I'll Be the Queen of the Enemy Country (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 14
Elise lifted Debois’s chin with her fan. Debois’s agape mouth snapped shut. Only then did Elise reveal her true reason for meeting her.
“The Fon Newspaper will go up for sale. At a very cheap price, I might add. You’ve earned enough money to afford it easily. Why not join the bidding?”
“You want me to buy a newspaper?”
“You wanted to buy one someday, didn’t you? Just think of this as the timing moving up a bit. Besides, you couldn’t possibly open a newspaper under your own name anyway.”
Debois would open a newspaper seven years later, using the money she earned from her coffee salon. She founded it, yet it wasn’t truly hers—because her husband was listed as the official owner.
There was nothing she could do about it. In the kingdom, women weren’t allowed to own businesses.
‘Though technically, acquisition was still possible.’
It was an absurd law, yet it existed in the kingdom and had been upheld for ages.
It was one of the reasons Elise had hidden behind Chase—not just to make him stand out, though that was a big part of it.
“But still… Fon Newspaper is one of the biggest among the major newspapers. And now you’re telling me a perfectly functional newspaper is suddenly going on sale? Do you really expect me to believe that?”
“Not right away, no. But it will be up for sale in half a moon—very urgently. Trust me and get your money ready. You must’ve earned quite a bit by now.”
Debois alternated her gaze between her teacup and Elise.
Elise could easily guess what she was thinking.
On one hand, my words offered exactly what she wanted—if she didn’t believe me. On the other, if she did believe me, it all sounded utterly ridiculous.
Maybe it was because she was a journalist—without evidence, she couldn’t bring herself to trust.
Then I’d just have to give her some information.
“You know the Fon Newspaper’s owner has been dabbling in gambling, right? A report will be filed soon—because gambling isn’t the only thing he’s been involved in.”
“What’s your source for this? And what if you’re wrong?”
“There’s no way I’m wrong.”
“You speak as if you’ve seen it yourself. Is your source reliable?”
Watching Debois eye her with hesitant suspicion, Elise smiled meaningfully.
‘Because I am the source. I orchestrated it myself.’
In the past, Elise had forced the Fon Newspaper to shut down.
Because it had published a flood of negative articles about Chase.
So Elise dug into the owner’s background and discovered he was involved not only in gambling but also illegal drug trafficking.
Naturally, Elise reported him to the judicial authorities.
As a result, the owner of Fon Newspaper received a massive fine.
‘He didn’t go to prison only because he’s a noble.’
Wealth buys innocence; poverty brings guilt.
What a disgustingly corrupt world.
At that time, the owner of Fon Newspaper began selling off all his properties and companies at rock-bottom prices—including the Fon Newspaper itself.
Back then, Elise had actively pursued buying the Fon Newspaper.
‘I needed to directly influence Bedroka public opinion at the time. I had both the motive and the money.’
But circumstances had changed. Elise had to leave for Titris and didn’t have enough cash on hand to buy the newspaper outright.
‘I can’t just sit back and watch—Chase will get tangled up in this.’
Once Chase learned the Fon Newspaper was up for sale, he’d surely act.
‘That is, if he didn’t take my words lightly.’
Elise had taught Chase many things—one of them being the importance of public opinion.
‘I need to settle this quickly, before Chase finds out and moves.’
Elise devised a plan to accelerate the sale of Fon Newspaper.
‘Waiting for the judicial report and the court ruling would take too long.’
So Elise sent a private warning to the owner of Fon Publishing.
‘I told him inspectors from the judiciary were coming. He’ll probably try to sell everything to prepare for exile.’
But he wouldn’t succeed in escaping. By the time he tried to leave, the judicial authorities would be there to arrest him.
Elise had calculated the timing meticulously.
“We’ll meet again at the banquet. Whether you buy the Fon Newspaper or not is up to you, Debois—but I hope you don’t miss such a good opportunity. And I’d appreciate it if you’d write that article.”
Elise rose, ending the conversation.
Debois would follow Elise’s suggestion.
Not so much because she trusted Elise—but because even if she did as Elise said, she stood to lose nothing.
[This is the timeline separator]
There was no need to confirm whether Debois believed Elise’s words.
An unprecedented extra edition was published in the three-year history of the Alicit Cat Times.
The article reported that Elise and Karan had spent the night together.
It was exactly the direct and explicit piece Elise had wanted.
Everyone knew the Flower Deer was the symbol of House Warton.
Debois had even kindly added “crimson-gold hair” to avoid confusion with Iris.
While Iris had vivid golden hair like molten gold, Elise’s was a honeyed blonde.
‘They’d call it dirty blonde.’
Moreover, by mentioning she was the fiancée of the royal family—though omitting her name—it was obvious to everyone that the article’s protagonist was Elise.
‘How thoughtful of her to state it so clearly.’
Debois had taken a considerable risk in publishing this article.
‘The royal family might impose sanctions.’
Though, being a gossip paper, they might pretend not to care.
Snap—the sound of folding the newspaper was crisp.
“Oh, Miss…”
Regina’s voice trembled.
How could they link our gentle, pure-hearted miss—who had eyes only for His Highness Chase—to a barbarian!
Regina’s eyes, watching Elise read the newspaper, were filled with worry.
How deeply must Elise be hurt.
How anxious must she be feeling.
Yet unlike Regina’s fears, Elise remained calm even after finishing the article. Only Regina was trembling.
“The Flower Deer in the article… that’s you, right, Miss?”
Regina pointed to the Alicit Cat Times on the table.
“Yes.”
Elise nodded calmly.
“B-but leaving His Highness Chase… to spend the night with that barbarian man… I mean…”
“Yes, Regina. I spent the night with Karan, the prince of Titris—the so-called barbarian.”
“Goodness!”
Thud—Regina sank onto the floor.
“What will happen with His Highness Chase now?”
“We’re breaking up. Completely over.”
“So the engagement will be called off as if it never happened? A-are you alright?”
Regina’s face twisted as if she might burst into tears at any moment. Meanwhile, Elise—the very subject of the scandal—beamed brightly.
“Of course. Everything is exactly as I wished.”
Breaking off the engagement with the parasitic Chase and marrying Karan.
Everything was precisely according to Elise’s will.
“Miss, are you sure you read the article correctly? It said barbarian, not His Highness Chase…”
“Regina. From now on, call him His Highness Karan. Never say ‘barbarian’ in front of him again.”
Regina froze completely.
Had Elise eaten something strange for breakfast? Was she so shocked she was confusing reality with the article?
“I’m perfectly sane. And I need to send a letter. May I take this newspaper, Regina? Regina?”
Only after Elise called her name twice did Regina snap out of her daze.
“Oh! Y-yes, Miss, please take it.”
Regina had countless questions for Elise, but as a mere maid, she couldn’t pry into her mistress’s private affairs.
Unless Elise chose to explain first.
“But Miss, what will you do with that newspaper?”
At least this much she could ask.
“I’m sending it to His Highness Chase.”
Regina was horrified.
Regardless, Elise folded the newspaper neatly.
Just as a sudden downpour arrives without warning, Viscount Warton’s furious outburst came without notice.
“Elise! Come down here this instant!”
Elise, leisurely enjoying her afternoon tea, frowned at the booming voice that echoed all the way to her third-floor room.
“How quick he is. Father’s still quite spry.”
As Elise moved to leave, muttering this dry observation, Regina stepped in front of her.
Elise raised an eyebrow.
“Miss, if you go down now, you’ll be severely scolded. Why not say you’re feeling unwell and meet them tomorrow instead?”
“Would you wait out a storm just to avoid getting wet? Regina, it’s better to take the blow quickly.”
“That’s not it! I speak from experience… it’s better to be hit later. The hitter runs out of strength.”
“You’ve been hit?”
“Ahh… well… that’s not the point right now! You mustn’t go down, Miss!”
Regina had been struck by someone—judging by her reaction, it seemed recent, yet Elise had no idea.
She knew stewards or head maids sometimes punished young servants for mistakes.
But Regina wasn’t a young, clumsy servant—she was neither inexperienced nor prone to errors.
Moreover, since she served only Elise, she never crossed anyone else’s will…
A sudden realization struck Elise.
‘Since they couldn’t hit me, they took it out on Regina instead.’
There were always those who mistook their master’s authority for their own and acted arrogantly.
She’d often heard how they used their master’s influence to build their own little hierarchies and power structures.
‘Poor Regina must have suffered greatly.’
In House Warton, Elise’s status was lower than even the butler or head maid.
Her engagement to Chase was merely a verbal promise, and until recently, Chase’s own position had been precarious.
‘Now I understand. That’s exactly why it makes me sick.’
Elise clenched her fists tightly.
‘Even if I must leave, I won’t let this go unanswered.’
A cold glint flashed in Elise’s eyes.
“Miss…”
Regina’s voice trembled. Unaware of Elise’s thoughts, she worried only for her.
“Regina, I’ll be back soon. Stay here.”
“No, let me come with you…”
“I don’t want you to see it.”
Regina clasped her hands tightly over her chest.
Of course—why would her refined mistress want her to witness her composure breaking?
But if that happened, Regina’s plan to take the beating in Elise’s place would fail.
She wanted desperately to follow, even if she had to be stubborn—this wasn’t an ordinary matter.
“Stay here.”
But faced with Elise’s firm command, Regina could only stand rooted to the spot, as if her feet were glued down.
With nowhere to turn for help and no strength to aid Elise, Regina suddenly felt utterly useless.
[This is the timeline separator]“You move slower than a grub! What is the meaning of this! I asked you to stay quietly tucked away in your room—how could you fail at even that simple request and cause this disaster?”
The moment Elise stepped into the hall, a crumpled copy of the Alicit Cat Times was hurled at her face.
It struck her shoulder and fell to the floor.
Elise’s gaze briefly lingered on the newspaper spread open on the floor before turning away.
“You’ve arrived, Father, Mother. And Sister.”
“You’ve arrived? Is that all you have to say with that shameless mouth? Is that filthy story printed there true? Just what have you been doing out there!”
Viscount Warton, Fraser, jabbed a finger furiously at Elise. Veins bulged in his neck, his face flushed crimson—he was clearly seething with rage.
“It’s exactly as written in the article. Yes, I slept with His Highness Karan, the prince of Titris.”
“What did you just say?”
“I thought you seemed curious.”
At Elise’s calm reply, Fraser grabbed her by the collar.
Male lead is a Love-Obsessed Merman
When he discovers she has gone, he risks everything to pursue her on land, enduring agonizing pain to transform his tail into human legs…
One-line summary: Male lead chases female lead. The male lead’s love is a bit sick, an invincible love brain.
Synopsis
During a voyage at sea, Jiang Yang accidentally captures a merman.
Servant: I heard that mermen are fierce and brutal.
Jiang Yang looks at the merman obediently rubbing her palm like a puppy: “You call this fierce and brutal?”
Servant: I heard that mermen have no human nature.
Jiang Yang looks at the merman with wet puppy eyes, obsessively calling her ‘A Yang’ like a childish infant: “You call this having no human nature?”
With great difficulty, she releases the merman back into the sea and returns to shore.
Who would have thought that in less than half a month, the merman, who should have been freely wandering in the South China Sea, would shed his scales, endure the pain of losing his tail, transform into human legs, and come ashore to find her?
He kneels at her feet, rubbing her palm, with merman tears rolling down: “A Yang, don’t abandon me.”
_____
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MANGA DISCUSSION
1 Comment
Chapter Comments (97)
You need to break that cowardly rat’s fingers………..
karan is angry for her,beaing beaten by your own father
Yeah.. true that b^^ch iris at the problem and let her clean up
Inline Comments (106)
‘Truthfully, I could have bought my own clothes. Chase’s business ventures under
You should tank all those business before leaving the kingdom
“Lord Dex, are you ashamed of this place? The very land where you were born and
Homeland is not necessarily the place you were born in, but the place you felt you were a part of and that cared about you. And Tetters will be the same for Elise.
He looked both like an owl awaiting praise and a male peacock trying to impress
I liked the analogy. Whether an owl or a peacock, Cram appears to be a bird.
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debban23
she is owning up to her scandal so that she cal leave faster