Because I thought that you had to keep an eye on the other party like prey in the palm of your hand, so they couldn’t do anything foolish.
“Your Majesty the Empress, I heard you called for me.”
Soon after arriving at Her Majesty the Empress’s office, I hastily and politely greeted her as I stepped into the room.
“Waiting for General Lillith felt like half a day for a second.”
Then, the general, busy scrutinizing documents at her desk, stopped. Her Majesty the Empress stood up from her chair and welcomed me.
“You probably guessed, but recent intel has come in.”
Soon we changed locations and exchanged information while facing each other on a sofa.
“The spy lying low in the Fowlen Kingdom has noticed some suspicious activities.”
Finishing her sentence in a heavy tone, Her Majesty the Empress handed over a letter.
“How foolish. Raising a white flag up front and begging for mercy, yet doing something like this…”
The Fowlen Kingdom, while not the main perpetrator of the last punitive action, had supported those who went to war, agreeing to oppose the empire. When the goddess of victory sided with the empire, they were the first to surrender.
“We should stop this from becoming another spark for war as much as possible.”
Therefore, losing the smile I usually wore, anger surged up when I found out they were secretly scheming to stab us in the back while we were negotiating for peace on humanitarian grounds.
“I don’t want to be distant from Darjeeling again… That’s why I want to entrust this matter to General Lillith.”
Her Majesty the Empress, considering this top-secret, earnestly ordered me to take care of the Fowlen Kingdom by collecting information regarding the intel.
“Leave it to me, Your Majesty. I will repay your trust with success.”
I joyfully accepted the command. I wanted to teach those who repay kindness with this kind of betrayal a harsh lesson.
“I’ll make sure those trying to shatter the hard-won peace taste bitterness.”
It doesn’t mean I’ll mindlessly trample and scold them. Since it’s possible to pressure them in various ways without force, I was burning with motivation, thinking about how to trap the spy.
“Fortunately, I have someone I can trust and leave my back to, like General Lillith. You may go now.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
To be honest, I wasn’t summoned for a casual talk, and my task was done. So, I paid my respects and left Her Majesty the Empress’s office.
After quickly sending Lillith away, I sat down at my desk.
“Sigh…”
But whether it was due to the slight unease that kept unsettling my heart, I couldn’t focus and made no progress in my work. I took a deep breath and stretched my body.
“You still look dignified in the painting.”
Soon enough, as I blankly stared at the ceiling and slowly turned my head, a portrait of His Majesty the late Emperor in his prime, hung on one side of the office wall, caught my eye.
“Whenever I’m troubled, suppressed yearning erupts uncontrollably. If you were alive, I would have sought your wise advice.”
I was engulfed in the melancholy emotions that rushed in like waves and reminisced about the past.
“Suddenly, I’m reminded of the day you took me in.”
It wasn’t long before my past comfort became vivid, going back more than a decade.
“Hey, I saw everything.”
“You took something shiny out of your pocket and fumbled with it~”
Back then, I was a sly blonde-haired girl roaming the streets.
Coincidentally, the bad boys blocking my path that day aimed for the item hidden in my pants pocket. They seemed to intend to trade it for a piece of bread and sell it to a junk dealer for money.
“Are you hungry? Wanna trade for food?”
However, this item was the only relic from my parents as an orphan. I couldn’t accept the boy’s proposal.
“No.”
“What! I was trying to persuade you nicely because you look pitiful…”
One of the boys became immediately angry when I firmly refused.
“Hand it over when I’m talking nicely to yo— Ah!”
Thud[Dash].
The moment arrived. A small stone flew from somewhere and struck a young boy on the head.
“Ouch, who did that!”
A sound of agony spontaneously escaped from the boy’s mouth, the pain severe enough to bring tears to his eyes.
“Annoying, so go away.”
And then immediately followed a cold voice targeting the two boys.
“Hey, do you think you’re something?”
“Idiot, look at his outfit! It’s tiring to get involved, let’s just go!”
Surprisingly, the owner of the cold voice was a refined child with light pink-tinged silver hair, resembling a young nobleman. It was Jeff, the current Emperor whom I do not admire and a life partner.
“…Pathetic.”
How abrasive Jeff had been in his childhood.
After shooing away the troublesome boys, he came straight over to me and suddenly offered one of the meat skewers he was holding.
“It looks delicious…”
For some reason, instead of thanking him for the rescue, I found myself salivating over the meat skewer. Jeff casually told me to eat it.
“Forget it. I’m not a beggar.”
Indeed, our first meeting was coincidentally tied together by a meat skewer.
My Step-brother Is Obsessed With Me (Female-dominant)
A gentle female protagonist vs pitiful in the early stage, and a sick male protagonist in the later stage
Cheng Songer transmigrated into the body of a vicious cannon fodder female supporting character with the same name as her in a female-dominant novel.
In the original story, the cannon fodder female supporting character was inhumane, committing domestic violence, gambling excessively, being lustful, and even wanting to sell her stepbrother to a brothel for money.
As luck would have it, she just happened to transmigrate at this time.
Seeing Cheng Qingzhi biting his lip, enduring the tears in his eyes, looking pitiful, her heart softened.
She stuffed the money back into the Madam’s hand and reached out to him.
“Brother, come home with me.”
