The Villainous Family Loves Me Too Much!

“Maybe.”

“Then, Her Highness the Princess will become the Crown Princess?”

“I haven’t even thought about that…”

Knock knock.

Just as I was feeling awkward, someone knocked on the door.

“It’s me, Karena. Sorry to interrupt your meal, but I have something important to discuss.”

It was the voice of Empress Evelyn.

“Your Majesty, why have you come here in person? It’s not good if people find out you visited me, especially with my trial coming up.”

“Yes, I know. But it’s a matter of importance.”

I signaled Colin to leave with a gesture of my eyes. Then, I sat down face to face with the Empress in the room.

“You’ve been through a lot, Rena.”

The Empress warmly called me by my nickname. It was a completely different demeanor from the cold one she had shown a few days ago at the meeting.

“Not at all. If a wormhole was created due to my negligence, I must be careful. This level of inconvenience is nothing.”

“The wormhole wasn’t caused by you.”

Surprised, I stared at the Empress with wide eyes.

“Is there another person with the Power of Light?”

“No, there isn’t.”

“I was taught that without the Power of Light, one cannot intentionally create a wormhole. A wormhole is like a tear between time and space…”

The Empress’s fingertips trembled. It seemed anger and sorrow were engulfing her.

“They say that an abnormal wormhole can also be created through an unholy union of a saint and another power user.”

“An unholy union?”

The Empress took out a small notebook from her lap and placed it on the table.

“This is one of the diaries of our ancestors, the previous Empresses.”

There was a golden bookmark slightly tucked in the middle of the notebook. The Empress opened it and pushed it toward me.

“It’s a very old secret that the royal family has hidden.”

I slowly cleared my throat and began to read a page of the ancient diary.

[The disaster known as Cassios’s rampage… was all because of Crown Princess Lillian. Oh, my precious Cassios, my adorable youngest. The naive boy was deceived by Lillian’s tricks.

Lillian was never fit to be a Crown Princess. Vulgar and impure… Cassios had fallen in love with Lillian.]

Cassios was the 5th prince who caused the wormhole disaster 300 years ago. This diary was left by his mother, a previous Empress.

“If this is true, could it be…”

Seeing my stiff face, the Empress gave a cryptic smile that seemed to be both crying and laughing.

“Beatrice Donovan, that cunning girl must have done something like that with Liam.”

* * *

“The judges are entering. Everyone, please rise.”

The time for the trial had come.

That day, the Empress told me to only trust her. She would handle everything, and all I needed to do was follow her instructions.

Even the day before the trial, the Empress conveyed to me through Colin what I needed to prepare.

But today, the day of the trial, the Empress hadn’t appeared.

“Attention everyone.”

One of the judges, the Chief Justice, stood up and began to speak.

“This trial was supposed to take place with all members of the imperial family present. However, this morning, we received a message that the Empress couldn’t attend due to sudden health issues. Traditionally, we would postpone the trial, but all the judges agreed that the matter was too serious to delay.”

‘Unable to attend due to health reasons?’

Having seen the Empress just two days ago, I couldn’t believe it.

More than that, I couldn’t believe the Empress would miss such an important trial, even if she was a bit unwell.

Isn’t this the trial related to Gabriel’s death?

On the other hand, most of the nobles who didn’t know the truth nodded in agreement with the Chief Justice’s statement.

They must think that the soft-hearted Empress didn’t attend because she felt betrayed by me.

“By unanimous decision, the trial will proceed as originally planned.”

What should I do?

I quickly looked around, but without the Empress’s diary, I couldn’t execute the plan.

“Now, let’s begin the trial. The first witness, please step forward.”

At the Chief Justice’s words, I turned around. Beatrice was approaching. She gave me a faint smile.

It was a chilling expression I’d never seen from her before.

I couldn’t understand. Why is Beatrice, the female lead, doing this to me?

I felt anger boiling up.

‘No, I have to endure.’

Holding back the urge to rip at the fox-like Beatrice’s hair, I clenched my fists tightly.

That was when it happened.

‘Huh?’

Suddenly, both of my arms stretched upward without my intention.

“Princess, what are you doing right now!”

The visibly agitated chief officer shouted with a grim expression.

My hands, stretched towards the sky, looked like they were about to unleash some power.

‘Could it be…’

I felt as if someone was controlling my arms like a puppet, just like that day.

‘The same phenomenon as that day!’

As my hands moved, the court room trembled almost simultaneously.

“Kyaaak! What, what’s this!”

“Run!”

Chairs and desks fell over, and fleeing people tripped and scattered in all directions.

Koogooogung.

It appeared again.

That dreadfully familiar noise.

“Kyaaak!”

The courtroom turned into chaos due to a sudden wormhole. Fortunately, this time, it wasn’t big enough to cause casualties.

So far.

My two outstretched arms moved on their own. Astonishingly, as my hands moved, the size of the wormhole seemed to grow gradually.

‘Surely, someone here is controlling both my arms and the wormhole.’

My eyes immediately searched for Beatrice. The Empress suspected her to be behind the wormhole, making her the prime suspect.

“Please, save me!”

“Beatrice!”

Beatrice was clinging to the edge of the wormhole pit.

Just like my brother’s final moment, she was on the verge of falling in.

Liam was also distraught, trying to save Beatrice.

I looked towards the high priest, but he too was exerting all his energy to prevent the collapsing building.

‘If not them, then who in the world…’

At that moment, my shaky gaze met with piercing red eyes.

In this chaos, he was the only one standing still, staring sharply at me.

The owner of the eyes appeared to be a man of Gabriel’s age. Wearing a black velvet jacket and a flashy gold brooch, with a crossover tie, he seemed to be of high nobility.

‘Did I know a young nobleman of that age? He looks familiar.’

Pale skin and silver-gray hair. A young look yet with a dominating presence. A sculpted nose and long eyes that emphasized his sharp features.

‘Wait, red eyes and silver-gray hair means…’

There’s only one person in this novel that fits that description.

The main antagonist of the original story, Archduke Felosite.

Not a magic user, but an owner of powerful magic that even magicians fear. Known as the Lord of the Dark World.

Even if he hadn’t been absorbed by the Empire, he would’ve been a prominent king of a nation.

More than anything, he was the culprit who killed Gabriel and Beatrice, the protagonists of the original work, and destroyed the Empire.

‘Could it be…!’

With an unreadable expression, the Archduke watched my shaking body. He stood up and lightly flicked his fingers.

Then, the wormhole disappeared, and my arms were freed.

‘Archduke Felosite? Why target me?’

As the wormhole disappeared, Beatrice and Liam were ejected and fell to the ground.

“As expected, it was your doing, Rena.”

Liam, straightening his disheveled clothes, got up and glared at me as he spoke. Everyone in the courtroom stared at me.

From a distance, the Emperor, with an angry expression, briskly walked towards me.

“Your Majesty, I…”

Slap-!

With a loud sound of skin hitting skin, my head was jerked to the side.

It was so strong that my cheek immediately swelled up.

“How dare you…”

“It wasn’t me, Your Majesty! It wasn’t…”

“You are no longer my daughter.”