✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧
Translated by: Alina
Edited by: Vcubed
✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧
Without a second thought, I strode towards the door to leave the room.
“This worthless woman, do you think you’ll live well after this? Just wait until my son becomes the Emperor, you’ll regret today’s actions…”
“Your Majesty.”
Interrupting the Empress, I turned my head to gaze at her again.
“How do you think I would know about my brother’s misdeeds?”
“T-that’s…!”
The Empress seemed at a loss for words, her lips trembling, unable to speak.
‘Perhaps she suspects the close aides who know the secret?’
The Empress’s secret was likely known by the secretary, the chief of the guards, and perhaps a few others.
So, I added one more suspect to the list.
“It’s just gossip, Your Majesty. Medelin has quite the loose tongue.”
At my words, the Empress’s eyes widened.
“T-that’s impossible! What does my niece gain from spreading such rumors to you?”
I chuckled and replied, “I’m just sharing my experiences. Plus, I have no friends to talk to other than Medelin.”
I bowed to the pale-faced Empress.
“Your Majesty, please take care of yourself. We won’t have any reason to see each other again as I leave the palace.”
As I left the room, I heard the Empress’s screams followed by the sound of something breaking.
“Summon Medelin immediately!”
Suddenly, I remembered their previous interactions.
While they appeared to be closer than anyone else, they were merely eyeing each other for opportunities to exploit.
‘Let them doubt each other and fight it out.’
My uncle always benefited from cleaning up after Fritz. He not only gained material wealth but also knew the Empress’s weaknesses, so there was nothing to fear.
With quick hands, my uncle could hand over the Empress and Fritz to the rebels and beg for his life in return.
Their division was inevitable, and I simply accelerated the process.
✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧
Sitting on a bench outside the Empress’s palace, Medelin gritted her teeth unknowingly.
‘How dare someone like Cornelia…!’
Born as a princess higher in rank than herself, Cornelia was always the target of comparison for Medelin.
“Even though she’s her age, she still can’t compare to our daughter! Besides, that crow can’t even dance properly!”
Her parents always felt superior, comparing her to Cornelia, her cousin of the same age.
Even Cornelia’s mother, the Empress, favored Medelin over Cornelia.
“If you were my daughter, how wonderful it would be! People would have called my daughter a swan.”
At some point, Medelin developed a habit of comparing herself to Cornelia.
And she believed she was more worthy of the title “swan” than Cornelia.
Especially when she could humiliate Cornelia in front of their peers, it felt good to think she was the greatest woman among her peers.
However, lately, Cornelia, who had always been meek in front of her, was becoming bolder.
‘And now she dares to trample on me with her status?’
She wanted nothing more than to get rid of that crow immediately.
But she couldn’t act recklessly yet, as the Emperor still paid attention to Cornelia and Duke Blant.
Moreover, Cornelia still had some usefulness.
‘I heard that the land granted to Cornelia by the Emperor is connected to a diamond vein.’
At first glance, the land seemed ordinary, with nothing exceptional in terms of agricultural production.
But knowing its utility, Duke Arzen persuaded the Empress to take the land from Cornelia.
Initially, the Empress found the idea of bothering with such worthless land annoying, but she accepted Duke Arzen’s proposal to handle Fritz’s recent accident.
Now, obtaining that land was as easy as pie.
‘Yes, there’s no need to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs right now.’
Medelin twisted her mouth as she watched Cornelia coming out of the Empress’s palace, as if finishing their conversation.
‘I’ll deal with you any time the Emperor isn’t around…….’
Suddenly, their eyes met.
For some reason, Medelin felt her chilling smirk, making her skin crawl.
‘Why is she smiling like that? It’s so unsettling.’
Since she had already gained what she needed, there was no need to cater to the crow’s whims anymore.
‘I should just go ahead with the plan.’
With a smiling face, Medelin approached Cornelia and struck up a conversation.
“Isn’t it amazing how kind our dear Corny is?”
“What do you mean?”
“Giving away land for such a low price to a sister she’s not even close with. Honestly, I wouldn’t do that if I were her.”
Normally, Cornelia wouldn’t have wanted to give away the land.
But due to the Empress’s coercion, she must have had no choice, so her current expression was undoubtedly fake.
‘She’ll probably bite her lip in frustration.’
However, Medelin was surprised by Cornelia’s response.
“Ah, that? I didn’t sell it.”
“What? Why…?”
Stammering in confusion, Medelin looked at Cornelia incredulously.
“Why? Because it was below market price. Plus, why should I listen to you?”
Suddenly, Medelin grabbed Cornelia’s arm.
“Aunt trusted you so much, and you shouldn’t be doing this! It’s disrespectful!”
At that moment, Cornelia forcefully removed Medelin’s hand and spoke with a cold tone.
“I’m now the Duchess of Blant. I’ll have to pass that land down to my child someday, so I can’t dispose of it for less than market value, can I? Isn’t that right?”
Already angry from being pushed away, Medelin felt a surge of frustration at Cornelia’s words.
‘How dare she take the Duchess of Blant’s position from me… and now flaunt her pregnancy in front of me?’
Medelin’s gaze shifted to Cornelia’s belly.
‘Yes, while I may not be able to get rid of the crow yet, I can certainly eliminate her child with a small mistake.’
Seeing her confident expression, she must have let her guard down.
Just as Medelin was about to push Cornelia away, a commotion was heard.
“This is inappropriate!”
Despite the strong protest, the responding voice was as chillingly low as it was threatening.
“Move.”
Pushing aside the guards, someone approached quickly.
Upon recognizing him, Medelin’s cheeks turned red.
“Erich!”
It had been over 20 years since she last saw Erich Lennen Blant.
In her childhood, Medelin remembered his confession to her.
‘He shyly told me he had feelings for someone, didn’t he?
When Medelin asked who it was, Erich responded.
“You already know who it is. I’ll tell you soon.”
‘He must have been planning to confess to me, right?’
Although he suddenly asked Cornelia to dance at the ball, it was clearly a tactic to provoke her jealousy.
And when he returned from the war, his refusal to go near Cornelia and his kinder treatment of Medelin were evidence of his affection.
Now, he looked angry.
“What are you doing?”
His cold voice made Medelin smirk at Cornelia.
‘Let me remind you of your place. And find out who your man really wants.’
✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧
As we finished our argument and was about to leave, I twisted my mouth at the sight of Medelin staring at my belly.
‘I had a feeling, but it seems it’s true after all.’
Even though she was someone I disliked, I still understood her hatred towards me.
Even I would have been furious if the person I loved had been taken by Medelin.
So, I let some of her manipulative behavior and annoying antics slide.
But when it came to the child, it was a different matter altogether.
‘How dare she lay a hand on my child?’
Despite having the ability to retaliate against her for touching me earlier, I let it go.
As someone who had trained in swordsmanship for quite some time, she was an easy opponent for me.
But if she dared to harm my child, I was prepared to repay her tenfold.
‘Come at me if you dare.’
As I pondered over this, I furrowed my brows at the unexpected person I encountered in the palace.
‘No, what is this person doing here?’
The Erich Lennen Blant I knew couldn’t stand the palace after experiencing war.
So, seeing him here, walking in of his own accord, was honestly baffling.
