Pretending to Be Human Is Exhausting Again Today - Chapter 4

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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Pretending to Be Human: Episode 004

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Emma, the Head Maid of the Separate Palace, sensed an immediate shift in the atmosphere.

The servants, who typically carried themselves with casual indifference, now bore expressions uniformly taut and rigid.

Most of them had been dispatched from the Main Palace. Emma, who understood their true purpose, quickly discerned the source of this tension.

‘An assassination. So someone has finally made their move.’

There were many who wished to see Deina dead.

The Emperor, who called Deina a shameful blemish; her siblings, who cherished the honor of the Imperial Family; high-ranking nobles who sought to exploit her death—the list went on.

One of them had finally issued the command, and it appeared some of the servants had begun to carry it out.

‘So this life ends after all.’

Emma was seized by an peculiar sensation.

She had once harbored special hopes for Deina, but those hopes had long since curdled into disappointment.

Contrary to Emma’s expectations that she would endure, Deina was merely a foolish member of the Imperial Family who lived awaiting death.

A loser who had abandoned all struggle, who meekly accepted poison without resistance.

To Emma, Deina was nothing more than a convenient residence from which to conduct her activities within the Imperial Palace—nothing less, nothing more.

And so, even if the spies were to carry out their assassination, she harbored no intention of stopping them.

Yet as she sensed Deina’s impending death, an unexpected emotion stirred within her.

Whether this was pity or self-recrimination for her own inaction, she could not say.

At least, she thought, she would place a single flower upon Deina’s grave after her death. With that modest resolve, she was preparing for her final duties when—

“Head Maid! The Princess is calling for you!”

The new maid, Liribel, had come looking for her.

‘Could the assassination have failed?’

An assassin so incompetent that he couldn’t kill Deina, who couldn’t even get out of bed on her own? Such a thing seemed impossible.

Emma’s shock was brief. She followed Liribel’s lead toward the bedroom.

I had a fairly good idea why she’d summoned me.

‘She must be seeking help.’

It was clear that Deina, having discovered the assassin, wanted protection. Among the servants of the Separate Palace, I was the only one she could trust.

As I pondered how best to refuse, I opened the bedroom door.

“Sit, Emma, the Head Maid. I have something to tell you.”

And the moment I saw Deina, I froze.

Deina sat in a chair before the window, impeccably dressed, her gaze fixed upon me.

Bathed in the brightening morning light, her presence was utterly transformed from yesterday.

Her limbs remained skeletal, yet her luminous golden eyes and relaxed posture emanated an uncanny, formidable aura.

“…Has your health been restored?”

“More or less. You’ve never seen me looking this well before, have you, Head Maid?”

When I first saw Deina, she was already bedridden, so this radiant complexion was entirely new to me.

I concealed my shock as best I could and congratulated her on her recovery.

‘How did she regain her health so quickly? She couldn’t have detoxified herself in a single night. Could she have been feigning illness all along? Or did she actually perform dark magic?’

Suddenly, the rumors circulating through the Imperial Palace about Deina being a demon surfaced in my mind.

Surely that couldn’t be true. I dismissed the foolish notion from my thoughts.

‘Then, the purpose of calling me here is….’

The moment I tried to discern Deina’s intentions, she, as if she had been waiting, revealed her true purpose.

“Head Maid, the truth is I nearly got assassinated today.”

And the conversation I had anticipated unfolded.

Emma feigned disinterest. When she conveyed the subtle implication that while she could summon others, she herself could not help, Deina nodded without concern.

“Never mind. Forget you heard anything from me. I’ll find the evidence myself. Instead, I’d like you to visit the Main Palace.”

“What business would that be?”

Deina claimed it was merely a simple letter delivery, but it was clear she had ulterior motives. When Emma sent her a suspicious glance, she smiled brightly and spoke.

“I’m thinking of advertising for a fiancé. I don’t want to marry, but I’ve come to need a husband.”

“…?”

The sudden statement left my mind completely blank.

But Emma, too, was someone well-versed in Imperial Palace politics. She quickly grasped Deina’s true objective.

“You mean to make your debut in society?”

“Exactly right. You’re always so perceptive, Emma.”

Deina tilted her head as if in admiration.

At her composed demeanor, Emma felt as though she were facing someone other than Princess Deina.

The voice and manner of speech were unmistakably Deina’s, yet something was different. As if confronting someone who transcended power itself….

‘Needless suspicion is a luxury I cannot afford. Rather, let me consider the purpose behind entering society.’

First, the topic of engagement must be connected to her social debut.

In the Empire, regardless of family circumstances, presenting one’s children to society and pursuing marriage was considered an obligation. It stemmed from an archaic tradition that viewed marriage as a noble’s duty.

And naturally, this tradition was all the more pronounced among the Imperial Family.

‘The Emperor himself had once forced Princess Deina into society in the past. Her health was so poor and misfortune followed her so closely that it ultimately fell through.’

I’d even heard that a massive incident occurred during her debut—a chandelier had fallen. That was supposedly the greatest reason the Emperor had given up on Deina.

Yet now, suddenly healthy, Deina sought to enter society under the guise of an engagement. The reason was painfully obvious.

‘For freedom.’

It was the Emperor who had confined her to the Separate Palace, claiming she had abandoned her duties as a member of the Imperial Family. So if she now came forward saying she had recovered and would fulfill her obligations, he had no grounds to refuse.

“…But isn’t that something that requires a partner…?”

At my inadvertent question, Deina tilted her head.

“Don’t worry. Even if there’s no one suitable to become engaged to, they’ll arrange candidates for me on their own.”

“They?”

“The Nobility Council. There are plenty of people who want to use my hair and eyes.”

‘…Indeed.’

It was a brief but sufficient answer.

To the Nobility Council, which stood in opposition to the Emperor, Deina was a tantalizing ally. Her distinctive features that contrasted with the Imperial Family, her unclear origins, her position against the Emperor—there were many elements to exploit.

In other words, she would request their support for her return to society, but had no intention of siding with the Emperor.

‘Brilliant.’

Excessively so.

It was a level of judgment I could never have imagined from the Deina who had been meekly accepting poison until yesterday.

As I pondered what could have caused such a change, a thought suddenly struck me.

‘Wait, setting aside the matter of her recovered health—what about the assassination? The Assassin should have come…?’

She glanced frantically around the room. There was no trace of the Assassin. Instead, what caught her eye was a crumpled carpet.

The assassination had clearly failed. If that was the case, then the Assassin’s fate was….

Cold sweat trickled down her spine. In that moment, the frail Princess before her transformed in Emma’s perception—no longer a sickly royal, but a figure of mysterious power and authority.

‘She’s definitely hiding something extraordinary.’

Emma’s fists clenched without her realizing it.

Perhaps Deina held the key to the opportunity she had long awaited.

And perhaps this letter was the first thread to unravel it all.

Emma swallowed silently, then spoke with careful deliberation.

“…I understand your wishes, Your Highness. I shall deliver the letter as you command. But if I may, might I ask one more thing?”

“Go ahead.”

“What is your true purpose, Your Highness? Once you gain your freedom and step into the political arena, what do you intend to accomplish?”

Deina hesitated, as though the question had caught her off guard.

“…Why are you curious about that?”

“Mere curiosity, nothing more.”

“Will your attitude change depending on my answer?”

“Perhaps it will.”

After a long silence, Deina spoke again.

“Emma, do you know the joy of moving your legs?”

“What do you mean?”

“You see, Emma, I lost all sensation in my lower body as a child. By adulthood, I couldn’t even lift a heavy cup.”

I knew it well. There was no one in this Palace who didn’t know of Deina’s misfortunes and afflictions.

Deina reached out and grasped Emma’s hand in return.

“That’s why this sensation brings me joy.”

“…?”

“Feeling the warmth of another person, being able to walk on my own feet, speaking without my throat aching—it all brings me such joy. I’m so happy I could weep right now.”

Deina’s hand, always so cold, was warm today. Her heartfelt sincerity was so poignant it shook even her usual unwavering composure. Just as Emma was about to voice her sympathy—

“That’s why I won’t let this happiness be taken from me. I’ll do whatever it takes to protect it.”

Deina’s demeanor shifted.

“Mere survival isn’t enough. I want a guaranteed future, safety, peace. And for that… I’ll need to exact a certain measure of revenge.”

In that instant, an ominous aura emanated from Deina. Emma trembled at the killing intent that seemed to radiate from her.

It felt as though she stood before some colossal beast—a threat that could tear out her throat at any moment.

‘She is not Princess Deina.’

And she understood it instinctively.

The woman before her was a different being from the Deina of yesterday.

Whether it was a change of heart, growth, or the revelation of a true self she’d hidden all along—it mattered little. What mattered to Emma was that Deina had transformed.

She was no longer a defeated soul resigned to death, but a successor determined to remake everything.

This was precisely the ideal superior Emma had always wanted.

Emma forcibly suppressed the smile threatening to bloom on her lips and made her resolve.

‘I’ll grant her request.’

To stand beside this transformed Deina and witness her ascent.

I decided to place my hopes once more in the being who could fulfill my wishes.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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