***
“Oh my, you did such a great job. See? If you put in the effort, you can do it.”
Lianne clapped her hands, complimenting me.
“Now you’re good at other things too!”
Not only I had mastered basic greetings, but I was learning etiquette thoroughly, including tea time, meals, and conversations.
“Next time, I’ll bring my niece. She’s around the same age as the princess, so it would be nice for you to have a conversation.”
She made all the decisions as if there was no chance of me refusing.
It seemed she was trying to push Serdin aside and bring her niece closer to me, just as she had distanced Monia from me and positioned herself as the closest person to me.
“From now on, you should be selective about who you meet. If you form bad connections, they will bring you harm.”
Lianne smiled sweetly at me.
“Don’t worry. I’ll tell you which people are helpful and which ones aren’t. Just trust me.”
“Hehe, thank you.”
“Princess, learning never ends. There’s still a lot I need to teach you. Shall we take a break if you’re tired?”
Lianne smiled softly, her eyes closing gently as she spoke, her smile meticulously crafted like an intricate piece of jewelry.
I mirrored her gesture, squinting my eyes softly, and said more clearly,
“It’s all thanks to you, Lianne. I’m so glad you’re teaching me!”
“Really? Then… it would be nice if I could keep staying with you, wouldn’t it?”
“Yes!”
“But things can’t stay like this forever.”
Lianne’s expression turned wistful as she lowered her gaze.
“Why? You can just come here every day like you do now.”
“Well, now that you’ve learned so much and are growing so well, there’s not much left for me to teach.”
“Does that mean you won’t be able to come if I learn everything?”
“That would mean my job is done.”
“Then we won’t see each other anymore?”
I widened my eyes dramatically, pretending to be shocked, and grabbed onto Lianne’s sleeve with a slight force.
Feeling that faint grip, Lianne looked down at my hand before showing a faint, downturned smile.
“Not right away, but soon, we will have to part ways.”
“Oh… I see.”
I made a show of my disappointment, pouting my lips and shuffling my feet while tapping the ground lightly.
“I feel sad too. But actually, there’s a way for us to stay together.”
Lianne began to subtly reveal what she truly wanted to say, like tempting a child with a sweet candy to follow her.
“Really? What is it?”
“I’ll tell you what you need to do.”
So, do I just need to follow this temptation?
As I looked at Lianne, waiting for her next words, her lips slowly parted.
“If you do exactly what I say, we can stay together.”
“Is that really true?”
“Of course.”
Lianne nodded, her eyes narrowing as she smiled at me when I eagerly asked again.
“Got it!”
“Then I won’t let you down, princess.”
With a satisfied smile, Lianne gently stroked the hairpin in my hair, the one she had given me.
It was a fake hairpin that looked exactly like the real one, so much so that even while looking at it and touching it, I couldn’t tell the difference.
The real hairpin was carefully stored deep in the drawer of my room.
***
Lianne returned from the palace, her steps light and soft as if she were walking on clouds. Her face exuded a relaxed confidence, as though she had everything she wanted in her hands.
“It looks like things went well.”
Duke Shanen, who had been waiting for her, spoke when he saw her.
“The sunset looks particularly beautiful today.”
“You must be in a good mood, talking about unnecessary things like sunsets. Does that mean I’ll hear the news I’ve been waiting for?”
Lianne’s smile became even more confident as her face took on a look of self-assurance.
“Now, we just need to drive the final nail when the Emperor returns.”
“Are you sure?”
“The Princess already can’t do without me. So, in the end, the Emperor will have no choice but to accept me.”
Duke Shanen clenched his fists with all his might to avoid shouting. A broad smile spread across his face, something he hadn’t shown in a long time.
“Good, well done. You’ve worked hard.”
“I told you not to worry. Now, I’ll head inside.”
Lianne was about to walk past the Duke when he stopped her.
“Lianne, you’re not Empress yet.”
Duke Shanen warned her, grabbing her arm.
“Don’t let your guard down until the job is completely finished.”
“It’s as good as done. The Princess is already in my hands.”
To her, the Duke’s concerns sounded like needless anxiety.
From the beginning, she had never expected the Emperor’s approval. As long as she could secure the position of Empress, she was confident that she could eventually establish her dignity, authority, and influence as the Empress.
With the Princess already under her control, Lianne’s future was clear.
***
Somewhere along the border of Ilnord, there was an underground auction house.
On the surface, they auctioned off expensive jewels and works of art, but underground, everything illegal yet coveted by everyone was up for sale.
The most secretive aspect of the place was that although the building had three floors above ground, no one knew how far the underground part extended.
That’s why it was colloquially called the underground auction house.
Although it wasn’t intentionally placed here, its location attracted people from various countries who came to do business.
But now, that grand place was in complete ruins.
Those who had survived had long fled, leaving only unrecognizable corpses behind.
Among the wreckage, a few managers and subordinates arrived, seemingly to assess the situation.
“Tsk. How did the building collapse?”
“We’re not entirely sure, but it seems like there was some sort of rampage.”
“What? Damn it… it just keeps getting worse.”
“What should we do?”
“What else? Check if there’s anything salvageable. If it was a rampage, it’s better to burn the place down and erase any traces.”
The manager kicked a corpse in front of him as he gave his orders.
‘What the hell is going on here? And what do they mean by rampage?’
Unbeknownst to them, someone was watching in secret.
When Hiel arrived at the underground auction house, the building was already in the process of collapsing.
People had panicked as the structure fell apart, not knowing where it had started, turning the scene into chaos.
So, he hid nearby and observed the situation.
As the number of fleeing people dwindled and the building completely collapsed, he noticed two familiar faces emerging from the wreckage.
It was definitely Delight and Zaire.
Why are those two here?
He was shocked and wanted to chase after them, but he lost sight of them.
“….Ugh.”
“Shut up. Even if you feel like you’re dying, don’t make a sound.”
Hiel whispered a warning into the ear of a man next to him who was coughing up blood in agony.
He furrowed his brow as he surveyed the situation again.
He should have chased after Delight as soon as he saw him coming out of the crumbling underground auction house.
But of all times, this guy had to crawl out right then.
He hadn’t fully transformed into a human and was covered in blood from head to toe.
‘I should have just ignored him.’
But if he left him like that, he would surely die. Or maybe someone would come and finish him off.
‘Radon. I always run into this bastard when my luck is at its worst.’
Radon was a pure-blooded wolf beastman who looked down on Hiel, calling him a mongrel.
Hiel hated him deeply.
Yet, seeing him on the verge of death, he couldn’t bring himself to just ignore him.
Because of that, he couldn’t follow Delight right away, and now he had no idea where he had gone or what had happened.
‘How am I going to find Delight again?’
On top of that, there seemed to be more problems.
He wasn’t sure, but there were likely other wolf beastmen inside.
Most of them had already lost their lives, and it seemed this one was the only one barely clinging to life.
“When you’re feeling better, you’ll have to explain everything to me.”
Hiel frowned deeply as he glared at Radon before turning his head away.
Suppressing his worries and fears, Hiel continued watching the situation until all the sounds of life had disappeared.
***
“Achoo!”
The morning air is definitely a bit chilly.
As soon as I opened the window, a cold breeze hit my face, making me sneeze.
“Whew. Let’s see.”
I reached out through the gap in the window and found a small note.
– It seems like it’s going to take a bit longer. –
That was the entire message.
“Hiel is taking longer than expected.”
Hiel, who had gone to check the underground auction house, still hadn’t returned.
And there was still no news about Delight, whom I had asked him to look into.
Lianne was starting to reveal her true colors.
I could feel the atmosphere in the palace slowly shifting as everyone began to be conscious of Lianne.
It was around that moment…
Monia came running in, her face flushed with excitement.
“Monia! Good morning!”
“Yes, Princess. Good morning! But more importantly, do you know what news I just heard?”
Monia, who had rushed in so urgently, smiled at my greeting as if out of habit before remembering what she had come to say. She was so excited she could barely catch her breath.
“Don’t be surprised.”
“Hm?”
“The Emperor is finally returning!”
It was the news I had been waiting for ever since Delight left.
“…Really?”
“Yes! He’ll be here in three days. How long has it been!”
Despite that, the news felt like it had come out of nowhere.
Finally, Delight was returning.
