Long Live the Emperor, Minus Me (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 21

“The Empress introduced that child?”

Thus, for the Empress Dowager—who had always been searching for ways to keep the Empress in check—this child named Blanche inevitably caught her attention.

“Yes. At the tea party attended by all the peace envoys, she boldly demanded the seat right beside Her Majesty the Empress.”

“That child made the request first?”

Though it was only natural, the Empress Dowager had not forgotten the dignified aura exuded by Liana.

Just how many noble parents had tried to have their children greet Liana, only for their children to end up sobbing uncontrollably instead?

Yet this child had boldly claimed the seat beside Liana—the very child who had thus far rejected playmates—and had even become Melchizedek’s playmate, gathering all the noble children together and making them burst into tears at once?

“Her Majesty the Empress is far too kind-hearted. They must have taken advantage of that.”

If a three-year-old could deliberately scheme like that and hold back tears beside Liana, then that child was indeed quite extraordinary. It wasn’t as if the other nobles didn’t know they could gain much by currying favor with the Empress—they simply couldn’t bring themselves to subject their children to such terror, which outweighed any potential benefit.

“Yes, she must be quite a clever little thing.”

But there was no need to openly slight her. Thus, the Empress Dowager gave a light nod outwardly while inwardly resolving to see Blanche for herself.

In the Empress Dowager’s view, the child Liana would adore, the child Melchizedek would take a liking to, and the child capable of making all the noble children cry were surely three entirely different children.

Was it truly possible for a three-year-old to possess three such distinct faces? Just who exactly was the real Blanche Loa Vandaluin?

Even the Empress Dowager, who had personally raised both Berken and Melchizedek, found it difficult to imagine.

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