great emperor who had shown compassion to a villainess.
As far as endings went for a woman reviled as a wicked woman of the age, it wasn’t a bad one.
Reina ate the remaining meat without leaving a single bite.
Kaiden, pleased by this, came to take her empty plate.
Just then, Reina grabbed his hand.
“What is it? Want more?”
At his question, Reina shook her head.
He looked at her, confused, silently asking what it was then.
Reina spoke from the bottom of her heart.
“Thank you. Because of you… I’m no longer afraid of dying.”
“Over just a meal? For a princess, that’s awfully modest.”
Kaiden chuckled, clearly misunderstanding her meaning.
Reina, in turn, gave him her first bright smile and said,
“Not modest at all. What you’ve done for me is far more than I deserve.”
“Now you’re just making me feel awkward. That’s enough, Princess.”
Kaiden mumbled shyly as he tried to pull his hand away.
But Reina held on tighter and said,
“Let me use the last of my strength… to bless you, with all my heart.”
After all, I don’t have much life left in me anyway.
She swallowed the last part of her sentence, her smile dim but serene.
That was when Kaiden, sensing something wrong, froze in place.
“For the great king.”
Reina lowered her head and pressed her lips gently to the back of his hand.
With that gesture of reverence, she poured out all of her remaining life force into a final blessing.
“May you achieve all that your heart desires.”
At that moment, her divine beast—her other self—shot forward, bathed in crimson light, rushing toward Kaiden.
It was the first time the bird, always surrounded by a serene blue glow, had ever burned red.
“Princess!”
Kaiden’s final cry echoed as Reina met her death.
****
Regression
She could see.
Reina groaned softly under the brilliant sunlight she hadn’t seen in so long.
When her body, which she had believed dead, came back to life, Reina instantly sensed that her blessing had triggered something profound.
And sure enough—she had returned to the past, a month before her twentieth birthday.
The realization was so surreal that for a time, she was left speechless.
This was the past, a time before her powers had awakened.
On the day of her twentieth birthday, her abilities would first manifest—and with them, she would lose her sight.
Would she now walk the same path once more?
Reina trembled as the memories of the past ten years washed over her.
It had been a life more wretched than that of a beast.
Only when death had come near did she catch a glimpse of light.
Three brief months—like a small flower blooming on a whitewashed grave.
Short, but unforgettable. Those memories gripped her heart with an aching clarity.
In this life, she would serve not the emperor, but Kaiden Crensia.
Even if the past had been erased, she remembered it all.
She knew just how lonely and agonizing Kaiden’s days had been after losing everything.
Reina couldn’t let him walk the same tragic path again.
This time, she wanted to help him so that he wouldn’t lose a thing.
And she, too, wanted to free herself from the emperor’s grasp.
Thankfully, she still had time. The emperor had yet to discover her powers.
While racking her brain for a way forward, a sudden inspiration struck Reina, and she jumped to her feet.
“Ah, of course—that plan!”
As luck would have it, around this time, the emperor and Kaiden had clashed fiercely over a political marriage.
The emperor had intended to use a royal marriage to gain control over the North, and Kaiden had made his distaste plainly known.
Offended by his refusal, the emperor began retaliating—harassing the North at every turn and laying traps.
But Reina, armed with knowledge of the future, was in a position to help Kaiden now.
Even if the future had shifted, her powers would still make her a valuable ally.
Her mind made up, Reina quickly began preparing to leave.
She had to meet Kaiden before her birthday arrived.
