But where should I go?

　　Luana’s resolve quickly crumbled. She was only eight years old, and escaping Liliana’s grasp at that age was far too difficult.

　　Liliana was her mother, after all.

　　The Emperor loved Liliana dearly and had made her his concubine. But he had never once visited Luana. There was no way a man like that would help her escape from Liliana.

She lowered her head in despair, her golden hair spilling down.

　　“There is someone.”

　　Her eyes widened at the sight of her golden hair. Tangled as it was, it had lost none of its brilliance. She slowly raised her hand and grasped a lock of her hair.

　　There was one person who could help her. Luana lifted her head and looked into the mirror.

　　A girl with golden hair and blue eyes looked back at her.

　　“The symbol of the Imperial Family…”

　　Golden hair and blue eyes were the mark of the imperial family’s direct line. Even the Emperor, a distant relative of the imperial family, didn’t have them. Neither did her twin brother, Louis. Yet those very colors shone brilliantly back at her from the mirror.

　　Those colors brought one person to mind. In the mirror, the image of an elegant woman seemed to overlap her own.

　　“The Empress…”

　　The rightful heir to the Empire. Surely she could protect Luana from the Emperor and Liliana.

　　The imperial family tree was a bit complicated. To begin with, the current Emperor was not part of the proper direct lineage. If anything, the true successor was the Empress.

　　She was the former Emperor’s only daughter, and by blood, her claim came before anyone else’s. Had the First Emperor not forbidden princesses from taking the throne, she would have become Emperor without question. But she was a princess, and the law barred her from the throne.

　　So she had to marry the current Emperor, a distant collateral relative, and bear a crown prince to continue the imperial line.

　　“I have to meet her.”

　　Luana leapt up and went to the door. In her urgency, she yanked on it, but the rattling door reminded her that it was locked from the outside. No matter how many times she turned the knob, it did not open. Frustrated, she kept working the handle.

　　“I guess it won’t open…”

　　Just as she took her hand off the knob, she heard a soft click.

　　The door was unlocked.

　　She tensed up and took a step back. But even after waiting a long time, the door did not open. Hesitating, she carefully turned the knob.

　　“…Is there no one?”

　　There was no one in front of the door. And since she had been right behind it, she could not have missed it if someone had unlocked the door and hurried off. Yet she had heard no sound at all.

　　She had to pause and think.

　　Could this be a trap set by Liliana? Or maybe a trick by the maids to tease her and tattle to Liliana?

　　But…

　　Carefully, she took a step outside. Staying here meant dying in the future anyway. If there was even the slightest possibility, she had to move.

　　“Ah…”

　　Luana gasped softly as she stepped into the corridor. It was not her first time walking this hallway, but the world before her eyes felt strangely special.

　　She stared blankly at the empty corridor. Sunlight streamed in from somewhere, illuminating the space.

　　Her palace could not be called beautiful by any stretch of the imagination. Thin cracks ran along the walls, and thick white dust gathered in every corner.

　　On top of that, the only decoration was a single frayed, worn curtain hanging by a window in the hall.

　　Yet to her eyes, it was so beautiful.

　　For the first time, she’d opened a door herself and stepped out into the world beyond it.

　　She gently released her hold on the door handle. The door swung shut far more lightly and smoothly than she’d expected.

　　It was strange.

　　Something warm seemed to bloom softly inside her. She turned back toward her room door, but just then, she heard the voices of the maids.

　　“So today, let’s just…”

　　“Are we really… not giving her food…?”

　　“Anyway… the concubine is… busy all the time…”

　　“That’s… true.”

　　Luana turned pale and looked around.

　　If the maids caught her, she might be locked in her room again. Not only that, but there was no guarantee the door would happen to open for her again.

　　Over there!

　　Spotting the long, trailing curtain, she slipped behind it. The moment she hid, the maids’ voices drew terrifyingly close. Her heart pounded louder and louder.

　　Please just pass by…

　　She tried to calm herself. The pounding felt so loud she worried the maids might hear it and yank open the curtain she was behind.

　　“So where should we go today?”

　　“Let’s just rest here instead of wandering around and getting caught.”

　　“Should we?”

　　The maids’ voices passed by the curtain where she was hiding. But even after their footsteps faded, she remained frozen in place, stiff with tension.

　　“Phew…”

　　As soon as she relaxed, she slumped onto the floor and let out the breath she’d been holding.

　　Dust suddenly showered down over her face, and Luana choked back a cough. Worried the maids might hear and return, she dared not make a sound. Even so, a few muffled coughs escaped as she glared at the curtain.

　　Since it had been left in her palace, she had guessed it would be a mess, but looking closer, it was even worse. The curtain was covered in dust and stains. Just hiding behind it made her feel dirty.

　　But come to think of it, even this curtain was gone later on. Through faint memories, she could recall the completely empty corridor.

　　When she reached toward the wall behind the curtain, another cloud of dust made her grimace.

　　“Ugh…”

　　Her mouth was dry and gritty with dust. She spat a few times, but it didn’t help.

　　She had to hurry.

　　She needed to get out quickly before the maids returned. She turned in the opposite direction from where the maids had gone.

　　“Ah.”

　　Just as she was about to leave in a hurry, a thought struck her, and she looked back. The lace attached to the curtain caught her eye. Seeing how frayed it was, it looked as though a gentle pull would tear off enough for her to use.

　　After glancing around, she reached out toward the curtain.

* * *

　　Fortunately, she encountered no one until she escaped the palace. She let out a sigh of relief and checked her surroundings.

　　Her long golden hair was now hidden beneath the white lace she had torn from the curtain. At a glance, no one would guess that her hair was gold.

　　“Which way should I go?”

　　Luana looked around and sighed. She had lived here all her life, yet she barely knew her way around. Unless Liliana was with her, she’d hardly ever been allowed out of her room. This was practically the first time she’d ever stepped outside her palace.

　　There was no way she could know where to go to find the Empress.

　　Still, she couldn’t stay here.

　　Luana panicked. She hadn’t thought this far ahead. But to avoid being caught slipping out of the palace on her own, she had to hurry. Even if there were no maids around, the area was far too open for her to relax.

　　“First, I need to hide.”

　　If someone looked out from inside the palace, they would spot her right away. As she searched for somewhere to hide, the overgrown garden beside her palace caught her eye. The trees were so thick that it looked more like a forest than a garden. With nowhere better to go, she hurried inside.

　　She regretted that choice almost immediately.

　　“I’m doomed.”

　　Having blindly cut across the garden, she came to a sudden stop. The trees stretching out in every direction made everything around her look identical.

　　The towering trees blocked out most of the light. It was so dark beneath them that Luana could barely make out her surroundings. She swallowed hard.

　　Still, she could not turn back now. She might never get another chance like this. What was more, if she accidentally ran into the maids on her way back, the maids might watch her even more closely after that.

　　Scared as she was, Luana kept going.

　　As she walked through the deserted garden, a sudden sound made her stop in her tracks.

　　It felt as though someone was nearby.

　　Was it just her imagination?

　　Yet when she looked around and saw no one, she began stepping forward again, bit by bit.

She didn’t get far.

　　“Huh?”

　　An all-too-familiar scent reached her. The moment she recognized the fragrance, her face drained of color.

　　It smells like Liliana.

　　As soon as she realized it was roses, her stomach turned. When she had met Liliana earlier, she had been too lost between dreams and reality to notice, but now she could tell for certain. Somehow, beneath the subtle fragrance, there seemed to be the smell of blood.

　　“No…”

　　Without realizing it, she repeated the words she had spoken in her final moments. The rose scent that had always clung to Liliana now reminded her only of death.

　　The fragrance grew steadily stronger.

　　Death was approaching her.