The Princess Imprint A Traitor - Chapter 30: The One Awakened from the Dream within a Dream (3)

“Where in the world could you find anyone prettier than you, Rosie? You’re so beautiful you could bring down an empire.”

“Bring down an empire?”

“It’s a phrase that means you’re so beautiful that it could cause the downfall of a nation.”

Beside her, Mikael flinched, but Eve pretended not to notice.

‘Sorry, Mikael!’

Eve had no choice. Deep down, she wanted to shout, “Of course it’s Mikael! How could it possibly be you?!” but she knew that would only lead to Rosenitte going into a poisonous rage. Eve wasn’t eager to witness that.

“Really?”

Rosenitte’s demeanor softened as soon as she heard the answer she wanted. Eve was slightly startled by the sudden shift but kept her composure.

“Of course, absolutely.”

Emboldened, Eve took it further. She gently stroked Rosenitte’s cheek with the back of her hand, pretending to be the most affectionate sister in the world.

“Oh dear, your skin’s in bad shape. It must be malnourishment. Let’s start with a meal.”

At Eve’s signal, Silvestian brought over the meal that had been sitting on the table. It was the same soup Eve had eaten earlier that morning. She even placed the spoon in Rosenitte’s hand herself.

“Go on, eat.”

“Okay.”

Watching Rosenitte obediently follow along made Eve feel strange. As she sat with these mixed feelings, Rosenitte grimaced.

“Sister, this tastes weird. The soup’s bitter.”

“Don’t spit it out. It’s good for your body—no, your skin.”

The bitterness came from the generous amount of World Tree tea leaves Eve had mixed into the soup. She forced Rosenitte to eat every last drop of the green soup, then followed it up by making her drink tea as a highly concentrated purification treatment.

“Now, time to sleep.”

“I don’t want to sle—”

“Sleep!”

Eve promptly put her to sleep with magic. The only way everyone could be happy was if Rosenitte was unconscious. That way, Eve wouldn’t have to deal with any more nonsense, and Rosenitte wouldn’t cause any more trouble.

‘This girl is at her best when she’s asleep.’

Leaving Rosenitte slumbering peacefully behind, Eve stepped out of the tent. She was breathing heavily, exhausted, and leaned against Mikael for support. Silvestian bowed his head in gratitude, and Eve looked at him with pity.

“Lord Millard.”

“Yes, Your Highness?”

“You must have a hard time.”

Silvestian’s face flushed slightly as he responded apologetically,

“She’s not usually like this. It seems she was more relaxed because she was in front of the Seventh Princess.”

“…I see.”

Eve replied absently, then practically leaned on Mikael as they headed back to their tent. Having just dealt with someone who was beautiful but mentally unhinged—a veritable “crazy beauty”—Eve was completely drained. Physically and mentally exhausted, all she wanted now was to rest.

As soon as they arrived back at the tent, Peony greeted Eve with a shocked expression.

“Your Highness, what in the world? Where did you get monster fluids all over yourself?”

“It’s not from a monster, Peony. It’s from Rosie.”

“Huh? Well, regardless, you should change immediately.”

Eve peeled off her clothes, soaked in Rosenitte’s tears and snot, and took a quick wash. Once Peony left to take care of the laundry, the tent grew quiet, leaving only Eve and Mikael inside. Feeling completely drained, Eve headed straight for the bed.

“Are you going to rest?” Mikael asked.

“Yeah. I’m exhausted.”

Covering her feverish eyelids with her arm, Eve closed her eyes. But as she lay there, her mind buzzed with different thoughts.

She couldn’t stop thinking about Rosenitte from her past life. Back then, Rosenitte had acted as though the world revolved around her, believing she deserved everyone’s attention and love. She wasn’t afraid to humiliate others to gain their father’s favor and had harbored an inexplicable grudge against Eve. That Rosenitte had been far from someone Eve could get along with—especially after she’d poisoned Eve under the guise of affection.

That betrayal had left a deep scar, one that still hadn’t healed. Eve had even considered eliminating Rosenitte. As a regressor, Eve had used knowledge from her past life to protect her path to the throne. It made sense to remove threats, especially one like Rosenitte, who could potentially become the Empire’s “Belladonna” again. Doing so could have been framed as a righteous decision, beyond mere personal revenge. Yet, Eve had refrained, thinking:

‘It wouldn’t be right to punish her for something she hasn’t done.’

She decided to keep an eye on Rosenitte and take action only if she showed signs of repeating her past actions. That should have made her feel relieved, even pleased, to see Rosenitte acting so differently in this life. But instead, Eve felt disoriented.

“Rosie is acting so strange…”

The image of Rosenitte, smiling wickedly as she poisoned her, kept overlapping with the sight of this life’s Rosenitte, crying without reservation. Eve wasn’t sure how to view or treat her half-sister anymore. Dealing with Rosenitte now seemed more difficult than confronting Brigitte.

‘I’m so tired.’

The more Eve dwelled on it, the worse her headache became. It felt as though her mind was rejecting any more thoughts.

At that moment, a gentle hand lifted the arm covering her eyes and placed it softly on the sheet. It was Mikael.

“Relax. Just let it down,” he said.

“Huh?”

Mikael sat on the edge of the bed and began massaging Eve’s tense shoulders and arms. His touch was soft but firm, instantly soothing her.

“Mmm…”

“Does it feel good?” he asked, his voice low.

“Yeah… It feels nice…” Eve murmured, gradually sinking into a drowsy haze. She was on the verge of falling asleep when she felt the mattress dip beneath her. She lazily opened her eyes to find Mikael looming over her, casting a shadow.

“Mikael…?”

His violet eyes seemed to deepen, and though he said nothing, the atmosphere shifted dramatically. Half in a daze, Eve found herself staring up at him.

“Eve,” he whispered.

“Yeah?”

His voice was like music, and Eve blinked in response. That’s when Mikael, in a playful tone, asked,

“Who’s prettier, me or Rosenitte?”

“….”

The drowsiness vanished instantly.

“Why can’t you answer?”

Even the question was the same as Rosenitte’s earlier inquiry. It seemed like Mikael had picked up some bad habits from her.

“Oh, Mikael, not you too…”

“This is serious! You just called me ‘a beauty who could bring down an empire’ not even a day ago, and now you won’t answer? There can’t be two such beauties in one empire, so you need to be clear.”

“Obviously, it’s you, Mikael.”

“Really?” he pressed, his tone teasing.

“I’ve told you before, haven’t I? You’re so attractive that you make me question my dreams of becoming a wise and noble ruler.”

“Hah, it’s a relief to know that my dream of being the most cherished by you is still intact.”

Finally satisfied, Mikael’s intense expression softened, and the suffocating tension lifted from the air. He leaned down, pressing feather-light kisses over Eve’s face as if apologizing for his playful teasing. Eve giggled at the tickling sensation and ran her fingers through his hair, enjoying the silky texture.

As they spent this peaceful time together, with Mikael doting on her and Eve reveling in the calm, Mikael broke the silence again, noticing a hint of lingering unease in her expression.

“You seem troubled, Eve,” he remarked.

“Yeah. It’s because of Rosie.”

“Well, she certainly seemed… unsettled,” he said, choosing his words carefully.

“But isn’t she still better than she was in our past life?”

Eve responded without thinking, only realizing afterward that she’d essentially defended Rosenitte.

‘Oh no, I just stood up for her!’

While Eve dealt with her internal turmoil, Mikael fell into his own thoughts. As much as he disliked how clingy Rosenitte was toward Eve, it was undeniable that this life was far better than the past, where everything had spiraled into a dangerous, obsessive love triangle. It was best to leave those memories buried.

Then, something important related to their past life came to Mikael’s mind.

“Hey, Eve,” he began.

“Yeah?”

“There’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you for a while now.”

“What is it?”

Mikael hesitated for a long moment before finally forcing out the words stuck in his throat.

“It’s… about the baby.”

“The baby? Oh…”

Eve immediately knew what he meant. In their past life, Mikael, having abandoned both body and soul, had been Rosenitte’s knight and lover. They had even shared a child, or so it seemed.

‘He said he couldn’t remember everything from the past, but that he remembers?!’

Confronted with a sensitive topic she’d been trying to avoid, Eve flinched. Even that small reaction filled Mikael with anxiety.

“Eve!”

In a panic, Mikael grabbed her hands as though she might run away. Internally cursing his past self, he quickly confessed,

“That baby wasn’t mine!”

“Huh?”

It was a shocking thing to hear from someone who had been thought to be the father. Eve blinked in disbelief as Mikael knelt down by the bed, unable to look her in the eye.

“I know this doesn’t excuse anything, and it might even sound disgusting or despicable.”

He nearly bit his tongue while saying the word despicable.

“But I wanted you to know the truth.”

After taking a deep breath, Eve finally found her voice.

“If the baby wasn’t yours… then whose was it?”

Sensing that he had a chance to explain himself, Mikael gathered all his concentration to carefully choose his words.

“Last time… I gained the throne through rebellion and succeeded in freeing my kind from the Hadelamid imperial family. But it was an incomplete liberation, one that could have been undone after my reign ended. The homunculi weren’t foolish; they must have felt uneasy about it too.”

“You needed an heir to stabilize your reign,” Eve replied, understanding where this was going.

Eve knew that producing an heir was a ruler’s duty, but Mikael’s situation was more complicated.

“Yes. I could only control other homunculi with my power as king, and only those of Hadelamid blood could command the Philosopher’s Stone. That’s why I needed a half-blood, a child between a homunculus and royal human.”

“So you… chose Rosie for that?”

“I had no choice… You didn’t love me in that life. It wasn’t something I could make happen just because I wanted it.” Mikael’s face contorted with self-loathing as he continued.

“I justified it by saying I had no choice. Since my abilities wouldn’t necessarily be passed down and I could still control any homunculus regardless, it didn’t need to be my child.”

“…”

“And, in that life… it wasn’t just my physical limits but my mental limits as well. I could serve the royals like a possession, but I couldn’t stand the idea of leaving proof of it. Since creating a half-blood wasn’t something that had to happen naturally, I… used another homunculus’s essence for the 8th Princess.”

“…I see.”

The truth of the deceptive experiment was revealed. A heavy silence hung between them. Mikael couldn’t guess what Eve was thinking, only feeling a gnawing unease. The air grew oppressive, and the urge to clutch at his chest overwhelmed him.

“I did what I thought was necessary. Yes, I understand that what I did can’t be justified. But still…” Mikael looked at Eve, his eyes filled with a desperate plea.