Okay, let's recap.
What was that manhwa I read before ending up here again?
First, the female lead accidentally got isekai'd into an all-male world. Then she met the emperor, and after that… the emperor locked her up in a room like his personal prisoner. And then…
Then…
Wait—what did happen after that again?
Aira rolled around the enormous, overly elegant bed like a frustrated burrito.
"Wait, what the hell happened next? Don't tell me I already forgot?!"
She sat up abruptly, clutching her head. "The last thing I remember was getting to chapter thirty… and then! Why can't I suddenly remember the rest?! Not the names, not the plot—ugh, did someone erase my brain with magic bleach?!"
"Y-Your Grace, are you o-okay?"
Aira froze mid–hair-pulling and slowly turned toward the young servant standing nervously by her bedside. His wide eyes screamed panic, like she was about to start breathing fire.
"Do I look okay to you?!" she snapped, glaring at him.
The poor boy flinched like a kicked puppy. "I-I'm sorry, Your Grace! Perhaps it's my fault you feel unwell! I should inform His Majesty that the royal chefs must be replaced immediately! None of the food they prepared pleased you, and—"
He suddenly dropped to his knees. "It's my negligence! I have failed in serving you properly!"
Aira blinked, utterly dumbfounded.
"What—why are you apologizing like you just caused a national disaster? It's not the chefs' fault I don't feel like eating! It's the food that looks like it might eat me! Just serve me plants or any kind of salad instead!"
"Salad? Plants? A-Are you sure, Your Grace?" he asked, slowly standing up again.
"Yes!"
Seriously, people here had zero sense.
"Hey, kid," she sighed, scratching her head. "What's your name again? And stop calling me 'Your Grace.' I already told you—just call me Aira."
The boy's eyes widened in horror, as if she'd just asked him to commit treason. "I-I don't have a name, and I can't call you by yours either! That would be improper! His Majesty would—"
"Would what? Throw you in the dungeon because you used my name?" she interrupted dryly.
He opened his mouth, then closed it again. The answer was probably yes, but he wisely stayed quiet.
Aira groaned and flopped back onto the bed. "Then why don't you have a name? Don't tell me it's also a sin to name you?"
"Yes, Y-Your Grace," he said, lowering his head again. "Only His Majesty and the nobles have the right to bear names. Servants like me don't need one. We are… a lower kind of being."
Aira frowned.
Great....So this world didn't just have muscle-headed men and monster-head cuisine—it was also racist?
"This place seriously needs therapy. Tsk, tsk…"
The boy fidgeted nervously with the hem of his uniform. "Um… Y-your Grace, should I still inform His Majesty that you're… experiencing, uh, emotional instability?"
Aira's head shot up.
"Emotional what? W-what do you mean by t-that?"
He hesitated, then blurted, "Uhm… the Emperor told me to watch over you because you might have a tendency to experience emotional breakdowns while adjusting to this place. He said I should report to him immediately if that happens."
"What?"
Aira groaned, pressing a hand to her forehead.
So that's their way of checking if I'm okay? Or just their way of confirming if I've officially gone insane? Knowing the Emperor, probably the latter.
"Don't you dare, say anything to your emperor, kid." she warned, pointing at him.
"The last thing I need is that overgrown emperor showing up again thinking I need his personal comfort" she murmured.
The boy gulped, startled, and nodded frantically. "Y-Yes, Y-Your Grace! I won't say a word!"
"Good," Aira muttered, sinking back into the sheets. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to lie here and try to remember how the heck that manhwa ended before my brain explodes."
The boy hesitated. "Uh… should I still bring you food?"
Aira cracked one eye open. "Only if it doesn't have eyes looking back at me."
************
The young servant's eyes widened when he saw the emperor standing outside the room of the woman from the prophecy. He hadn't expected the emperor himself to be waiting just beyond the doorway.
"Y-Your Majesty!" the young servant blurted, bending toward a bow that nearly touched the floor, then caught himself as the emperor turned away.
"Tsk. Follow me."
The boy's shoulders slumped in defeat as he obeyed. A few knights nearby shot him dark, suspicious looks.
He hadn't done anything wrong, except for being the one chosen by the emperor to enter the chamber of the woman from the prophecy.
Every man in the palace had been desperate to catch even a glimpse of her, and he was the one granted that chance.
He didn't know whether to feel honored or terrified now that everyone's attention was fixed on her and by extension, on him.
When they reached the emperor's council room, the servant's throat went dry.
It wasn't just the emperor waiting inside as several high-ranking nobles and elders were already gathered around a long obsidian table, their faces carved with tension and unease.
He trailed in quietly and lowered himself near the entrance, doing his best to remain invisible.
The emperor took his seat at the head of the table and let his cold gaze sweep across the room. The air itself seemed to chill beneath it.
"Speak." he commanded.
It was like a dam breaking, voices rose all at once.
"Your Majesty, what is your plan for the woman from the prophecy?" the eldest of the council hissed. "Don't tell me you intend to keep her locked up forever! She will be your downfall. You shouldn't keep such a dangerous beast in the palace!"
"She is not a beast!" another noble snapped. "She is the woman from the prophecy. If we do not secure her, another kingdom will seize her and use her against us. We must contain her power and use it now that she's within our grasp!"
"But containment is impossible!" cried a younger lord. "Her mere presence drives men to madness. Imagine the destruction she could bring—she will become our empire's greatest weakness. No one can control that kind of power!"
"The risk of leaving her unguarded is far too dangerous!" murmured one of the emperor's advisors. "If she reaches an enemy's court and find a way to weaponize her scent and presence—we would lose everything!"
"Then why not just kill her?"
The attention of the entire room shifted toward a young duke seated among the advisors.
"We all know that the woman from the prophecy brings no benefit to us. She's said to be the one who will bring our mighty emperor to ruin. So why not end her now and be done with it?"
"Y-young Duke, are you seriously—"
"Enough!"
The emperor's voice boomed through the chamber, silencing the room in an instant. The quiet that followed was so heavy it pressed against the servant's ears.
The emperor leaned forward, resting his forearms on the table. His expression was an unreadable mask. "That woman will live." he said coldly.
"She will remain under my protection. We will learn what makes her the woman of the prophecy. No one approaches her without my permission. Anyone who disobeys will answer to me and not with words."
A few nobles stiffened. Some opened their mouths to speak, but the emperor's glare silenced them before a sound escaped.
"Second," he continued, "send for the scholars and the Circle. I want every resource devoted to finding a way to suppress or safely channel whatever force she possesses. If there is a method to study the Light Pools and discover how a woman could emerge from them, we will find it."
Murmurs of reluctant assent rippled through the room. The servant exhaled shakily, only then realizing he'd been holding his breath.
"As for our enemies," the emperor said, his tone sharp as a drawn blade, "if any kingdom dares to claim her, they will soon learn the cost of their ambition."
The meeting ended with hurried orders and hushed arguments. The nobles rose and drifted out, leaving the emperor and the young servant alone in the vast, echoing chamber.
When the last footsteps faded, the boy found himself standing stiffly before the emperor's cold, penetrating gaze.
"As for you," the emperor said at last, his voice a low command that made the servant's heart pound.
"Tell me, what did you discover about the woman from the prophecy?"