Retribution of Fate

Eric had once drunkenly joked to an empty sofa.

—If he weren’t the second prince of the royal family, but instead a girl, the second princess… would their relationship have been different?

He wouldn’t need to plot schemes to fight for the throne.

He could simply marry into some noble family, become someone’s lady, give birth to a cute-enough child, and spend life teaching and caring for the household…

Surely that would be much better than the life-or-death battles he once lived.

Whenever he imagined such things in the past, he would always laugh at himself for his childish fantasies.

But unexpectedly, this bizarre dream had actually come true.

Eric… no, Ellie—she spent about an afternoon figuring out the current situation: she seemed to be living in a peaceful royal family she couldn’t even dream of before.

Her father, that old man, was a wise ruler… a wise ruler?!

When he—no, she—heard those words, her jaw almost fell off.

Her eyes widened so much that Solor wondered if her face was hurting.

Without any hesitation, people praised her father so naturally.

The sun of the empire, the hero of the people.

Though these sounded like typical flattery, the pride and adoration on the attendants’ faces…

They looked real.

A beloved monarch, a royal position with no competition, a gentle and harmonious palace environment, a mother who had been close sisters with Solor’s mother, making their sibling relationship good as well…

Was this heaven?

After organizing all this information, Eric could hardly keep a straight face.

She thought she must not have done anything good in her previous life—so why was she sent to heaven instead of hell in this one?

Thinking this, she even smacked her own injured arm, just to use pain to clear her mind.

Of course, this action scared Solor so much that he immediately called their father, both of them anxiously worrying over the family’s most fragile child.

“…”

Those sincere gazes sent chills all over Eric’s body.

In her previous life, she and her brother—and their father—had fought bitterly for more than ten, nearly twenty years.

Now, she simply couldn’t accept their kindness so quickly.

Fortunately, her body was weak.

Since she had done so many terrible things in her past life, only a flawed life in this one felt appropriate.

Her body—she was born weak and sickly.

The doctor even said she might not live many more years.

This was information they shouldn’t have told Ellie.

But the doctor who was tending to her accidentally slipped up—whether out of kindness or panic—and now she knew her condition.

It wasn’t a terminal illness.

Just a fragile body, worsened by stress.

Mentally and physically, the girl was in terrible shape.

Hmm… this was good.

This was how it should be.

Hearing such things, she felt no resentment.

This was her retribution.

She accepted it naturally.

A lifetime of evil in exchange for a lifetime of suffering—he had already accepted such fate when he was still the second prince.

But because of that frail body, Ellie became the cherished treasure of the entire royal family.

She became the most beloved princess of the imperial capital.

In her previous life, her family environment had been dreadful.

Her mother and Solor’s mother were originally sisters.

Solor, as the first prince, naturally belonged to the legal queen.

But when the queen was pregnant, Ellie’s mother—her younger sister—seduced the emperor and ultimately gave birth to Eric.

This younger sister always wanted to surpass the elder sister in everything.

She herself had been born from a drunken violation by the old emperor.

Her own mother died due to “family scandals must not be revealed.”

The poor girl—Ellie’s mother—had grown up with nothing she deserved.

Simply surviving had been difficult.

Thus she grew up full of resentment, wanting to take everything her “elder sister” possessed.

Later, the younger sister poisoned the queen in the harem.

The legal queen collapsed in black blood, dying in front of her young son.

Perhaps, in that instant, the childhood bond between the two brothers vanished completely.

But in this world, things were different—like a butterfly effect.

Solor and Eric’s mothers were close sisters—truly affectionate ones this time.

So from the beginning, the siblings got along very well.

And being a boy and a girl, there was no concern about imperial succession conflict.

Not even political factions naturally formed.

After their mothers passed away peacefully from illness, the emperor and Solor became Ellie’s closest family.

Their relationship remained warm and gentle ever since.

No one pressured the second royal child to compete with the first prince.

There was no assassin organization left behind by a scheming mother.

Because the emperor was beloved and treated his previous queens well, there was naturally no situation where the emperor would be poisoned by his own children.

Yes… in the past, the brothers hated each other, but they also hated the root cause—their father.

But luckily, in this life, they loved their father.

Since the emperor voluntarily stepped back from power, Solor, as the crown prince, was not overburdened with state affairs.

He had responsibilities, but not nearly as heavy as before.

Previously, Eric could barely see Solor except in court or meetings.

As for Ellie’s current injuries…

She was simply too frail.

She had been sitting by a slope enjoying the scenery when a gust of strong wind blew her off the edge.

She wasn’t fatally wounded, but she had scared everyone half to death.

That was what they said.

But only Eric knew the truth.

After gaining Ellie’s memories, Eric realized Ellie was a timid, self-doubting girl.

—Not as talented as the crown prince, bloodline not pure enough, body too weak to be presentable, personality too timid to be a royal child—this kind of girl wouldn’t even make a good political marriage match.

Those were the rumors Ellie heard in her childhood.

There were many reasons to belittle her.

And all of them were true.

Whether the speakers stated facts or intentionally slandered her, they were still accurate descriptions.

Even in a harmonious family, the political world still judged royal children for the nation’s sake.

If it were Eric now, he would have accepted it.

They weren’t wrong—what was there to be upset about?

Even he believed that only heartless people could sit long on the throne.

This world’s Solor seemed too kind—how would he be emperor later?

But to the young Ellie, those words were wounds that never healed.

She was shy by nature, and such harsh comments crushed her spirit.

Living under such pressure, the already frail girl eventually lost the will to live.

So it wasn’t exactly the wind that pushed her off.

She had jumped with the wind.

…What a waste.

After learning the truth, Eric couldn’t help cursing inwardly.

Why care about those politicians?

If they didn’t spout nonsense, they wouldn’t be politicians.

Just crush them with her status as a princess.

A simple “execute them” would make them produce more words begging for mercy than every policy they ever wrote.

…He really wanted to help the emperor and future emperor clean up the political circle…

—No. Hah. Forget it.

That would just be repeating his past life.

Killing so many people before dying, all to clean the court for his brother—he knew how to do it, but he didn’t want to repeat it.

This life was for atonement.

He shouldn’t stain it with fresh sins.

With a soft click, Eric set down his teacup and sat inside the pavilion, admiring the garden scenery.

How long had it been since he quietly enjoyed the palace flowers?

When he was a child, he often visited here with his brother.

Thanks to excellent royal physicians, her external wounds healed quickly.

Unfortunately, even the best doctors couldn’t cure her short lifespan.

Dying in her twenties in her previous life, dying in her twenties in this one…

Dying young was nothing new to him.

“Ah, Ellie, are you feeling better?”

As he was lost in thought, a familiar voice sounded nearby.

Solor had wandered over and sat across from her with a worried smile.

In Eric’s heart, Solor indeed had once been gentle.

As a child, Solor was caring and considerate—the perfect elder brother.

But after their mother’s death, he changed.

A cold imperial aloofness surfaced, making him more ruthless than Eric.

Eric saw through it, but willingly became his brother’s stepping stone.

And now…

Because neither mother died from intrigue, Solor never developed that cold ruthlessness.

He was still the gentle brother from childhood.

Was this really okay?

Could someone like this inherit the throne?

No… forget it.

He was just a frail princess now.

She might not even live long enough to see that day.

Haha… fate, retribution—what amusing things they were.