Episode 6
“Hmmmm….”
As I fell silent in thought, Anna’s smile deepened as if she had expected it.
“Do you understand the situation now? So let’s try to get along, okay?”
“You know what?”
Smack!
I slapped away Anna’s approaching hand and grinned.
“The Second Empress was an orphan too.”
Anna couldn’t hide her startled expression.
“W-What…! That’s completely different! She’s the bloodline of the great Hero Yuritia!”
“Lady Bellavita hates talking about her background the most. She said she had a really hard childhood.”
“What?”
I deliberately emphasized the Second Empress’s name.
“They said the reason Tia became her companion was because it reminded Her Majesty of her own childhood.”
“……!”
“I hate you, Anna! You’re mean! You said something bad. I’m going to tell the Empress everything.”
“W-Wait a moment!”
Anna, now pale, tried to grab me.
‘As if.’
I’d trained my body for over ten years. There was no way a dull attendant like her could catch me.
“Come here this instant!”
Anna chased after me furiously.
“Miss! Miss!”
“No! You’re going to scold me harshly. I’m going to the Empress!”
“You little…!”
Just as I was about to open the door, I turned around to look at her.
She grabbed me roughly, her face twisted with irritation.
“Are you trying to make my life difficult? Do you think Her Majesty would believe the words of a child?”
She looked at me with disdain.
“You should be grateful I even call you ‘Miss’! Do you think anyone would treat a worthless orphan like a lady if it weren’t for His Majesty’s orders?”
“But, Anna, sniff, b-but….”
As I pretended to sob, I suddenly let out a small laugh.
“You should be the one trying to please someone like me.”
“…What?”
“Help meeeeee! Jess—!”
I shouted Jess’s name at the top of my lungs.
At that moment—
Bang!
“Lady Tia!”
Jess rushed in urgently and shielded me.
Screeech—!
At the same time, the metal poker Jess had been holding stabbed into the carpet.
“Jesss—!”
I quickly threw myself into Jess’s arms. She swiftly wrapped her arms around my back.
“Are you alright, Lady Tia? What happened? Are you hurt anywhere?”
“Sniff… Jess, Anna…!”
Then Anna approached Jess.
“Move, Jess! Lady Tia is my responsibility.”
“She is also mine. And more importantly, Lady Tia is frightened.”
“It’s a misunderstanding. Just—!”
Anna glared at me while arguing with Jess.
But compared to the dragon I once faced during a subjugation, that glare was like a baby winking.
‘Even if my mana’s been cut down to a third, killing Anna here wouldn’t be difficult.’
But that would only hurt me in the end.
“Move!”
Thud!
Anna shoved Jess.
As Jess’s slender body swayed, Anna’s foot rose.
She was about to kick Jess.
‘Can’t let that slide.’
I sighed.
‘A child should use a child’s weapon.’
Fortunately, there was the ultimate weapon only someone this age could use.
A child’s secret technique.
“Sniff… J-Jess… sob, hng, hng…”
“Huh?”
“Waaaaaaaah—!”
Crying at the top of my lungs.
I clung to Jess and wailed from my diaphragm.
“Jesss! Don’t die! Anna’s hitting me! I’m scared! I was wrong, Anna! Please spare meee!”
“Ahh! What’s wrong with her? Has she gone crazy? W-When did I ever hit you? Stop it!”
“I’m sooooorrryyyyy—!”
Just as Anna’s temper flared—
Bang!
“What is all this commotion?”
The head attendant entered through the gathered crowd.
“Lady Tia. What on earth is….”
“A-Anna… Annaaa… sniff… when Jess stepped out… she said if I didn’t listen, she’d prick me with the metal poker… sob… she did… waaah…!”
Tears on the exhale, pleas on the inhale.
Startled by my crying, the head attendant glared at Anna.
“So you caused this disturbance.”
“N-No! It’s all lies! You know me. I’m acting under the Second Empress’s orders—”
“Ahem!”
The head attendant cut her off sharply.
She glanced toward the doorway, checking others’ reactions.
‘So even if she’s a pawn, they can’t let it be openly known.’
Ah. Just then, I spotted Roil standing there.
Roil was the Crown Prince’s right-hand man—his aide and the ears that heard everything in his stead.
He was watching the head attendant with a sharp expression.
‘So the Crown Prince isn’t completely without capable people.’
At that moment, our eyes met.
He narrowed his gaze at me.
‘What’s his problem?’
I buried myself in Jess’s arms and scanned the hostile faces around us.
‘Heh.’
Seeing their expressions, I could already picture the future.
I smiled brightly and stuck out my tongue. Anna trembled.
How foolish.
Watch closely.
‘This is the wisdom of our ancestors, Anna, whose blood hasn’t even dried yet.’
In the end, Anna was demoted to menial work in the kitchen and stables.
Judging by the murderous glare she gave me in passing, she’d love to kill me.
‘That’s generous. In my time, breaking palace rules meant no pay and immediate expulsion.’
The future really is nice.
I sat on the couch, swinging my feet.
Knock knock.
Jess entered.
“Lady Tia, are you alright? Does it still hurt anywhere?”
“Mm, Jess! I’m fine. You blew on it, so it doesn’t hurt anymore.”
Jess looked teary when she saw the bruise on my arm from where Anna had grabbed me.
‘It doesn’t even throb anymore.’
There were quite a few perks to being a child again.
‘All the scars I got from the battlefield are gone.’
Not just my stamina and mana reduced—my scars were evenly erased too. Smooth and flawless.
“I’m sorry I left your side.”
“It’s okay. Jess, did you put medicine on?”
“…Lady Tia, you’re truly kind. Thank you.”
Jess shyly hugged me.
Honestly, I found Jess bothersome too.
‘With a watcher attached to me, I can’t go anywhere.’
First, I needed to find my old house site and dig up the perennial herb. It was worth money.
‘It can’t be taken from me.’
Feeling anxious, I bit my nails.
“You’ll hurt yourself, Lady Tia.”
“Alright…”
Wait.
‘If the perennial herb is that valuable, I could use it to win the Crown Prince’s favor.’
After all, I’ll return to the past eventually.
And to do that, I need to open the underground chamber of the imperial palace.
Only someone of imperial blood can open it.
‘Right now, the Crown Prince can’t even freely use his own funds because of the Second Empress.’
Everything was restriction and control.
From what I’d learned, everything the Second Empress achieved stemmed from the title ‘the sole descendant of Yuritia.’
The merchants who funded her. The fanatical scholars who defended her. The public’s admiration. All of it.
‘This works out nicely.’
I smirked.
Then the “real Yuritia” will tighten your noose a bit.
“Jess, listen.”
“Yes, Lady Tia.”
I handed her a crumpled piece of paper.
“Anna dropped a drawing.”
“A drawing?”
“Mm. Could you give it back to Anna? I’m scared of her.”
“Of course, Lady Tia.”
The moment Jess received the map, her eyes widened.
“This is…!”
She covered her mouth in shock.
Naturally.
‘Because…’
It was a map with coordinates I had personally marked.
‘The site of Hero Yuritia’s house.’
“The Second Empress’s pawn?”
After hearing Roil’s report, Kaizen narrowed his eyes.
A few days ago, the site of Hero Yuritia’s house had been discovered.
There, a perennial herb called Rizel—one that blooms only in Selucia—was growing in abundance.
According to the scouts sent there, it was “so dazzling with brilliance it felt like stepping into a snowy mountain.”
All were SSS-grade.
Across the entire continent, you might find one such top-tier specimen a year—if that.
“Is the information provided by the pawn reliable?”
The one who gave him this opportunity was none other than the Second Empress’s pawn.
On a snowy day, trembling slightly, blinking her golden eyes—a small girl who looked fragile and powerless.
