After returning to the imperial palace, a deep silence settled in the space.

Tikan read the complex emotions in his lord’s eyes.

“Why is your face so dark on such an auspicious day?”

“…..”

“If it’s because your sister lost her memory, don’t worry. She will soon regain her memories.”

“….I hope so.”

Casius’s face was resolute as he muttered his response softly.

He had certainly believed she was alive, and the magic mirror had confirmed it.

They had found Rachel, and Iblina herself said she was indeed Rachel.

So what more was there to doubt?

And yet somehow… something nagged at Casius’s mind.

At that moment, Tikan posed a question.

“Then shall we prepare for the public announcement ceremony?”

‘A public announcement ceremony….’

If Iblina was truly Rachel, this was the natural next step.

If they didn’t make an announcement, she would have to live as Iblina forever, except in front of him.

That meant she could not return to being Rosemary.

Bashubir would probably faint, but Casius couldn’t care less about that.

From the beginning, Winterdell only existed to maintain the balance of power anyway.

That was the only reason they were still kept in the imperial palace when they should have been removed already.

According to plan, they should hurry to announce Iblina as Rachel and make her empress.

After removing Vivian from the position of empress, that is.

For a moment, Tikan’s hesitant voice rang in Casius’s ears once more.

“Should we inform Father of this fact……”

Tikan thought of his father, who was constantly troubled over the magic mirror issue.

If they didn’t tell him this news soon, he would continue to repeat that process.

Unable to suppress his burning feelings.

Casius also recalled this and furrowed his brow.

At the same time, he thought of Iblina whom he had just met.

‘She said she was Rachel as if she had been waiting for it.’

Could she say that if she really wasn’t Rachel?

And she said she had only realized it recently.

Everything matched perfectly, from the magic mirror results.

It couldn’t be more perfect even if it was fabricated.

But for some reason, it was still difficult to accept.

The fact that Iblina was Rachel.

‘Well, it’s natural not to believe it.’

This numb feeling was normal since a dream had been realized.

However… it would be better to be cautious about anything.

Casius spoke after a brief moment.

“We’ll inform Lord Siron later. And postpone the announcement ceremony for now.”

Tikan stared at his lord with a puzzled expression.

“Is it because of her changed face?”

Casius twisted his face in disgust.

“Talk sense. Do you think I liked Rachel for something like that?”

“I was just wondering.”

Tikan immediately bowed his head at Casius’s fierce gaze.

Casius’s voice settled over him.

“It’s just that we need to be cautious about this matter.”

Tikan nodded in agreement.

Watching him, Casius thought of the unfamiliar Rachel.

She had changed completely inside, as much as her outward appearance.

Instead of the way of speaking she used when alone with him, she spoke as if in public.

The atmosphere was the same.

Of course, Casius didn’t doubt.

A person’s demeanor can change after 7 years.

Besides, she had likely lived in that body for quite some time, even if she only just realized it.

Perhaps she even felt awkward with herself.

No, she must feel awkward.

She said she had amnesia too.

What he was doing now was just a final precautionary check, nothing more or less.

Rachel must be having a harder time than him right now.

But she would soon remember him and recall everything.

Even if she didn’t, it didn’t really matter.

*

Diarob rushed straight to the empress’s palace.

As expected, his face was filled with anger.

“How dare you deceive me again?”

“It’s not deception.”

Diarob shouted with a terrifying expression.

“Are you going to say it was another mistake?!”

Bang – The table shook loudly as if it would break.

His face, alternating between red and blue, quickly turned ashen.

It was enjoyable to watch Diarob raging in excitement, but it would be dangerous to provoke him further here.

“Iblina played a trick.”

Diarob’s eyebrows curved into a triangle shape.

“Played a trick?”

“Yes. That item is certainly Rachel’s keepsake. Iblina switched it.”

Hearing the unexpected words, Diarob was silent for a moment.

After rolling his eyes in that state, he soon looked straight at me.

“How do you know that?”

“Because I intentionally leaked information about the magic mirror.”

“…What?”

Diarob’s expression crumpled unpleasantly.

“Are you crazy? You leaked something that should have been hidden?”

Well, it would have been crazy under normal circumstances.

Revealing information about the magic mirror only proves that Casius is looking for Rachel.

In other words, it means he has no interest in me, the empress.

Of course, everyone knows openly that he’s searching for Rachel, but providing direct evidence of that fact was foolish.

At least from Snowfall’s perspective.

But that was just a simple conclusion.

“I thought it was a good opportunity to get rid of Iblina.”

“What do you mean?”

“I thought if Iblina learned of the magic mirror’s existence, she would definitely try to manipulate Rachel’s keepsake to separate me from His Majesty.”

“…..”

“Iblina is obsessed with becoming empress right now.”

“So.”

“If His Majesty learns that the keepsake was manipulated, what will happen then?”

Diarob understood my intention and slowly smoothed his crumpled expression.

Watching him, I added with a fresh smile on my lips.

“Winterdell will disappear from history.”

Diarob finally understood my intention and nodded.

A disgusting smile soon spread across his lips.

“You’ve done something useful for once in a long time.”

Inwardly holding a knife, I outwardly displayed a bright smile.

“Just trust me. I will surely bring about the results you desire.”

*

The next day.

Bustling noises rang in my ears from early morning.

Following the murmuring of the servants, Marianne’s warning was soon laid over it.

Only then did the space regain peace.

As I rose feeling puzzled, Marianne approached and tidied my hair as usual.

“Did something happen?”

Having heard the news of Rachel’s survival yesterday, I expected Casius to send notice that he wouldn’t be coming for lunch today.

Anticipating the situation to that extent, I was so surprised by Marianne’s answer that I almost spat.

“Actually… His Majesty went to see Aide Iblina yesterday and stayed until late at night.”

Hearing Marianne’s cautious report, Vivian suddenly burst into laughter.

“Your Majesty?”

Marianne stared at Vivian with a worried expression.

After hearing that His Majesty had gone to see Iblina, she couldn’t stop laughing.

The sight of Her Majesty wiping away tears while laughing was truly incomprehensible.

Moreover, her laughter even contained a hint of her unique madness.

‘Has she gone mad from resignation over His Majesty’s actions? His Majesty is truly heartless. Where else could you find someone as kind as Her Majesty?’

Marianne stared at Vivian with a worried gaze before finally opening her mouth.

“His Majesty must have had some business to see the aide.”

“…..”

“The aide handles many of the imperial family’s schedules after all.”

Marianne’s concerned voice rang in my ears.

But contrary to Marianne’s worry, I… just found this situation amusing.

Perhaps because of that. The smile that kept spreading across my lips was uncontrollable.

Honestly, I had expected Iblina to replace my keepsake with something else.

From Iblina’s perspective, if she doesn’t separate Casius and me right now, she’ll never have a place to go.

But to replace it with her own item to deceive him.

‘Isn’t that an unimaginable move.’

It was endlessly intriguing.

‘She’s got guts too. To dare try to impersonate me.’

Just switching my item for something else would be hard to overlook.

‘She pretends to be Rachel?’

No matter how much Casius tried to balance the scales between Snowfall and Winterdell, he won’t be able to overlook this incident.

He will surely not leave Iblina, or even Winterdell, alone.

The question was when and how to make Casius realize Iblina’s lie.

‘If only there was time, I could choose the optimal moment to deal with Iblina…’

But with little time left with the contractor, I couldn’t afford such leisure.

Moreover, remembering Casius testing the magic mirror, the laughter quickly faded.

During all the time Casius was testing the magic mirror in the imperial palace.

I kept glancing at him out of the corner of my eye.

Knowing how frustrated he would be when it turned red, I couldn’t help it.

As such, when it unexpectedly glowed blue, my eyes were still filled with Casius.

For a moment, the moisture that welled up in his eyes was still vivid.

No one else would have noticed it on his face, but I could clearly see.

The deep relief and tears contained within.

The roar of emotions suppressed for the past 7 years.

How broken will Casius be when he learns the truth, after enduring all this time solely on the hope that I might be alive?

Thinking about it made me feel like my heart was collapsing.

But it was a problem that would eventually have to burst.

It was just a matter of who would burst it.

“Marianne.”