Chapter 376
Our Discord Server: https://discord.gg/PazjBDkTmW
Chapter 376: The Emperor’s Blessing, Eternal Victory, and Glorious Prosperity
Her name is Sophia.
She is the third daughter of the imperial duke.
Living in a noble family usually means a worry-free life in terms of material needs, but it also comes with strict discipline and a lack of personal freedom.
She grew up feeling suppressed, like a doll manipulated by her parents’ desires.
She received the aristocratic elite education and learned various refined hobbies.
Despite belonging to the noble class, Sophia found no joy in it. She felt empty and oppressed.
However, she had no other choice. She understood the hardships of the common people and the challenges of life outside the noble circle.
During her girlhood, she had a few rebellious experiences, but they only instilled a deeper fear of the empire’s lower classes.
In her early teens, she secretly left home to work, hiding her true identity and pretending to be an orphan.
At first, she thought she could survive on her own, working hard for a week. But she quickly realized how dire the situation had become in the empire.
A week later, the workshop owner noticed her beauty, and the landlady sought to dismiss her. People from a nearby knight group started to harass her.
Having left the noble class behind, she felt like a sheep surrounded by wolves.
She was forced to move from place to place, constantly evading trouble.
After a month, she realized she had completely gone bankrupt. Although she had some savings, most of it was spent on food, rent, and various fees to protect herself from exploitation.
The troubles didn’t end there. Just when she considered returning home, she was kidnapped.
Her noble identity had been accidentally revealed, and immediately, she became a target for a powerful noble family’s black glove group, who had vast underground influence. Kidnapping nobles was one of their regular operations.
Sophia soon learned that the noble class, despite its external unity, devours its own.
The kidnappers had no intention of letting her go. They planned to sell her as a slave to another duchy.
She felt trapped, considering suicide during the three days she was held captive.
But just as she reached her lowest point, she was rescued.
It wasn’t anyone else who saved her, but the seventh prince, whom she had only met briefly.
His act of saving her was just a side effect. In reality, the prince had discovered and destroyed a large black market, though Sophia had no idea of his deeper motives.
Even though she was still in shock, the prince didn’t care about her noble status. Dressed as an ordinary person, she received his gentlemanly care, and he personally escorted her home along with the other victims.
This experience deeply affected Sophia. She put an end to her runaway days and returned home. Instead of being psychologically scarred as expected, she quickly regained her composure and became infatuated with the prince.
The seventh prince was known for his exceptional artistic talent from a young age. As he posed no threat to the throne, he focused on his artistic endeavors. His work was highly praised, and he was wealthier than most of the other princes and princesses, earning income from the sale of his paintings.
Despite occasionally attending noble banquets, he mostly led a secluded life. Sophia, desperate to know more, tried every possible way to attract his attention.
She even pretended to be lost to find the location of his art studio in the Palace of Versailles, but each time, she failed and was caught by the royal guards.
Sophia’s obsession with the seventh prince frustrated her parents. Several arranged marriages fell apart, as the duke’s low status made it difficult to marry into the royal family. Even as a mistress, it was uncertain if the prince would even consider her.
After much contemplation, Sophia decided to return to her old ways. She became smarter, convincing others, obtaining a fake identity, and drastically losing weight.
She transformed from the admired “Koi Fish” into a skinny “Mackerel.” The girl, now extremely thin, changed her identity and applied to be a maid in the palace.
She knew how risky and embarrassing this was—if caught, the consequences would be severe. But she proceeded without hesitation.
She bribed her way in, and after enduring endless hard work, she became part of the palace’s maid team.
The work was grueling and exhausting, so much so that many collapsed or died.
Being from a noble background, she struggled to bear the physical toll. Yet, her strong will allowed her to persist, especially since she could see the seventh prince at least once a month, even if it was only from among the maids.
However, Sophia’s happiness didn’t last. The seventh prince selected one maid to be his exclusive servant—an elegant Victorian-style maid who handled all her tasks with ease.
Sophia, whose work skills were not outstanding, was not chosen. She was disappointed, but still determined to find a way to get closer to the prince.
Then, great changes occurred. The king and his family began fighting for power. The princes and princesses fought among themselves, and even the seventh prince found it difficult to maintain peace.
The maid team was disrupted, and there was even an attempt to poison the little princess.
Sophia’s life in the palace became chaotic. She was nearly caught in the turmoil and was almost expelled.
In the end, it was the seventh prince, now crowned emperor, who saved her—not with words, but with his authority.
Everything changed when he became emperor. Life in the palace grew calm after the purge, but the once-gentle seventh prince had turned cruel and violent. He killed all the royal bloodlines except for himself.
Though most of the royals were already dead by then, the reputation of a tyrant quickly spread.
He then waged war, destroying five countries and secretly opposing the Sacred Religion. He even cut down the golden trees of the past to construct an aircraft carrier.
These continuous wars and massive construction projects consumed vast resources, forcing the nobles to exploit the lower class even more.
None of this mattered to Sophia. Her only concern was whether she could see the emperor, whom she had grown to adore.
By chance, as an old maid retired, Sophia began to rise through the ranks. She eventually became eligible to participate in the king’s chambers.
Though she couldn’t participate in the most important parts, she always had the elegant Victorian maid by her side.
Even the most mundane tasks, like airing blankets, satisfied her. Occasionally, she could accompany the maid on outings, always volunteering for duties.
Despite her lack of interest in the outside world, Sophia overheard many rumors.
One day, she received a letter informing her of a rebellion in her family estate.
She immediately sought more information and learned that her family had split, and her brother, now a rebel leader, commanded eight thousand men against several noble families in the south.
The news shocked Sophia. She wanted to return home, but she lacked the courage. If she returned, she knew she could never come back.
Her brother’s character was well known to her, and even the letter had been sent by him, asking her to remain in the palace as a spy.
Sophia refused her brother and severed all ties with him. She would never betray the king—he was her savior. From that moment on, the emperor became her everything.
In the aftermath of the war, the king remained absent from court for a long time. But as the situation worsened, particularly after the mentor of the resistance army was killed, the emperor lost interest and returned to the palace.
More time passed, and Sophia saw the emperor sitting alone on his golden throne, lost in thought. He spent only a few hours a day receiving courtiers, preferring instead to immerse himself in his artwork.
Sophia, having gone through several palace cleanings, now stood quietly near the king’s paintings. Though his style had changed slightly, his gentle brush strokes remained the same.
Once, the emperor had an impulse and used the maids as models for his art. He painted a picture of them, then cut it into pieces, gifting each maid a part.
That period, perhaps the last breath of the crumbling empire, was the happiest time of Sophia’s life.
She knew that even if the empire fell, the emperor would endure. His power surpassed even that of the empire’s founding leaders. How could he fail?
Thus, when the maids were ordered to leave Versailles, Sophia calmly organized the servants to evacuate, showing no sadness on her face.
However, as she passed through the cheering crowd—celebrating the death of the tyrant—Sophia bent over, tears streaming down her face, her voice choked with sobs.
She entered the ruined hall, seeing the deep red bloodstains on the floor.
She knelt before the throne, overwhelmed by silence.
Footsteps sounded behind her, and Sophia turned to see the elegant maid walking in, seemingly about to speak.
But Sophia didn’t want to listen anymore. Her life had ended with the death of the king. Why should she stay?
She carefully took out the canvas she always carried, picked up a broken piece of glass from the ground, and stabbed it into her chest.
Blood poured out, staining the canvas, the throne, and her long dress.
She closed her eyes, as if transported back to the day the emperor returned from battle—when golden light filled the streets, and rose petals floated down.
He walked through the grand hall, and she stood at the edge, as all the people knelt in reverence, singing a triumphant song.
Sophia leaned against the throne and softly whispered her final words.
“May the heavens bless our king… always victorious… basking in glory…”
