I Transmigrated into the Nameverse, and My Name Came with a Time Limit - Chapter 32

Mina widened her eyes at Tilda’s unexpectedly frank words. She knew the Empress hadn’t summoned her here with good intentions, so the whole situation felt unbearably uncomfortable, yet she couldn’t help but listen when Tilda began speaking about her own experience with a Name.

“To be honest, I had expected the Name to manifest on your younger sister.”

Tilda was right. In the original novel, the Name first appears on the female lead, Rose, and soon after it also manifests on the male lead who initially dislikes her. Eventually the two are forced to become entangled, and before long they are constantly involved in passionate affairs.

But Mina still couldn’t understand why this sudden ordeal had fallen upon Wilhelmina instead of Rose. And of all times, it happened right after she had transmigrated and became Wilhelmina.

‘It’s not like I ever wanted a Name to appear on me either…!’

Mina barely suppressed the urge to shout out her grievance. Then she answered as politely as possible.

“Yes, I thought so as well…”

“But if your Name were to appear on Leopold as well…”

Suddenly Tilda cut her off sharply.

Startled by the cold tone, Mina quickly raised her head. The Empress was looking at her with a gentle smile that almost resembled that of an angel, but somehow the feeling was wrong. The chill in the air was unmistakable.

For a moment those light brown eyes with a faint hint of blue flashed.

“Then what do you think I would do to you?”

“……!”

The sudden sharpness in Tilda’s voice left Mina stunned. Even if the Empress had never particularly liked her, she had always maintained proper etiquette until now. But the shock lasted only a moment. The next words made the fine hairs on Mina’s arms stand on end.

“The imperial marriage is meant to be with your younger sister. Yet if my son’s body bears your name instead of Rose’s? Think about it. The answer seems quite obvious.”

The icy words of the Empress sent a cold tension down Mina’s spine.

“If you dare to engrave your Name on my son, you must pay the proper price. In my opinion… yes, it would be best for you to spend the rest of your life locked in an underground dungeon, living as Leopold’s s*x slave.”

Tilda smiled brightly as she looked at Mina. Her characteristic nasal voice sounded even more gentle than usual, but the glint in her eyes resembled that of a cruel beast just before it tore into its prey.

“W-What…?”

“Of course, there is also the option of living as a mistress. But that does not apply to you. After breaking off your engagement and marrying your younger sister, would my son openly take his former fiancée as a mistress? Whatever the reason, that wouldn’t be a good look. It would be absurd for the imperial family, and for my son who will become Emperor, to bear such a disgraceful relationship.”

Mina froze stiff, her mouth hanging open.

The Empress’s words were so shocking that she couldn’t even find the voice to protest.

“B-But…!”

Tilda quietly examined the pale and stammering Wilhelmina, swallowing a cold laugh.

Yes, the Name manifestation may not have been her choice. But the fact that she was still trying to hold back her precious son was unbearably shameless. After causing such trouble, she still thought only her own life was precious? It was truly brazen.

Still, regardless of that judgment, Tilda knew exactly what kind of shock her words would bring to Mina. When she had first discovered Karl’s Name long ago, her own feelings hadn’t been very different.

At that time, Tilda had just decided to confess her feelings to Benedict, whom she had loved for many years. But the moment Karl’s Name manifested, her pure devotion was shattered to pieces. Instead of the noble and dignified man who seemed like a god sent from heaven, she fell into the hands of a crude man consumed by inferiority toward his half-brother.

“Stay still! You are receiving the noble seed of the Crown Prince for free thanks to the Name, and you can’t even do this much? Spread your legs wider and move your hips!”

The humiliating moment when she first went to Karl, enduring pain that felt as if she might bite through her own tongue, returned vividly to her mind. When Tilda had begged desperately for her life, Karl had immediately demanded her body.

It was then that she first realized that beneath his outward appearance he was an extremely vile man.