WEBTOON SUMMARY [SPOILERS!] (i tried 〒▽〒)

Prologue 

Two great polities orbit one another with brittle courtesy: the Eastern Empire (wealthy, ritual-bound, imperial) and the Western Kingdom (a compact, more humane realm). Between them stand vassals, dukes, spymasters, salons, and a fragile public that reads rumors like prophecies. At the center: a marriage arranged in childhood, Navier Trovi and Sovieshu Trovi Vikt, more partnership than romance. They rule with practiced distance until fate, pride, and a runaway slave named Rashta shove everything into an alternate calculus of love, power, and ruin.

Part I 

Sovieshu, the Emperor: a ruler with a face that hides storms, trained to rule and to be feared. He meets Rashta by chance while hunting near Viscount Roteshu’s lands: she’s caught in a trap, bleeding, barefoot, and terrified. Her origin, rumored as a runaway slave, is a combustible secret in a court that values blood and lineage above all.

Sovieshu brings Rashta to the imperial palace. He orders Navier’s maids to bathe and clothe her. The maids note her intense beauty; Sovieshu, unexpectedly smitten at first sight, begins treating her with special care. Rumors swell - was she a runaway slave? The proper law would have been to return her, but Sovieshu defies it by taking her in, assigning a maid to tend to her, and quietly keeping her near his chambers.

Navier, the Empress, hears whispers. Her maids confirm the gossip; Navier asks without malice at first. Sovieshu answers with clipped displeasure, telling her not to press him. He says, flatly, that he found a badly injured woman and treated her, and that for now she’s close to his rooms with a maid for protection. But his tone and later actions betray more than propriety: he sharply punishes one of Navier’s maids, Laura, for calling Rashta “dirty.” He orders Laura confined on bread and water and publicly humiliates the Empress’s retainer.

That moment ripples outward: palace staff talk about Sovieshu’s favoritism. Navier feels the ground slip. Sovieshu behaves as if nothing else matters; he avoids private, intimate topics but lavishes attention on Rashta. Rashta, naive, calls Navier “Excuse me” and later grabs Navier’s dress, baffling everyone, while Navier tries to maintain dignity. Rashta’s unconcern for etiquette and her blunt gestures, grabbing a dress to address an empress, both shock the courtiers and charm the man who brought her in.

From this knot of embarrassment, the first rumors and the first fractures grow.

Part II 

Sovieshu orchestrates a concubine contract for Rashta. She is unlettered and simple-minded, learning names written for her and delighting in the attention. Despite Navier’s refusal to send gifts or hold elaborate welcoming banquets, Rashta dreams of being loved and recognized. Sovieshu forges a congratulatory gift from Navier to raise Rashta’s spirits; Rashta visits Navier with that fake gift and, in naïve confusion, asks to call her “sister.” Navier, clinical and cool, answers that Rashta is the Emperor’s concubine, not her sister, and gives a formal congratulations.

Rashta misunderstands etiquette repeatedly: she invades gardens, uses Navier’s chair and handkerchief, and insults etiquette simply by being herself. The courtiers circle, suspicious. Rashta harbors jealousy and childish hope: she expected haughty nobles to fawn; instead, they disdain her. Sovieshu instructs Navier to pick ladies-in-waiting for Rashta, forcing Navier to host a humiliating tea party where noblewomen avoid serving Rashta. Rashta sulks, but the stage is set: she will be elevated, but she will never fully be accepted by nobility.

Ergi Clodia appears in Rashta’s orbit: a dashing duke with blunt methods and a grudge hidden somewhere under his sarcasm. He defends Rashta from rude nobles (punching a man who called her a "slave"), gives her gifts, and loans her money generously 10,000 clang without demanding immediate repayment. His motives are tangled: protective, exploitative, flirtatious, and vengeful in equal measure. Ergi advises Rashta to manipulate public perception and promises to help her keep enemies at bay. He suggests schemes: rumor transfer, seduction as a tactic against Navier, and money loans that tie Rashta to his influence.

Rashta’s ascent is not merely emotional; it’s strategic. She becomes Sovieshu’s favored concubine, then his concubine officially. She learns etiquette slowly, clumsily, and with raw hunger for recognition. When Rashta signs the concubine contract, she is thrilled by the imagined pomp; real pomp never arrives. Sovieshu kisses her, says “the work isn't finished,” and moves on - a not-so-romantic wink that hides deeper power plays.

Sovieshu, while outwardly stern and reserved, displays bizarre paternal displays toward Rashta: gifts, private favors, and punishments that favor her. People whisper: is the Emperor having an affair? Does he intend to remarry? The court's gossip engine accelerates. Rashta enjoys public attention and misreads some cues, believing herself loved as more than a concubine.

Part III

At the New Year Festival, Rashta is shown as Sovieshu’s favored concubine, dancing, wearing luxurious attire, and drawing commoner admiration while nobles exchange glances. At a tea party and opera events, Ergi rents venues, stirs trouble discreetly, and manipulates factions like an oboist pulling strings. Rashta grows more confident; she also owes money to Ergi, making her pliable.

Meanwhile, Navier (the Empress of the Eastern Empire) is calm, composed, and quietly dignified. When rumors spread that Navier exchanged letters with King Heinrey of the Western Kingdom, Sovieshu’s anger leads him to crack open their marriage publicly. He declares divorce proceedings, culminating in an arranged separation designed to secure political advantage and his own ego. Navier seeks the Western Kingdom: remarries Heinrey, the Western king, and the slow political earthquake begins.

But back in the palace, Rashta’s problems grow: Viscount Roteshu reappears: he once owned Rashta and now sees her rise as an opportunity to blackmail and exploit. He keeps secret the child An (Ahn/An) whom Rashta bore during earlier servitude. Roteshu demands hush money and threatens to reveal Rashta’s origins. Rashta, terrified, borrows more, hides, and schemes via Ergi and other allies to silence Roteshu.

A scheming strand: Rashta manipulates and is manipulated. She acts from insecurity more than cruelty, but her actions have consequences. Rumors trusted by the public and planted by supporters (and enemies) will later be the nails in her public coffin.

Part IV

Sovieshu initiates the divorce proceedings with chillingly casual cruelty: the public learns he divorced Navier. People speculate over infidelity, political maneuvering, and personal vendettas. Navier, increasingly distant, moving to the Western Kingdom as Heinrey’s queen, leaves Sovieshu raw and defensive.

Sovieshu refuses Navier’s remarriage at first, even imprisons Heinrey and Navier briefly, attempting to prevent Navier from leaving, an impulsive emotional act that becomes a diplomatic crisis. Heinrey rebukes Sovieshu: the king is practical and magnanimous; Sovieshu is childish and petulant. Under pressure from ministers (Marquis Karl among them), Sovieshu releases them after a few days; he also attempts to manipulate public perception and pursue legal tricks to scuttle Navier’s remarriage, but the political cost is high and not sustainable.

Sovieshu oscillates between plotting and self-delusion: he thinks Navier will return once she realizes the truth. He writes letters; she returns versions of them unread. He finds himself spoiled by Rashta’s attention and, in a mess of ego and jealousy, hurries to host his own lavish wedding with Rashta to make Navier regret leaving.

 Rashta’s pregnancy: Public announcement inflames court politics. Rashta uses pregnancy as leverage, demanding the Empress title, slandering Navier’s fertility, and pushing for divorce. Sovieshu pours affection into Rashta; the public grows suspicious, then supportive of Rashta in some circles, while other nobles prepare to pounce.

Part V 

Rashta and Sovieshu marry in a chaotic, lavish wedding. Rashta, desperate for acceptance, drowns herself in jewels and ostentation. Her inexperience shows; she tries to outshine Navier. Sovieshu, jealous of any perceived slight to Rashta, organizes punishments and promotions that further polarize the court.

Glorym (Gloriam / Gloriem / Glorym), Rashta’s child, is born prematurely. The birth scene is rife with panic and accusation. Rashta drops the baby in hysteria; Countess Verdi rescues and tends to the child. Sovieshu, initially affectionate toward the baby, becomes suspicious as doubts about paternity arise. The child resembles Rashta too closely. Later, a temple paternity test will confirm: Glorym is not Sovieshu’s child - the father is Allen (Allen/Alan), Rashta’s lover. This revelation detonates Rashta’s credentials and Sovieshu’s pride alike.

Allen, the man who saved Angel and later fathered Glorym, emerges as a crucial, if low-profile, player; his presence will shatter Rashta's world and expose collusions.

At the wedding and in the following years, Rashta’s behavior grows paranoid, cruel, and desperate. She pressures and bribes, hires mercenaries, borrows from Ergi, and manipulates court appointments with the blithe cruelty of someone who believes she can buy permanence. Rashta’s supporters are not all noble: Iscua and others are bought or coerced.

Part VI 

Rumors and investigations reveal embezzlement, false parenthood claims, and manipulations: tokens of Rashta’s fraudulent climb. Ergi’s role surfaces in many ways: he sheltered, advised, and sometimes sparked schemes that pushed Rashta into deeper corruption. He lent money, altered documents, and fed the rumor mill when it suited his tactical aims. He is both protector and arsonist.

Viscount Roteshu’s blackmailing intensifies. Ergi, in various scenes, confronts Roteshu and helps uncover Ahn, Rashta’s firstborn, and exposes details in ways that later will be used in the trial.

Things unravel spectacularly. Witness testimonies are gathered: maids, Viscount Roteshu, Ergi’s spies, and others. Rashta’s fake adoption (the Iscua couple), forged papers, and embezzlement come to light. In the trial that follows, public outrage explodes: court officials, nobles, and commoners find the narrative of the deceit irresistible, and the verdict is crushing.

Part VII 

Court hearings are theatrical. Witnesses recount abuses: Rashta’s slanders, threats, false papers, loans to Allen/Ergi, and assassination plots that went sideways. The Iscua couple’s false adoption is exposed. The revelation that Glorym and An are not Sovieshu’s biological children shreds Rashta’s authority and the façade Sovieshu helped maintain.

Ahn/An (Rashta’s son from slavery) is brought forward; Angel (the child taken by Roteshu then rescued by Alan/Allen) eventually testifies about abuse and neglect. Alan (Allen) buys Angel and adopts him; Angel’s testimony about being hidden and used as blackmail decimates Rashta’s “victim” image.

Rashta pleads denial until the end: she screams “No” repeatedly, but the mountain of evidence is immovable. The crowd chants “Slave!” and “Impersinator!” The judge strips Rashta of her title, strips Glorym’s status, and sentences her to imprisonment; public fury turns to calls for harsher punishment. Roteshu is executed for his crimes; Ergi is disgraced, flees, and maneuvers in other courts. Rashta, diminished, ends in an isolated cell, clutching a toy - delusional to the end.

Glorym is deposed as princess and sent to the care of Countess Verdi, safe but shorn of status. Ahn is relocated. Alan is compensated; the Rimwell family is partially restored because of Janelike testimonies (Lebetti’s case will be important) and Allen’s influence.

Sovieshu, who helped inflate Rashta’s position and then watched her fall, is left to wrestle with culpability. He redistributes titles and tries to cover the political wounds; his reputation is permanently marred by the learned truth: that he let himself be manipulated and that his indulgence cost lives.

Part VIII : Parallel arcs

Navier: She leaves the Eastern Empire, moves to the Western Kingdom with Heinrey, becomes queen, protects children like Evely and Lebetti, and holds the moral line while the court around her combusts. Navier’s past and emotional landscape are explored in long, subtle moments: her friendship with the Trovi family, her kindness to protégés like Evely, her dignity when betrayed by Sovieshu, and the grace with which she handles Heinrey’s playboy reputation.

Heinrey: He’s generous, patient, and politically adroit. His confidant is the bird-transformed McKenna, who acts as mail carrier, scout, and compassionate weirdness. Heinrey’s decisions - buying Lebetti from a slave auction, protecting Navier, and later his magnanimous behavior in returning Ergi and addressing the union, mark him as the moral and pragmatic counterweight to Sovieshu.

Lebetti Rimwell: Saved by Heinrey when her family is destroyed by a false accusation manufactured by Rashta, Lebetti becomes Navier’s devoted lady-in-waiting, later a viscountess, testifies against Rashta, and marries a Western knight. Her courage and clarity in court are central to Rashta’s unraveling.

McKenna: Heinrey’s bird-companion and spy, who carries letters, relays messages, and witnesses emotional beats in bird form - comedic, loyal, and watchful. McKenna’s role is small but vital: he keeps threads moving between courts and intercepts secrets.

Evely: an orphan sponsored by Navier, is a primary victim, losing her magic and despairing because her identity is tied to her ability. Navier consoles her: a powerful emotional scene where identity, worth, and mentoring intersect. Heinrey and Ergi both take interest: Heinrey, with risk, instructs McKenna to restore Evely’s magic; Ergi uses her (and later attempts) for political leverage. Sovieshu, who once scoffed at the mage crisis, is later forced to move on magic policies and to sponsor Evely directly when she is vulnerable.

Evely’s arc: orphan -> Magic Academy student -> victim of the reduction -> sponsored by Sovieshu and Navier -> palace assistant -> testifies and heals Navier after assassination attempts -> becomes an advocate for mages and a steadfast ally to Navier.

Ergi Clodia: complicated, charismatic, dangerous. He’s from Blue Bohemia. He befriends Rashta, loans money, manipulates rumors, and eventually helps fabricate Gloriam’s paternity result (or at least leaves seeds of doubt). He’s inspired by revenge against those who harmed his mother; he’s angry at Sovieshu. Ergi orchestrates for a time, then flees Blue Bohemia, planting seeds of scandal and returning occasionally to wreak havoc. His actions nearly destroy his homeland’s standing and ignite international crisis (ports, union pressure).

Ergi’s final moves: he helps Viscountess Veridy and Gloriem escape; he leaves Sovieshu a locked safe implying forged evidence (the “medicine” and a letter that “the princess is His Majesty’s biological daughter”); he escapes to Blue Bohemia where his familial drama with Claudia and Alaysia plays out. He later interferes with the port and gets slapped down by his own king, his pride and vengeance harm his people. He’s a tragic provocateur: deeply strategic but morally tangled and self-destructive.

A larger geopolitical shift: the International Knights, the Continental Union, and cross-border intrigue invest in the mage mystery (mana stones, harbor issues). Navier, Heinrey, and Sovieshu all negotiate. often badly. Angel’s rescue by Alan and his eventual testimony at Rashta’s trial cut through excuses. Angel becomes a named noble: Viscount Angel Rimwell, learning manners and laughter. He befriends Navier’s children, Lara and Kaiser, creating a hopeful line through trauma.

The Union emerges as a force balancing Eastern and Western interests. Angel, Lebetti, Evely, Navier, Heinrey... these people end up the survivors of a catastrophe of vanity, and they will be the ones shaping policy after the dust settles.

Part IX

Rashta’s deposition is official. Sovieshu is left to handle the political fallout. Ergi flees; Roteshu is executed; the Iscua couple fall from grace. The people who were injured: Lebetti, Angel, Gloriam, and the Rimwells, gain partial restitution. Navier becomes an international figure who helps lead a more humane union. Heinrey expands Western reforms. Sovieshu, partially ostracized and partially triumphant (he married Rashta and fathered no heir), must accept that his indulgences caused widespread ruin. He begins a slow arc toward self-awareness and regret, sometimes flaring into possessiveness, often bleak and introspective. The empire will never be the same.

Navier retains dignity, teaches magic policy, adopts a stance of compassion toward magic victims, and helps shepherd the Empire Union. Heinrey supports her, balancing domestic politics and union negotiations. This pair will define a careful new political era.

Evely rises as a symbol for recovering mages. Lebetti becomes a viscountess and a spokesperson for restitution. Angel becomes a noble and a child who once knew nothing but is given a future. Glorym is quietly relocated for her safety and raised away from headlines.