Prologue

"Princess Sola Livertia Andarcus, the second Imperial Princess of the Andarcus Empire, you have been proven to be guilty of killing Princess Andrea Livertia Andarcus, our beloved Crowned Princess, by stabbing her through the heart as she peacefully slept in her chambers five nights ago."

Ruckus erupted around the entire court, but I didn't care.

The crossed blades of the two knights standing beside me almost dug into my neck as I felt the skin on my knees tear after kneeling on the ground for so long. I can no longer feel my hands that are tightly chained behind my back.

I have been horrendously tortured for five days.

They've cut out my tongue and severed the nerves of my hands and feet, effectively physically turning me into a vegetable.

They can't, however, completely break me.

Not once did I ever beg for mercy, nor I ever will.

I prefer to get killed immediately rather than stoop down to a level that I've never dreamt of achieving.

Because it was a crime that I didn't commit.

And now they've successfully got rid of every means for me to defend myself against this false accusation.

My eyes are only focused on the Emperor, my father, who's sitting idly on his throne while looking at me as if I'm an insignificant bug instead of his daughter.

The nerve of this shitty old man to sit on a throne that he doesn't deserve truly astounds me.

I hope he dies an abhorrent death. If given a chance, I would kill him myself.

"You will forever be locked in the Abyss Tower for as long as you live." The King announced in his usual uncaring tone, creating a bigger commotion within the court.

"Your Majesty, she should be beheaded!" One of them yelled out.

He's right, though. Killing a member of the royal family is punishable by public execution through beheading.

However, that law is for commoners. There is no law saying that a royal can't kill a family member. In fact, that practice had always been the usual way to get the throne for yourself.

The only difference in my case is that Andrea was beloved by the entire Empire; the one who many believed will bring endless victories and prosperity to the people with her intelligence, beauty, and kind yet strong heart. On the other hand, I was just the outcast who was supposed to stay hidden within the shadows of my elder sister, obediently and peacefully following her every footstep like a good lapdog.

I sneered at the King, knowing that he can't kill me unless he makes a brand new law that would take weeks to process and implement. I almost laughed when I see him become visibly annoyed.

To someone as lazy and stupid as him, he would rather take the easy route rather than bother himself to do anything at all.

It's the main reason why Andrea's death was automatically pinned onto me, her supposed rival to the throne, instead of conducting a proper investigation with regards to her assassination. Even the testimonies of the maids and our ladies-in-waiting defending me have fallen on deaf ears.

So that's why if I'm going to die today, then I might as well piss him off one last time.

"No. Let her suffer everyday for what she's done to the Crowned Princess." He answered as we stared at one another.

"Beloved"? Ha! I'd rather believe the ramblings of a crazy drug-addicted homeless person on the alleys before believing whatever the hell comes out from his mouth.

He has five children and I'm sure that he doesn't even know our names. In fact, this is only the fifth time that I've seen him in my entire 20 years despite living in the same damn place.

The court erupted into aggressive cheers with most of them wishing for my eternal suffering.

These corrupt pieces of garbage could all rot in hell with my father for all I care. They're nothing but leeches who steal from the treasury behind the King's back and torment the people of the Empire for their own pleasure.

"Take her away!" The bastard finally ordered, lazily swinging his hand back and forth.

The knights beside me picked me up and dragged me across the court. My bleeding feet were dangling on the floor, leaving a trail of blood behind me.

Outside of the double doors, I saw my siblings and my mother.

"Sola!" My mother, the Second Empress Consort, called out as soon as she saw me.

This is the first time that I've seen them ever since I was imprisoned.

My beautiful mother looked like she aged 50 years since the last time we were together having tea in her parlor. Her usual elegant, postured and matured looks are now all melted down, leaving nothing but a concerned-looking old woman beneath all that façade.

My siblings, too. They all look like they've been crying for five days straight.

Ah, I look like garbage right now. I don't want them to see me like this, especially Marco, our youngest. He's only four, far too young to be exposed to such a horrible sight.

"Stop right there!" My mother yelled out to the knights who hesitantly obeyed.

"Your Majesty, we have been ordered by the King to lock her in the Abyss Tower." One of the knights spoke up when she finally reached us.

Her ladies-in-waiting are running after her, all restless and not knowing what to do to comfort or stop the Empress Consort. My siblings are afar, but they could still see me.

"Oh, my daughter..." My eyes widened when she went down on her knees to touch my battered face.

Her surprisingly warm touch took away all the anger that I felt from earlier. Now, I just feel like a helpless child wanting to be rescued by her mother.

"I believe you. We believe you." She sobbed as she looked deep into my eyes.

If only I knew that your love for me as a daughter was this much, then I would've bonded with you more.

I want to say I'm sorry.

I want to say that I love her.

And yet no sound came out of me.

Instead, I gave her a small smile.

My mother burst into tears, sobbing loudly while caressing my face.

"I'm sorry, Your Majesty, but we need to bring her now." One of the knights said apologetically.

Before my mother could even reply, they've already started to drag me away again.

I hear her call out my name as we proceeded. She's probably being held back by her ladies-in-waiting.

Even my siblings are yelling. I could hear Marco scream on top of his lungs for me.

I want to look back and yet I don't have the physical strength anymore.

I frowned in suspicion when I realized that they were not taking me outside of the palace. Instead, we were going deeper inside.

Where the hell are these two taking me?

They went to an unfamiliar part of the palace, a place that I haven't explored before.

They stopped in front of a wooden door. Opening it reveals a flight of stairs that seemingly go down to a dungeon.

They dragged me down and I silently groaned at the way my legs kept scratching the stone stairs behind us. I can't imagine how many wounds I have by now.

When we finally arrived at the bottom, it was another door.

Behind it is the most unbelievable thing that I've ever seen.

The Empress, Andrea's mother, stood in the midst of the darkness with inexplicable rage in her eyes.

"Good. You're here. Now let's proceed with your execution, shall we?" She spoke slowly and yet you could hear the insanity that's completely overtook her.

It was too late before I could even react.

I was dropped onto the ground and the knights took out their swords.

"Kill that murderer."

The last thing that I remember is her laugh before everything went dark.