I returned to my desk and tuned in to the sounds beyond the wall. Fortunately, Klaus seemed to be focused on his work again, as usual.
“Phew…….”
I let out a small sigh of relief, but I couldn’t help grinding my teeth in frustration.
Fool, idiot, this clueless crane!
I silently pulled at my hair in irritation.
I didn’t know exactly what Lumi had done, but it was clear she had significantly lowered her standing with Klaus, creating a mess beyond my capacity to rectify.
And yet, paradoxically, when I encountered Lumi on my way back from the Internal Affairs Office, she looked triumphantly smug.
Her expression was oblivious to the chilly atmosphere in the office that even a naive child would have noticed.
Though I couldn’t converse with her due to many prying eyes around, Lumi definitely flashed a smile at me as she glanced my way.
While Klaus dozed off on the sofa, I quietly approached the servant.
“What exactly happened earlier?”
“Ah, that was…….”
The servant sighed deeply and then relayed the incident to me in a low voice.
Lady Elfriede had violated security protocols by crossing the garden around the office, and Klaus had calmly reprimanded her for it.
However, she showed no signs of acknowledging her wrongdoing.
He shook his head in dismay.
“As a servant of the Queen, Lady Elfriede should be aware of the basic protocols of the palace, but she seems unwilling to learn. This could pose a real problem.”
He sounded almost like he was venting.
I understood the situation now. What I needed to do next was to ask Lumi how she planned to rectify this mess.
Back at my desk, I tapped the end of my pen against the documents, deep in thought.
“Haah…….”
There was one major problem: how to meet Lumi discreetly without drawing attention.
The palace was full of watchful eyes. We could meet at the sanctuary again, but there was no guarantee Lumi would stick to the appointment time, as I had learned from experience. Plus, I didn’t want to spend another whole day waiting for her there.
“Really, what’s with her!”
I felt a surge of irritation and began to gnaw on the end of my pen.
You said you could handle this, didn’t you? That cliché of a villainess in a possession novel was nothing to worry about!
And yet, after forcing her way into a position as the Queen’s assistant, all she managed to do was turn our handsome protagonist’s expression icy cold!
As I silently raged, a low moan came from the direction of the sofa in the office.
“Umm…….”
I quickly got up and went to check.
“Did you wake up, Your Highness?”
“Yes.”
Klaus rubbed his head, looking slightly disheveled. His languid appearance unexpectedly made my heart flutter.
He got up and immediately sat at his desk.
“Musel. Remember the discussion about flood relief funds at the last state council meeting?”
“Yes.”
How could I forget that chaotic scene where it was hard to tell if it was a political debate or a verbal brawl?
“Go to the Treasury and check how much funding has been secured. We need to plan how to use it effectively.”
“Understood. I’ll go right away.”
No warm-up for the brain of our protagonist, it seems.
I headed straight to the Treasury, where I obtained the necessary documents from an official. They contained data on how much each family had contributed to the funds after the noisy council meeting.
“Mecklinger really is remarkable.”
I muttered to myself while reviewing the documents. The final decision from the meeting was to ‘share the burden equally among all, with additional contributions at each family’s discretion.’
But the Mecklinger family had contributed twice the obligatory amount. He had delivered on his promise in the meeting hall.
If his intention was to flaunt the power of his family, he had succeeded spectacularly. He managed to uphold the prince’s order while pushing through his own agenda. Quite a masterstroke.
In the empire, the Mecklingers were the only family that could stand shoulder to shoulder with the royal family. But before considering the precarious authority of the royalty, I was more concerned about Lumi.
If she started to throw her weight around, trusting in her family’s power, it would be more than just a character being possessed by a villainess. It would mean she herself had become the villainess.
In typical villainess possession novels, the protagonist who is possessed by the villainess acts within a reasonable frame of common sense and morality. Isn’t that the usual cliché?
That’s why the protagonist, even as a villainess, can push the original heroine aside and seize a happy ending with the hero.
I just hope Lumi has thoroughly studied the clichés of villainess possession novels.
Even if she is possessed by a villainess, if she becomes the ‘villainess’ herself, the ending will inevitably be tragic.
“Haah…….”
“Oh, who’s sighing so deeply? It’s you, Musel!”
Startled by the sudden voice, I quickly stashed the documents I was looking at into an envelope. Turning around, I saw the original heroine, Evangeline, standing there, her diamond-like silver hair shining.
The Villainous Demon Lord Laid an Egg for Her (Female-Dominated)
Several months after transmigrating into a book, Yu Wu found herself facing the demon lord Li You, who could no longer conceal his dragon horns. With one hand on her aching waist and the other gripping a sharp sword, she stared at him.
The demon lord’s eyes were red with fury:
“This is all your doing! Today, I won’t rest until I kill you!”
Yu Wu rubbed her temples. Putting aside the taboo against bloodshed during pregnancy, wasn’t it this very man who willingly walked into her trap that day?!
Warnings:
- Male pregnancy.
- Height ratios are set to mirror typical male-female height proportions.
- Characters include a foot-loving demon lord and an eldest daughter from an immortal family’s concubine lineage.
