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Several men in black suits carried the Imperator’s coffin toward the Capuchin Church.

The head of the funeral procession knocked on the door of the Capuchin Church three short times. Thump. Thump. Thump.

“Who is he?”

The voice of an old clergyman was heard from inside the church.

“He is Franz Joseph von Habsburg, Imperator of the Holy Roman Empire, King of Bohemia, Burgundy, Hanover, Bavaria, Lombardy-Venetia, Switzerland, Sardinia, Italy, and Arles, Archduke of Austria, Cologne, and Schleswig-Holstein, Duke of Styria, Carinthia, Carniola, and Prussia, Count of Tyrol, Gorizia, and Moravia, Pomerania, and Captain of the Teutonic Knights.”

He sure did a lot. I thought to myself.

I almost burst out laughing, but wasn’t he my biological father? It would be problematic in many ways if the next emperor laughed at the funeral of the late emperor.

“We do not know who he is!”

Thump. Thump. Thump.

He knocked on the church door three short times again.

“Who are you?”

“The Imperator, Franz Joseph von Habsburg.”

“We do not know who he is.”

Every time I saw it as a meme in my previous life, I thought:

If that’s how you’re going to answer, why bother with this back-and-forth?

Of course, I know in my head. ‘To show that even the greatest monarch is just a sinful human being before God.’

But… I didn’t like the fact that my time was being wasted because of the funeral of someone I didn’t even know (of course, I had memories of meeting him a few times in ‘this body’s memories’. Even then, it was more of a businesslike meeting as ‘Emperor and Crown Princess’ rather than ‘father and daughter’).

‘Let’s think positively…’

From now on, a future without an inch of leeway is planned.

To survive, to not repeat my previous life, I have to run without rest.

‘If I think of it as a short break I get before that, well, it’s bearable.’

Thump. Thump. Thump.

He knocked on the church door three short times again.

“Who is he?”

“Franz Joseph. Just a sinful human being.”

“Then come in.”

Clunk.

The sound of heavy iron moving was heard, and the tightly closed door of the Capuchin Church opened.

The men in black suits carried the Imperator’s coffin into the Capuchin Church.

Thus, my biological father was buried in the Habsburg Mausoleum.

“Hoo…”

Is this the second time…?

I looked up at the sky.

The sky was damn clear.

I frowned.

Before facing my first death. Yes. If I had to guess, I must have been hated by some god in my previous life. A lot.

Otherwise, I wouldn’t be stuck in this never-ending cycle.

“If I die this time… will I be able to return to my original world?”

“Pardon?”

“It’s just a soliloquy. Don’t mind it.”

I smiled and answered the captain of the royal guard, the traitor who had stood idly by as the wave of rebels entered the imperial palace in my previous life.

Bbaam bbaam bbaam.

The carriage stopped, and the sound of trumpets was heard from outside.

I was flustered during my first coronation, but now I’m a little more used to it.

Yes. Coronation.

In European monarchies, it’s a ceremony where the monarch places the crown on their head during the enthronement ceremony to declare that they have become king. That’s how it can be summarized.

‘Thanks to the assassination of the late Emperor Franz Joseph von Habsburg, I, his only biological daughter, have become the protagonist of this coronation.’

‘”Tsk… If only he had given birth to a son… He couldn’t even do that…”‘

I grumbled in Korean, saying that I was suffering because of it.

But the person who would hear those words is already gone. That’s a minor slip-up, I guess.

“Your Crown Princess?”

“I’ll get off now.”

I got out of the carriage and stepped on the golden carpet that led to the inside of the cathedral.

Thump-!

The tightly closed iron door opened,

and I heard a sound as if someone had kicked the basket under my feet.

It’s an illusion. I know it. I know it perfectly in my head, but…

‘Thud.’

The memory of choking and dancing in the air, hanging by the neck from a thick rope, had long been imprinted in my mind.

“Ugh…”

I felt a sour taste of stomach acid in my mouth.

“Your Crown Princess? Are you alright?”

A man approached me.

This voice. Yes. It’s a voice I remember.

‘Otto von Habsburg.’

The King of the Kingdom of Hungary, my biological uncle,

and the traitor who put all the blame on me after the war and ran away.

“Ah. I’m fine, Your Highness Archduke Otto. So… you don’t have to worry.”

He was here not as the King of Hungary, but as the elder of the Habsburg family, so I called him Archduke instead of King.

He doesn’t seem to have any major complaints about this.

“I know you must be very upset by the death of His Imperial Majesty. But… please hang in there a little longer.”

‘Her Imperial Majesty is the mother of all subjects. Take responsibility.’

His image of passing all responsibility on to me just because I was the emperor overlapped in my mind.

What was he doing while I was choking with a rope around my neck, unable to die comfortably because my neck bones weren’t broken at once due to the executioner’s mistake, or perhaps it was intentional?

Was he leisurely enjoying horse racing? Or was he smoking cigars and gambling? Or maybe he was raping prostitutes in a brothel.

Ha. We’re both monarchs of defeated countries, but one of us was leisurely enjoying his retirement.

I laughed inwardly and recited his name one by one.

“Otto. Von. Habsburg. Your Highness Archduke.”

It is said that when anger exceeds the critical point, one regains composure.

I smiled at him and replied.

“Thank you for your concern.”

“It’s only natural. If you have any difficulties, please tell me. I will always help as an elder of the imperial family.”

He smiled as if to ask me to trust only him.

Disgustingly.

“Your Crown Princess. If you are having a hard time, we will postpone the coronation schedule slightly.”

“Ahem. I’m fine, so please proceed with the coronation as planned.”

I spoke to the nobleman who was looking at me with worried eyes… I don’t remember his name, but he was a nobleman who died with his head pierced by rebels while stealing imperial treasures, and got up from my seat.

Bbaam bba baam.

The sound of trumpets was heard, announcing to everyone that the future emperor had arrived here.

I walked into the pure white cathedral, click. click.

“Hmm.”

People with familiar faces, at least faces I had encountered once, filled the cathedral.

It’s not a lie that I’ve encountered them at least once. The attendees were exactly the same as at my first coronation, that is, the coronation I had in my previous life. It’s obvious, but still.

I followed the golden carpet, parting through them and moving forward.

The archbishop, dressed in ornate robes, looked at me and opened his mouth.

“She is Yulia von Habsburg, the eldest daughter of Franz Joseph von Habsburg of Austria and Elisabeth von Habsburg, Duchess of Brandenburg, Crown Princess of the Holy Roman Empire, Princess of Bohemia, Burgundy, Lombardy-Venetia, Bavaria, and other principalities.”

Surprisingly, that was the result of asking to shorten it as much as possible before the coronation.

Still, it’s much better than the one in my previous life, which took more than 5 minutes just to introduce the titles.

“God save, God protect. Our Emperor, our country!”

As soon as the grand introduction to me was over, the cathedral was filled with the Holy Roman Empire’s national anthem, ‘Emperor’s Hymn’, sung by the people.

It was ridiculous that they ran away as if their feet were on fire when they were most needed, but now they were fervently praising me.

I laughed inwardly at them and knelt before the archbishop.

The archbishop then turned his back to me and recited ritual prayers toward various Regalia.

“God, pleaseㅡ”

Hmm. I felt this during my first coronation too. That archbishop. He seems strangely excited.

Well. A coronation is something that happens once in a lifetime, so he must be excited. But does that archbishop know?

That this coronation was the last coronation of the Holy Roman Empire.

‘Of course, I have no intention of letting the history of that time repeat itself.’

Experiencing being left hanging in the air for more than 2 minutes is enough for once.

“ㅡAmen.”

After finishing the prayer, the archbishop held up the ornately decorated crown.

‘Crown of the Holy Roman Empire.’

“Do you swear to uphold the laws and the church of the empire, and to protect its subjects?”

In the last moment, I died by the laws of the empire. The church turned its back on me. And the subjects turned their swords against me more actively than anyone else, even more than the Allied forces.

‘Haa… I didn’t think I’d feel this humiliating feeling again.’

I swallowed the words that were too disgusting to even say, forced out of my mouth.

“Yes.”

‘I.’

I struggled to swallow the stomach acid that was about to leak out of my mouth.

“I swear to uphold the laws and the church of the empire, and to protect its subjects.”

‘I admit all the sins I have committed.’

The Crown of the Holy Roman Empire rested heavily on my head.

‘The defendant. Yulia von Habsburg is found guilty.’

‘Bang. Bang. Bang.’

Clap clap clap.

‘Clap clap clap.’

Thunderous applause filled the cathedral.

Just like that moment.