Reine's age: Thirty-six

"My lady! Please lie down!"

Anne's voice kept wavering. A moment later, I could neither see nor hear.

"Mother?" I dreamed of Helen's warm smile. She hugged me tightly. "Get well soon."

Then my eyes fell on someone I usually didn't notice. Helen's guard, the Royal Assassin.

The corners of her mouth went up.

She was smiling.

She was smiling at me.

She was smiling at me... like Eric always did!

I woke up in cold sweat, panting. Every time I lost my consciousness, that guard, Luna, kept coming to my mind. Ever since I was told that Luna was Selene, I couldn't sleep.

Rather than feeling safe because the Royal Assassin kept watch, I felt strangely vulnerable, because an assassin killed! I observed my surroundings in terror. It was still afternoon, and I was in my bedroom, covered in white sheets.

"Mother." Helen's worried voice reached me. "Mother?"

"What happened to Mother?" she asked the head maid, Anne.

"The Empress is extremely sick," the maid replied.

"Ah... Helen..." my voice trailed off.

My daughter felt my forehead with her cool hand. "Anne, come here."

The maid shuffled her feet. "M-My lady?"

Helen held out her free hand. "Come here. I will not repeat myself again."

Anne rushed over.

"What's this?" Helen asked as she placed her hand upon Anne's shriveled one.

Her voice had become slightly harsh... it reminded me of someone.

Yes, my Empress.

No, no, no... why did Eric come to my mind?

Yes, Lady Helen.

Once again, Selene's voice was ringing in my head... again... and again...!

"Helen!" I tightly gripped the hand that was stationed on my forehead, feeling extremely uncomfortable. My head was spinning.

"Why is Luna's and Eric's Magic placed on you?" Helen asked viciously. If a snake could talk, it would probably spit poisonous words just like Helen was doing that day.

My stomach fell. Anne, and betraying me? But Anne was my servant from childhood! Why would she ever do such a thing? My mind was thrown into a frenzy, filled with several thoughts all at once.

"You are the one who is worsening my Mother's condition...!"

Anne's scream was chilling. She dubbed over and froth began forming in her mouth as she threw up blood.

"How preposterous! Pests like you must be beaten to death! You should be grateful because I killed you so mercifully! I only did it because your line of the family has served us well."

"Helen..." I weakly said, touched by my daughter's affection for me. To me, compared to this, the loss of a maid meant nothing.

"After all, you are the reason of Mother's terrible condition! I'll finally have peace!"

My heart stopped upon hearing those words.

"Mother dear," my Helen said, "if I could make out Eric Yami's Magic today, then I could've sensed this this Magic earlier too! And I did! You didn't! Guess why?"

She came closer and looked at my eyes with a look of contempt. "I am so done with a family. It's annoying, and I don't like any of you. I myself placed the charm that blocked Eric's Magic from giving away. Of course, I knew about it. After all, I asked for Father to do this myself!" She laughed.

"Mother, you fool," she continued. "You'll die soon. There won't be any evidence of murder. I very well remember how you punished Selene. I won't repeat the past again. Curse the throne, curse power, curse everything. I don't care. I will lead the Empire to its downfall. Let me see if that Selene can do anything about it!"

I couldn't believe my ears. This had to be a lie, I thought frantically. Yes. My Helene would never do this to me. She didn't even know Selene.

"If you can use us as pawns for power, I can use you too. That day when I was seven, my memories were manipulated. But you executed the Royal Doctor, and thus, his Magic vanished. And after that, when you so forcefully made the other Doctors do your dirty work, Eric ordered for something. And you know that Eric's statements overrule yours. So, it was your memories that were remade.

"Now we're even, Mother dear! Don't worry, Grandmother will join you soon. Selene will help her to do that this very midnight. And, well, Eric is going to War. Hoping he'll die there like your Father did, I look forward to the throne conflict. I will show Selene that she was never meant to be born."

"H-Helen! H-H-How coul-could you!" I weakly stuttered. "I curse you in the name of God tha—"

Her hand forcefully stopped me, covering my mouth. "I hate curses," she darkly said. "That 'brother' of yours died like that. You're asking for trouble now."

I then heard her conjuring her Magic... Torturing Magic. This type of Magic guaranteed to kill people, but it made sure the heart was beating as the spell kept agonizing the receiver of this. It was a Forbidden Spell for obvious reasons... and...

Helen was doing this.

Helen was doing this to me.

Helen was doing this to me... like Eric always did.

What wrong had I done to receive such a cruel end?

"Look at you... wearing white, sleeping on a white bed, covered from head to toe with white sheets. It seems that the maid had already predicted your end and had prepared your body for the funeral we'll have soon!" Helen snickered. "Oh, last thing. Before you die, I wanted to tell you something." 

Helen slowly bent down and whispered a word in my ear before leaving me to suffer alone in my last breaths.

"Karma."

I had thought I would be killed... but Selene had other plans for me. I had thought that I had manipulated Helen... but Eric had other plans for me. I thought several things thereafter... but Helen had other plans for me. And an easy death was never a part of those plans.