Juno sighed while Hebe continued to tease her as soon as they left.
“I told you so. You’re too nice.”
“All right, I get it,” she said.
Tugging Juno’s hand, Hebe asked, “Well? She was very polite.”
Juno wasn’t surprised. I thought you’d be like Lilith. However, except for her hair color and eye color, Lily hardly resembled Lilith. Lily’s personality was too polite. She was a child who was used to reading in her room. I should’ve known instantly she wasn’t my father’s child. Juno shouldn’t have believed her father or Lilith treated that child kindly.
“I was reminded of what I used to be.”
“You’re still going to do what you said.”
“Yes.” It was unfortunate, but Juno wasn’t willing to change her mind.
“Why are you heading to the workshop?”
“Weren’t you going to keep teasing me?”
“I’m going to tell Master.”
“Hebe.”
He nodded. “Fine!”
When they arrived at the workshop, Peter turned to look at them.
“Teacher.”
“How was it? The girl.”
Juno sighed. She wanted to talk about something else.
Hebe spoke on Juno’s behalf. “Mother doesn’t mind her.”
“Hebe.” Juno glanced at him.
He smiled at Peter. “I’ll stop talking now!”
“In any case, you’re going to proceed as planned.”
“Yes,” Juno replied.
“Do whatever you want. John left a letter, by the way.” Peter pointed to an envelope on the desk.
Juno knew who the sender was. She heard someone was waiting for her. “It’s from Prince Argos.” She opened the letter and read its contents. It contained information about Lily. “Not bad.”
Hebe approached Juno. “He found out a lot.”
“He did.”
“Are you going to meet with him again?”
It was convenient to have him come to the mansion, but she couldn’t do that right now. Juno shook her head. “Lily’s here now.” It would be difficult to handle private matters in this residence for a while because Juno didn’t know if Lily could keep a secret.
Hebe asked, “Who will accompany you?”
“I will.”
“John?”
John entered the workshop and closed the door. “I escorted Miss Lily to her room. Currently, I believe she’s crying to herself.”
“…I see. Let’s go together then.”
John didn’t add anything more to his report. “At what time?”
“Wouldn’t you want it to be as soon as possible?”
“Understood.”
Juno pushed Lily to the back of her mind and began to focus on her research. She had more important things to care about than a child.
***
Juno was surprised as she sat across from Argos. “Her Majesty isn’t on your side.”
“I wish to work independently from my mother.”
Juno smiled. He truly was a better choice than the crown prince. The empress is no different from the emperor. If the emperor was driven by love, then the empress was driven by revenge and resentment toward her husband. One of the reasons Argos hadn’t killed the crown prince was because of the empress. While the crown prince caused a lot of trouble, the empress also has problems. Juno didn’t know what he thought of her silence, but Argos continued to speak.
“I cannot follow my mother all the time. If you approached me because of her—”
“I know. As an adult, you must do things alone.” Juno nodded at John who handed Argos a stack of papers. “So, it’s true she’s your brother’s child.”
After skimming through the documents, Argos placed them aside on a table. “Yes.”
Once Juno learned of Lily’s identity from the emperor, Juno began to investigate Marquis Trish. The emperor wasn’t lying.
“Did my brother actually attend one of the marquis’s parties, got drunk, and took Miss Lilith to bed?”
“The two drunks agreed to do it.”
“Do you mean to say he didn’t force her?”
Juno also thought the crown prince couldn’t control his lust; however, that wasn’t the case. “One of the servants saw them. They were passionately moaning each other’s names.”
“Oh.”
Juno recalled the balls her father hosted in order to stand his ground against the branch families. She wasn’t there, no, wasn’t allowed to be there, but House Trish held an extravagant ball once a month. It happened during one of those events. There was also a problem. Some servants found out because the door wasn’t properly closed. Naturally, Marquis Robert heard about it.
“My father covered it up. Unfortunately, as the child grows older, she’ll look more like the crown prince.”
“That was also something I noticed,” Argos said.
Juno remembered Lily’s face. If Lily had a debutante ball, everyone would’ve mocked her behind her back. “She reminds me of the crown prince when he was a child.”
“…Yet she hasn’t entered high society?”
Of course, there was a good reason. Lily’s mother was a mistress, and she was a girl. It wasn’t necessary; Lily also didn’t ask to debut in the social world.
“My father didn’t give her the family surname, but I’m sure he was more worried about her resemblance to the crown prince. Then again, how many people remember the crown prince as a child?”
“Even in House Trish are there power struggles.”
“Indeed.”
Even if her father realized Lily wasn’t his child until later, he wouldn’t have been able to do much. After Jupiter disappeared, the branch families still threatened the marquis. And since Juno’s right of inheritance was taken away, Lily couldn’t be revealed as someone else’s child. However, her existence wasn’t a complete waste to him.
The emperor and the crown prince began to support Marquis Robert, so he was able to maintain his position. In any case, Juno had more than one reason to deal with them.
“Are you going to use her?” Argos asked.
“Yes.”
“…Don’t you pity her?”
Juno did feel sorry for her. Lily was innocent. Shrugging, Juno said, “Sure, but if the crown prince takes the throne, the whole empire will be more pitiful.”
“What?”
“The crown prince is a lost cause. I also hate him.” Juno’s feelings couldn’t be truly expressed with a mere statement of dislike. She smiled. “If he becomes emperor, I plan to leave the country.”
Juno tilted her head to the side, watching Argos, who had recently turned twenty-five, blink. She thought it was necessary to establish her position and influence as Countess Sergien.
“There are other places that want an alchemist. If you lose me, the empire won’t be what is now.”
“Did something happen between you and my brother?”
“Wasn’t it the crown prince who started that little war in the first place?”
“That’s…”
He seemed to know what happened. Not to mention, wasn’t it around the time the crown prince said he became impotent? It was hard to say. Maybe that’s why His Majesty cares so much about Lily.
Juno sneered. “It was thanks to me we didn’t suffer major casualties. Of course, you must be aware other countries won’t like it if the crown prince becomes emperor, right?”
The Kingdom of Darnan was not the only country that despised the crown prince. Only the emperor wanted his first-born son to ascend the throne.
“I’ll help you from the shadows,” Juno said.
“Why not just publicly announce it?”
“It’s for the best.” Juno also knew if she openly supported Argos or other nobles, things would go a lot smoother more quickly. “I don’t want to be the center of attention. I already get enough of that.”
Juno wanted to focus on Jupiter’s recovery. She was motivated enough to help stage a coup, but Jupiter was her highest priority. The extent to which she could help Argos, who was a better candidate for emperor, was limited by the amount of time available to her.
“…You don’t believe you can fail.”
“Isn’t it obvious? If you side with me, Your Highness, the throne will be yours.”
Juno Sergien was the emperor’s sharpest sword and strongest shield. The moment he lost that, it was over. Things were going all according to plan.
