The Enemy's Daughter
Deep sleep finally released its hold on me a day and a half later.
When I opened my eyes again, I was back in my own quarters within the Imperial Palace. Even after waking, my head throbbed so violently that I lay frozen for a long while, as if pinned down by a nightmare.
“Molly…”
I called out to my nanny, who had been dozing against the side of the bed. Molly startled awake and quickly brought me a glass of water.
“My lady! You’re finally awake. I was so worried when you wouldn’t open your eyes…”
Molly fussed with my tangled hair, her voice thick with tears.
“My sweet girl. Raised so delicately, only to be dragged away in such a terrible state. And all that time you carried such a heavy secret alone in your heart… how much you must have suffered.”
“The rumors… they’ve all spread, haven’t they…?”
At my question, Molly nodded.
“There isn’t a soul in the palace who doesn’t know now. That the Emperor’s maid was a descendant of Fabiel Regentera, and that you knew everything yet chose to protect her.”
Another wave of pain crashed through my skull. I had overcome the greatest crisis, but I could already sense that the troubles ahead would be no less daunting.
“What happened while I was asleep?”
“Oh, don’t even ask. Everyone was beside themselves with worry for you… The Duke of Regentera was the most anxious of all, and both Archdukes asked to be informed the moment you woke.”
Yes, my brother must have been terribly worried. The thought of visiting him and my new sister-in-law as soon as I regained my strength settled in my mind.
“The Marchioness of Lilche stayed quite a long time at the Emperor’s residence yesterday. She said His Majesty would soon grant… grant… what was the word again?”
“Amnesty?”
“Ah, yes, that’s it. She said it seemed His Majesty would be granting you the amnesty soon.”
Amnesty. Just yesterday morning, when Karina was being dragged out of the palace, I never imagined the entire affair would end with a royal pardon.
“And Karina?”
The memory of the crowd’s jeers in the plaza and Karina convulsing before fainting flashed before me. Molly let out a heavy sigh, her expression grave.
“The maids there say her condition is very poor. The shock must have been overwhelming. She keeps fainting, and when she wakes she thrashes about like a madwoman… She can barely drink water, let alone eat. She keeps screaming that someone is trying to kill her.”
I suppose that was to be expected. I stared at the glass of water in my hand and felt an odd, distant emotion. Her trauma had been so severe that she couldn’t even accept a cup of water offered by another person.
“Oh, and my lady. His Majesty asked that you come to the Emperor’s residence as soon as you wake.”
“His Majesty himself?”
“Yes. Since he’s heard everything that happened, I imagine he has many questions for you.”
Of course. His Majesty must have been deeply shaken as well.
I rose from the bed quickly and straightened my clothes in front of the mirror.
“You’re going right now?”
“Yes, I should. His Majesty must be very worried about me. I need to go show him that I’m all right.”
I washed up quickly in the bathroom. But the face reflected in the mirror still looked exhausted and gaunt.
“You look so ill…”
In a hurry, I picked up a pale lipstick from the vanity and dabbed it on my lips. It didn’t help much. Still, there was nothing more I could do.
All the way to the Emperor’s residence, countless thoughts swirled through my mind.
Surely His Majesty would understand now. Why I had been so wary of her all this time.
What will he say? Will he apologize for misunderstanding me and thank me for saving her life?
I glanced down at my wrist. The marks from the ropes still lingered.
His Majesty must have been very worried. After all, I too had been arrested and dragged before the crowd on that platform.
If he thanked me with tears in his eyes, I thought I might cry as well. The emotional distance that had grown between us could finally begin to close.
“Announce her.”
The maid informed those inside of my arrival. Soon His Majesty’s permission came, and I stepped carefully into the Emperor’s residence.
As I entered, I saw His Majesty seated on the golden chair. Because it was already deep into the night, the room was dark and his expression was hard to read.
He must have been so startled. He probably stayed up all night worrying. I would have to apologize for not telling him about Karina sooner.
I lowered my head slightly, tidied the ends of my hair, and stood before him.
“Your Majesty, you summoned me?”
Fearing he might notice, I tugged at the lace on my wrist to hide the rope marks. Wanting to appear fine, I deliberately put on my usual calm expression.
“I apologize for causing you worry, Your Majesty. I am quite alri—”
“Worry? Who said anything about worry? Me, worried about you?”
“…Pardon?”
His completely unexpected response left me stunned. His Majesty slammed open a desk drawer with a loud crack.
A long scroll emerged from inside. It bore the imperial seal. He hurled the document at me.
“…!”
The edge of the paper struck my eye. I clutched my face with both hands. The shock was so great that no scream even escaped me. I stared at him with my mouth agape.
“Y-Your Majesty…?”
“You wicked girl! How cruel and utterly vicious can one person be!”
The Emperor’s furious voice filled the entire chamber.
“Have you enjoyed deceiving me all this time?! Did it feel good to keep that child beneath your feet and feed your pathetic sense of superiority?!”
“Your Majesty, what are you—”
My eye stung sharply where the paper had cut it. But I could endure that much. What was truly unbearable was the situation unfolding before me.
When I failed to form a proper response, His Majesty’s tirade continued to pour down.
“I always thought your attitude toward Karina was different from how you treated the other maids. Even when you assigned her those filthy stable duties, I found it strange. How despicable. You already have everything, yet you couldn’t stand to see that poor child find even the slightest comfort?”
“Your Majesty, that’s not what I—”
“Not what you what?! When I bestowed a title upon her, you dared to stand before your Emperor with that sullen face. After that, you incited the noblewomen to ostracize and torment her. Just look at what you’ve done. After stooping to such low, vulgar behavior, how dare you call yourself the Crown Princess?!”
“……”
“I never understood why you singled her out and treated her so harshly. But now it all makes sense. It was because Karina was Fabiel Regentera’s descendant!”
I felt pathetic for coming here thinking His Majesty would be worried about me. It seemed I had momentarily forgotten that his heart was entirely devoted to her.
What others saw as my mercy appeared in His Majesty’s eyes only as deliberate acts to trample and torment her.
“At the very least, you should have told me who Karina was! Then I could have protected her. Instead, you kept it to yourself and let her stand on the scaffold? You forced such humiliation on a child who is practically my benefactor?!”
Unable to contain his rage, His Majesty slammed his fist on the desk. I didn’t even flinch. I simply stood there, frozen. My mind had gone blank; no thoughts rose at all.
In His Majesty’s eyes, I had already become the greatest villain in the world. Facing such a man, I couldn’t even find the will to defend myself.
“Well, of course. How could the blood of the Regentera family, who slaughtered all their own kin, go anywhere else? Doesn’t that vile blood flow most strongly through your veins?”
My complete stillness seemed to anger him even more, and his voice rose higher.
“So that’s why you forced that frail girl to her knees in front of everyone and beat her until the whip shattered. I’ve never heard of an imperial woman personally wielding a whip. And you aren’t even the official Crown Princess yet. Just how badly did you want to strike her yourself to go that far!”
“……”
“Of all the people I’ve met, I thought your grandfather and his sister were the most horrific. At least they were honest about their cruel desires. But what about you? You pretend to be innocent while secretly satisfying every one of your ugly cravings. You are utterly contemptible. You are worse than those old monsters.”
Insults I had never heard in my entire life rained down on me. The more I listened in silence, the more my stomach churned. I barely managed to suppress the urge to vomit.
Why do I have to listen to these words…? What exactly have I done wrong…?
I lowered my head and clenched my fists so tightly that my hands turned white. An unbearable sense of humiliation washed over me from head to toe.
But everything he had said so far was nothing compared to what came next.
“I never liked you from the beginning. I never wanted to form any marital ties with your house!”
“……”
“Looking back, you were always so brazen, even as a child. When I showed interest only in Primos and Hellion, you wandered the palace without a trace of intimidation. As you grew older, whether it was some power struggle or not, you always faced me with that sullen expression. A child should fear the Emperor, yet you tried to dominate me instead.”
“……”
“If there had been even one other option, I would never have taken a cold and cruel girl like you as my daughter-in-law. Look at you—even now, hearing these words, you don’t blink or shed a single tear.”
“……”
“To think I must give my nephew to someone like you. As his uncle, I can only feel sorry for him.”
The moment the Emperor finished speaking, the strength drained from my tightly clenched fists. All that remained in the wake of the humiliation was a desolate, barren emptiness.
It felt as though my very existence had been denied from its roots.
The daughter of his political enemy—one he would not give even to his own son or nephew. Even after spending more than ten years together, in the end, that was all I was to him.
I had known it for a long time. That His Majesty had never truly wanted to marry me to Primos. That although he had no choice but to accept me into the imperial family, it had taken him a long time to accept me in his heart.
To him, I was someone who should never have been born.