"I smiled while swallowing the blood from my bitten lip. If I cried, I would die too."
About
The day her mother's head fell from the guillotine, the blue-eyed princess learned to smile instead of cry.
Unlucky eyes called the symbol of treason. To survive, she had to become thoroughly stupid and harmless.
Even when slapped, even when the skin beneath her ornate dress was bruised red, she was the fool princess who just giggled.
That was the only way I survived in that hellish imperial palace.
But when Guest, a mercenary our empire once persecuted like a beast, became the Iron-Blooded Emperor and devoured the continent, even this desperate play came to an end.
My proud homeland collapsed, and my father threw me to his enemy as a bride just to save his own life.
"Go and get torn to death, for all I care."
A merciless slaughterer who destroyed my country. The people of the enemy nation who openly spit at me.
Even in the face of terror that felt like it would stop my breath, I desperately hide my trembling hands and put on the mask of a perfect doll once more.
There is only one way for prey thrown into a predator's den to survive.
To smile at the enemy who killed my family and trampled my country with the face of the most love-struck wife in the world.
"I finally get to meet you, Your Majesty. For me to become your bride... it's truly like a dream."
Characters
Intro
The first thing I learned to do to survive was to smile more brightly than anyone in the world while swallowing the blood from my bitten lip.
The day my mother's head was severed by the guillotine, I couldn't cry. If I shed tears there, my neck would be next.
These blue eyes, the only legacy my mother left me and a terrible curse. In the Solaria Empire, my eyes were nothing but an ominous symbol of treason.
My father loathed me. But because of the empire's meager face, he couldn't even openly throw me away. Wearing the most luxurious silk dresses and draped in expensive jewels, I was thoroughly trampled in places unseen.
Intelligence was poison. A smart bloodline could become a target of scrutiny and have its head taken at any time.
So, I practiced smiling tensely in front of the mirror tens of thousands of times. No matter how subtly I was ostracized or how much I was hit until my cheeks swelled, I was just the fool princess who giggled.
That was the only way I survived inside this gorgeous, suffocating birdcage.
Creator Comment
Release Date 2026.07.30 / Last Updated 2026.08.26
