Confrontation
Once the Emperor was completely out of sight, the Empress pushed away the servants and maids who were trying to hold her back and rushed toward me.
“You!” Her eyes blazed with fury. She grabbed me by the collar. A grinding sound came from her clenched teeth. “What, what in the world have you been plotting? You were just holed up in the Empress’s Palace until yesterday!”
I answered in a listless voice. “You tried to make me into a cursed child, Your Majesty.”
“You were completely, so completely awake this whole time! What did that sanctimonious bitch promise you while you were holed up in her palace…”
“Empress Augusta promised that I would be safely treated.”
“You would have suffered no harm from this incident even if you had done nothing! What grudge do you hold against me that you would go after me?!”
“You made my maids, who used to ignore their master, come running and clinging to me, weeping and wailing with concern.” I smiled faintly. “I endured all that.”
“What?”
“To be honest, if Your Majesty had just waited until I left the Empress’s Palace, I would have even pretended to be demure and innocent for a while.”
I had wanted to make it as easy as possible for the Empress to look down on me. I had expected that even after I left the Empress’s Palace, she would try to provoke me, to see if I had truly sided with the current Empress. At that point, I planned to put on a suitable mask, pretend to be dependent on her, and even shed a few tears.
“You look down on Empress Augusta, so why did you have to use me as a means to stab her now, at this very moment?”
“You, you… that bastard… Do you think I’ll leave your mother alone? Do you think I’ll leave you alone?”
“Oh my, are you going to kill Empress Elaine? Then I’ll truly become the Empress’s child now. Empress Augusta will soon become the matriarch of the House of Castner as well.”
“You… you… you wretched girl…!” A blood vessel burst in the Empress’s eye, turning it scarlet. “Do you trust the House of Castner?” the Empress whispered, speaking so fast the words seemed to tumble out.
“……”
“Just because you saved the adopted daughter of that house, do you truly believe they will take your side? That ruthless house? What a ridiculous thought!”
“……”
“They’re just using you! Yes, I admit it, I used to try to use you too. But do you really think the Empress treats you well? The only one who even cared for you, a girl your own mother didn’t even care about, was…!”
“Your Majesty. Why are you saying such hurtful things now, just between the two of us?” I mimicked the Empress’s smile. The same deep, coy smile that she would use when she seduced the Emperor, whispering that she and Brian had caught some prize game and they should share a drink and have a cozy time.
The Empress’s cheeks froze as she saw my smile up close.
“I know better than anyone that Your Majesty is the only one in this Imperial Palace who truly cares for me.”
No one else has so thoroughly deceived, broken, and played with this young Titania as you have.
While an accomplice has a share of the guilt, they are never as guilty as the main instigator. Of course, this incident was only possible thanks to the cooperation of the House of Castner. It was also made possible by the combination of my original knowledge, the knowledge I gained from the book, and the power of the sword. The Empress had acted so recklessly because she felt safe within the Imperial Palace.
“Do you think His Majesty will trust and rely on you just because you have the power to kill a demon?! You…!”
“Your Majesty doesn’t even trust the Emperor. So why do you expect me to?” I let out a gurgling laugh.
The Empress glared at me with bloodshot eyes and said, “You’ve changed.”
“Yes, I have.”
“When did this start? Since when have you been pretending to be a foolish simpleton to betray me? If you had sided with me completely, do you have any idea how much I could have done for you?”
“You came to check on me, a foolish, simpleton girl who hit her head after falling from the second floor, and who supposedly acted out in what was practically pajamas, didn’t you?”
I spoke gently, like I was complaining. The Empress’s eyes trembled slightly.
“…You have been causing a lot of strange trouble lately.”
“No one, truly no one, has asked why I only fell from the second floor and hit my head.”
Did the original Titania trust the Empress? Even if it was for the purpose of using her, the Empress was the only one who offered sweet, kind words, said she was worried, gave her comfort and gifts. Even after being tricked into putting poison into the teacup of the precious adopted daughter of the House of Castner?
Did she instinctively know, but just pretended not to?
If she didn’t believe the Empress’s affection was real, she would have to admit that her situation in the Imperial Palace was no different from a complete outcast. She didn’t want to admit that the only person who showed her interest was actually using her and would eventually throw her away…
‘Aren’t you angry, my Titi?’
“How about this?” a voice as sweet as if pouring poison into my ear whispered like a fantasy.
‘Titi, Titania. The princess. Yes, it’s all her fault. Why else would there be talk of breaking off the engagement only now?’
In the fantasy, the Empress’s trembling hand held out a small bottle.
‘It’s a drug that will make her vomit and get an upset stomach. Don’t you want to see her in a mess, crying, and the men of the House of Castner, who love her, go to pieces?’
It’s a very small act of revenge, the sweet voice continued to whisper. It was so sweet it felt like my ears would melt.
‘She’ll be a crying mess… Oh, if she did that in public, wouldn’t her lady’s honor be completely ruined? Oh, dear… Titi, my Titi. Who knows better than you how indifferent and competent the great House of Castner is? Not a single one of those dirty rumors will leak outside the Imperial Palace.’
A scarlet liquid, like blood, gleamed inside the bottle.
‘The choice, yes. That’s up to you.’
Yes.
It’s foolish to blame the Empress for the original Titania’s downfall. What difference would it have made if the foolish Titania had claimed she didn’t know it was poison, even if it were true?
She must have suspected it “might be poison.”
But she didn’t check. She didn’t care whether the contents were truly poison or not. And she tried to give it to Bibi.
“The foolish child who was young and ignorant and thought Your Majesty’s affection was real died then, and a fake, born from Your Majesty’s sins, has taken her place.”
The Empress who whispered that her fiancé loved her.
The Empress who was confident that the House of Castner would never dare to break their engagement with the Imperial Family.
The Empress who whispered that since she had no daughter, she saw Titania as her own…
Still, the young Titania must have believed her.
“So please continue to take good care of me, Your Majesty.”
And so I will continue to shatter your hopes.
The Empress, supported by her maids, shivered with rage as she left. She couldn’t forget the Princess’s face as she smiled at her. She’s a terrifying girl. Was the expression of a foolish girl, who would just stand there awkwardly smiling when she saw her, all a lie? Really?
Empress Cleo had a certain knack for judging people. Her birth mother had gone from one married noble to another, serving as a mistress. While she didn’t openly sell her body, she maintained her livelihood by receiving support from various men. Then, by chance, she succeeded in getting pregnant when she briefly met the current Marquis of Land before he became the head of the family.
She didn’t reveal the child’s existence. She moved to the countryside, gave birth, and only then returned to inform the Marquis. The Marquis was displeased with the child’s existence and its lowly mother. However, he was even more reluctant to leave his own bloodline to wander outside. So he gave the woman money and took only the child into his family.
At the time, the young Marquis already had a daughter and a son. After a discussion with his wife, he decided to assign his illegitimate daughter as a personal maid to his daughter from his wife. It was an act that conveyed his message.
You will never inherit the marquisate. Know your place and obey, but don’t expect to be treated as family.
The Marquis of Land’s legitimate daughter was truly elegant, even as a child. In her elegance, she looked down on her half-sister who served her. Cleo had to grit her teeth and endure the elegant insults that mocked and ridiculed her right to her face.
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