After finishing a simple lunch, Lilliana organized her plans for the future in the office.
To prepare for the future that would soon fall upon the Ducal House, she needed to make preparations.
The reason Lilliana had to carry out such desperate revenge in the past was because the friend she trusted, Elisha, and the lover she loved, Mikael, had betrayed her.
Mikael was the Second Prince of the Empire. He had courted her with utmost devotion.
Elisha was the same.
She was the only daughter of Baron Lindel, a vassal of the Ducal House. Baron Lindel, who had raised his daughter alone without a wife, had an extraordinary affection for her.
And Elisha was a clever girl who knew how to take advantage of that affection.
She acted as if she were Lilliana’s one and only friend in the world, but in truth she deceived her.
The two of them thoroughly used Lilliana and then discarded her.
‘I can’t let that happen this time.’
She wouldn’t repeat what had happened in the past. She didn’t want to experience that miserable ordeal again.
She had to prevent the Ducal House from becoming a family of traitors again.
To do that, Mikael must not become Emperor. Nor could she allow Mikael to assassinate the Emperor.
At that time, Lilliana, who had the Emperor’s trust, knew about Mikael’s terrifying plot but couldn’t stop it.
Because she loved him too much.
‘I shouldn’t have done that.’
The moment Mikael became Emperor, he accused Lilliana and House Dayan of assassinating the former Emperor and framed them with the charge of treason.
It was truly a miserable betrayal. There was no guarantee that it wouldn’t happen again this time.
‘This time, I will protect them.’
The next Emperor must never be Mikael.
The reason Mikael, the second prince, had been able to become Emperor by surpassing the First Prince, Estevan, was because Duke Dayan had supported him.
House Dayan was one of the two great Ducal Houses of the Empire and a powerful pillar that supported the Emperor.
On top of that, Mikael had also secured the support of House Ifriden.
And later she learned that he had joined hands with them to torn apart House Dayan.
He had intended to do so from the beginning.
When Mikael accused House Dayan of treason, House Ifriden declared its support for him.
As if it had all been arranged beforehand, evidence of treason appeared, and House Dayan collapsed just like that.
‘They must have coveted the wealth of our House.’
House Dayan possessed enormous wealth through businesses that had continued from previous generations.
House Ifriden had always coveted that wealth.
House Ifriden was a prestigious family, but compared to House Dayan, their financial power had always been lacking.
Moreover, their children were extremely extravagant, and they even had to take on debts. Every business they attempted failed, and when the House was gradually declining, Mikael reached out his hand.
There was no reason for them not to join hands.
‘In a way, they were a combination that suited each other perfectly.’
But she wouldn’t fall for it twice.
“This time, Prince Estevan must become Emperor.”
Only then could she protect her family.
‘I can trust him.’
Lilliana recalled the last look in Estevan’s eyes that she had seen at the moment of her death.
They were eyes that truly felt sorrow for her. That was why Lilliana had felt relieved when she died by his hand.
She was glad that she could die by his hand.
Estevan was the Emperor’s eldest son. Born between the Emperor and the Empress, he possessed the legitimacy that Mikael didn’t have.
However, unfortunately, the Empress was confined for the crime of attempting to assassinate Prince Mikael, and she fell ill and died.
After that, the Emperor confined Estevan in the Outer Palace. That happened when Estevan was ten years old.
After that, in the year he turned eighteen and became an adult, he was released from confinement.
She later learned that the one who had framed the empress was Mikael’s mother, Imperial Consort Isabella.
It was something she had done because she coveted the position of Empress.
However, she didn’t achieve her goal as the seat of Empress remained vacant for a long time.
That was proof of how great the Emperor’s grief had been.
Imperial Consort Isabella temporarily set aside the idea of becoming Empress and instead supported Mikael.
She gained the support of the nobles and gradually expanded her influence.
And through thorough image-making, she turned Mikael into a gentle prince, increasing the people’s support for him as well.
That support remained firm even now.
Meanwhile, Estevan’s position was unstable. Because he had been confined, he had lost his support base and even carried the stigma of being the son of a criminal.
He had become twenty from eighteen, yet he was still lagging behind Mikael.
‘But as an Emperor, Estevan is the right choice.’
His position may have been unstable, but remembering the Estevan she had seen in the past, he possessed abilities far superior to Mikael.
The martial strength to stand against her, a genius mind, charm and charisma that drew people in.
The one who should become Emperor wasn’t Mikael, but Estevan. And above all, he was a man who valued trust.
After taking her revenge, Lilliana had left him a message telling him to come alone to kill her.
‘I didn’t think he would really come alone.’
In any case, he was an incredible man.
Lilliana looked at the letter from Prince Mikael lying on the desk.
[To my beloved Young Lady,
I spend half of each day thinking of you.
Even at this very moment as I write this letter, your smile does not leave my mind. I hope you feel the same as I do, though perhaps that is too much to ask.
I sincerely love you. If there is one thing in this world that I could never exchange for anything else, it would be you.
I hope that my devotion reaches you.
Today is a fragrant day. Seeing how your scent reaches even here, to the Emerald Palace.
……]
Reading the letter made goosebumps rise all over her skin.
“I shouldn’t have read it. It’s giving me goosebumps.”
Yet when she actually read the letter, she could feel his earnestness.
After all, he had been courting her by sending letters and gifts so persistently.
If Mikael managed to become engaged to Lilliana, it would be as if wings had grown on his back.
It annoyed her to think that she had once been moved by things like this and given him her heart.
Since Lilliana was seventeen, Mikael had sent her a letter every day, and once a week he sent a precious gift.
On the day she held her coming-of-age ceremony, he had personally appeared with a bouquet of 1,800 roses loaded onto a cart, leaving everyone astonished.
Lilliana picked up Mikael’s letter and, without hesitation, burned it in the candle flame.
‘Prince Estevan must become Emperor.’
She possessed knowledge of the future and great power. But anything was difficult to accomplish alone.
Fortunately, Lilliana had someone who could help her.
Black Cat.
Black Cat was an organization created by the Dark Emperor in the past, a ruler of darkness, and it operated in the shadows, carrying out assassinations, intelligence gathering, espionage, and black-market dealings.
In the past as well, Lilliana had been able to obtain Black Cat and succeed in her revenge.
The reason Lilliana had been able to obtain Black Cat was because she was the Master of the demonic sword Dekion.
The demonic sword Dekion had belonged to the Dark Emperor, Cartel. When he died, the demonic sword disappeared, but Lilliana obtained it and became Cartel’s successor.
When they confirmed that Lilliana was the successor, they swore their loyalty to her.
And now the demonic sword Dekion was in her hand.
‘First, I will obtain Black Cat.’
Looking at the remains of the letter that had burned away in the fire, Lilliana’s eyes flashed.
***
The next morning, Lilliana had breakfast with her family.
“Sister, you are not a picky eater anymore?”
Cedric admired the sight of Lilliana’s plate, which was cleanly empty without any food picked out.
“When I thought about it, all food is precious.”
In the past, she had been so hungry that she survived by even picking up crumbs that had fallen on the street. Before she gained power, she had always had to fight against hunger.
Perhaps because she had gone through such times, she could no longer casually be picky about food. So she ate everything she was given.
“Cedric, do you still pick out mushrooms?”
“Huh?”
When Cedric looked flustered, Duke Dayan laughed and said,
“Cedric still can’t eat mushrooms. I wonder when he will finally grow up.”
“But mushrooms have such a terrible texture. They are slimy, it feels like eating caterpillars.”
At those words, Lilliana chuckled.
“I fixed my picky eating, so you should fix yours quickly too.”
She smiled playfully and placed the mushrooms from her plate onto Cedric’s plate.
His expression was quite a sight. He looked like he would rather die than eat them.
“Hurry and eat.”
“Ugh…”
It was a meal filled with laughter.
After finishing the meal, Lilliana visited an old bookstore located in the market district.
It was a worn-out shop that sold old books.
The store wasn’t very large either. It was so small and shabby that one might pass by without even noticing it.
The owner of the old bookstore was a man in his forties with black hair.
When Lilliana opened the door and entered, the man greeted her with a gentle smile.
“Welcome.”
She returned the greeting with a kind smile.
“Are you looking for a specific book?”
“There is something I am looking for.”
Lilliana looked straight at the man.
“The book I am looking for is the Master of Black Cat, Jerdin.”
For a moment, the man’s eyes flashed sharply. But it was only for an instant.
“My, it seems you have come here by mistake. There is no such book.”
“Really? Did I come to the wrong place?”
With a faint smile, Lilliana poured mana into her bracelet. At once, a sword with a pitch-black blade appeared in her hand.
“…!”
The man’s presence changed.
“Who are you?”
