Chapter 118
The moment Cleo Empress came face-to-face with her sudden visitor — her great-aunt-in-law — her expression was a mess.
It looked like she had just bitten into an unripe persimmon but couldn’t spit it out.
Watching that, I couldn’t help but chuckle inwardly.
‘Wow, this is great. Look at that face — it’s like a painful tooth just got pulled.’
– Amazing, Contractor! (๑╹ワ╹) How did you even come up with this idea?!
‘Well, objectively speaking, my voice in the imperial family isn’t that strong. And if my sickly mother says something, no one dares to openly oppose her, right?’
I recalled an old makjang (soap opera) my family used to watch together.
It was a meeting between the two families before a wedding.
At first, everyone exchanged polite smiles, praising each other’s children. But by the end, they were pulling each other’s hair and shouting insults.
When emotions run high, people tend to speak very directly.
“Hey! How old are you? I’ve eaten thousands more bowls of rice than you!”
“Oh, really? And you’re proud of all that rice you stuffed down your throat for nothing?”
“Fine then, I’ll make sure you never lift a spoon again!”
“Mother, please calm down!”
“Who’s your mother? I’ll never be your mother! This marriage is off!”
What I learned from that scene was simple — if you lack authority, nothing you do will matter.
In that drama, things only got resolved when the grandmother from both families arrived and declared,
“If the number of rice bowls eaten matters that much, then everyone below me shut your mouths!”
So, I had scoured the imperial genealogy and family records, mainly to use my “emoji sword” freely — and discovered something even the original story barely mentioned: I had a great-aunt, my grand-aunt, still alive.
Breaking off an engagement might be doable, but divorce after marriage was another matter entirely. Even if someone fell in love with another person, they usually settled for a lover or mistress rather than break the marriage contract itself.
Especially for the imperial family — divorce was practically unthinkable.
Still, she was a royal by birth. No one dared to touch her.
She had plenty of wealth, built a villa as grand as a whale’s back, and lived a long, peaceful life.
When the war broke out, the empire was thrown into chaos, and given her age, she likely passed away by then…
Anyway —
No matter what scheme Cleo Empress and Elaine Empress might hatch together to trap me, I couldn’t counter them through normal means. There was no mother-in-law around to rein them in.
So, I decided to bring in a mother-in-law figure myself.
And it was very effective.
Valentina sighed gracefully, touching her forehead.
“What kind of disgraceful scene is this, on such a joyful day?”
“I… I’m too ashamed to face you, Aunt.”
The Emperor averted his gaze from Valentina.
A man who had lived his whole life with an air of arrogance, bowing to no one, now couldn’t even look his elder in the eye.
If today’s banquet had gone smoothly, he probably would’ve shown his irritation at Valentina’s sudden appearance at the palace.
But today’s event had been an absolute disaster.
He couldn’t even muster his pride.
“What is there for Your Majesty to be ashamed of? I heard this was to be a celebration of joy, yet all I saw were near tragedies…”
Valentina’s sharp eyes swept across the room.
The few nobles present dared not make a sound.
“You say the guest of honor was someone frail who had just recovered her health — yet I see no proper resting place prepared for her.
In every noble family, it’s the mistress’s duty to teach her daughter how to properly host a guest of honor…”
Tsk!
Her tongue-click echoed through the hall.
Cleo Empress’s lips trembled.
Valentina didn’t even glance her way.
Instead, she turned her attention entirely to the Empress.
“Your Majesty Empress Biblia. It may be rude to address you so directly, but I’m no young woman anymore. And since I am, in private terms, your great-aunt by marriage, I shall speak frankly.
The mistress of a household must know how to keep her domain peaceful.
To think that you nearly died at your own banquet, fooled by some villain’s trap — can you truly say you’ve fulfilled your role as mistress of the palace?”
The air in the hall shifted strangely.
At first, it sounded as though she were criticizing the Empress.
It even seemed unfair — how could one blame the victim of an assassination attempt for failing to prevent it?
But Cleo caught the hidden meaning — and her eyes darkened.
The Empress bowed her head calmly.
“I have no excuse. I am humbled by Your Grace’s wisdom.
This banquet, however, was not mine — but rather, arranged by the First Empress, Cleo, to celebrate the recovery of the Second Empress, Elaine, whom she cherishes like a sister.
Still, since it occurred within the imperial palace, the fault is mine.”
“Naturally. Every event within the palace falls under the Empress’s responsibility.”
Cleo’s lips quivered.
Valentina was openly ignoring her — making her stance unmistakable.
Everyone knew Cleo had long acted in place of the Empress, managing palace affairs while treating the real Empress like a mere ornament.
The Emperor’s favoritism toward Cleo had let her get away with it — no one had dared to rebuke her.
But Valentina could.
Of course, the Emperor himself was the real culprit for letting his consort’s arrogance wreck imperial discipline.
Yet in front of his strict aunt, he couldn’t exactly say,
“But the Empress is too arrogant, and I prefer Cleo, so I let her handle palace affairs.”
So he simply pretended not to notice.
“Still, I’m well aware of the House of Integria’s traditions. If the Empress had organized this event, it wouldn’t have been so sloppy.
When you try to cut fabric with dull scissors, it only frays. Tsk, tsk.
Next time, learn properly how to manage foolish underlings, Your Majesty.”
“I will keep your words in mind.”
Cleo wisely refrained from butting into the conversation.
A smart move.
She wasn’t stupid.
Even if Valentina appeared suddenly, she couldn’t stay long without an official invitation from the Emperor.
She might be a respected elder whom even the Emperor couldn’t easily oppose, but she was still, in this case, a guest.
The Emperor might temporarily restore authority to the Empress out of guilt,
but soon enough, he’d hand power back to Cleo.
It would be foolish to risk offending him by arguing with Valentina.
Yes, Cleo understood all that.
But her foolish son didn’t.
“Are you calling my mother a foolish underling?”
Cleo’s precious son — the Emperor’s beloved firstborn and future crown prince — blurted it out.
“Even if you are the Emperor’s elder, you’re now just a member of the Lessen family, aren’t you?
My mother is the consort who gave birth to the Emperor’s heir!
How dare you insult her so lowly?
The ones who ruined this banquet were our enemies, not my mother!”
“Brian!”
Cleo shouted in shock, but her son’s face flushed red with anger.
“Apologize to my mother!”
A chilling silence fell over the hall.
Even Cleo turned pale.
It was true that Valentina had lived in seclusion after a scandal.
Despite being the Emperor’s aunt and the previous Emperor’s sister, she was now called Lady Armelin — after the estate she owned.
Not Madam, not Lady of the House — but Lady, a title implying she was divorced or separated.
And yes, that was shameful — but only someone of her own generation or higher could ever mention it.
For a young man, her grandnephew, to sneer at her like that was unthinkable.
Then again, growing up watching his mother trample over the Empress, how could he know any better?
Beside me, Adrian whispered quietly.
“Sometimes I truly wonder what’s inside His Majesty’s head, to pit me against that idiot as a rival.”
“…Given that the Emperor himself is staying silent while his son yells like that, I’d say idiocy must be hereditary.”
Adrian gave the faintest nod.
I couldn’t agree more.
