CH 2

One year ago, a war broke out.

It was a sudden storm of bloodshed that descended upon the Roshan Empire, which had been steeped in peace.

The attackers were from a newly-formed nation called Xieman.

Xieman was a country formed overnight by various minority tribes who had been derided as barbarians, suddenly flying their own flag.

The Emperor of Roshan initially treated Xieman’s provocation as a minor skirmish.

So no one could have known that this small dispute would escalate into such a vast and tragic war.

To be frank, the cause of the war lay within the Roshan Empire.

The Emperor of Roshan, blinded by the glory of the past, arrogantly exerted undue pressure on the fledgling nation of Xieman, preventing it from trading with other countries, and went as far as to call them uncivilized barbarians. There were even frequent instances of killing or kidnapping their children and women to use as slaves.

Unable to endure it any longer, Xieman retaliated in anger.

The Emperor’s attempt to crush Xieman, which was just beginning to take shape as a nation, ended in a humiliating defeat.

To the extent that the Emperor was forced to sign an unfair alliance treaty with a sword held to his throat.

Though it was called an alliance, it was essentially no different from the Roshan Empire being subjugated by the nascent nation of Xieman.

Roshan now had to offer up a portion of its special products, tribute, and taxes each month, and during trade, they had to virtually waive all transit fees and customs duties.

 Of course, the Roshan Empire had to pay an enormous amount in reparations to Xieman due to their defeat.

The compensation demanded by Xieman amounted to five years’ worth of the Roshan Empire’s budget, nearly emptying the imperial treasury and causing severe financial strain.

Furthermore, Xieman demanded hostages.

Due to the enforced peace treaty, the once mighty military of the Roshan Empire was dismantled, and Roshan could no longer maintain a military force without Xieman’s permission.

In essence, unless protected by Xieman, Roshan would become prey to all manner of nations.

The emperor, who had always been arrogant and considered himself above the sky, ultimately had to kneel before Xieman’s envoy to beg for his life.

Not even before the king of Xieman, but to a mere representative of the king.

When drafting the alliance treaty, the king of Xieman did not show his face. Everything was handled by the minister, the king’s proxy.

It was a clear sign of disdain.

Immediately after the war, the Xiemans occupied the imperial city for a while, wandering around with their dirty feet.

It was during this time that Nisha first saw them.

These large figures, unashamedly, often showed off their bronze skin by going shirtless.

Their bodies and faces were adorned with black and red pigments, making them appear like beasts entirely covered in muscle.

‘They were like beasts.’

The primal vitality and heat they exuded left a powerful impression on Nisha. Yes, they looked as if they roamed the depths of hell.

‘Well, this is hell too.’

Even now, everything felt like hell, and the future seemed just as bleak.

Lost in thought, she had already arrived at the palace. Her palace, far from the main estate, looked old and desolate at first glance.

The unmanaged palace was covered in ivy, and the ground was overrun with weeds and grass.

Branches grew so wildly that they seemed ready to break through the windows.

A dirty, old palace in the remotest corner of the imperial city.

Yet, this small palace had been Nisha’s entire world from childhood until now, one of the reasons she was called the sewer-rat princess.

She lowered the hand that had been clutching her neck, straightened her clothes, and entered. A maid cleaning the floor abruptly bowed.

“Princess, you’re back?”

In truth, despite being called a maid, the paltry allowance she received was barely enough to pay the lowest wages. Nisha always felt sorry for her.

“Yes, Mary. Don’t overwork yourself and take a break.”

She replied lightly to Mary’s cheerful greeting and went up to her room on the second floor.

“Just a few days left….”

Entering the room, she collapsed onto the old bed and muttered.

Nisha was the emperor’s child.

To be precise, she was the child born from the emperor’s affair with a maid.

Despite the emperor’s orders to keep the secret, her mother, who had been his mistress, revealed herself to the world, coveting the empress’s position.

And the Empress, shocked by the revelation, collapsed and never rose again.

In his rage, the Emperor ordered the maid to take an abortion elixir, but as fate would have it, she was born. Her mother never even set foot in the coveted Empress’s position and died giving birth to Nisha.

The new Empress was an old friend of the former Empress. It was clear that some sort of transaction had taken place, for she did not love the Emperor.

She viewed Nisha with utter contempt, seeing her as the embodiment of her dear friend’s demise.

All the Empress’s torment was directed at her, and the Emperor, aware of everything, turned a blind eye.

It was absurd.

Was it a crime to be born?

Her mother was the sinner, and the Emperor was blameless?

Astonishingly, it was so.

In this country, power was everything, and the Emperor was the sun of the empire, thus becoming the pitiable victim who lost his virtuous Empress to the schemes of a greedy woman.

‘I want to die.’

If everything was hell no matter where she went, she at least wanted to escape this imperial palace.

In her childhood, after hearing the cruel truth of her birth from the new Empress and attempting to take her own life for the first time, Nisha did not succeed in dying.

Instead, she received unprecedented care and survived.

As she opened her eyes after wandering the edge of death, the smiling Empress stood before her. The Empress soon whispered into Nisha’s ear with a sorrowful face.

“Don’t think of dying so easily. Since you have dragged everyone into hell, I will personally ensure that your life becomes a hell as well.”

Despite the cruel whisper, Nisha did not give up.

However, it wasn’t long before she realized that even death would not come as she wished, and for the first time, she despaired.

As if the heavens had shown mercy, she discovered she had acquired a mysterious power.

What might be a blessing to someone else was another form of despair for her.

Learning that even death was no longer hers to control, Nisha gave up on many things and lived quietly, hiding herself.

‘Marriage…’

She had been prepared for a political marriage, of course. But she soon realized that preparation and reality were vastly different.

The prospect of leaving for an unknown place, giving birth to and raising the child of a man she had never met, and living a confined life was horrifying.

Alternatively, she might have to live as she did now, confined and scorned for the rest of her life.

“Cough-.”

Another cough burst forth.

Nisha quickly rose and buried her face in the pillow, her face contorted.

“Cough, cough, cough-!! Ugh….”

She curled up abruptly as the coughs violently erupted from her. She tried to stifle the sound as much as possible.

The poison her mother had ingested while Nisha was in her womb had exacted its toll, not on anyone else, but on Nisha.

Nisha’s body had been frail from birth.

As she coughed violently, almost to the point of suffocation, she reached out and fumbled around the nearby bedside table.

Grabbing the familiar kettle from the nightstand, she took a few gulps, feeling somewhat calmer afterward.

“Really, it’s exhausting….”

If life is like this, I think it might be fine to end it now.

Muttering softly, she curled up and pulled the blanket up to her neck.

***

The Roshan Empire was once a very prosperous nation.

It boasted vast granaries, large mines producing high-quality diamonds, and a favorable climate year-round.

With such abundance, it built up its military strength, conquering numerous neighboring countries and creating many vassal states.

However, as time passed and the throne was succeeded, peace took hold, and the imperial family began to rot from within, as if it were its natural course.

Corruption and tax evasion became the new norm, taxes were raised almost daily, and while commoners struggled to afford even porridge, the nobles were busy enriching themselves.

Some nobles amassed more wealth than the Emperor himself.

The people’s uprisings, driven by their unbearable suffering, were all violently suppressed, resulting in countless casualties.

This marked the beginning of a reign of terror enforced by military might.

While the people bled outside, the imperial city glittered with lavish jewels and gold.

While the streets overflowed with people dying of starvation, the imperial food stores were so full that the food rotted, and banquets were held every day.

This was because the Emperor, having lost all will after the Empress’s death, had almost entirely abandoned state affairs.

Ironically, the Emperor, who had taken a mistress, truly loved the Empress.

The problem might have been that the Empress was naturally too weak to satisfy the Emperor’s s****l desires.

Yes, that ridiculous reason was the beginning of the former Empress’s and Nisha’s misfortune.

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