Even though she pulled the rope several times and waited for someone to come, the door still remained silent.

Did the people of the Empress already take control of the castle?

Recalling the passage from the original story, where she plotted things since the day Ignis set out for the subjugation, Yeoreum’s heart sank. She decided to step out of the room for a moment. Since no one was coming, she had to take matters into her own hands.

With determination, she reached the enormous door that seemed to be more than twice her adult height. In an instant, a flood of memories rushed in like a tidal wave.

‘…Huh?’

Contrary to her expectations, her body refused to listen to her.

Her feet didn’t move as if they were glued together, and the fear that she might die if she left this door overwhelmed her entire body. Then, memories of Karentina’s childhood came rushing back as if the screen had been quickly rewound.

‘Does this make sense?’

Tears rolled down her cheeks as the memories and horror became too much for her to handle.

The voices of her uncle and family in her memories haunted her ears like the sound of fingernails scratching a chalkboard. Yeoreum, who was unable to take a step forward, retreated a few steps.

As soon as the noise disappeared like a lie, she collapsed and sat down on the spot.

“How could this be…”

She recalled memories that hadn’t appeared in the original story and looked at the door with a helpless expression. There was a reason why Karentina couldn’t escape and had to stay inside the room and why her uncle, Maurice, had separated the siblings.

Maurice had recognized at a glance that Karentina possessed magical abilities, and that was why he had isolated her.

In this world, magical powers were exclusive to the royal family, and apart from them, it was a distinctive magical ability that rarely appeared even among the nobility. Because of this, there was unspoken lore that existed discreetly to distinguish those who possessed magical powers.

It was a superstition of sorts that they would have a stunning and beautiful appearance, and extraordinary physical abilities, and furthermore, possessing rare eye colors in this world often indicated a high probability of having magical powers.

So, it was understandable why Maurice had recognized it at once.

Karentina’s eyes, as seen through the mirror, were so mysterious that they couldn’t be compared to any jewel.

Due to her frail body, her magical power was exceptionally unstable, and unlike transcendent individuals, it had its limitations. Because of that, he periodically drained Karentina’s magic power, who could die at any moment, by turning it into magic stones.

For Karentina, who had low self-esteem, Maurice’s voice was terrifying and filled her with terror.

How could people be so cruel?

“These useless garbage that can’t even be recycled!”

In the end, due to mental trauma and abuse, Karentina locked herself in a room.

Yeoreum roughly rubbed at the corners of her tear-stained eyes.

‘I have to find a way to get out of here somehow.’

As she continued to contemplate, surprisingly, her trembling hands gradually steadied, and her mind grew calmer.

Taking deep breaths to regain her composure, she slowly crawled across the floor, remembering an actress who had signaled the prelude of revenge by trudging her feet. Sharp words continued to pierce her mind, and her body felt as heavy as if burdened with a thousand pounds, but she couldn’t lose here.

‘Do you think I’m going to lose this much?’

It took more than thirty minutes to reach the door knob, a distance that should have taken just a few seconds. Wiping away the sweat streaming down her forehead, she struggled to catch her breath.

“Huk… ha. I’m almost there, just a bit more.”

It was a significant improvement compared to moments ago when she couldn’t even move a step. Yeoreum wiped her tear-stained eyes and let out slow breaths.

When she pulled the delicately carved golden door handle, the dry air that was different from her different room enveloped her body. The corridor, lined with marble columns, was long and elegant as the dazzled light poured in from arched windows.

“It’s warm.”

Yeoreum grasped the door handle and raised her trembling body.

—