Before I regressed, Ar had definitely stabbed me with this.
I had seen it with my own eyes. As I drank the poisoned wine and coughed up blood, he drove this very dagger into me.
Then what exactly was this weapon? Did Ar know its true nature, or was he just as ignorant? Was the secret behind my regression hidden within this dagger?
If so... how?
No—what was this thing?
As I lifted the dagger, a strange sense of unease prickled over me.
The jewel at the end of the hilt was gone.
The dagger was forged entirely of gleaming silver, and its only decoration had once been a single blue gemstone.
The dolphin-shaped dagger I had seen in my dream had shallow sockets where the dolphin's eyes should have been—places clearly meant to hold gemstones. Yet even in that dream, only one eye had contained a jewel.
Now there was none at all.
"...What?"
I turned the dagger over and over, searching for some clue to its identity, but there was nothing to be found.
Eventually, I wrapped it carefully in the cloth I had prepared and hurried back to my room.
Despite being gone for such a long time, no one had realized I had slipped away.
I hid the dagger just inside the secret passage behind the mirror before stepping back into my room alone.
My discarded clothes were returned neatly to their original place. I changed into my nightclothes, crawled beneath the blankets, and pretended to be asleep.
That was how the night passed.
Marie trembled uncontrollably at the Empress's feet.
Nothing had ever gone wrong before!
Never in her wildest dreams had she imagined there were errors in the account books.
Until now, she had always done a quick calculation before submitting the ledgers for approval, and those above her had accepted them without question.
Who could have guessed that the accounting mistakes had been so enormous?
"Y-Your Majesty! I'm innocent! I never intended to deceive anyone! They were just mistakes—"
"Silence, you wretch!"
The Empress's voice cracked like a whip.
"Where did you hide all that money?"
"H-hide it? I didn't! Please believe me!"
"Then explain why such a massive amount is missing from the ledger!"
Marie truly was innocent.
She had often slacked off, grumbled about her work, and handled things carelessly, but she had never embezzled money or deliberately falsified the books.
On that point alone, she could swear with her life.
Tears welled in her eyes.
"It seems you'll only come to your senses after we cut off your fingers."
Her face turned deathly pale.
For a terrifying moment, she truly believed the Empress would summon the executioner's chopping block then and there.
Marie collapsed forward, pressing her forehead against the floor.
"N-No!"
Listening to her tearful cries, Empress Kiyen smiled faintly.
"Not long ago," she said softly, "I instructed that white cloth be dyed pink for a handkerchief. Do you remember?"
"...Pardon?"
Had that happened?
Now that she thought about it...
There was a vague memory.
The Empress had requested fabric for embroidery, so Marie had retrieved white cotton and embroidery thread from the silk storeroom.
But...
She remembered being asked for white cloth.
Had the Empress also ordered it dyed pink?
"I... I never dyed it... I'm sorry. I was wrong. Please forgive me."
So that was it.
She had ordered it dyed.
Was the Empress furious because she hadn't done so?
Was she simply being sacrificed over that mistake?
Marie squeezed her eyes shut.
Yet the accusation she heard next was nothing she had expected.
"You used unrefined dye."
The Empress's eyes turned icy.
"If your intention wasn't to assassinate His Majesty, then what else could it have been?"
"...What?"
Unrefined dye?
"Isn't this the dye you used?"
The Empress placed a small vial filled with shimmering pink liquid before her.
"W-What... what is that? I've never seen it before! I swear I don't know!"
"It is unrefined blood from a wyvern hatchling."
"...!"
Blood from young wyverns produced a beautiful pink shimmer when used to dye cloth, making it highly sought after.
Because monster blood naturally contained faint magical energy, fabric dyed with it was also ideal for embroidering simple magic circles.
During the Founding Festival and New Year's celebrations, nobles often wrote wishes upon pink cloth dyed with wyvern hatchling blood before tying it to floating lanterns and releasing them into the sky.
But there was one fatal problem.
Adult wyverns were fiercely attached to their young.
Unless the blood underwent special refinement to remove its scent, the smell would remain.
And if that happened...
The vial in the Empress's hand was sealed for now.
But the instant its stopper was opened, within two hours, frenzied wyverns would descend upon the Imperial Palace after catching the scent of their offspring's blood.
Marie stared blankly at the vial, unable to comprehend the monstrous situation unfolding before her.
Suddenly—
Smack!
Her vision flashed white.
The Empress's hand struck her across the face with explosive force.
The sharp crack echoed throughout the room.
"You insolent little bitch!"
A slick taste flooded Marie's mouth.
Her cheek burned.
Something warm trickled from her lips.
The inside of her mouth had split open.
Tears streamed down her face.
She knew there was no point protesting anymore.
The Empress had already decided to sacrifice her.
How could a nameless maid from a minor noble family ever defeat the Empress of the Empire?
Marie realized her cries of innocence meant nothing now.
Nor did she possess any leverage capable of changing the Empress's mind.
She bit down hard on her lip.
Being accused of plotting to murder the Emperor would not end with her own execution.
Her family's title would be stripped away.
Her entire bloodline would be put to death.
"I shall take into account that this was... merely a mistake."
Kiyen gently stroked Marie's swollen cheek, wearing an expression of profound sympathy.
"Out of mercy, I will personally beg His Majesty to show leniency."
To anyone watching, it looked as though Marie truly had committed a terrible crime while the merciful Empress magnanimously forgave her.
Marie desperately suppressed the urge to claw that hypocritical face apart.
Her opponent was the Empress.
One day...
I will have my revenge, Your Majesty.
One day...
"That is what happened."
Standing before the Emperor, the Empress wore a face full of sorrow without the slightest flicker of guilt.
Her performance only grew more impressive.
Even her trembling voice sounded flawless.
"It was an accident... If only I had been more attentive..."
She dabbed delicately at her tears with a handkerchief.
The Emperor knew perfectly well how fake the performance was.
"So... you're telling me you truly tried to kill me."
"Oh, Your Majesty."
She widened her eyes in feigned hurt.
"It pains me that you would misunderstand me so. It was only a servant's mistake. Failing to notice her negligence was my own failing as well. I shall gladly accept whatever punishment you deem fit..."
She even broke into loud sobs.
"If you weren't speaking..."
The Emperor clicked his tongue in irritation.
He gestured toward Count Maron.
The chamberlain immediately understood the silent order, concealed his presence, and quietly withdrew from the room.
The instant they were alone...
The Empress's tears vanished.
A smug smile curved her lips.
The Emperor saw it, yet merely sighed.
He had long since learned who she truly was.
"So."
He looked at her coldly.
"Unable to let her speak or write, you cut out her tongue and removed her fingers."
How ruthless.
She had feared the maid might protest her innocence and expose the truth.
Though, even if the girl had spoken, who would have believed her?
No.
Most people would already realize this was merely the Empress cutting off a disposable tail.
Kiyen said nothing.
The smile never left her face.
Finally, the Emperor growled.
"I promised you the position of Dowager Empress as the mother of the late Crown Prince. What more could you possibly have wanted? Was it because the Crown Prince had already grown old enough that you could no longer control him as his stepmother? Is that why you became obsessed with having your own son?"
The Emperor's voice alone would have sent anyone else collapsing to the floor in terror.
But Kiyen didn't flinch.
Instead, she met his fury head-on.
"Then perhaps Your Majesty should have told me from the beginning to live forever as nothing more than your shadow."
Her eyes sharpened.
"Weren't you the one who promised me supreme authority as mistress of the Imperial Palace?"
The shamelessness of her words made the Emperor's blood boil.
"You said becoming Empress—and eventually Dowager Empress—was enough! You said that yourself!"
His voice thundered.
"And yet... you dared betray me? Tell me honestly... did you kill the Crown Prince as well?"
"Oh, honestly."
Kiyen scoffed.
"Why bring him up again? His death was an accident."
She answered boldly.
Without evidence, what could he do?
Accuse her all he wanted.
She had no intention of admitting anything.
"What was it that you truly wanted?"
"The position of Dowager Empress."
Her answer came without hesitation.
"I will become Dowager Empress. But I never intended for it to be nothing more than an empty title."
"You... insolent woman!"
The Emperor's face flushed crimson with rage, as though blood might burst from his veins.
Yet Kiyen only lifted her chin proudly.
"Insolent?" she asked coolly.
"Isn't that rather harsh?"
"Enough."
The Emperor's voice turned frigid.
"Leave while I'm still giving you the chance. Take Voltaire with you."
He stared at her with utter disappointment.
"I pitied the young girl who had been forced by her father's greed to marry an old widower. I promised not to depose you. I promised to keep your secret. I promised to forgive you."
His eyes blazed.
"And yet you repay me by humiliating me like this?"
"That wasn't our agreement!"
For the first time, the Empress raised her voice.
"And why should Voltaire leave?"
The Emperor's hand trembled violently.
He nearly struck her.
Only the last shred of restraint kept him from raising his hand against his wife.
After forcing himself to calm down, he spoke.
"I understood your resentment."
"I understood that, at such a young age, you hadn't wanted to marry an aging widower because your father forced you."
"So I forgave you."
"I promised to overlook everything so no other noble would ever know."
"I even agreed to ignore the disgrace you feared so much."
"I told you to live quietly."
"I promised to acknowledge Voltaire publicly as my son."
"But I warned you not to ask for anything more."
Anyone overhearing those words would have been utterly shocked.
The Emperor had endured and endured.
Perhaps that had been his mistake.
But it was time to correct it.
From the very beginning...
Voltaire had never shared a single drop of the Emperor's blood.
Naturally, the Emperor had never intended to make him Crown Prince.
Why would he pass the throne over his own legitimate bloodline—Eonel and Amelia—and hand it to a child whose father could be anyone?
He would sooner choose some distant imperial relative.
This was nothing less than Kiyen's greed.
Her marquis father undoubtedly believed Voltaire truly carried imperial blood.
Naturally, he would covet the throne.
That much, the Emperor could almost understand.
It was human ambition.
But Kiyen knew the truth.
If she possessed even the slightest shred of humanity...
She should never have done this.
He had overlooked her adultery.
He had secretly acknowledged a child of unknown parentage as an imperial prince.
And still...
She dared go this far.
The Emperor's eyes reddened with fury.
Looking calmly into those bloodshot eyes, Kiyen said quietly,
"At this point... even if Your Majesty declared that Voltaire is not your son, no one would believe you."
The Emperor froze.
"...Don't tell me..."
His voice turned dangerously low.
"Was that why you orchestrated everything? Was the hunting incident merely an attempt to silence me?"
"Oh, please."
Kiyen smiled serenely.
"What an extraordinary leap of imagination."
She shrugged elegantly.
"Besides, with the Crown Princess already in place, what possible benefit would I gain from plotting against Your Majesty?"
"...Ha."
The Emperor laughed bitterly.
"I sincerely hope you're right."
"Of course I am."
With that, Kiyen turned gracefully and walked out of the room.
The Emperor watched her shameless retreating figure...
...and ground his teeth in helpless rage.
