Evelina did not trust her aide. She had nothing she could count on now. At least, the enormous wealth that came from Kaiden’s permission and Ianathas, who she had grown up with, were all.
Her adoptive parents weren’t able to meet her right now, and they were powerless. So she pretended to be interested in her aide’s words but didn’t believe them at all.
“I’m curious.”
The chief aide took one look at the door and said. As if confirming that it was Evelina and him alone in the room.
“It seems that the criminal is trying to undermine the power of Your Majesty.”
“What’s the reason?”
“I can’t… tell you why even if I know the reason. It’s so scary to be profane.”
Evelina smiled as he avoided his eyes in fear. Because the culprit he predicted and the culprit she predicted were so obvious and the same.
“But I guess that the motive for this is related to your authority.”
“So what the senior aide implying is that they are the one who wants this to be a mistake, right?”
“Yes, it is.”
Evelina thought it was difficult to get the chief aide too close to her. She didn’t know which side he was on, but it was difficult to be completely her person.
She was gonna die in two weeks.
She wanted to minimize the sacrifice. She accepted the throne in the first place because she wanted to save her adoptive parents, not kill anyone.
“Then what method are you going to use?”
“We wait at night and catch someone who swaps documents. I’m good at staying up all night. Can I hide in the closet over there?”
Evelina smiled unconsciously at the words of the senior aide.
“Don’t do that, write it twice.”
“Yes? How?”
“After writing it twice, let’s deliver one to the only person we can trust, and send the rest as it was.”
“Ah…”
“Then I’ll contact the place where I received the copy after the document was properly sent.”
“Oh, then you know who changed it!”
“Yes, it is.”
That was the plan. Prepare two of the same documents. And after sending it to an institution secretly, the next day, they sign off on the document pretending not to send it.
Then the person who wants to manipulate the document will manipulate it and send it to the institution. Then the institution will contact her to confirm that she sent the wrong document. She won’t be contacted if they receive the same document.
Evelina smiled and said, staring at the senior aide.
“Thank you. Thanks to you, I found a solution.”
“I didn’t do anything.”
“Thanks to the aide, I found a way. Thank you.”
When she said so, the chief aide soon went to prepare the documents to produce the same way.
That way, Evelina was able to set a trap with her senior aide.
~~~~
“We’re all set.”
Ianathas visited Evelina’s room at the Marquis of Logias at dawn.
It was still the way when she stayed there. Pink wallpaper, white bed, and clean canopy. From the ceiling with the family crest embroidered with gold thread to the Skyy sheet.
Her favorite art nouveau-style paintings were hung there. In addition, there were many works of artists who could not be obtained even if they were paid.
It’s like a place where she can come back anytime. It was so organized.
“Is there nothing to worry about?”
With a sigh, the Marquis of Logias swept the book that Evelina had left behind with his palm. It was a room that looked as if she had gone out for a moment, but only the Marquis of Logias looked like a dog left alone.
“There won’t be. The preparations are all perfect
“Did the emperor allow Lina that much money?”
“Yeah. Maybe next week, I’ll be able to repay it with my slush fund.”
At Ianathas’ words, the Marquis of Logias said, lowering his head.
“What happened to the medicine?”
“She’s taking her medicine regularly.”
“That’s a relief.”
With the sighing voice of the Marquis of Logias, Ianathas clenched his fist unconsciously.
After such a long silence, Ianathas finished the delivery and snuck back to his mansion.
~~~~
“Huh.”
The Dowager Empress entered the room of Princess Elsius first.
“Even if you are my grandmother, it’s rude to come to my room this way.”
As Elsius entered, speaking annoyedly, the Dowager Empress crossed her legs and stared at her.
“How dare you act as a double agent?”
“What kind of nonsense is that about? Are you senile or something?”
Elsius didn’t hide her words from the Dowager Empress, perhaps because she decided not to be polite at all when they were alone. She was now fully released from custody. If so, there was nothing to be afraid of the Dowager Empress. In addition, the Dowager Empress repeatedly offended the Emperor.
However, Elsius was amazed that the cats, which were the size of the house of the Dowager Empress, were still alive.
If it was Kaiden’s original character, he would have brought a gun, hunted it himself, and given it to his grandmother. No, that wouldn’t be how he’d end it. He would have skinned the cats and told his grandmother to wear them every day.
But it stopped as a warning.
Elsius thought that her brother had changed a little. Even though their blood was only half the same, he was still the son of the previous emperor.
The reason why the emperor couldn’t help it even after he appointed Kaiden as the Crown Prince was because he was afraid. Kaiden’s brutal nature, the undefeated myth, and the ferocious yet man-handling charisma.
Because of all that, the previous emperor couldn’t deal with Kaiden, who he thought was a thorn on his side.
But what a warning.
Only.
Warning.
Elsius began to feel that the Queen was a real danger, and so was the Dowager Empress. So she knew that the Queen would endure even if she treated her like this.
This was not the time to fight and divide one another. They were facing an opponent who she didn’t know if she could win even if the two of them worked together.
“A spoiled bitch.”
The Dowager Empress responded and made a chin gesture to Elsius as if to sit down. Elsius laughed at the Dowager Empress and sat across from her.
“How dare you betray me? Don’t you know that you don’t know that you’re trying to get attached to the Queen?”
“I was going to, but I changed my mind.”
Elsius spoke frankly.
“The situation was worse than I thought.”
At the words of the Princess, the Dowager Empress still looked at her suspiciously.
“Here you go.”
As if she had no choice, the princess handed her mother’s ring to the queen and said,
“Give it back when this is over. I’ll leave this to you until you drive out the Queen.”
Dowager Empress received the ring, still doubting what the madwoman was doing. Then she began to check if the ring was real. If so, it was a ring that became a real keepsake of the former Empress. The one worn by the mother of Elsius.
“Hmm. Do you think I will forgive you for this?”
“I know you came here to ally, not forgiveness. So you must have come this far. Leading your heavy ass.”
“What!”
Elsius mocked the body of the Dowager Empress. She knew very well how to upset the Dowager Empress. But this wasn’t the time to fight.
“It’s a joke.”
“Well.”
The Dowager Empress looked at her, holding back her anger without realizing it. If the ring was real, this time it would be trying to ally. No one didn’t know how much Princess Elsius cared for her mother’s belongings.
“I’ve got my hands on it. First of all, let’s solve the issue of the Queen and her having the power of the empress.”
“Hmm. I’ve already taken care of that too.”
“How?”
“You’ll see when you see it. You just need to help whenever my servants ask you to help. That’s all you have to do. What can I leave to a stupid girl like you?”
“You’re here to leave it to me. And one thing that won’t ruin your trust in my brother. I prepared something else.”
Princess Elsius looked disgustingly at the Dowager Empress’ hand with the ring she took from her.
The ring was an imitation. However, the jewelry and the attitude of gold were real. There was no way that Princess Elsius would give the keepsake that she thought was her life to the most hated Dowager Empress.
“Your Majesty the Empress Dowager be careful not to step on your tail. Because my brother has good senses.”
“Hmm. You be careful. If I’m stupid like you, I’ll get caught every time. If I get caught again this time, I won’t help you.”
The Dowager Empress rose from her seat and left after saying the main point. Since she came to confirm the alliance, there was nothing more to do with the Princess.
~~~~
“I want to sleep with you in bed.”
Evelina, who had been waiting for Kaiden to return at dawn, spoke. He opened the bedroom door so quietly that Evelina would not have known who had entered if it hadn’t been for the rustling sound he made as he undressed.
“Why weren’t you sleeping?”
Evelina was waiting for him without taking sleeping pills. She got out of bed watching him naturally go to the sofa again.
“Let’s sleep together. The bed is so big that I don’t want to lie down alone.”
She said that for the rest of the two weeks, to make him trust her completely. Like a girl who’s been waiting for her lover for a long time.
“You shouldn’t say such dangerous things at dawn.”
“Why is it dangerous? Are you going to do something dangerous?”
“…No.”
He bowed his head and replied with a sigh. She looked at his strangely red ears in the dark and decided not to let her guard down.
“Come here.”
“I haven’t washed up yet.”
“Don’t wash up and go to sleep. I want to smell the scent from Kaiden.”
She laughed, recalling that his body scent was quite fragrant. It seems that he didn’t wear perfume these days.
So she led him to bed. Lying next to him, she dug into his chest.
Evelina looked at him, thinking that if he could stop suspecting her, he might give her his body.
