Chapter 3

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter: 3

Chapter Title: Leona's Life - 2

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Until then, Leona had never hesitated to employ every dirty scheme and slander for the Empress's sake.

She had framed and ousted the head maids who wary of the Empress, bribed or blackmailed the close maids and attendants serving the Emperor into puppets.

As she amassed power in the Inner Court, Leona felt a intense thrill. That was why she had never felt any pangs of conscience about harming others up to now. In this cutthroat Imperial Palace, survival of the fittest was simply the natural law.

But even she found it hard to obey the order to lay hands on the fetus in the Crown Princess Consort's womb.

Of course, Leona had secretly done plenty of vile things to the Crown Prince as well, and she hadn't shied away from slandering him.

To Leona, the Crown Prince was a political rival blocking the Empress's path.

But the baby...

What crime had an unborn baby committed?

For the first time, Leona felt repulsed by the Empress's command.

Nevertheless, poison meant for the Crown Princess Consort was placed in Leona's hands.

It was poison the Empress had procured herself.

As she handed it over, the Empress urged Leona to act as quickly as possible.

But Leona couldn't bring herself to get started right away.

Not just the baby, but the frail and delicate Crown Princess Consort weighed on her mind.

The Crown Princess Consort held a lofty position yet never oppressed those beneath her; she always embraced them with gentle kindness.

She smiled at Leona with pure innocence, as if she didn't know how to hate anyone.

The child of such a woman...

Leona's heart just wouldn't allow it, so she kept putting it off, trying to persuade the Empress all the while.

"Right now, the Crown Prince has fallen from power and lost everything. It won't be long before he's deposed. In this situation, do we really need to go after his unborn child too? It might even be a girl. Besides, Your Highness's own prince will soon become the Crown Prince—what's there to worry about?"

Leona whispered slyly into the Empress's ear, her heart aching desperately.

But the Empress's will was firm. She insisted on eradicating any potential threats in advance and pressed Leona hard.

With no other choice, Leona sent the poison to the Crown Princess Consort's palace.

After that, Leona's days were filled with constant anxiety.

She fretted endlessly, wondering when disaster might strike the Crown Princess Consort's palace.

Yet a whole month passed with no news.

The Empress then scolded Leona, doubting her handling of the matter and ordering her to send more poison.

But Leona couldn't bear to strike at the Crown Princess Consort twice.

She lied to the Empress, claiming she had dosed her twice, and secretly bribed an imperial physician to monitor the Crown Princess Consort's condition.

In the end, the Empress's poison had worked.

The Crown Princess Consort grew gradually, steadily weaker.

As proof, her daily walks shortened bit by bit until she could no longer rise from her bed at all. She withered away as if refusing all food.

Hearing daily reports of the worsening illness, Leona's insides burned black with guilt.

If only the child would die!

At this rate, the Crown Princess Consort's life would be snuffed out first.

Leona prayed desperately for the baby in her womb to die soon. Only then could the Crown Princess Consort be saved.

After that, the Crown Princess Consort's palace was in a perpetual state of emergency.

The Emperor, not wanting to lose an innocent Imperial Grandson, specially ordered the imperial physicians to attend her.

But her condition only deteriorated.

Half a month later.

At eight months pregnant, the Crown Princess Consort gave birth.

The baby survived against all odds, but the Crown Princess Consort ultimately lost her life.

Seeing the black banners hanging over the Crown Princess Consort's palace, Leona felt her heart burn with agony.

The Empress flew into a rage upon learning it was a boy.

But when the imperial physicians unanimously declared the Imperial Grandson wouldn't live long, she relaxed. The Emperor, too, lost interest upon hearing the child would soon die, not even bothering to name him.

Soon after, the Empress launched a full assault against the Crown Prince.

Obsessed with that, she forgot all about the Imperial Grandson.

The Imperial Grandson was abandoned in a small detached palace.

Even his father, the Crown Prince, showed no interest in whether his son lived or died.

In the vast Imperial Palace, Leona was the only one who cared about the Imperial Grandson.

Secretly from the Empress, she assigned a wet nurse and maids to his side and regularly summoned imperial physicians for checkups.

Even as she served the Empress, managed the Inner Court, and carried out her missions without a moment's rest, Leona always kept watch over the Imperial Grandson.

Once a day, she somehow found time to visit the detached palace and tend to him personally.

Otherwise, an inexplicable heaviness crushed her chest, making it hard to breathe.

The nameless Imperial Grandson had inherited the Crown Prince's black hair.

A month passed without him crying even once or opening his eyes, so no one knew the color of his voice or irises.

He suckled the wet nurse's milk maybe once out of ten attempts, leaving his cheeks gaunt and skin rough unlike a normal baby.

Always pale and motionless, the sight of him made Leona's heart sink every time.

She could only sigh in relief after pressing a finger to his tiny nose to confirm his faint breath.

It was the day the Imperial Grandson turned two months old.

Overwhelmed with tasks that day, Leona could only visit the detached palace late into the night.

Entering his room, she saw the night-duty maid dozing off beside the cradle.

Leona's eyes flashed with anger. She had strictly ordered the maids never to take their eyes off him, yet here this one was, sleeping soundly.

Fuming, Leona stormed over, intending to scold her severely to prevent any repeat.

But just as she reached to wake her, the Imperial Grandson suddenly wriggled in the cradle.

Leona hastily held her breath.

Until now, he had only managed faint lip movements. Doubting her eyes, Leona leaned over the cradle and widened hers.

She held her breath, staring intently, but there were no more movements.

Leona steadied her disappointment.

She told herself to be grateful he was still breathing. As always, she straightened his blankets and massaged his body to promote circulation.

As she folded and unfolded his limbs for exercise, and spread his tiny fingers.

The Imperial Grandson moved his hand and grasped her index finger.

Ah...!

Leona froze as if struck by lightning.

Just one tiny finger gripping hers, yet she felt bound as tightly as by ropes, unable to budge.

Those slender little fingers clutched her.

Leona stared blankly at the Imperial Grandson.

Then his eyelids parted, revealing emerald eyes just like the Crown Prince's.

Cloudy and dim though they were, those green eyes clearly gazed at Leona.

She confronted how fragile and insignificant the life in this tiny body was.

It's my fault.

For the first time, bone-deep guilt pierced Leona.

The Crown Princess Consort's death.

The Imperial Grandson's state.

All my fault.

The hazy smoke of guilt solidified in an instant, stabbing her heart.

There was no escaping or denying it.

Tears fell drop by drop onto the Imperial Grandson's cheek.

Gazing quietly at her, he was so lovable.

Not knowing she might be his enemy, he held her hand—so pitiable, so endearing—that her growing joy brought equal pain from within.

I want to protect him.

Leona thought.

I'll protect the Imperial Grandson, no matter what.

Until dawn that day, Leona stayed by the cradle, not pulling her hand away.

Imperial Grandson at five months old.

At last, the Crown Prince is deposed.

The Crown Prince was deposed.

The Emperor named the Empress's son, the Third Prince, as the new Crown Prince and exiled the Deposed Crown Prince to a remote borderland.

Rumors spread that the Emperor would soon elevate the Empress to Empress Dowager, and guests and gifts flooded her palace daily.

The Empress raised her cup high in triumph, beaming with joy.

Everyone in her palace leapt with delight at their mistress's good fortune.

Leona smiled alongside the Empress but couldn't feel true happiness.

She found it strange herself.

Why did her long-cherished dream feel so hollow now that it had come true?

Some time later, the exiled Deposed Crown Prince suddenly vanished.

Rumors swirled that the Empress's faction had assassinated him.

But Leona knew from the Empress's reaction that it was false.

The Empress pulled every string to find him, but to no avail.

The Empire officially declared the Deposed Crown Prince had died of a local epidemic, and only then did the Empress cease her search.

Leona felt regret that her last link to protecting the Imperial Grandson was gone.

And around then, the shadow of downfall began creeping over the Imperial Palace.

First, the Emperor collapsed.

Though aged, the shrewd and sharp long-reigning Emperor suddenly began acting strangely.

He grew hypersensitive and irritable, then endlessly depressed and lethargic.

He shunned everyone but relied solely on the Empress. Her words became his, her will his own.

Seizing the reins of power, the Empress wielded absolute authority.

Naturally, her top confidante Leona rose to an unchallenged position in the Inner Court. Yet Leona felt unease before any thrill.

She knew the Empress well.

A greedy but clever woman. Yet in governing the state, she committed incomprehensible blunders.

As if marching toward self-destruction, the Empress ruled tyrannically: exorbitant taxes, reckless projects, framing competent officials and exiling them while favoring sycophants.

Strangest of all was her attitude toward her son.

After the Emperor lost his wits, she turned cold, ignoring the Crown Prince entirely. Despite him being her own flesh and blood, she treated him worse than a stranger.

Unable to stand it, Leona subtly mentioned the Crown Prince before the Empress.

But each time, she received icy rebukes.

Leona felt an inexplicable sense of crisis and precariousness, yet couldn't pinpoint what was wrong or how to fix it.

All she could do was steel her resolve to protect the Imperial Grandson.

Around then, she plotted to smuggle him out of the palace secretly. But to send him outside, he needed to regain his health first.

Leona pilfered all the precious herbs stockpiled in the palace and used them on him.

As if imprinting on Leona from the moment he first opened his eyes, he only opened them when she held his hand, and suckled a little only under her watch.

Using illness as an excuse, Leona took extended leave and devoted herself entirely to him all day.

She poured every ounce of care into preserving his life, fighting desperately.

However... the lethal poison absorbed from his mother's womb was steadily eating away at him.

Despite Leona's frantic efforts, the Imperial Grandson slowly died, just like his mother.

At one year and three months old.

The Imperial Grandson breathed his last in Leona's arms.

Leona held his body for three days straight, refusing to let go.

By the time those around her worried for her sanity, she buried him with her own hands.

She wanted to find the Deposed Crown Prince and send the child to him. Even in death, let him rest in his parents' embrace. But with no trace of the Deposed Crown Prince, she had no way.

In the end, Leona carried the body to the Deposed Crown Prince's former palace.

Beneath an old tree in the rear garden where he often rested, burying him was all she could do.

Afterward, she reported the Imperial Grandson's death to the imperial family and lied to the Empress that she had dumped the body outside the palace.

No one questioned the aftermath, so his passing faded quietly.

From then on, Leona lost all will to live.

Self-recrimination and disillusionment shattered every desire she had ever craved.

The Empress noticed the change but didn't mind much.

Even as Leona grew perfunctory in her service, the Empress kept her close.

Half out of her mind, Leona merely lingered on.

Meanwhile, the Imperial Palace and the Empire rapidly decayed.

Half a year after the Imperial Grandson's death.

The Imperial Palace burns, and the Hamel Empire falls to the allied nations.

After death, Leona receives one more chance at life and returns.

To age 16. The year she entered the palace.