“Kuhup.”

After coming out, Sesenia began to laugh like a madwoman. Lizbeth, who was waiting outside the room, looked at Sesenia with a very worried expression.

“Young lady…… are, are you alright?”

“Yes. I’m fine. I’m fine. Really…… it’s just too funny.”

She laughed ostentatiously in front of the room. For Sesenia, there was nothing as enjoyable as this moment. Even when she learned about the family curse and went back in time, or when her father the Marquis gave her the investment funds, she didn’t feel like this.

‘Really…… it’s really too funny. Is God on my side now? Otherwise, how could elder sister be sent back in this time?’

And she was still stupid.

‘If it were me, I wouldn’t have revealed it like this.’

Sesenia, who had been laughing to the point of tears, slowly hardened her expression.

Rather, it had given her an opportunity. It was telling her to be more vigilant because this Elzere was different from before, and that she needed to use different tactics because the other party knew the information she knew. The sudden tension that came over her was welcome.

‘I don’t know how she came back…… but I’ve learned something.’

That anyone can come back from death.

“Let’s go back now.”

“Ah…… y-yes!”

Sesenia looked at Lizbeth beside her. Situations so favorable to her that one might think she was a child beloved by God. But Sesenia hardened her expression.

‘I don’t believe in God.’

A capricious God. You never know when an unfavorable situation might come again.

No, it was already an unfavorable situation. In the end, as Elzere said, capital is important for business. But in terms of capital, Elzere was far more advantaged than Sesenia.

“Young lady. Are you really alright?”

She looked at Sesenia with a worried expression.

“Of course I’m fine.”

“But…… the cotton business……”

Sesenia shook her head as if to say not to speak any further. Only then did Lizbeth close her mouth and follow her. Only after returning to the room did Sesenia whisper in Lizbeth’s ear.

For quite a while. And throughout, the worried expression on her face brightened.

“Ah……”

“Elder sister will absolutely never succeed.”

“If she simply copied your business, young lady…… I suppose so.”

“So don’t worry.”

Lizbeth was still worried, but Sesenia was certain. That Elzere could never make this business successful.

**

After Sesenia left, Elzere clenched her fist tightly.

“Why…… why! Everything was perfect, why is she…… back first. No wonder…… I thought something was different from the past…… was this the reason?”

Elzere began to throw objects around her randomly.

“Aaargh!!! It’s so frustrating. So frustrating!!! I should have…… I should have known…… I should have realized when I heard she suddenly gave up on the Marquis family and asked for money to do business. What should I do…… What should I do…… No. No. In the end, the Marquis family will be mine. How much can she do on her own? In the end, I’ll be the one to save the Marquis family with cotton. I’ll be the one to fully possess the Marquis family……”

Elzere, who had been making a fuss, belatedly stopped panting.

Elzere. She too had returned in time. She too had been killed.

Remembering this, she trembled.

“I…… I will succeed this time for sure. Everything will be mine. Yes, what can Sesenia do. In the end, she…… can’t do anything. Only I can do it. This time…… I won’t let that bastard Emperor…… get away with it.”

Unable to control her emotions, Elzere clutched her chest and headed for the bed.

“Ha…… my chest…… my chest hurts.”

Hurriedly lying down on the bed, she took a deep breath. The time when she thought everything was over came flooding back. Elzere was filled with rage, but feeling like she might faint if she got any angrier, she forcibly closed her eyes.

Then that incident came to mind.

The current Emperor Rasidel began to suspect her. And because of the words Sesenia had said before she died, strange rumors circulated in society. That the child Elzere bore was not the Emperor’s child. The rumors went even further to say that the child she bore was not even of royal blood.

Nevertheless, Rasidel embraced Elzere. No, he had to embrace her.

Having caused the death of his wife, the Empress, if he didn’t embrace Elzere now, it would be a laughable situation. Thanks to this, his reputation hit rock bottom, and other princes began to covet the Emperor’s position.

But that was as far as it went. There was a hidden variable. After Sesenia was executed, the former Marquis, the father of the two sisters, returned as Marquis again. Elzere, who thought she would naturally inherit the Marquis family when Sesenia died, could only be confused.

Moreover, because of the words Sesenia had said at the execution ground, the Marquis had a strange wariness towards Elzere.

‘Father. You’re getting old now, let me take care of the Marquis family. You should rest comfortably.’

‘No. It’s my family, so I should lead it.’

‘No. I can do it well.’

‘Haven’t you given birth to the Emperor’s child? You’re about to become Empress, and an Empress should think about state affairs. Besides, when we decided who would inherit the Marquis family in the past, weren’t you very overwhelmed? So let this father do it. Don’t worry. Father is still vigorous.’

No matter what she said, it didn’t get through. She needed to depose the Emperor when he was unstable, but for that, she needed the wealth and backing of the Marquis family, yet the Marquis had no intention of moving.

‘Then father. I have someone I’ve been watching, please support that person.’

‘Oh? Who is it?’

‘He’s a prince, but…..’

‘It’s unacceptable for the Empress’s family to support a prince. If we do that carelessly, we’ll be caught up in unnecessary rumors. An Empress must always be careful. If you don’t want to hear unnecessary things.’

‘Ah…… Father. Still. Just once, trust me and……’

In the past, the Marquis would usually take her side with just this much. But no matter how much Elzere said, he didn’t budge. It was the same even when she visited the Marquis every day.

Finally, after visiting the Marquis every day for a week, he began to suspect her.

‘I don’t understand why you’re doing this.’

‘Father. Really, can’t you do it my way just once?’

‘No, I won’t do it no matter what happens. Rather, it’s strange that you’re acting like this. Sesenia…… The last words that child said before she died keep coming to mind and……’

Only then did Elzere realize that her father was suspecting her, and she resorted to another method. If her father dies, the Marquis family will eventually come to her. So, just as she did to Sesenia, Elzere gives poison to her father.

After feeding him poison discreetly over several days, the Marquis loses his life.

It was exactly two weeks after Sesenia left the world.

And finally, having obtained the Marquis family, Elzere tried to make her lover the Emperor. Everything was perfect. The Marquis family was in her hands, and the Emperor’s position was precarious. But the Emperor realizes everything.

‘I investigated because the sudden death of the Marquis was suspicious. Well, everything was strange.’

‘What are you talking about? What investigation? We’ve already held the funeral, what investigation?’

‘It was too strange. When I listened to the stories of the Marquis family’s servants, they said spots appeared on the Marquis’s face as if he had been poisoned. And the funeral was held too quickly. So when we dug up the grave and investigated directly, poison was detected.’

‘Oh my. Is, is that so? Who on earth did that?’

Elzere pretended to be worried about her father belatedly to avoid being caught. But the Emperor smiled as if he already knew everything.

‘Didn’t you kill him?’

‘Me? Why would I kill my father?’

‘Because you needed the Marquis position. You were trying to use that to side with my younger brother, weren’t you?’

‘Are you framing me now? There’s no way I would do that!’

Seeing Elzere making a fuss, the Emperor shook his head.

‘Are you really not involved with my brother Ian?’

‘We’re not involved at all!’

‘Well, I can’t believe it. The last words Sesenia said also come to mind…… and when I investigated recently, I heard you were trying to support my brother, Ian?’

‘That’s……’

Elzere knew all too well what kind of life her brother had lived. An Emperor who couldn’t resist women. It was obvious that even if she became his wife, even if she had a child, she would end up just like Sesenia.

So she tried to put Ian, who loved her and would do anything for her, on the Emperor’s throne. That’s all it was…… That’s all it was, but…….

‘Even the child you said was mine is suspicious. Yes…… maybe everything Sesenia said was true.’

‘Are you…… are you doubting me now?’

‘It’s not doubt, it’s fact. That’s why I even dug up Sesenia’s grave who’s already dead. Although the type was different, poison was also found in her body. It was faint because she had been dead for a long time, but it was clearly identified as poison. And the herbs you recently brought in have the same components as the herbs that killed the Marquis and Sesenia.’

She trembled. Everything was about to be done, she just needed to depose the Emperor and everything would go according to her will, she couldn’t end it like this.

‘Don’t frame me!’

‘Lady Sesenia said so. That you poisoned her. At that time, I thought it was just words said to survive…… I didn’t think you really poisoned her.’

‘I said it’s not true, I said it’s not true. Are you trying to take revenge on me now?’

‘Revenge?’

‘Why? Did you find another woman? Are you framing me with these false charges because you want to get rid of me?’