"Aww...poor prince, if you lick my feet...I might consider making you my emperor." Diana murmured smirking at Philip who was standing frozen in one ce.


    Marte is still losing blood on the floor.


    "Don''t want to lose your pride, but the beggar doesn''t choose. I''m the daughter of the <strong>EMPEROR</strong> after all." she kept taunting the prince with her words.


    "So does that mean you''re just a fake daughter of the duke??" the prince took his sword back then crossed his arm standing tall with his cold gaze staring at Diana.


    "The past <strong>IS</strong> the past, I still can''t believe I be a princess like this."


    "Should I congratte you?? But what about the man you love?? Will he ept you as the princess?? I thinkmander Victor doesn''t like royalty much."


    "<strong>AT THE</strong> other side of the <strong>DOOR</strong>, I''ll go and find him...and then I''ll exin to him everything. Just worry about yourself, you stupid prince." Diana dragged Marte''s feet and mmed the door of the throne room against the wall.


    "I lost all my excitement thanks to you. I guess I''ll keep her alive and torture herter in the <strong>UNDERGROUND PRISON</strong>."


    "..." the prince soon followed her outside and went to execute his n.


    The prince looked left and right hiding at the corner of the pce, and the shadow of a person reflected at the bottom of his feet as that person arrived.


    "Robert, go and save Marte in the underground prison. Take Mary with you for safety." the phoenix came out of prince Philip and then flew to sit on Robert''s shoulder.


    The prince kneeled down on the ground marking the ground as Robert behind him vanished to do his mission.


    "Let''s wait until the night." the prince smirked.


    At the underground prison,


    "Who are you??"


    "Haah??! I''m the princess of this empire, how dare you fool??!!!" Diana raised her voice against the knights guarding the prison.


    "She...she is the one sir Oliver told us about." the tall knight was nervous when his colleague told him that, he bowed ny-degree at Diana then opened the gate for her.


    They were terrified by the sight of the blood of the body Diana dragged inside the prison.


    As their attention was on Marte, the vine of rose came out of the dirt on the wall and grabbed the keys to all of the cells, and was brought to Diana.


    Diana tossed Marte inside the prison after inserting the keys inside the hidden pocket inside her dress.


    "You''d better get it right, Prince Philip."


    <strong>Light Magic: Blessing of Goddess</strong>


    <em>Huff huff</em>


    Marte at the other side of the cell was panting as she could finally breathe after all the pain Diana put her through.


    Diana smirked seeing Marte in such a terrible state and put her hand inside the cell to grab Marte''s hair.


    Marte inside the cell had her eyes turned blue gritting her teeth in anger.


    "It''s so nostalgic, isn''t it...Diana??"


    "YOU B*TCH!!!! Give me my body back!!!!"


    Diana smirked as she brought out the antidote which was in the other bottle to show Marte and teased her with it as her hand couldn''t reach to grab it.


    "I still need your body, Diana...so stay patient in here. Bye b*tch!!"


    "Marte!!!!! I swear I''ll kill you!!!!"


    "Well, try~" Marte who was inside Diana''s body grinned and then used her death roses magic to tie Diana''s hand to the iron cell. Diana''s face with the scar hit the cell, Marte bent her knees and then pulled out Marte (Diana)''s tongue.


    "I wonder is this what you see when you cut Marte''s tongue...Diana..."


    "What--what...what...are you..."


    Marte brought out the dagger and slid the dagger on that tongue she held.


    "When I get that body back...listen, Diana, I will cut your tongue and then throw it to the dog..." Marte tossed Diana on the cold floor.


    Diana red at Marte with killing intent, her heart boiled as seeing Marte using her body as she please while she had to be stuck inside her painful body.


    "I will kill myself in your body!!!"


    "Do it then!!! Can you...??"


    "You''re just an outsider, Sun-hee!!! Why are you so simr to Marte??!!!!!"


    "And you''re just another personality of Diana...how dare you use her body as you please?? You''re also the one who pulled me inside theke, aren''t you??!!" Marte finally remembered when she saw Diana''s eyes turn blue. It was from the day when she started hating Diana because she pulled her inside theke.


    Diana''s eyes at that time when the duke saved her were blue.


    "I think the one who burnt Marte''s gift for Diana was also you!! If it wasn''t for you, Diana wouldn''t turn like this..."


    "What??? You knew nothing, you wench!!! I--I--I am the main personality!!! I am the real Diana!!!"


    "..." Marte put back the dagger since she had no time to listen to her speech, she turned her back walking back to the surface. But then the creepy voice was heard behind her back, the light of the torch shed on Diana who was in Marte''s body.


    For a split second, there was a shadow of the dragon with its teeth was shown trying to devour Marte.


    "Ha..ha...ha...I''ll kill you...Sun-hee...or Marte...I''ll kill everyone you love...even your father...and your lover..."


    ''I need to delete this personality from Diana as soon as possible.'' it was Marte''s thought as the evil inside Diana''s other personality had no bound.


    "Don''t let anyonee inside the prison."


    "Yes, your highness!!"


    Marte flinched a little when those knights called her by the royal title. She took a deep breath then continued walking to the surface.


    She bent her knee covering her face full of guilt as she said many rude words to the first prince, she even called him stupid.


    The lighting from the sun started burning her skin, that was why she got up and walked all the way back to the royal chamber of the princess.


    She had to be like the real Diana and be mean as possible to fool the emperor''s eyes, with her current clue about the emperor''s power, that was the only thing she could do.


    The only thing she had to worry about was Aurora and Tristan, she really hoped that Aurora would understand the meaning of the secret code she told Valencia to give to her.


    <strong>+++</strong>


    <strong>The center empire, the Mortel duchy,</strong>


    "La~La~La~shinyyyyyyy~"


    "So that''s the n, I hope youe to the ceremony tomorrow, your grace." Irene told duke Jel.


    "I will. By the way, congrattion on bing the new priestess."


    "Thank you, your grace. Right, I have one more thing to say to you."


    "I''m listening."


    "La~La~La~hehehe...pig tail."


    "Flynn is a spy sent from the crown prince, Richard." Irene spoke with a serious face but the duke was sitting from the desk with the expression as he already knew that.


    He sighed and replied to Irene, "Marte already knew about that though...she knew how to deal with it."


    "But isn''t it better to fire him with this opportunity we get?? He failed to protectdy Marte!"


    "I don''t think it''s the right thing to do...after all, they''re pretty close."


    "But your grace, he''s not an ordinary spy...he even intrudes the duchy of duke Asher."


    "I''ll think about it. I heard fromdy Herod over here that you''re quite a good friend with Marte."


    Irene scratched her head and shook her head denying, she murmured, "I don''t think she even thinks of me as a friend though...and the first time we met...it''s kinda terrible."


    "I''m pretty sure my daughter is lucky to have you as a friend. Please continue taking care of my daughter." Ireneughed nervously when hearing the duke talking like a nearly dead man.


    "That guy really cares about his daughter!! So don''t tell about the things today to Marte."


    "////" the duke cleared his throat hiding his face behind the paperwork.


    "O...okay..." Irene smiled nervously.


    "Shiny!!! Old sir, can I have this??" the little kid Garu pointed its finger at the feather the duke held in his hand. Garu was sitting on the duke''sp the whole time


    "Lady Herod, why are you bringing this kid to my study room??"


    "I want you to adopt this kid."


    "Are you out of your mind?? Where''s this kid''s parents??" Garu couldn''t follow the conversation sat there clueless biting the duke''s finger as he didn''t give him the feather.


    "He''s a ve from that empire, I can''t deal with the kid. So take care of him, will you??"


    "I can...can take care of Garu..."


    "No...no...no, I want the duke to take care of him. You''re a priestess, you''re busy...you know??" the duke and Irene looked pissed ring at Herod who was eating cookies being carefree like that.


    "Papa!!"


    "No, I''m not your papa." the duke put the kid standing on the floor and took his watch from the kid''s pocket making him sulk on the verge of tears.


    "Garu,e here." Herod picked Garu up and looked at Jel with puppy eyes.


    "Garu, say it..." he whispered to Garu.


    "Pwease..."


    Jel tried his best to avoid that pitiful eyes but in the end, he adopted that kid knowing there might be some meaning behind Herod''s action.


    "Alright then, let''s go. We need to go to Madeline''s household too for today." Herod picked Garu up and gave it to Jel to carry him.


    "Be careful on the way."


    "Have a good day, your grace." Irene bowed to duke Jel leaving the room.


    "What''s with the long face???" Herod asked Irene as they walked down the stair.


    "Why does the duke treatdy Marte so badly when he loves her that much?"


    "I can''t tell you, but if I have to say...his love for Marte can''tpare to anything."


    "What''s the point of it ifdy Marte will never know that her father loves her?? Isn''t it painful??"


    "Some people are used to it though, they don''t need such thing as family love like you, Irene."


    "Sometimes, I feel like I''m talking to an olddy."


    "Hey, that''s rude!!" Irene chuckled, then suddenly, out of nowhere, a man ran hitting Irene''s shoulder in a hurry running to the big door.


    "Who is that??!!!" Irene raised her voice feeling the pain in her shoulder.


    "Where''s Eun-Kyung??? Is this another illusion??!!!! Eun-Kyung!!!!!!" duke Jel from the study room when hearing that loud voice, he couldn''t believe his own ear. He rushed out of his room running down the stair to that man with white hair.


    "Tristan!!!??"


    "You''re not my father, you''re just an illusion!!!" it was really Tristan, Garu was scared walking down the stair hiding behind Herod taking a peek at Tristan.


    "Tristan!!! Calm down!!! It''s me, your father!!!"


    "You can''t fool me, this is just an illusion!!! when the father and son talking to each other in confusion, Herod''s eyes shook as he saw the rain outside.


    "Irene...what''s that...??" his lip was shaking as the thousands of years he was in that world, he had never seen anything like that.


    Irene looked at the same rain Herod was pointing and immediately put on her priestess''s crown running outside.


    "Everyone!!! Listen to me!!!! I''m the priestess!!!! Catch every single person!!!!" she climbed on the roof at the square raising her voice shouting her loudest to people.


    It wasn''t normal rain, it was the human falling from the sky.


    "You hear the priestess, hurry!!!!" everyone scattered to catch each and every soldier fell down from the sky.


    But the falling still continued, no matter how many people joined to help, some of them will die from the fall.


    Then that woman stepped up on the same roof, the magic energy surrounding her made her like a shining sapphire as she gathered her magic to spread all the roses across the empire.


    <em><strong>Death Roses Magic: Ocean of Roses</strong></em>


    "Lend me your magic." it was Herod murmured to Irene as he spread his vine and roses to catch all the two hundred soldiers.


    <em>Huff huff</em>


    <em>Arghhhh...</em>


    Herod took all the side effects to himself, a part of his face turned ck from using such a huge amount of death roses magic.


    Irene couldn''t bear to see him like that, she touched Herod and the side effect also affected her.


    "You''re too kind..." Herod fell unconscious while Irene''s nose was bleeding. For the first time, she felt so d she could witness a hero who could save many people.


    "You''re the one who is kind..dy Herod."


    <strong>Back to the Mortel duchy,</strong>


    Tristan who thought the real world was an illusion, he raised his sword intended to slice his own throat to get out.


    "This is the real world!!!! Tristan!!!! I''m your father!!!" the duke used his magic to immobilize Tristan who was drenched in a cold sweat.


    Tristan started sobbing when he looked at the house which had no portrait of his mother, he finally epted that it was the real world.


    The father couldn''t hold back his tear ran to hug his own son, "I''m d you''re safe, Tristan..."


    "Father...I came back...I came back to the real world..." he sniffled inside his father''s arm dropping the sharp sword.


    "Wee back..."


    "Mother isn''t here...I met mother in the illusion, father...mom was pretty...we live happily every day...but now...now...mom''s gone..."


    "Oh...Tristan..." the father ruffled his son''s hair tofort him, those two''s hearts shattered again, the wound of losing a lover and a mother appeared again.


    <strong>To be continued....!</strong>