17.
Late at night.
Philomel sat blankly before her desk. The face of the man who kept showering her with gifts hovered persistently before her eyes.
Could it be that he wasn’t confident in offering sincere congratulations on his wife’s death anniversary?
“None of my business. Don’t pay attention to it.”
Philomel crumpled the stationery she had been using, feeling a sudden prickle of irritation. Not content with that, she tore the paper into small pieces and tossed them into the trash bin.
What she had been drafting was the last letter she would ever send to the Emperor. By the time Eustis saw this tomorrow, Philomel would have already vanished.
The pen, which had begun the letter with the clichéd “Dear,” faltered on the page. After a moment, she pressed down hard, stroke by stroke, to write the words: “To Father.”
“It’s the last time, anyway…….”
Philomel muttered, as if offering an excuse to herself.
The next day, an envoy from Elita arrived at the detached palace in the morning.
The Emperor only showed his face when the delegation first offered their greetings before vanishing once more. Still, it was a vast improvement compared to the past, when he wouldn’t even step out of his chambers for a week before and after his wife’s death anniversary.
Philomel attended the event to welcome them on behalf of the Imperial Family and hosted the meal. However, there were no instructions for her to join the government meeting. It seemed to be Polan’s consideration, suggesting she rest on her birthday.
After the government meeting, Philomel’s birthday banquet would be held. There were approximately four hours remaining until then. It was enough time to finish what she had planned.
Noble ladies approached and invited her to join them, but Philomel firmly declined.
“Countess Deles. Shall we go out by carriage?”
“I’m fine with that, but are you sure you don’t need to rest? There is the banquet in the evening.”
“We’ll be back soon. It’s a shame to stay indoors on such a lovely day.”
“The sunlight today is indeed beautiful.”
She boarded the carriage, taking only Countess Deles, her guard, and the coachman. While such a thing would be unthinkable within the Imperial Palace, it was different in the more relaxed environment of the detached palace.
She even turned down the maids who offered to pack food, as she wouldn’t be out for long.
She gave the coachman the name of the village. It was a place she had passed by during her last trip.
“Your Highness really enjoys observing the lives of the people. You will surely become a wise ruler someday.”
Countess Deles, sitting across from her in the carriage, said cheerfully.
She believed the excuse Philomel had made about wanting to observe the streets without suspicion. Of course, even the Countess had been horrified when Philomel first said she wanted to watch the streets in commoner’s clothes.
“Don’t tell me you are planning to go out into the streets again this time…….”
“Don’t worry. Not today.”
Philomel reassured the Countess and looked out the carriage window.
The spring breeze, mixed with the scent of flowers, drifted through the slightly open gap. The carriage rattled on, its wheels clattering along the winding road.
After some time, a small village began to emerge. Amidst the quiet, tranquil scenery, the story of a certain woman came to mind.
A foolish woman who, blinded by jealousy, had swapped her own child with the Princess. It was Ellensia and the birth mother of Philomel who would be living in that very village.
* * *
The name of her biological mother, which she learned through *Princess Ellensia*, was Katherine Hownz.
She was originally a close friend of Empress Isabella.
Katherine and Isabella shared the same hometown. Isabella was the daughter of a lord, and Katherine was the daughter of a wealthy merchant family.
Katherine had met Isabella while following her father, who delivered goods to the lord’s castle when they were young, and the two became friends. Despite the difference in their status, the two shared a warm friendship. Isabella’s unpretentious nature could be glimpsed in how she associated with a commoner without ceremony.
However, a gap began to grow between them with the appearance of the young Emperor.
At the time, the newly enthroned Eustis was in the midst of conducting active wars of conquest. He was a ruthless, bloody tyrant in whom not a shred of mercy could be found. That was the general assessment of Eustis.
Then, during a visit to a rural territory for military stationing, Eustis met Isabella.
The two quickly fell into a fateful love.
Eustis was captivated by the gentle woman, and Isabella came to love the man who had seemed so lonely. Thus, the Emperor overcame all opposition to welcome the daughter of a lowly family as the Empress of the Empire.
Katherine entered the Imperial Palace as Isabella’s lady-in-waiting. That Katherine, who was merely the daughter of a rural merchant, could become the lady-in-waiting to an Empress—a position even nobles found hard to attain—was all thanks to her friend.
It would have been better if she had been satisfied with her position as a commoner in the Empress’s service, but Katherine harbored excessive greed. She began to desire the Emperor’s love. In fact, she had harbored feelings for him since their first meeting.
“I don’t mind being a mere mistress. I want to be your woman.”
What returned to Katherine, who had gathered the courage to confess her heart, was the cold anger and contempt of the man she loved.
From Eustis’s perspective, it was an intolerable betrayal of his wife.
Philomel couldn’t understand what her biological mother had been relying on to make such a bold confession. Watching Eustis become a gentle lamb in front of his wife, she could only speculate that she had overlooked his side as a tyrant.
Out of consideration for his wife, the Emperor spared Katherine’s life. He was worried about the shock Isabella would receive if she learned of her friend’s betrayal. Furthermore, even if Isabella had known everything, she would not have been the type to wish for Katherine’s death.
“Do not ever appear before us again. If you do, I will kill you.”
In the end, Katherine fled to her hometown, weeping.
A while later, as her due date approached, the pregnant Isabella suffered from intense homesickness. Unable to resist his wife’s desperate wish to give birth to their child in her hometown, Eustis granted her request.
The Emperor sent her off with the most capable doctors, mages, and midwives of the Empire, promising that he would come himself when the expected birth date drew near.
The first news Isabella heard upon returning to the lord’s castle—which had been transformed into a temporary palace—was that her friend, whom she thought had gone far away, was still in the village.
Katherine was also pregnant.
Actually, this was the part Philomel was most curious about, but the book never detailed how Philomel’s biological mother and father had met. It was only written that she had conceived a child after a fleeting encounter with a certain mage.
‘Since they aren’t the protagonists, I suppose it doesn’t matter.’
Anyway, back to the main point.
Isabella, who knew nothing of what had happened between her husband and her friend, visited Katherine with a joyous heart.
Isabella was genuinely happy to see her friend, but in Katherine’s heart, a monster called jealousy was coiled.
The two had been pregnant at similar times but were in opposite situations. Isabella was giving birth amid everyone’s utmost care, while Katherine had to labor in loneliness. Moreover, Katherine had not yet forgotten Eustis.
It was a story that made Philomel’s blood boil. After all, her biological father was the Tower Master.
‘If you were involved with such a great man, you should have thought about living a new life—why couldn’t you forget someone else’s husband!’
Philomel, glaring at the innocent scenery, let out a long sigh.
‘Well, there might have been a reason for that…….’
The biological father had left behind a pregnant woman, and the biological mother couldn’t let go of her lingering attachments to another man. In other words, there was a high possibility they were just one-night partners from the start.
Philomel soothed her sinking mood. Whether or not her biological parents loved each other didn’t matter. What was important was the fact that Katherine had swapped Ellensia and Philomel, placing her in such a precarious position.
The one who gave birth first was Katherine.
The day after the birth, the heavily pregnant Isabella, despite everyone’s dissuasion, went to visit her friend at Katherine’s house.
But that was when it happened.
The Empress, who still had several days until her due date, felt sudden labor pains and collapsed. Her attendants decided it would be better for her to give birth there rather than risk moving her back to the lord’s castle.
Katherine had to give up her bed in the confusion.
After hours of labor, the child was born safely, but Isabella, having lost too much blood during childbirth, fell into a critical condition. Even with so many doctors and mages, they could not save her in the end.
The moment the Empress breathed her last, and when everyone there—save for one—closed their eyes to pray for the Empress’s peaceful rest, it happened.
Whether by coincidence or fate, Katherine was near the cradle where the two infants were lying.
It took only a moment for her to switch their positions.
Fortunately for Katherine, there were no major physical differences between the two newborns. At that time, Philomel’s hair color was close to blonde. Since neither had opened their eyes yet, there was no way to know the color of their irises.
Later, as everyone who had accompanied the Empress died, those who knew the detailed circumstances of the birth also disappeared. It was a deed committed by Eustis, who had gone mad upon receiving the news of his wife’s death in the capital.
Amidst the chaos, Katherine quietly left her hometown and moved to a secluded village to live, raising Ellensia as her own daughter.
No one suspected the birth of the daughter of a widow from a mountain valley. Thus, Katherine’s crime seemed buried forever.
“Your Highness. We have arrived at the place you mentioned.”
Philomel was brought back to her senses by the coachman’s voice.
As the horse hooves stopped and her guard, Martin, opened the door, Philomel stepped out of the carriage.
“If it is the house with the green roof on the hillside, that one is the only one.”
A small house appeared where Martin pointed. A two-story building with a green roof. Even the sight of the holes in the roof, crudely patched with boards, matched the description in the novel.
“The carriage cannot go up any further from here, so it seems you will have to walk up yourself. Shall I send someone to call those residing in the house?”
Martin opened his mouth cautiously.
“I will go myself.”
Philomel shook her head.
And when they had almost reached the top of the hillside.
“Excuse me…….”
A small but clear voice was heard.
Philomel turned very slowly in the direction of the voice.
“Do you happen to have business at our house?”
The first thing that caught her eyes was hair as pretty as sunlight. Next were the familiar blue eyes. Even the slightly flushed cheeks that reminded her of a peach.
A face that looked exactly like Empress Isabella’s, whom she had seen in portraits, save for the eye color.
It was Ellensia.