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“Please….”

That day, what young Lucy saw was her father bowing his head to the ground.

Her father, Maxime Meikhael, was the highest person in the country, the Emperor.

Yet, that Emperor was now begging a man.

“Please, spare that child….”

“Spare her…?”

Looking down at the bowing Emperor was a long-haired, handsome young man.

“That’s the wrong thing to say, Your Majesty. I won’t kill that child.”

“William….”

It was Count William Ruelberta, infamous enough for even young Lucy to have heard of him.

A man with striking looks, but his gaze was as cold as ice.

Lucy couldn’t bear to look at him.

No, she couldn’t even turn her gaze away. Around her, a gruesome scene unfolded.

“…Ugh.”

A pool of blood had formed beneath Lucy’s feet.

Imperial Guard Knights in red armor lay scattered on the marble floor.

Some with their eyes open in death, others impaled on spears like objects stuck to the ground, and some with limbs torn apart, scattered everywhere.

The knights who had tried to protect the Emperor fell one by one at the hands of mysterious maids with blindfolds.

In the midst of that horrifying scene, Lucy had long since fainted.

“You hid your cute daughter.”

Count William approached Lucy.

She wanted to run away in fear, but the maids held her, making it impossible.

Lucy was dressed in the uniform of a young male servant working in the Imperial Palace.

William stroked her short hair and spoke.

“No wonder I couldn’t recognize her. Dressed as a boy and hidden in the palace.”

“William… please….”

“Your Majesty, do you remember the Autumn Tragedy?”

William’s voice carried no emotion.

“I haven’t forgotten. I’m forever trapped in that autumn. Even after that, I spared your pitiful life, believing your promise to end the Imperial lineage with your generation.”

But his eyes were filled with rage.

A chilling rage pressed down on the two.

“And yet, you hid your daughter in the palace, mocking me.”

“Please! Please forgive me…! William, I’ll live as your puppet for the rest of my life! I’ll do anything, just spare my daughter…!”

It was a scene even painful for young Lucy to witness.

Her father, Maxime, who always carried himself with dignity, was now kneeling and begging before a mere Count.

“Don’t worry. As I said earlier, I have no intention of killing your daughter.”

“R-really?”

For a moment, hope flickered across Maxime’s face.

William slowly nodded.

“Of course. From now on, your daughter will live as an emotionless doll, just like ‘them.'”

“……!”

Knowing what that meant, Emperor Maxime screamed in a voice close to a wail.

“You are a demon without blood or tears…! Must you go this far…! How could you do this to a child!”

“Don’t misunderstand. I’m showing mercy now, Your Majesty. If you don’t like it….”

William flicked his finger, and a dagger appeared in the hand of the maid beside him.

The sharp blade was then thrown before Maxime.

“Then you can end the Meikhael Imperial lineage with your own hands.”

“…What?”

Maxime’s face twisted at the harsh decree.

“You want me… to kill my own daughter?!”

“Yes. Can you do it?”

“I can’t… I can’t do it! Not that….”

“Then there’s only one option left.”

In a low voice, William spoke to the despairing Maxime.

“Wasn’t there something called the Emperor’s Authority? A miracle that can only be used once in a lifetime.”

“…What?”

A power only the Emperor of the Empire could wield.

William mentioned the miraculous magic that could even bring the dead back to life.

“Take your daughter’s life with your own hands. And if you use your lifetime miracle… your daughter can be revived.”

“William… are you telling me to commit suicide?”

“It’s not suicide. It’s a noble sacrifice.”

William added a condition.

“If you revive your daughter, I won’t touch her again. Of course… only if you have the courage to do so.”

Maxime bowed his head.

Lucy realized her father’s shoulders were trembling.

At the crossroads of choice, Maxime finally picked up the dagger before him.

There was only one way to save his daughter.

He slowly approached Lucy.

“Lucy.”

“F-father….”

“My beloved daughter….”

Lucy would never forget that moment.

“Don’t forgive me….”

The expression on her father Maxime’s face. His despair and sorrow. And… his hatred toward the Ruelberta Family.

Even now, Lucy would wake from terrible nightmares.

Each time, she clutched her left chest.

The wound her father had inflicted still hurt.

Lucy endured countless agonizing nights. Eventually, a dark duality sprouted in a corner of her heart.

*

“I, Luna….”

The Night Empress opened her mouth.

“Was born to erase you and the Ruelberta Family from the Empire.”

If Lucy was a timid and immature Emperor, Luna was a charismatic and authoritative one.

By day, she lived as Lucy, and by night, she lived as ‘Luna,’ the ideal Emperor persona born from Lucy’s mind.

With her mask off, Luna was a girl with fox-like, enchanting eyes. But it was a beauty that instinctively felt dangerous.

She glared at me and spoke.

“First, I’ll give you credit. Count, I knew you were aware of my secret… but I didn’t expect you to know my ‘name.’ Honestly, I underestimated Ruelberta’s intelligence.”

Of course, it wasn’t intelligence or anything—just that I knew the original story well….

I shamelessly opened my mouth.

“Did you just figure that out now?”

“Arrogant… for a noble, you have no humility.”

“I only stated the obvious. Do you feel good when someone praises you for breathing?”

“You despicable man… let go! How long do you plan to hold my hand!”

Ah, I forgot.

When I obediently released her hand, Luna shook it off as if disgusted.

Lucy was a weak child.

Brilliant, but lacking the boldness and insight to lead the Empire.

Yet, even in Lucy’s heart, hatred for the Ruelberta Family had taken root.

That hatred was named ‘Luna.’

Luna was the second personality born from Lucy’s desire to destroy the Ruelberta Family.

Thus, if Lucy had the trait of ‘Life,’ Luna had the trait of ‘Death.’

A trait that allowed her to save or take lives at the cost of her own.

A life-for-a-life trait, but it was clearly a threat to me.

Now that all secrets were exposed, Luna regained her composure. No, more accurately, it was hostility.

Luna spoke as if she had just remembered.

“Hmph… come to think of it, you probably know this too, but through Lucy, I met that cute Hero you cherish.”

That was indeed unexpected.

I had no idea Lucy had been in contact with Wendy.

If Wendy hadn’t mentioned her new friend Luna, or if I hadn’t known the name Luna, I might never have noticed.

I could roughly guess who helped the Emperor enroll secretly.

But that wasn’t the issue now.

The atmosphere around Luna was unsettling.

“Lucy seems quite fond of her… but I feel differently. Her name was Wendy, right?”

Luna’s lips curled up.

It was unmistakably the face of someone thinking something cruel.

“Yes. I had an interesting thought. What if I cut off her little neck and sent it to you as a gift-.”

“Try it.”

At that moment, the ‘Wrath’ within me erupted.

It happened too fast to control.

I quickly suppressed it with ‘Patience,’ but the searing ‘Wrath’ had already leaked out.

“Do it if you can.”

 

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