If only she hadn’t been beautiful, hadn’t been elegant, if she had been vulgar… then Cleo might have felt a sense of victory in her heart.
But the legitimate daughter of the Marquis of Land was distinctly superior even when compared to her peers. When an Emperor’s coronation was held in the Empire, the Empress’s enthronement always accompanied it. A man could not be crowned Emperor while unmarried. And so, when the former Emperor died suddenly and they desperately sought an Empress for the current Emperor’s upcoming enthronement, it was said that the Marquis of Land’s daughter had a high chance of winning against the renowned daughter of the House of Integria.
They said the daughter of the House of Integria was merely noble and knew her etiquette well, but she lacked the certain something that captured people’s eyes, unlike the daughter of the Marquis of Land. It was even said that the Dowager Empress had privately called the young lady to her and told her how much she was favored.
Hearing that story, she gritted her teeth. If I let things go on like this, I’ll never win.
She’ll become the exalted and noble Empress, give birth to a future Emperor, and receive everyone’s praise and envy in the magnificent Imperial Palace… and then she’ll laugh at me.
That must have been why.
Why she gave the poison she happened to obtain to her sister.
With her sister in front of her, emptying the poisoned cup and coughing up blood, Cleo trembled with a mix of elation and fear.
It was in that moment.
Just before she died, in a calm voice, the sister whom Cleo so loathed looked at her with contempt and said,
“Are you happy I’m dying for you? You foolish, worm-like thing.”
The moment she heard that, it hit Cleo like a bolt of lightning.
The renowned legitimate daughter of the Marquis of Land lived with a bored look on her face, as if mocking the entire world. She could memorize any book she read after a single glance. She never made a mistake in etiquette once she learned it. She was even better at arranging stones for a rock garden than a professional maid, and she could write a better love poem than a poet. She lived with a bored expression as if she knew nothing of love or passion or ambition, and she brushed off the praise of others. She looked at people’s desires and their shortcomings as if they were laughable.
That’s right.
She had no passion for life. Her only hobby was to laugh at Cleo, who trembled with inferiority, hatred, and rage. And so, she “died for her.” Even without becoming Empress, even if she died and disappeared right now, there would be no way for the surviving Cleo to ever truly beat her. She had died not because of the poison, but because she found life boring.
After the legitimate daughter of the Marquis of Land died from the poison, her father, who had never once sought out Cleo before, called her and simply said, “The Dowager Empress promised me that she would make that child the Empress, but since things have turned out this way, you’ll have to fill the empty spot.”
With a look of contempt, he continued, “I will formally enter you into the family, but you will never catch up to your sister. The position of Empress will belong to the House of Integria. I don’t expect much, but try your best.”
The fact that Cleo had murdered her sister was erased from the world. The legitimate daughter of the Marquis of Land was said to have died in an unfortunate accident. Cleo gritted her teeth.
I will give birth to a son.
I’ll seduce the Emperor and give birth to a son before anyone else.
And I’ll make that child the Emperor.
Her sister had died as if the position of Empress was nothing, but the son she gave birth to would surely become more noble than her sister! She would make the House of Land, who looked at her as if she were a bug, see her differently!
For that, she would do anything.
Seducing the Emperor was easy. It wasn’t a good feeling to see the stiff and uninteresting daughter of the House of Integria, who only cared about etiquette, because she reminded her of her sister, but they were, after all, not the same person.
She would never forgive those lowly beings who dared to spread false rumors that she had killed her sister out of jealousy and a greedy desire for the Emperor’s side. She had given birth to a precious son before the Empress. The House of Land also wanted their own bloodline to become the future Emperor.
The dead are forgotten. Success is about survival. She gradually felt a sense of elation.
So, why would she hesitate to manipulate and use a girl who had no one to care for her?
It was so easy. A girl who looked at everyone with eyes that yearned for affection but could never bring herself to ask for it.
But then. She thought it was all going according to her plan. So why?
‘How about this?’
That voice, which was so gentle.
‘The foolish, ignorant child who thought the Empress’s affection was real died then, and a fake, born from the Empress’s sins, has taken her place.’
The voice, so calmly talking about death, overlapped with the one from the past. A fake born from her sins? What? You, in front of me? Even though she knew it was just a phrase to mock her.
“Are you happy I’m dying for you? You foolish, worm-like thing.”
She remembered those empty eyes that had laughed at her.
Princess Titania smiled with eyes like a blank mirror. In them, she saw not the face of her longed-for fiancé, or her birth mother whom she couldn’t cut ties with, but her own face, frozen with fear, anger, and bewilderment.
‘So please continue to take good care of me, Your Majesty.’
Watching that, Cleo felt something.
That’s not the Titania from before.
She can’t be the foolish, simpleton girl who showed her true nature.
Because that girl… that girl is…
“You seem to be in a hurry, Your Majesty.”
At the sudden voice, Cleo stopped. “…Do you have something left to tell me, Young Duke of Castner?”
The Empress forced a smile. But she was tirelessly searching for the other’s reaction. Raymond, dressed in a black uniform and cape, wore a blank expression.
“Isn’t today the day your precious fiancée has finally woken up? I thought you would be rushing to her side to watch over her…”
Right.
This changed Titania, she must have had a hidden motive to save that girl, Bibi.
And would that ghostly-faced young duke not know? A man who is the very embodiment of the House of Castner?
“Or, well. Perhaps there’s a reason for this, contrary to what’s known to the public? Indeed, Princess Titania is undeniably beautiful, but the members of the House of Castner… don’t really need to seek comfort in someone’s appearance.”
“I do not judge people by their appearance.”
“That’s a truly admirable attitude, young duke… But you didn’t call me here just to say that, did you?”
He wouldn’t try to harm me inside the Imperial Palace.
And he’s not trying to suddenly debate whether I did right or wrong now.
The Empress was certain that she would never voluntarily admit that she had “orchestrated” the curse on Princess Titania. She might have made a mistake, or been tricked by others, but she would never voluntarily admit to it. Everyone would understand that.
“Who did you join hands with?”
Cleo, quick on the uptake, immediately understood that he was asking where she had obtained the “evidence.”
“How would I know? How would I have known that such a dangerous object would be placed there by a wicked enemy who dares to target the Imperial Palace?”
“I didn’t ask where you got the object. I asked ‘who’ you joined hands with.”
His emotionless voice was truly threatening. When she heard it, she almost understood the Emperor’s inferiority complex and obsession with the House of Castner. He had cunningly pretended to bow before the Emperor earlier to carry out his plan, but normally, he was so stiff.
What’s so great about killing some demon? In the end, what’s the difference between what he does and being a butcher!
“Many people are helping me. I don’t need to refuse the goodwill of those who voluntarily help Brian, do I?”
In the darkness, Raymond’s golden eyes shone with a particularly sinister light. A thick, sticky scent, as if luring insects, suddenly filled the air.
“…I see. I already expected that Your Majesty would not be honest with me.”
“Then why did you ask me such an obvious question…”
“What I wanted to say was something else.”
“SCREEEEAM!”
A horrifying, ear-splitting scream echoed through the air.
The Empress stared blankly as a demon that had been aiming for her ankle was crushed and disappeared without even a scream, splattering blood all over her.
Raymond plunged the sword he had been holding into the ground. Something black, with a foul odor, trickled down his hand and fell to the floor.
Ah. The Empress realized instinctively.
That was the bait that lured the demons. He had been holding it in his hand, calmly talking to her.
To the Empress, who was now thoroughly soaked in bright red blood, Raymond spoke in a terribly calm voice.
