The Empress, who had been eagerly awaiting the sound of a baby’s cry and preparing herself to act as a passionate figure, deeply disturbed by the suffering of the i child, instead heard a loud cry from an adult. She assumed it must have been Agatha, overwhelmed by the state of her daughter, and waited for the stage of her performance, ready to py her part.

  Meanwhile, in the underground dungeon, Alexander was interrogating the culprit. The maid refused to speak, even uorture. It wasn’t as though she hadn’t faced this before. Ba the merary guild, she had been nothing more than a nameless figure—number 86. She had no family, no friends. Even though meraries worked together, there was no true camaraderie. They served their master, and that was the only bond that mattered. The guild, like many others, adopted orphans and subjected them to daily beatings in the name of training. Whether it was an elder member in a bad mood or the master himself, punishment was iable.

  As a child, she had often dreamed of escape, but the thought of leaving was far more painful than living as though dead. Over time, she had lost any sense of emotion or morality, being nothing more than a bde—ready to kill and die for the mission. This was her first time being caught. Death could have been her fate, but that cursed prind his wife had beeless in their efforts to save her.

  The prince was sharp. She knew he had already noticed the guild emblem branded on her wrist. It was only a matter of time before he traced it back to her employer and master. None of it mattered anymore. She had done what she was told, and that child hadn’t died—not because of her. She even had proof that the poison had worked. There was no going back. Whether she stayed here or returo the guild, she saw only one ending for herself—death.

  pared to before, she felt unusually calm and resolute.

  As she was lost in thought, Prince Alexander ehe cell, the captain of the knights following closely behind. “Your master has abandoned you,” Alexander began, his voice steady but firm. “He’s already fessed to supplying meraries to the pace. While he didn’t know the identity of the insider, he firmed it’s someohin the pace walls. My men are sc the pace as we speak, rooting out every rat. Now, do you have anything to say?”

  She looked up at the prih an unreadable expression, her face betraying ion as she met the gaze of the handsome man standing before her. “If you’ve already found a lead,” she replied evenly, “shouldn’t you focus on iigating that instead of wasting your time here?”

  The knight captain scoffed at her defiance. “If you fess and reveal the mastermind behind this, your sentence could be reduced. You wouldn’t face execution but impriso for life.”

  For a moment, she seemed to weigh his words carefully, her eyes distant as though calg her move. Finally, with a tone of quiet resolve, she spoke. “We meraries may not have the honor or titles of knights, but we live and die by our own code. I won’t betray that.”

  The captain’s frown deepened, frustration evident in his features. “As you wish,” he muttered coldly, signaling the end of the versation.

  While the events in the underground dungeon unfolded, the Empress, unaware of it all, was seated in the royal garden with a cup of tea in hand. Today’s tea tasted sweeter than usual, and a radiant glow of happiness seemed to envelop her.

  In a cheerful tone, she called out to her maid. “Emily, should I gift all my maids with gold?”

  Emily, who was carefully tending to the Empress, responded with a lighthearted tone. “No, Yhness. If you do that, the Emperht suspeething amiss.”

  The Empress looked at Emily with a barely tained smile, her joy almost palpable. “But I want to celebrate! What should I do?”

  Emily paused, deep in thought, before a suggestion. “You could wait until the Emperor annouhe i. Then, you use it as an excuse to reward the maids, saying it’s for the princess. You could cim it’s to help her ear and dispel any lingering misfortune.”

  The Empress’s eyes lit up with satisfa as she cpped her hands lightly. “Oh! That’s a wonderful idea, Emily. Thank you!”

  After a while, the Empress felt a strainess in the garden. Every time she visited, at least a dozen maids would be present, fluttering around her, ensuring her every whim was atteo. The Empress believed one could only maintain power if surrounded by underlings who would do anything for her. To bolster her authority, she had even hired meraries. But today, the garde unusually quiet—her her meraries nor the usual maids were in sight.

  “Emily,” she called out, frowning. “Why is it so quiet? Where are all the other maids?”

  Emily, trying to suppress a hint of unease in her voice, responded, “Oh! The head maid called them all away urgently. Only the personal maids were left behind.”

  The Empress’s expression shifted, a flicker of worry crossing her face. Seeing this, Emily hasteo reassure her. “Perhaps they were summoo speak about that maid,” she added, attempting to downpy the .

  But the mention only deepehe Empress’s unease. “What if they found something?” she asked, her voice wavering slightly.

  Emily stepped closer, l her tone. “No worries, Yhness. She’s a merary. She knows what to do when caught. There will be nothi for the prio iigate.”

  The Empress’s worries eased, though the unease lingered beh the surface.

  As the Empress sipped her fragrant tea, sav her perceived victory, she noticed a group of maids running toward the execution grounds. Their faces were pale, and their expressions filled with terror. Intrigued, the Empress’s curiosity iqued. Emily, ever atteo her mistress, stepped forward and intercepted one of the fleeing maids.

  “What’s happening? Why are you all in such a rush?” Emily asked firmly.

  The maid, panting and disheveled, replied betweehs, “The Emperor… he’s interrogating some of the maids at the execution grounds. One of them—she tried to harm the prioday.” Without waiting for further questions, the maid hurried off, disappearing into the growing crowd.

  Emily turned back to the Empress, fusion and unease evident in her eyes. The Empress, catg her maid’s expression, raised an eyebrow and spoke sharply. “You were the one who told me not to worry, Emily. So, what is this?”

  Emily stammered, her face paling uhe Empress’s gre. “I… I don’t know, Yhness. I truly don’t know.”

  The Empress, now visibly agitated, rose from her seat. With Emily trailing nervously behind her, she made her way toward the Royal Execution Grounds, determio see for herself what was unfolding. As her steps grew closer to the execution ground, her mind began to spin untrolbly. She was all too aware that the Emperor held no affe for her or her son. In his eyes, his te wife was a saint, and his son, Prince Alexander, was the apple of his eye. She knew she was to bme for the Emperor's cold indifferend disregard. In his eyes, she and her son were nothing but parasites, ging to him with the help of the cil elders. If he discovered her involvement in this i, he wouldn’t hesitate to ensure her death. The thought of that fate filled her with growing terror.

  Uhe gring sun at the execution ground, a row of maids stood on a raised ptform. Surrounding them in the gallery were members of the royal household—staff, maids, and servants—some seated, others standing, their expressiing from shock to fear.

  You could see the sun of the Empire—her than the Emperor—seated on the dais in his golden throne, his regal attire gleaming in the light. His once-handsome appearance had twisted into a stern and menag expression, his face etched with anger and severity.

  Throughout his life as a member of the royal family, he had faumerous threats to his life, but the first time someone plotted to kill him, he was around 10 years old. When his beloved wife passed away, enemies also tried to kill his son, the first prince Alexander—he was just 5 at the time.Now, for the first time, he witnessed someoempting to kill an infant not once, but twice. What angered him the most was knowing the true mastermind still lurked in the shadows. He was deeply saddened for his son, Alexander, who had lost his mother and never known a life of peace. The Empress had ehat, but he could do nothing—caught between his roles as both father and ruler of a nation. When his son married Agatha Beltrix, amid the Empress’s schemes to marry her off to Zelus, he felt a rare sense of relief, knowing Alexander now had someoo stand by him and offer him love. Upon learning that Alexander was expeg a child, his joy mirrored his son’s, but deep down, he knew showing too much would only draw further dao Agatha and their unborn child. Yet, even with caution, his granddaughter had been harmed twice. How could he face his son, knowing he could not guarahe safety of his own granddaughter?

  The Emperor's loud voice echoed across the execution ground. “Do you know why you are here? Do you uand the charges brought against you?”

  Number 86, who had long since accepted her fate, sat in the execution ground, devoid of any expression, while the other maids g her as if acg her of exposing their cover. But Number 86 no longer cared; she desired only for this to end as swiftly as possible.

  “Captain of the Royal Knight’s Order, read the decration,” ahe Emperor. At his word, Captain Aloysius Batair, the ander of the Royal Knight’s Order, began to read the royal decration.

  “To the People of the Kingdom,By the authority of His Majesty, Emperor Theodore Alldynn Are, and in his name,I, Aloysius Batair, captain of the Royal Knight’s Order, hereby address you with these solemn words:

  It has e to my attention that Rosie, also known as Number 86, Maria, known as Number 72, Luda, known as Number 82, Brenda, known as Number 98, and Vio, known as Number 89, have vioted the ws of this kingdom by entering the royal pace while cealing their names and true identities. The evidence provided clearly demonstrates that Maria, Luda, Brenda, and Vio were impostors, thereby breag the established ws ing the safety of the members of the royal family, and Rosie, who not only impersonated but also attempted to endanger a royal family member.

  Therefore, in accordah the authority bestowed upon me by His Majesty, I hereby decre that Rosie, Maria, Luda, Brenda, and Vio shall be held atable and face the appropriate punishment for their crimes. Let it be known that Maria, Luda, Brenda, and Vio are to be subjected to life impriso, and Rosie is to be subjected to execution, effective immediately.

  Should Rosie, Maria, Luda, Brenda, and Vio wish to appeal this judgment, they may do so by presenting their case to His Majesty now.”

  The Emperor spoke again, his voice eg across the execution ground. “As you see, these maids made a grave mistake by infiltrating the pad attempting to endahe princess. But thanks to the grace of the gods Ausra he princess was saved without a single scratch. I refuse to believe they acted alone. From the evidence we have gathered, it is clear there is a mastermind behind this. Citizens of Are, there is a traitor among us, and we will do whatever is necessary to root out this traitor.”

  As the st words left his mouth, the Emperaze lingered on the Empress for a brief moment before shifting to the crowd. The Empress who was already in aional turmoil was shaken by the revetion that the princess had suffered no harm. Her barely held posure cracked beh his peing gaze. Fear gripped her as their eyes met.

  That night, after pag in agitation like a restless animal, she tacted the apostle once again, but there was no response.

  She iraling into madness, ed by the obsession of holding onto power. She hadn’t e this far just to have others take the throne from her. No one could uand the lengths she had goo secure her pce at the top and savor the taste of authority. All those who once mocked her now grovelled at her feet, desperate for her favor. It was a twisted sort of addi, ohat was slowly eroding her sanity. She had e too far, and she would never let her dark secrets be exposed to the world, redug her to the ughingstock of the Empire once again.

  With newfound resolve, she swore she wouldn’t act recklessly like she had before. Patience had always beerength, and she would wait for the perfeent—just as she had done in the past. "You wait and watch from yrave, Athena," she whispered. "I will show you what I’ll do to your precious granddaughter this time. I will take my time, and when I strike, it will be with precision."