The Villainous Family Loves Me Too Much!

“Your Majesty, the absence of an heir can undermine the foundation of the imperial family. You must decide on a successor soon!”

“Watch your words, Viscount Heilo! How dare you discuss a new heir already. The Crown Prince may still be alive!”

“Do you believe that the Lord could have survived after falling into that hole? I saw with my own eyes that the nobles who got sucked into it were burnt alive.”

A week after the hellish disaster in the Glass Hall, Emperor Motias summoned the nobles for an emergency meeting.

The Leblanc imperial family was, to put it plainly, going through the toughest time in the Empire’s history.

The sudden appearance of a powerful wormhole in the palace, followed by the disappearance of the Crown Prince.

Due to the insistence of the Crown Prince’s birth mother, Empress Evelyn, and her factions, they referred to it as a ‘disappearance’, but in fact, it was relevant to consider it as a death.

Many witnessed the nobles being sucked into the wormhole and burning alive.

With a week passed, everyone, except the Empress who was still searching throughout the Empire for the Crown Prince, believed that he was dead.

The Emperor felt the same.

“Viscount Heilo, I understand your loyalty to the imperial family, but it hasn’t even been a week since the wormhole incident. My son, the Crown Prince of this Empire, hasn’t been gone for long.”

“Your Majesty, I merely…”

“Both the Empress and I, as well as our citizens, need ample time to accept this reality. The succession will be sorted out in due course. Don’t worry.”

“…I apologize, Your Majesty.”

Viscount Heilo’s intentions were obvious. He didn’t hide his ambition to promote his grandson, Prince Liam, to the position of Crown Prince.

“As you all know, the emergence of a wormhole within the palace indicates serious security issues.”

Upon the Emperor’s words, the imperial guards and imperial magicians quickly bowed in apology.

“We have committed a grave sin, Your Majesty! Please punish us!”

The Emperor continued with a calm gaze.

“Rise. I’m not fond of punishing those who are not guilty.”

Despite Motias appearing lenient, those who knelt knew the truth.

The words the Emperor would utter next were not out of benevolence.

“I can’t be sure if this tragedy is due to your mistakes or if it was an inevitable threat. So, today, I have invited guests who can make an appropriate judgment on the matter.”

As always, the Emperor didn’t take responsibility for harsh decisions, but rather passed them on to someone else.

“Bring them in!”

The door opened, and a group of priests entered the conference hall.

Led by an old high priest with a hunched back who walked slowly, the priests gradually approached.

“Greetings to the glorious Emperor of Castien.”

All the priests kneeled in respect to the Emperor. The high priest, unable to kneel due to his age, bowed deeply.

“Welcome, priests of the Julius altar. Thank you for coming from afar.”

“No, Your Majesty. We are beyond words in our grief over the loss of the noble Crown Prince. We will willingly step forward for any matter if it can be of help to Your Majesty.”

High Priest Giloden extended his hand to the emperor with a gentle smile.

“Thank you, Giloden.”

The Emperor took the hand of the old high priest and looked around with a serious expression.

“Ministers, listen! From now on, we will form an investigation team to uncover the truth about the wormhole incident. Working alongside the priests, they will delve into the details of the incident. I appoint high priest Giloden as the head of the investigation, and they must submit their initial report to me within 5 days.”

When the priests arrived, the work proceeded swiftly.

The investigative team, consisting of six ministers selected from the noble council and six priests from the Julius priesthood, immediately set about examining the Glass Hall.

“My God, this is horrendous. How could this happen…”

A young priest, the first to enter Glass Hall, was unable to conceal his shock. Baron Johannes patted his back, saying:

“It was even more horrifying before the wormhole disappeared. I still see the image of people being sucked into it, burning and screaming.”

Glass Hall was filled with shattered glass and distorted decorations as if to testify to that day’s nightmare. The once shining wedding decorations now looked weirdly melted and distorted.

Suddenly, a solemn-looking high priest Giloden appeared behind the young priest.

“The wormhole… has not disappeared. It’s still hidden somewhere in the palace.”

“What do you mean, Priest? The wormhole hasn’t disappeared?”

Giloden raised both hands, and a red light emanated, recreating the shape of a massive wormhole.

“What is this!”

“There’s still a spiritual energy in this hall that created the wormhole. We need to analyze the remnants of this energy.”

The entire investigation team was stirred by the old high priest’s words.

“Please reconvene a meeting.”

* * *

A week had passed, but I still couldn’t believe it.

‘Is this how it all ends in vain? What should I do now?’

In a world where the male lead has died, what will become of this world now?

Right in front of the happy ending, everything disappeared like bubbles.

I let out a long sigh and looked at my reflection.

My mint-colored shiny hair, sharp nose, clear skin, and the wide smile resembled the male lead, Gabriel, very closely. Even though we were half-siblings, our appearance was so similar that many thought we were full siblings.

Except for the eyes.

While Gabriel had the amber eyes symbolizing the royal family, my right eye was cyan blue like my deceased mother.

When I first reincarnated here, my mother Helena, the Empress, was still alive. She was a noble lady and a Saintess from the Felosite Kingdom, but became an imperial citizen of the Castien Empire when Felosite was absorbed by it.

My father, Emperor Motias, initially married the current Empress because he was the third prince and not in line for the throne.

But after the death of his elder brothers and their families due to an epidemic, he inherited the throne. To activate the Empire’s protective magic, he had to marry a Saintess, so he married Helena.

Since the Saintess was very rare, the fact that Helena was from Felosite did t mattern’much.

Of course, she was treated as a ‘low bloodline’ by the imperial family and nobles.

– Rena, how fortunate it is that you resemble His Majesty and Gabriel. Anyone can see that you are a descendant of the Leblanc family.

I remembered my mother always being thankful that I didn’t look like her, hoping I wouldn’t face the discrimination she had.

And she adored Gabriel, perhaps because he resembled me. There was no hint of jealousy like you’d find in novels.

Now, neither my mother nor Gabriel was with me. I stared blankly at the closed door of my room, half expecting Gabriel’s playful voice.

– Rena, you’ll feel better as soon as you know what I brought you, right?

It seemed as if Gabriel would open the door and come in at any moment, laughing mischievously.

Suddenly, the maid Colin pinned an emerald-studded butterfly pin in my hair.

Looking in the mirror, I remembered.

– Our youngest, live freely and beautifully like a butterfly. This is a gift your brother personally picked out. What do you think?

It was the butterfly pin Gabriel gave me for my last birthday. Tears I couldn’t hold back flowed.

Suddenly, it hit me.

For me, Gabriel was more than just a means to survive in this world.

Seeing me cry, a flustered Colin consoled me:

“It’s okay, Your Highness. You haven’t cried since that day. It’s okay to let your feelings out today.”

Suddenly recalling the destined ending of this world, a heavy realization settled in my heart.

‘Wait, the Empire hasn’t perished yet. That means…’