#57. A Villainess Deserves a Sparkling Revenge
I curled my red lips into a sneer.
“An audience? My job is to instruct His Highness.”
After the poisoning incident, every servant in the Crown Prince’s palace had been replaced.
That included the butler.
I had already found his sycophantic attitude uncomfortable—
and now he dared to block my way?
Did he think being a noble gave him the right?
“You must understand, my lady. It’s all for His Highness’s sake.”
“Are you implying that I might harm His Highness?”
“I only wish to prevent any accidents. Misfortunes seem to happen unusually often around you, don’t they?”
He spoke as though I were the source of every problem.
But I was the one whose life had been threatened, whose safety had been violated.
Rage welled up inside me.
Would they treat me like this if I were a noble? If I had a family or a title…
Elizabeth’s parents were traveling the continent.
Even if they had been here, they would’ve been useless against nobles puffed up with privilege.
Money was money.
Birth was birth.
The way these people bowed when it benefited them and turned cold the next instant—sickened me.
Swallowing my bitterness, I asked,
“Did His Majesty approve of your decision?”
“Hah… I knew you’d drag His Majesty into this.”
“As the one with authority, it’s natural to seek his will.”
“But, Lady Elizabeth… how long do you think His Majesty’s favor will last?”
The butler couldn’t hide the contempt twisting his face.
His gaze carried open disdain.
“For now, His Majesty would do anything you say. But there are many beautiful women in this world.”
“I’m aware. And your point?”
“No flower blooms forever. A woman’s beauty is no different.”
“What are you trying to say?”
“In a few years—or even a few months—His Majesty’s attention will shift to someone else. Just like it always has.”
His last words pierced my chest like a blade.
A sharp ache spread through me, but I forced myself to remain calm.
I was not a sheltered girl who burst into tears over a few cruel remarks.
Nor was I someone who wavered easily or retreated from petty provocation.
I had no mercy to spare for people who changed their tune with the wind.
“You’d better keep that loyalty to yourself. You’re in no position to lecture me.”
The butler’s face flushed red.
The kind of man who spoke rudely to others usually couldn’t handle a taste of his own medicine.
“I should’ve known! A bit of His Majesty’s affection, and now you’ve gone mad with pride!”
Why were villains always the same?
Why did they ignore the point just to spew whatever they pleased?
“Don’t misunderstand. I said that as the Crown Prince’s tutor, not as a lover.”
“I am a noble! And you’re a commoner!”
“In this palace, I’m your superior. Did you forget that, or are you simply slow?”
“Th-That’s—!”
“Bill Sharif. Age forty. Third son of Viscount Sharif. Separated from his wife, Roanna—officially due to ‘differences in personality,’ though the truth was her affair, wasn’t it?”
As I recited his personal details, his face went deathly pale.
“A third son who can’t inherit a title is barely a noble. If you lose your job too, what will you live on?”
“Are you saying… you’ll fire me?”
“Did you really think you could insult and obstruct your superior without consequence?”
“I-I was only… the Marquis of Brendan said—”
He stammered, realizing too late how foolish he sounded.
I shook my head slowly.
“I wondered when that name would come up. You know, colluding with outsiders is a serious crime for palace staff.”
“C-Colluding?!”
“Be honest. Did he promise you a promotion if you humiliated me?”
“Lady Elizabeth, I heard you’ll soon be stripped of your fortune and expelled from the palace…”
“Based on what?”
“B-Because you manipulated the competition by improper means…”
His voice shrank to a whisper.
So Nicolas killing Simon is now ‘match fixing’?
His son dies, so now he wants to take my money too? That man’s obsession with wealth knows no limits.
At least now I knew what the Marquis of Brendan was planning.
“Thank you, butler. You’ve been most helpful.”
“S-So… I’m not fired?”
“That’s got nothing to do with it.”
“Pardon?”
“Get out. Now. You’ve committed a serious breach of conduct, so you won’t be getting severance pay either. Understood?”
***
The underground passage of the imperial palace was drenched in damp darkness.
Moss in shades of green and red made the stone slabs slick underfoot.
Drops of melted wax fell from blackened copper sconces on the wall.
Listening to the echo of his footsteps, Nikolai quickened his pace.
There were no attendants, no guards following him.
Very few knew of the secret chamber hidden beneath the palace.
“You’ve arrived, Your Majesty.”
Kares was one of those few.
Nikolai placed a hand on the man’s shoulder—Kares’s mouth and nose were covered by a white handkerchief.
The room was bare of any ornament, cold air its only occupant.
At the center lay a marble slab.
And upon it—Simon’s body, covered by a white shroud.
“You’ve worked late.”
“I merely did my duty.”
Kares’s tone was mechanical, detached.
Nikolai felt both gratitude and guilt toward his loyal aide.
If not for you, I would have long collapsed. I will repay your loyalty one day, Kares.
He had thought it many times, but never said it aloud.
Some bonds needed no words.
So it was between Kares and Nikolai.
“The body?”
“As expected.”
“I’ll see for myself.”
Kares stepped aside.
Nikolai swept away the cloth covering the corpse.
Dust rose into the air.
Dust gathers on the dead.
Insects crawl upon them.
They rot and decay.
Those killed by the Deathflower return swiftly to a handful of blood.
“The Deathflower…”
His voice was low and rasping, like metal scraping metal.
Simon’s corpse was covered in blotches of red—
marks that looked like scattered petals, exuding a strange mix of sweet floral scent and foul rot.
The plague that had once driven the Empire into ruin… had bared its teeth again.
“A young man struck by it… how can that be?”
Kares sighed softly.
If word spread that the Deathflower had returned, the Empire would descend into chaos overnight.
History had already shown what panic and despair did to the people.
“The Deathflower spares no one—young or old, man or woman.”
“For six years, it’s only infected young women.”
“They only carried the seeds. No symptoms, no contagion. Once isolated within the Wolves’ territory, they posed no danger.”
“Then why didn’t the Wolf detect Simon?”
Nikolai had wondered the same—and his confusion was laced with fury.
Had the Wolf fulfilled its duty, Simon would never have committed murder before Elizabeth’s eyes, using her own belongings.
Now voices cried out across the Empire that the villainess Elizabeth must be cast out.
They blamed her for everything.
Nikolai could not tell them the truth.
He could not protect her.
He hated himself more than those who condemned her.
“It’s all like a perfectly staged play.”
“The fencing accident was strange as well. The risk far outweighed any gain.”
“They weren’t after Elizabeth. They only wanted time.”
“If Lady Elizabeth hadn’t approached the fence… they would’ve staged something else to halt the duel.”
“And in that brief moment, Simon changed.”
Nikolai had sensed something off about him—
an inexplicable dread.
Had he stopped the duel then, perhaps the disaster could have been avoided.
“The Wolf was silent. But when Simon tried to kill Claudia, it sent a signal—the Deathflower had bloomed.”
“Had we not neutralized Simon, everyone in the square would’ve been infected.”
“…”
“Thankfully, corpses aren’t contagious.”
The word “thankfully” sounded hollow, powerless.
Since ascending the throne, Nikolai had devoted himself to protecting the Empire—
to shielding the people from the Deathflower alongside the Wolves.
But if it had mutated…
If another appeared beyond the Wolf’s reach…
then Nikolai could do nothing.
He would have to watch his people perish like candles in a storm—
vomiting blood, reeking of decay, spreading death and despair.
“The Wolves and I have been focused on the southern border.”
“You mean the Inted Archipelago under Lord Roseloyce’s command?”
“That’s where the new Empress came from. What was her name again?”
“Tara. A daughter of Baron Joyce, a collateral line of the Marquis of Brendan’s family.”
Kares replied as if to remind him he should’ve remembered her name.
But Nikolai’s expression didn’t change.
That day remained a deep wound.
To isolate that woman, I had to push Elizabeth away.
For a long time, Elizabeth couldn’t even look at him.
And Nikolai couldn’t tell her the truth.
The same question tormented him again and again:
Can I truly protect her? When the emperor’s duty must always come first?
He had broken his father’s dying wish: Never love anyone.
He had fallen for a woman he never should’ve held.
Numb emotions awoke anew.
A long-forgotten loneliness shuddered back to life.
The scent of cherry blossoms that lingered around Elizabeth—
only her smile and fragrance could save him.
Happiness existed only beside her.
Yet all he had done was wound her—
not protect her, but place her in danger.
If not for me, she would not be branded a villainess. She would not be threatened. If I cannot protect her, is it right to keep her by my side? If I truly love her, shouldn’t I let her go—to someone who can?
Why did Douglas’s handsome face flash before his eyes now?
Nikolai bit the inside of his cheek.
He smelled blood, but tasted nothing.
All he could feel was Elizabeth’s scent—and her lips.
“I need new information. Summon Cardinal Arkanso from the Temple of Morasincia. He studies the Deathflower.”
“And Simon’s body?”
“…”
“Marquis Brendan demands we return it.”
Nikolai’s gaze shifted to the corpse.
A once-promising man.
Heir to a noble house.
Simon had crossed the river of no return.
When he spoke, his voice was chillingly cold.
“Burn him. Just like the others.”
At that time, Nikolai still didn’t know what had really happened to Simon—
not until the Wolf spoke again.
