A desperate, wailing voice reverberated throughout the basement, pleading for someone to come to their aid. The basement, which served as a stock room, was securely locked from the outside.

“Help, help! Anyone!” the familiar voice cried; her words full of agony. Deep down, I know who it is – for we were together ever since we were born.

"Lower your voice so that we won’t get caught!" I called out from the other side of the door. "I'm not sure where the key is, but I'll attempt to use my hairpin to unlock it." I carefully removed the hairpin from my red hair, causing it to cascade down onto my shoulders. Frustratingly, my attempts to open the door proved unsuccessful. It simply wouldn't budge.

“Break the door! I beg you, Corianne, please! I’m seeing some rats here and I’m scared!”

Her voice felt like hands choking around my neck. It was hard to breathe as I feel her pain, and I couldn’t think straight as fear jumbled my thoughts.

“Find a hammer and destroy the knob! I can’t be here any longer!” she demanded, and I immediately left the area to find a hammer.

After searching the house for about ten minutes, I finally found a hammer. Fortunately, there was no one around at that moment, allowing me to proceed without being noticed.

Determined to help her out, I repeatedly struck the doorknob with force, watching as it gradually began to break. Each fragment that fell gave me a glimmer of hope. As soon as the knob finally gave way and fell to the floor, I hastily pushed the door open and rushed inside.

My heart sank at the sight of my younger sister, lying on the floor, drenched in sweat, and bound by handcuffs. Her wrists were bleeding, and bruises marred various parts of her body. A rope tightly secured her feet, and a cloth had been rolled and placed over her mouth, presumably to silence her.

The terrifying sight drained all the energy I have in my legs. How can this be happening?

“This isn’t the time to space out! Just let me go and I’ll explain everything later!” she urged, and I forced myself to stand up to set her free. Neither of us can say a word, but both of us are sobbing as I break the handcuffs and cut the rope that binds her feet with the nearest knife I found in the room. I carried her on my back, and her weight gives me the hint that she didn’t seem to eat properly in the past few days. It wasn’t hard for me to get her out, for she was far from heavy.

The moment I managed to reach the mansion's ground floor, a middle-aged man looked at us with a piercing gaze, aware of what was happening – he was far from shocked.

“Where do you think you’re going?” he asked, his voice calm, but deep enough to intimidate.

“I won't let you hurt her again! I'm going to kill you if I have to!" I warned, and deep down I'm sure that I can do it without a doubt.

“What an ungrateful child … you owe everything you have to me! Do you even know what you’re saying? Now let go of your cursed twin! There's no room for her in this world!" he shouted and knocked both of us to the ground. A maid reached up and restrained me with her arms. On the other hand, the man pulled my twin's hair and threw her to the ground, and kicked her until she lost consciousness.

"Heloise!" I shouted, my voice filled with panic, as I jolted awake from my sleep. Gasping for air, I sat up on my bed, running my fingers through my hair.

The girl in my dream bore a striking resemblance to me, and we appeared to be around ten years old.

The nightmare felt like a distant memory.

Was that person me, or the one I referred to as Heloise? Could she be the individual that Eviona and Elliot have been discussing since my arrival here? They mentioned she was my sister, but they never mentioned that she was my twin.

I glanced at my sleeping child, Marius, finding solace in the fact that his slumber was undisturbed. However, despite lying down in bed, sleep eluded me completely. My mind was consumed by thoughts of the haunting nightmare, leaving me unable to find any rest.

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The following morning, I found Eviona in the kitchen, busily preparing breakfast for the four of us - Eviona, Elliot, Marius, and myself. As she noticed my presence, she greeted me with a warm smile.

"Good morning, Auntie," she said, her tone indicating that she genuinely considered me her aunt. While I wasn't entirely sure about that, I decided to go along with it.

"I don't usually cook since Izavenes can survive without food, but I wanted to do it because you and Marius are my guests. However, it seems like you didn't have a restful night. Your eyes appear swollen. Did something happen?"

Eviona's concern was evident in her words, and I appreciated her attentiveness.

“I had a nightmare, and I’m unsure if it’s a memory I’m beginning to recall. I was young in that dream and I lived in a mansion. In the basement, I found a girl who looked similar to me, and I set her free because she was tied up. In the later part of the dream, we escaped but we got caught by a man who seems to be the owner of the house. Then I yelled the name ‘Heloise.’ She was addressed as a cursed child in that dream. Did that happen?” I explained, my spirit downcast.

“Yes, it did. It was a memory,” Elliot answered from behind as he entered the kitchen. “It’s strange that you began remembering things without our help.”

"So, she's my twin …" I muttered under my breath as I remember what she looked like in my dream.

“You were in the Chavalleve Estate. Empresses usually come from that family, and I've heard rumors that the duke was a violent person who's keeping a righteous image in public. Your twin, Heloise, was called a cursed child because in our empire’s culture, it is believed that when a woman gives birth to twins, the first one would bring luck, and the other one would bring a curse. She was the second child so the duke hid her so that nobody would think that House Chavalleve is cursed.” Eviona said, her facial expression full of apathy as if it's not her mother we're talking about.

“Your father raised you well to be the empress, and Heloise was disregarded and hidden from the public. For many years she envied you, and when our engagement was announced, that's when she made a move to steal your red diamond ring, which made you turn into a human and burned your memories,” Elliot told the story with a long face.

“I don’t remember how your body was found not far from the battlefield, but at that time, you were dead in appearance. When I led the war between Marrossi and Eurhyia, I saw that the prince – Pierre, took your body, and I sneaked into their camp to bargain with him. For him to keep you safe and give you a normal life in exchange for my army retreating.” Elliot reminisced the events as if things only happened yesterday. He’s an emotional person, I see.

Even if he gave a brief description, I couldn’t grasp a picture of the scenario unfolding. None of them felt real.

“Heloise was introduced as the duke’s daughter, not as your twin. Because of that, the position that’s supposed to be yours – the empress of the Ruivenfiere Empire, became hers. Heloise Adira Chavalleve. That’s the woman who stole everything from you. She’s now known for her violent nature in handling the empire, which is rooted out in her rough childhood," Eviona’s tone reminds me of how Evrart poured his anger on me.

Eviona's portrayal of her mother as the worst person imaginable reminded me of how Evrart treated me, although his actions were even more severe.

Considering that I am unaware of the circumstances surrounding Eviona's banishment, it is possible that we may have shared similar experiences.

Typically, I’ll get angry when I find out that someone takes the things that I deserve as theirs. If I witnessed all of these happen, maybe I’ll give a violent reaction. But with those written in history and my memories burned, it hardly affects me.

Being the ruler with people kneeling in front of me, praising me, admiring me – those are nothing to me now, and Evrart is the one who made me realize that. He might be a rebellious son, but I deserved everything that happened to me.

I must admit, reflecting on my past actions, I treated my servants as disposable playthings, discarding them when they no longer amused me. I stooped so low as to hire someone to assassinate Thyra's mother, and I schemed behind Thyra's back, tarnishing her reputation among the nobles.

I even manipulated the king into joining a war, fully aware that it would lead to his demise, all because of my selfish desire for Evrart to ascend the throne.

I failed in raising Evrart properly, and I even attempted to poison Thyra. These are just a few examples of the reprehensible deeds I committed.

Now, the only purpose of my life is to be a good mother to Marius. He’s all I have, and nothing else in this world matters. Evrart’s punishment was nothing from what I’ve done.

“You were hardly affected about it, I’m impressed. How can you be that calm?!” Eviona asked, her voice higher than usual.

“Nothing matters to me now. I don't care about everything. I just want to raise Marius well. That's the only way I can think of to repent for my sins. I don't see any purpose in living. Evrart is the one who made me realize all my mistakes,” my voice was weak and there were hardly any hints of energy from it.

“Aw, c’mon. We have to make people pay. I’m not letting everything slide just like that. Don’t you want to redeem Evrart? When I went to the palace yesterday, I was the one who controlled him to give Marius to you. I can manipulate people to a certain extent since that’s one of the powers I have. The mirror in your room would be a good start – it has a direct connection to Marrossi’s imperial palace, and it opens every new moon,” Eviona crossed her arms with a grin, confident that she’ll achieve everything the way how she’ll plan things.

“… I can only help you with that on one condition – you have to be my ally."