Chapter 1. Kill the Empress
****
Sponsored by Mar 💖 (4/4)
****
She was a foreign princess who spun out of control at the academy.
She came to Tanatos as a prisoner of war. A ghost student who was always wandering alone.
Lana, a soft captive with nowhere to turn for bullying, was such a presence in Tanatos.
The Tanatos imperial family that brought her in as a prisoner didn’t care a bit for Lana, and Amor, who sent her, was disgusted that she was in Tanatos.
There were quite a few messages and dispatches sent by the king and queen, but that didn’t mean they really took a very great interest in her.
Lana was becoming more and more isolated.
Being a princess of a country was of no use to her status as a prisoner of war.
In fact, it was a life inferior to that of a lower class noble.
Rather, for the lower class nobles of the academy with bad character, she was often the object of ridicule, the poor quality air wafting through the academy, the gaze that whispered secretly in the shadows.
[Um………….. Miss Lana. If you don’t mind, can you teach me the language of Amor?”]
The only person who didn’t pretend not to know her was Roselyn V Sunset.
Even before Roselyn became Crown Princess, she was the only one who had taken an interest in Lana Lantifu.
[I knew that there was an ancient Amor language, but I saw very few people who had mastered it. But I heard that royalty learn it to some extent. Would you mind teaching me a bit of it …]
The supreme lady of this ice empire approached her discreetly.
It was Roselyn.
She was the forbidden golden jade of the Sunset family, and the only woman that the students of the academy adored without prejudice.
At the time, Lana was only sixteen years old.
She was brought here as a prisoner of war at the age of fourteen, and spent two ghostly years there, when she had first come face to face with the ice Princess, Lana still couldn’t forget how it felt.
Because of her cold looking silver hair, Roselyn’s nickname was mainly associated with ice and snow.
But to Lana, it was different.
Roselyn shone like the Amor sun, warmer than a bonfire on a blizzard night.
It made Lana hate her past self so much that she wanted to beat herself to death for not studying the ancient Amor language diligently.
[I know only a little of it. I’m embarrassed to admit that I didn’t take it seriously either.]
[Oh, I see. Then why don’t you study with me, Lana?]
Lana stayed trying not to bother her too much.
Perhaps it was because of Roselyn that the insidious harassment that had been going on with Lana disappeared.
It happened at a time when Lana felt that life was still a bit worth living, if not for the cold.
Rumors spread that Roselyn was going to become the Crown Princess.
And with that, she was no longer attending the Academy.
And as soon as Roselyn was gone, the harassment began.
[You’re an abandoned princess! Do you think that just because you have a little bit of royal blood in your veins that you’ve become some kind of a great person? Be quiet, don’t play around and don’t show your ambition!]
Her shield disappeared and she was attacked.
[You can’t even go back to Amor anyway, so make sure you get a good dowry from the royal family. Then I’ll take care of you.]
At that time, Lana became the target of harassment.
And by the time the harassment was turned into violence, Lana planned to run away.
But when the brilliant Roselyn noticed a strange presence in Lana, whom she hadn’t seen in a long time, she found out all about her escape plan.
Lana thought Roselyn would stop her.
Lana thought Roselyn would tell her not to do it. However….
[Where do you want to go?]
[What?]
[I’ll help you. If you have somewhere to go, go. Do you want to go back to Amor?]
Lana looked up at Roselyn, stunned.
She didn’t know why she cried at that moment.
The tears that were flowing wildly finally came out in a childish wailing sound.
[You must have had a hard time. I’m sorry, I didn’t know my friend was having a hard time and I couldn’t help her fast enough.] (Young Roselyn)
[No, no. No, no, no. Absolutely not.]
Lana didn’t want to go back to Amor.
It wasn’t that she didn’t like her family for not taking care of her. It was that she understood their hearts.
Did her father have a disease that weakened his heart?
She heard the news that he was losing weight day by day.
Her mother was pregnant with another little brother late. The child was a blessing, but she was too old to rejoice in the blessing.
The throne of Amor said that it would change owners at the earliest opportunity.
Lana had no doubt that its master would be her oldest sister, Theoransha.
They were close when they were young, but she and Theo had very different inclinations.
Returning now, the vacillation would have been the same for Tanatos and Amor.
[I’m going to Mach.] (Lana)
[Mach?] (Young Roselyn)
[I have a lot of good memories there.] (Lana)
[…… I see. Okay, Lana. You have to promise me one thing. Let me know that you are safe. I’ll find a reliable mail carrier at Mach. So that we can ask how each other is doing, even if not often.] (Young Roselyn)
With Roselyn’s help, Lana escaped Tanatos about six months later, where Lana became an adult.
Targen, who was Roselyn’s bodyguard, helped Lana.
In the beginning, the two did not get along well.
Targen treated her as a child, and Lana thought Targen was an old man.
But the old man saved her life many times, and the little girl endured many humiliations to live an independent life.
They spent a year, two years, three years understanding each other and finally accepted that they had come to love each other.
The simple life they had come to live together was so lovely.
*back to present*
Lana gripped Targen’s hand tightly.
Targen’s hand, full of calluses, supported her firmly.
“There is no seat for me in this country anyway. I have more memories of living outside this country than I have of living here. I don’t have to tell you about my memories. All of them, one by one, I have nurtured and won. I am no longer the Lana Lantifu of Amor.”
Theo could not believe the situation at all.
The Lana in front of her was not the little girl Theo knew, the mean and sweet little girl.
Lana had become an adult who knew how to shine her eyes as coldly as Theo.
Facing her sister, who had become an adult without her knowledge, made her feel strange beyond words.
“If it wasn’t for helping Her Majesty, I probably wouldn’t have come back here until I was dead.”
“Lana, why do you say that? You are still a member of this royal family and you’re of the Lantifu bloodline! Oh my god, how can you say that? You don’t know how much I’ve been searching for you.” (Theo)
“You searched for me? My sister? When? After you became king and everything was stable?” (Lana)
Theo gritted her teeth and shouted, to which Lana replied with a whispered laugh.
“Yes, we were very close sisters. I loved my sister, and she loved me. But that was just the end of it.”
Lana replied nonchalantly and looked at Theo.
“Because my sister’s love couldn’t overcome her hatred.”
“Couldn’t get past the hatred?” (Theo)
“Sister, how come you never came to me once while I was there? I sent you countless letters, why? Didn’t I write countless letters telling you how hard it was and how lonely I was, and how much I missed my sister and brother to death?” (Lana)
“At that time, father collapsed and there was no one to take charge of the national affairs….” (Theo)
Theo clicked her tongue, because even as she spoke, it felt like an excuse.
“You see, that was the end of it.”
Even though the king was still alive, the princess and the prince, Theo had never once considered going to Tanatos because she had to see to the affairs of state.
Maybe being busy was just an excuse for the hatred that never overcame love, as Lana had said.
No, that was certain.
Theo wouldn’t even want to see what Tanatos looked like. It was a land of disgrace and disillusionment. Just looking at it, it was enough to make her want to fight.
‘Oh, why hadn’t I thought of my sister’s endurance in that hellish place at the time?’ (Theo)
“I have nothing to say….” (Theo)
Theo’s shoulders drooped. Her blood began to run cold with shame, not unlike the shame she felt when she remembered Tanatos. Lana, who had been staring at the face of her sister, smiled softly and reached out her hand.
“It’s okay.”
A hand, so rough that it could never be considered a royal hand, gently caressed Theo’s cheek.
Even though she would never be able to forget the memory of that moment, she was happy that most of the feelings seemed to have been washed away. (Lana)
She was so happy that she felt that no one could be happier than her at that time. All of this was thanks to her courageous escape, and thanks to Roselyn, who helped her escape. (Lana)
For that reason, she had a duty to help Roselyn.
If it was something she could do, she had to do her best to help.
“But, Theo, my sister. If you still have any love and friendship left for me, please don’t point your sword to the only person who has ever helped me, saved me, and reached out to me.”
Theo’s eyes shook finely.
Theo was shocked as if she was hit by a hammer by Lana’s unexpected sincerity.
“That’s the only reason I came here after a long game of hide-and-seek.” (Lana)
Lana smiled gently and said decisively.
“All my remaining rights in this royal family, my sister’s guilt and love for me, and compensation for the damage done to the sixth princess who was taken prisoner…………. to dedicate to this person.” (Lana)
Lana grasped Roselyn’s hand firmly.
“That’s why I was willing to rush here, even in my last month of pregnancy. I hope that you, my sister, the king of this land, will understand what this means.”