Chapter 4.4

“What? What do you mean by that?”  

Even before the door opened, Sally’s anxious voice drifted in from outside. When I, startled, flung the door open, I saw Sally, with Leo on her back, facing a couple who appeared to be husband and wife.

“What are you doing in our house?”

“What do you mean? This is our house.”

“Sally, what’s going on?”

“Well, miss, these people say this is their house…”

At that moment, the man dug through his bag and produced a document. It proved the house was in his name. The owner, who had been away for two years due to personal circumstances, had returned—meaning we were being evicted. The paperwork I had was, of course, fake.

I sent Sally out to look for the broker, but, as expected, he’d already disappeared.  

Like so many naïve people who move to another country, we had been scammed.

If the kindhearted couple hadn’t taken pity on our situation and granted us a few days’ grace, we would have been out on the street immediately.  

It was, without question, the most desperate moment I’d faced since falling into this world.

Now, there were two people relying on me. After a night of agonizing thought, I decided to go to Duke Henry Kabyl on my own.

“Sally, I’ll be back.”

“Yes, you have to succeed.”

As I left for the duke’s mansion, silently cursing my past self for my blunt honesty, I climbed into the carriage. Wearing the biggest job-interview smile I could muster, I soon stood before him.

“So, you’re homeless, is that it?”

Damn.

“Haha, so you already knew.”

Of course he’d know. All official documents within the Kabyl estate come from the ducal house, and the coachman who drove me yesterday would have reported everything to the duke.

“So?”

“I’m here to ask if your offer from yesterday still stands.”

He slowly got up from his seat, came right up to me, and stared intently. Then, pinching with his thumb and forefinger, he plucked a white thread from my shoulder.

“About yesterday’s offer… Wasn’t that the one where you criticized my language—neither formal nor informal, rather childish? Is that what you mean?”

Forcing my lips into a trembling smile, I answered,  

“When you’re in a certain position, that kind of speech is quite natural.”

“Ah, is that so?”

He nodded toward the table, then sat first on the sofa and poured tea into the cup set before me.

“Tell me why I should hire you.”

Trying not to show my dismay, I bit down on the soft flesh inside my cheek. This man seemed like a different person from the one yesterday.

“Thirty seconds.”

“Um, well… I’m very competent at work, decisive, and rather meticulous too.”

“Fifteen seconds.”

“And… I’m actually happy to work late into the night.”

“Five seconds.”

“I’ll be an indispensable asset to House Henry Kabyl. If you hire me, I’ll truly give my all.”

It was the same final pitch I’d once given to the interviewers at Daegun’s final interview. And Henry Kabyl’s face—

‘He’s definitely suppressing a laugh, right?’

But he promptly wiped the smile away.

“Your terms?”

“Please let my family stay in the annex with me.”

“You said you have a child?”

“…Yes. I’ll take half the salary you mentioned yesterday. Then Sally can also live-in, as she does now. The child is very well-behaved.”

Which was, frankly, a lie. Our Leo was anything but calm.

“I saw your identification.”

I swallowed hard.

“It’s flawless. Almost as if someone made it specially for you.”

At this, I felt I should reveal a bit more of myself.

“Yes, as you might suspect, I have my circumstances. But it’s personal—nothing criminal, nothing that would ever harm you or this estate.”

He fiddled with the teacup’s handle.

“Are you from Quinze-Nouais?”

“…”

“Well, I suppose I don’t need to know about that. The chamberlain will help with the paperwork. You can move in tomorrow.”

With the duke’s permission, I finally let out a sigh of relief. Luckily, we were able to move into the ducal estate more easily than I expected.

Thus began the strange cohabitation between my family and Duke Henry Kabyl.

In fact, living conditions here were much better.

I basically became his personal secretary.

Women couldn’t officially be assistants in this empire, so he couldn’t give me that title, but the actual work was quite decent.

I organized his tasks and cleared the backlog of paperwork.

He even hired a maid to help care for my child so I could focus completely on my work.  

With housing and childcare all included, it was practically workplace welfare at a major corporation.

And before long, every task in the house that required a woman’s touch passed through my hands.

On nights when the child cried, I worried he—being sensitive—would lose sleep, but, curiously enough, he never said a word.

 

***

 

Adrian swiftly reorganized the personnel system of the imperial palace.

It was possible that bloodshed might once again sweep through the palace, now bereft of its master. But he could no longer endure these sleepless nights. Tonight, especially, was unbearable. He fixed his gaze on the clear liquid that shimmered before his eyes, calling to him like temptation itself.

If he drained it in one gulp, at last, the nightmares that tormented him, the gnawing pain in his chest, and the suffocating longing would all vanish. His hand brushed over the letter he had received from her at the restaurant.

There was no need to continue living a life filled only with suffering.

Since childhood, Adrian had been exposed to poison; ordinary toxins could not end his life. This was the deadliest of poisons—one said to bring excruciating pain. Yet Adrian was convinced that the agony it inflicted would not surpass what he already felt.

He had obtained this poison two years ago. Tonight, he would go to Claire.

Adrian raised the cup and stared into the rippling liquid. Within it, he saw Claire. His trembling hand blurred her face, and he cursed the weakness of it. He tried to still the tremor, to see her clearly again.

Perhaps his effort was not in vain, for the girl within the cup smiled radiantly at him.

Come quickly, Adrian. Come quickly.

“Yes, Claire. Don’t forgive me. No—please, forgive me.”

Aurelian, Emperor of Quinze-Nouais, smiled faintly and lifted the cup to his lips without hesitation. He was about to drain it in one draft.

But then—the door burst open without permission, and someone hurled a short sword straight at him.

“—Kh!”

The blade did not aim for the Emperor’s neck, but the cup of poison. Yet some of the liquid had already slipped into Adrian’s mouth. His face contorted in agony, and blood spilled from his lips.

Eyes wide, Adrian pulled the sword from Owen’s side and leveled it against his throat. Owen, struck by his own dagger, stared at the shattered cup scattered on the floor.

“How dare you block the Emperor’s chosen path?”

“Your Majesty—”

“How dare you interfere with the time your Emperor has ordained? Do you mean to leave me with such dishonor? Owen… what on earth—”

“She lives.”

“What?”

Adrian pressed the blade harder against Owen’s neck.

“Lady Claire Ianster—Lady Claire is alive.”

“What… did you say?”

After returning to the palace with Adrian, Owen had gone back to the restaurant. At first, it was not the owner’s daughter, Brianna, who confirmed the truth.

“What do you mean, Owen? If you dare lie to me—even you—”

“She is… she is in the Eastern Continent. I do not know exactly where. But she lives.”

Adrian could not believe it. That she was in the East? Wiping the blood from his lips, Adrian withdrew the sword from Owen’s neck.

“Explain everything in detail.”

“Do you remember the restaurant you visited last time? The one with Lady Claire’s note?”

“Yes.”

“The daughter of that house met Lady Claire in the East.”

Adrian closed his eyes. When he opened them again, his gaze was no longer the same.

“The daughter?”

“Yes. A woman named Brianna.”

“Lead me. I will meet her myself.”

When Adrian returned to the restaurant, Brianna was sitting alone inside.

She had expected the Emperor would come. The man she had seen that day had looked unmistakably like one who had lost his beloved.

But Brianna had to protect Lady Taylor. She could not flee with her whole family from this place.

The Emperor wasted no time pressing her the moment he entered.

“Explain.”

She calmly began weaving lies.

“I do not know anyone named Claire Ianster.”

“……”

“And the woman I am about to speak of—I do not know her name either. But since Sir Owen said the money I have been using belonged to her, I realized the person you spoke of must be the same woman I met.”

Since Brianna would not speak, Owen had investigated her. He had discovered something strange: a woman who suddenly returned from the East with a great deal of money. Following her trail, he found an account under a false name into which Claire Ianster’s typewriter royalties were being deposited.

At her words, Adrian swayed, almost faint, and sank into a chair. Brianna continued with her prepared story.

“When I was fleeing to Quinze-Nouais after being beaten nearly to death by my husband in the East…”

“Why did you marry an Easterner?”

“I had too many brothers. My family could not afford a dowry. So I was sold, given money, and sent to the East.”

“Go on.”

“I had no money when I reached the port. There, I met a woman. She had a maid named Sally with her. But she never told me her name.”

Adrian remembered that maid. Sally’s name lent her story credibility.

“And then?”

“Seeing my condition, she pitied me. She paid my passage in my stead, told me of an account I could draw upon once I reached Quinze-Nouais, and said I could use it. She must have thought to help a fellow countrywoman in a foreign land. She was very kind. She also said that money was no longer needed by her.”

Brianna never imagined the Emperor would believe everything she said.

But Adrian believed her. Claire would have helped this battered woman. He could even picture the scene at the port.

“I then came straight to Quinze-Nouais. I do not know where she went afterward.”

“What was her hair color? Her eyes?”

“Hair as dark as the night sky, and eyes of beautiful violet.”

Adrian buried his face in his hands. She was alive. Claire’s body had never been found. In the end, she had escaped.

Brianna stared blankly at the tears slipping through the Emperor’s fingers. She was no longer sure if lying had been the right choice. But she had a duty to protect Lady Taylor. Even if she paid with her life for this falsehood, so be it.

 

***

 

I swallowed down the curses rising in my throat and looked at Duke Henry Kabyl.

“Your Grace, you seem to be in good spirits these days.”

“Yes, very much so.”

He was, surprisingly, an exceedingly polite man. Since I had begun working in his household, he had addressed me with strict honorifics. That alone was highly satisfying.

At that moment, Leo came into the study.

The first time Leo had barged in, I had panicked. But the notoriously finicky Henry Kabyl showed no irritation toward the boy. Even when Leo scrambled into his lap, he left him be.

One day, he even quietly held the child in his arms while working.

At first I scolded Leo in horror, but he knew. The Duke would fumble through his pockets and hand him candy.

By now, I had grown accustomed to seeing the boy in the study—it felt strangely natural.

Leo ran from my arms to the Duke’s lap, and then off to the maid who came to fetch him.

I had to admit, this was a good place to raise a child.

Leo’s beautiful face bewitched everyone in the ducal estate. Wherever he went, people doted on him. He was always near me, so he felt comfortable and happy. Several seasons passed like this.

But still—this wasn’t right.

“Your Grace, this violates labor law.”

At the unfamiliar term, the Duke finally lifted his eyes from the papers to look at me.

“Labor law? What is that?”

“There is such a thing. Do you even realize what time it is now?”

“Ah, my apologies. I lost track of time in my work…”

Han Hyuntaek. This was just like him—once focused, he would keep his secretaries late, heedless of the hour. That apologetic face without a shred of guilt—it was identical.

“You may go back now.”

Though he occasionally said socially clumsy things, he was a fairly reasonable man. Truthfully, working for him wasn’t too hard.

I was gathering my things to return to the annex when—

“Your Grace.”

Gary, the usually composed chamberlain, appeared unusually flustered.

“What is it?”

“Viscount Joseph Kabyl is here, downstairs.”

“Show him to the parlor.”

“It’s just that…”

The name Kabyl startled me. I had heard Henry Kabyl had no surviving family. Judging from the mood, this was not a welcome visitor. Henry Kabyl sighed, almost resigned, his face once again showing the exhaustion I had first seen.

He rose without a word and left the study.

“What is it? Who is this Viscount Joseph Kabyl?”

I caught the chamberlain’s sleeve as he tried to follow Duke Henry Kabyl outside.  

“That’s the duke’s uncle. He comes regularly and makes a scene, you could say.”  

“What, he just shows up and causes trouble? It’s not even an ancestor’s memorial day.”  

“Memorial day?”  

“Oh, I mean the anniversary of death.”  

The chamberlain gave me a look that said he half-understood, half-didn’t, and walked with me out of the study. But before we could even reach the staircase to the first floor, a strong, commanding old man’s voice rang out.  

“So, life must be treating you well these days. You’re looking quite healthy.”  

I nodded to myself. Indeed, the duke’s face had been looking better lately.  

“I hear you’ve taken in a woman. And not only that, but you even dragged along a brat whose father is unknown?”  

What a man!  

“Mind your words.”  

Through my ears, turning hot with anger, I caught Henry Kabyl’s cold reply.  

“Mind my words? You dare tell me that after devouring this family whole? My mother fainted at the sight of you. She said she couldn’t bear to look at you, that you should be cast out.”  

I thought to myself: why on earth does Henry Kabyl endure such nonsense in silence? A man who always says whatever comes to mind otherwise. And Chamberlain Gary didn’t step in either.  

“Why does he act like that?” I asked.  

“He resents the duke for inheriting the title. He’s been like this ever since the duke was a child,” Gary explained.  

Again came the personal attacks.  

“Your mother died giving birth to you. And your father—you devoured him as well. Your fine brothers, you sent them all to war, had them killed, and now only you survive with that pretty face, parading around as duke…”  

I looked at the shadowed face of the duke. He wore the same expression as Leo, whenever he knew he shouldn’t do something but got caught anyway.  

Anger boiled inside me, but I decided it wasn’t my place to meddle in another family’s affairs. Until—  

“In the end, you even killed your wife. That’s the sort of man you are. And now you drag into this family some low-born woman with a child in tow!”  

That was too much. The instant I realized I had found his Achilles’ heel, my feet carried me forward.  

“Excuse me.”  

“What is this thing? Ah, so you’re the wench with a child he brought in.”  

“Do you think words are just words, Lord? I’ve tolerated enough, but no more. I’m not some wench with a child. I’m Lady Tess Taylor. You had better choose your words more carefully.”  

“Well, well. Quite a saucy woman you’ve brought here.”  

I instantly knew what kind of person he was: a real nuisance, nothing more, nothing less. A man who insulted others to hide his own incompetence, dripping with victimhood and paranoia.  

“Yes, yes, let’s say I’m saucy. Then what are you? Do you even know where you are? What exactly did you come here to tell your nephew today?”  

“What?”  

“Let’s go through this step by step. It’s true, I feel sorry that all of his family passed away. But none of it was his fault. His father’s accident, his mother’s illness, his brothers dying in war, his wife’s frail health—none of that was his doing. Tell me, is there even one single thing among these tragedies that the duke himself caused? Just one?”  

“What do you know, meddling in another family’s affairs?”  

“What don’t I know? Then tell me, what did you do, Lord, while all this sorrow befell this household? What was your role in all of it?”  

“No matter what you say, all of this is because of him. Because he’s a demon.”  

I turned to the duke.  

“You’ve been listening to this all your life? A man as rational as you, reduced to silence before words like these?”  

Then I turned back to the lord.  

“No, if you ask me, the real demon here is you. Instead of helping your grieving nephew, you’ve brainwashed a child into thinking he was guilty for everything. That makes you the demon. So tell me, what is it you really want? You wanted the ducal title for yourself, didn’t you? And since you didn’t get it, you come here and throw tantrums. You ought to be ashamed.”  

The lord’s face changed color again and again. Finally, he raised a hand like a fat toad ready to strike me. I thought, ‘Great, I stuck my nose where it didn’t belong, now I’ll get slapped.’ But at that moment Henry Kabyl grabbed his uncle’s arm.  

“How dare you… Do not lay a hand on her.”  

And the one most surprised by this was not the lord, but Chamberlain Gary.  

The duke, who usually seemed fearless and overbearing, always shrank before this uncle, like a ten-year-old boy. Gary knew well that Henry Kabyl had long ago absorbed his uncle’s senseless accusations as his own guilt. He carried an immense burden of debt to his family. It was his true Achilles’ heel.  

But now, he was blocking his uncle’s arm. No wonder Gary was shocked.  

“I said, do not lay a hand on her.”  

The strength drained from the lord’s arm.  

“You… you wretch…!”  

But faced with the duke’s force, he could say no more, and stormed out of the mansion in a rage.  

No one went to see him off. He always came suddenly like this and left with a fistful of money or valuables. This time, he left empty-handed.  

I bowed deeply to Henry Kabyl.  

“I’m sorry. I was rash. I meant to hold my tongue, but I couldn’t stand him insulting everyone for no reason.”  

I fully expected him to scold me for meddling, for not knowing my place. But he said nothing. Gary quickly stepped between us.  

“You must be shaken. Allow me to escort you back to the annex.”  

“Oh, I’d appreciate that.”  

“No. I’ll escort her.”  

Before I could finish my reply to Gary, the duke himself strode toward the door. I quietly followed him. He walked unusually slowly, and the air between us was thick with awkwardness.  

“I… I overstepped. I’m sorry.”  

He gave no reply.  

“If you decide to expel us from the annex because of this, I won’t hold it against you.”  

At that, he stopped in his tracks and turned sharply toward me.  

“What?”  

“Pardon?”  

“Why would you… leave?”  

“Well, of course, I won’t be living here forever…”  

He looked genuinely shocked, as if hearing this for the first time. But then quickly schooled his expression.  

“That won’t happen. And you have nothing to apologize for. He insulted you and Leo, did he not?”  

“Well… I’m glad to hear that.”  

“On the contrary…”  

“On the contrary?”  

“I should be thanking you.”  

This time I froze in place.  

“Yes. Thank you. No one has ever spoken to me like that before. I thought it was all natural, inevitable. Looking back, I realized—I’m the only one left here. So I took all the blame upon myself. In a way, it was easier to believe it was all my fault.”  

“But—”  

“Yes, you’re right. I know. It wasn’t my fault. My mother didn’t die giving birth to me—she lived three years more. I can’t quite remember her face, but sometimes I see her eyes in dreams. They were warm.”  

“Of course.”  

“And my brothers, when they left for war, felt terribly sorry. They said they were placing too heavy a burden on me, a child.”  

I stepped closer and placed my hand on his back, patting gently. His body curved inward slightly.  

“But I forgot all of that. I convinced myself I wasn’t allowed to be happy. But now I remember. My family wanted nothing more than for me to live well.”  

I kept patting his back, as if comforting a child.  

“Yes. From here on, everything will be all right.”  

I knew how irresponsible those words were. He had lost too many people he loved. But in that moment, it was the only thing I could say. I truly believed this lonely, prickly man would one day see flowers bloom in his life.  

 

***

 

At the dining hall, when Adrian heard that Claire was still alive, he abandoned the thought of dying.  

“Owen, may I go to her?”  

“Of course, Your Majesty.”  

“Will it really be all right? Do I deserve it?”  

“Yes, sire. Seek her. Live for it with all you have. I will help you.”  

‘If only by that strength, by that hope, live, my emperor.’

Even if they met again, he could not force her. The boy who once bound her in the name of vengeance no longer existed.  

“But still, you went too far, Your Majesty.”  

Owen grumbled.  

“How could you… not even leave me a farewell note? What am I supposed to do, how am I supposed to live on…?”  

For the first time, Adrian stepped forward and patted Owen’s back.  

The emperor’s unexpected gesture startled him so much he broke into sudden hiccups. Awkward for both the one giving comfort and the one receiving it.

 

***

 

Celine was trembling in her father’s study, shaken by the news he had brought back from today’s council meeting.  

“What did His Majesty say, Father?”  

At that day’s state council, Emperor Aurelian of Quinze-Nouais had announced to the ministers that he would break off his engagement with Celine Ianster. By then, more than the promised year had already passed.  

“The ministers opposed it. It wasn’t for me to speak first.”  

Celine stopped listening. At some point, her father, Count Ianster, had stopped meeting her eyes. She knew all too well that this, too, was a form of dismissal.  

She hurried to see the emperor.  

Though Adrian had not permitted an audience, Celine barged into his study unannounced. After watching a moment, the emperor gestured for the knights blocking her way to leave them.  

“The time you promised has passed.”  

“You didn’t come here just to say that.”  

“But, Your Majesty, even if you break your engagement with me, you will have to be betrothed to someone. You know that.”  

Her words were true. Adrian was already twenty-two—late, for an emperor who must produce an heir.  

“That is none of your concern.”  

“You’re waiting for Claire, aren’t you?”  

“That, too, is not for you to meddle in.”  

“Even though they say she is dead, Your Majesty still clings to her. How pitiful.”  

“Enough, Celine.”  

“Yes, since Your Majesty believes so, I won’t speak of it again. But—”  

She produced a document and held it out to him.  

“If you must be engaged to someone regardless, then let our engagement stand.”  

Adrian let out a short, incredulous laugh.  

“Enough, Celine.”  

“Please, read what I’ve brought. It is a document declaring that I will dissolve our engagement after three years. I also renounce any claim to a dukedom.”  

“What trick is this supposed to be?”  

Adrian looked at her. From the start, she had demanded the dukedom as her greatest bargaining chip—yet now she was discarding it.  

“It is an engagement you must make anyway. The moment Claire returns, I will yield my place as your fiancée. And if three years pass and she does not appear, I will step aside all the same.”  

There was no special reason she had chosen three years. She simply intended, in that time, to find some way to amend the laws so she might rise to empress after all.  

“And what exactly do you gain from going so far?”  

“I love you, Your Majesty.”  

Adrian was too astonished to reply.  

No matter how balances of power played among the nobles, the Ianster family had become, beyond question, the most powerful house in the empire. What she truly could not let go of was surely that power.  

“Enough, Celine. I will act according to my own will. Leave now.”  

But Celine knew. The emperor could not so easily sever his betrothal to her. The Iansters’ power as the empress’s family had already grown immense. She also knew how fiercely the ministers had opposed it at council today, and she was confident the documents she had prepared were flawless.  

Of course, there was no chance Claire was alive. And if she were, well—Celine would simply see her killed. Light-footed, she left the imperial palace.  

But Adrian’s worry was not about Celine.  

After the council, the ministers of finance and state had requested a private audience.  

“If you truly wish to break with Celine Ianster, Your Majesty, you must cast that house out of the capital.”  

“Indeed. They are the foremost founding family of the empire. You have no pretext to strip them of the empress’s seat as though turning a hand.”  

Had it been right after Adrian’s ascension, he might have broken the engagement in the name of securing stability. But back then, he had not thought ahead to the life that would follow.  

“The only way to rid yourself of Celine Ianster is to invent some crime for her house and drive them beyond the capital.”  

The emperor’s troubles deepened.

 

***

 

After Adrian returned to the palace and began to participate directly in state affairs, within three years the empire grew even more prosperous than before.  

No longer did he personally lead military campaigns; instead, he worked day and night with an obsessive zeal, as though addicted to the work. The subtle tug-of-war that once existed between ruler and retainers disappeared.  

Now, there was no house in the empire capable of defying his will. By strategically empowering and, at times, stripping power from noble houses, he gradually drew the countless families who had withdrawn to the provinces back into the capital, one by one.

Thus, five years passed since Aurelian Quinze-Nouais had ascended the throne.  

It was the so-called Age of Quinze-Nouais Peace, a true golden era.

Yet, he could not give up searching for the woman to whom he had been so obsessively attached in his youth. It was, no doubt, a foolish lingering attachment. He sent agents to every territory in the Eastern Continent to search for her, but the vanished Claire left not a trace, not even a shadow.  

More years passed than the time they had spent together. Sometimes Adrian wondered whether the woman himself was chasing after was but a mirage.  

Still, the mere fact that Claire was alive was, for Adrian, reason enough to keep living. He believed that unless Claire allowed it, he must not die—not even in death.

As Celine had predicted, Adrian had to endure a protracted struggle with the ministers to end his engagement with her.

After a long battle, Adrian consented to marry a woman from a family to rival the Iansters.  

By agreeing to leave open the possibility that their own houses could become royal in-laws, the ministers tacitly accepted that Claire’s family would not be banished from the capital.

“Your Majesty, we have news that the enemy’s supply route to the Grand Duke’s stronghold in the north has been reopened. By now, not only the fortress but the neighboring region has likely fallen into the hands of a minor eastern kingdom.”

Adrian’s expression hardened. His inability to reclaim the Grand Duke’s castle and its territory continued to weigh on him. If supply lines were restored, it was certain that their enemies would soon push forward.

In his office, wrestling with official matters, Adrian put down his pen and stood up.

“It’s been a while—I need to breathe northern air again.”

At news of his rare departure, citizens of the empire poured into the streets to see him off.  

Songs in praise of him echoed through the city, and everyone craned their necks to catch a glimpse of the emperor and his procession.

Meanwhile, Celine hurried into the palace as soon as she learned Emperor Quinze-Nouais was leaving on campaign. The sudden arrival of the emperor’s fiancée threw the palace staff into panic, but no one dared stop Celine Ianster.

“Lady Ianster, you cannot enter the imperial palace without the emperor’s permission.”

Celine didn’t even like that title, but there was no particular title for the emperor’s fiancée in the empire. She replied with a haughty smile to the imperial steward:

“It was permitted by His Majesty the Emperor. Go ahead and check.”

Lately, even the actions of the ministers had been unusual—the rumor was that the emperor intended to take a new empress.  

Feeling uneasy, Celine hurried to the palace in hopes of retrieving and destroying the contract she had given the emperor during his absence.

“I have received no such instruction.”

“Are you, a mere steward, refusing the command of the soon-to-be empress? Prepare the former empress’s palace for my use at once.”

Celine had endured all the time since presenting the contract. And, as expected, Claire Ianster never appeared. She even hired private investigators to search the entire empire.

Claire must have been dead—or even if she were alive, Celine would have seen to her death.

Due to the steward’s refusal to prepare the empress’s palace, Celine was forced to take up residence in the palace’s guest quarters. ‘Once I become empress, that man will not escape with his life,’ she thought bitterly.