IYIBV 01

Chapter 01

Everyone gathered at the party was focused on one particular spot, whispering among themselves.

“Look over there. Count Sorver is making advances on another young lady who clearly wants nothing to do with him.”

“I have no idea why he behaves like that. Apparently, he gets violent with every woman he meets.”

“I heard he deliberately targets ladies from lesser noble families. That way, there won’t be any repercussions.”

“How shameless! He’s become so arrogant just because His Majesty has been favoring him lately!”

Yet everyone confined their complaints to whispers behind his back. Not a single person dared to confront him openly.

And with good reason…

“My lady, I said, dance with me. Is there something you find objectionable about me?”

“I-I’m sorry, but I’m not feeling well today…”

“Oh, come on! Don’t play hard to get. You look perfectly fine to me. What exactly is wrong with you?”

Count Sorver was currently one of the nobles most favored by the emperor.

The reason was rather ridiculous. He had found a woman in his territory who looked exactly like the late emperor’s first love and presented her to His Majesty.

The emperor, who had never been able to forget his first love, was overjoyed. In return, he bestowed wealth and prestigious government positions upon Count Sorver, a man from the backwater countryside who had never dared to set foot in the central political arena.

Who in this empire would dare stand in my way now?!

With the emperor’s favor backing him, the count had grown unbearably arrogant and continued his debauched lifestyle without restraint.

“I hear your family has been having some financial difficulties lately. Who knows? Perhaps getting a little closer to me might help ease those troubles.”

With that, the count forcibly seized the wrist of the young lady who had already rejected him.

“P-Please let go!”

The terrified young lady tried to pull away, but the count tightened his grip and refused to release her.

“S-Someone, please…”

Yet not a single person watching came forward to help her.

Someone had tried intervening once before, only to be stripped of their official position and banished to their estate in the countryside.

There had been some plausible excuse on the surface, but everyone knew Count Sorver had been pulling the strings behind the scenes.

Even the high-ranking nobles seemed unwilling to get caught up in such an unpleasant affair. They merely stood by with their hands behind their backs.

That was when—

“Oh my goodness, look over there! Isn’t that Lady Learianette?”

Someone had spoken up.

Every person present turned toward the source of the voice in perfect unison.

The movement was so eerily synchronized that even Count Sorver stopped what he was doing and turned his head.

“Lady Learianette! You’ve come to the party!”

“Ahhh! My lady! I’m so delighted to see you here!”

“Do you remember me? I was the winning bidder at the last auction!”

However, the woman known as Lady Learianette was immediately surrounded by a crowd of enthusiastic admirers, leaving her completely out of Count Sorver’s sight.

Hah! What is it about that lowborn mongrel that makes people pay her more attention than me?

Count Sorver knew the woman who had just arrived quite well.

Elizabeth Learianette.

A woman who bore the name of the great House Learianette despite having no true blood connection to the family.

To make matters worse, she was an illegitimate daughter—a woman of a background despised by everyone in the empire.

And yet countless people followed and praised that cunning woman.

Have they all lost their minds? They must be completely insane!

Furthermore, the wicked deeds she had carried out, which had shaken the entire empire, were so vulgar that they were almost too disgraceful to speak of.

The fact that she was still continuing those activities was nothing short of appalling.

It’s hard to believe she was once called a saint.

Count Sorver clicked his tongue in open disdain before turning his attention back to the woman whose wrist he was still gripping.

Her trembling, terrified appearance was quite a sight to behold.

“Shall we be off, then, my lady?”

“I-I told you to let go!”

“Oh, and where do you get the nerve to raise your voice at me?!”

The enraged Count Sorver instinctively raised his hand, as he had done countless times before.

SMACK!

A sharp crack rang out.

“AAAHHH!”

A piercing scream, like a pig being slaughtered, echoed through the spacious ballroom.

Everyone turned toward the sound, their eyes wide with shock.

“W-What on earth…?”

Clutching his stinging cheek, Count Sorver finally managed to collect himself. He was so stunned that he nearly fainted.

Standing right before him, her expression perfectly impassive, was Elizabeth Learianette, her hand still raised.

He couldn’t believe it.

He had just been slapped by a mere illegitimate daughter!

“You, you dare lay your hands on me? On ME—?! Argh!”

SMACK!

Another slap landed across his face.

This time, the sound was even more satisfying than the first.

Having been struck twice in succession, Count Sorver finally lost what little remained of his reason and lunged toward her.

“How dare you!”

“Planning to hit me?”

At that moment, a cold voice brought the count’s movements to an abrupt halt.

“Go ahead and try. I’d be curious to see what happens if even a single hair on my head is touched by your filthy hands.”

Those few words sent a chill down Count Sorver’s spine.

For some reason, under Elizabeth’s cold, commanding gaze, he found himself unable to move recklessly.

It felt as though something terrible would happen if he did.

It was pure animal instinct—a primal urge to survive.

And the fact that he was acting so pathetically made him feel utterly humiliated.

Overcome by a sudden surge of rage, Count Sorver began shouting at the top of his lungs.

“Y-You! You! Do you even know who I am?!”

“Oh, I know.”

Elizabeth smiled sweetly.

“I’ve heard about you. Apparently, His Majesty has taken quite a liking to some pathetic lecher lately.”

“W-What?! Who are you calling pathetic?!”

“Going around picking on women you think can’t fight back is pathetic, isn’t it? What kind of shameless person behaves like that?”

Count Sorver was so bewildered by the insults—insults unlike anything he had ever heard before—that his head began to spin.

He had heard the rumors about her wickedness, of course, but this was his first time encountering her in person.

And she was even more villainous than the rumors suggested!

“Y-You may be a Learianette, but do you really think you’ll get away with treating me like this?!”

“Of course I will.”

Elizabeth scoffed.

“As you said yourself, I’m Elizabeth Learianette of the great House Learianette. Besides, I imagine people would be quite grateful if I got rid of you.”

“Hah! His Majesty dotes on me! How dare you utter such insolence—!”

Just then—

“We pay our respects to His Majesty, the Sun of the Empire!”

Everyone in the ballroom spoke the same greeting in unison.

Count Sorver turned toward the entrance with the expression of a man who had just found his savior.

“Your Majesty!”

Surely, His Majesty knew what kind of woman that cunning creature was.

Once the emperor learned the truth about what had happened, he would undoubtedly fly into a rage and punish this wicked woman!

“Your Majesty, Lady Learianette struck my innocent cheek—!”

“Count Sorver.”

Something about the emperor’s expression seemed strange.

“I am deeply disappointed in you. I’ve heard that many young ladies have been suffering because of your misconduct lately.”

“W-What? Your Majesty? What do you mean…?”

“I’ve heard enough. You will relinquish your official position and return to your estate immediately.”

“W-What? Your Majesty, what are you—?!”

“What are you waiting for? Seize the count and drag him out at once!”

In an instant, soldiers grabbed Count Sorver by both arms.

Caught completely off guard, the count blinked like a goldfish, his eyes bulging as he struggled to find the words.

“Y-Your Majesty! This is unjust! I’ve done nothing wrong!”

“People who have committed crimes always seem to say the same thing.”

“You wretched womaaaan! How dare you drive a wedge between His Majesty and me! Your Majesty, I’m innocent!”

Count Sorver desperately protested his innocence, but the emperor merely avoided his gaze.

Seeing this, the count grew even more desperate and began shouting louder.

“Your Majestyyyy! …Gack!”

In the end, one of the soldiers struck him on the back of the neck, silencing him.

The count collapsed unconscious, his body going limp as the soldiers dragged him away.

Everyone who witnessed the scene could only stare in stunned silence.

Did His Majesty really just dismiss Count Sorver, the man he favored so greatly?

Why? Could it be…?

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

Every eye in the ballroom turned toward Elizabeth.

At the same time, the emperor cleared his throat and spoke.

“Not at all. I had no idea I had such a disgraceful man serving at my side. Thank you for bringing this to my attention, Lady Learianette.”

…As if!

Did the emperor truly not know what kind of man Count Sorver was?

Of course he did.

The count had been rather easy to get along with, after all. And he had even found a woman who looked exactly like the emperor’s deceased first love.

The emperor had intended to overlook a few minor indiscretions and continue favoring him for the rest of his life.

But now…

“I am truly, deeply grateful. Ha ha ha…! I nearly made the mistake of keeping such a shameless man by my side indefinitely.”

“I’m delighted to have been of assistance, Your Majesty.”

As the people watched the emperor and Elizabeth in turn, understanding gradually dawned on their faces.

This was Lady Learianette’s doing.

Lady Learianette must have pulled some strings.

The situation was difficult to believe at first. But because the person involved was none other than Elizabeth Learianette, everyone present found it entirely plausible.

Such was the extent of Elizabeth’s influence in Ikarzan at the moment.

The people began whispering among themselves, their faces filled with awe.

“It’s truly remarkable. In the old days, something like this would have been unthinkable. I never imagined Lady Learianette had this side to her.”

“Did you see her slap the count earlier? Oh, it was so satisfying!”

“Now we won’t have to see that disgusting face in high society anymore! I’m absolutely delighted.”

“I really love the way Lady Learianette is now. Not that I disliked the way she used to be, of course, but…”

“Honestly, I think everyone would agree that she’s much better this way, wouldn’t they?”

Of course they would.

Elizabeth herself couldn’t have agreed more.

I like who I am now incomparably more, too.

Quietly listening as the conversation shifted to praising her, Elizabeth naturally found herself thinking back to what had happened a year ago.

Back to the day she had personally buried her kind, gentle former self in a grave—and was reborn anew.