Just one more move and it seemed like she could capture the queen.
Checkmate.
It was just when Reneb had picked up a chess piece.
“Miss! Miss!”
Amber rushed into the reception room panting.
Kiernean, who had been weaving a tapestry of wool and silk, was startled and looked up.
“What’s going on?”
Amber panted and said,
“Princess Solty has contracted an epidemic!”
“My God, an epidemic?”
Kiernean asked anxiously. Even in the empire, the palace is the cleanest place.
An epidemic in such a palace.
“It’s probably not true that it’s an epidemic. She’ll recover in a little time, even if it takes a while.”
At Reneb’s definitive statement, questions appeared on Amber and Kiernean’s faces.
“……?”
“Why are you so sure?”
Unlike Amber, who was collecting information from every corner of the palace, Reneb had stayed only in the guest room.
Her definite statement about a rumor just starting to circulate seemed rather strange.
Reneb captured the opposing queen and knocked down all the remaining pieces on the checkerboard.
And then, she started arranging the chess pieces one by one again.
“Lady, why are you starting over without capturing the king?”
Chess is a game where you win by capturing the opponent’s king. But Reneb seemed strange for starting anew after only capturing the queen.
“Capturing the queen is enough for now.”
Kiernean tilted her head, and Amber, helping Reneb place the chess pieces on the checkerboard, cautiously spoke.
“By the way, Miss. About Princess Solty’s epidemic… Does it have anything to do with the items you prepared earlier?”
“Most likely.”
Reneb looked at the white chess pieces on the other side and responded.
“Then are you saying that the princess got sick because of your gift?”
“……Yes.”
Amber and Kiernean gasped.
Reneb had previously sent Amber and Kiernean on separate errands.
She had asked Amber to buy tree sap that would cause rashes on the skin and a sapphire pendant, and had Kiernean send a gift to Eshika in the name of Baron Shaban.
So, both had secretly thought that those gifts must have had a bad influence on Princess Solty.
Reneb looked at the checkerboard and said,
“I merely acted in self-defense.”
“Self-defense?”
“Imagine if a villain comes at you with a knife.”
“Y-yes……”
“Then you’d also need to counter with a knife, right? Excessive force would be considered overkill, wouldn’t it?”
Reneb moved one of the white chess pieces on the opposite side.
Then I placed the black chess piece in front of me in its corresponding position, just like in Decalcomania.
“…….”
Kieran and Amber quietly watched as Reneb played chess. Suddenly, Amber exclaimed as if she had realized something.
“Could it be! The person who sent the peach gift to you is Princess Solti, not Baron Shaban?”
“Yes.”
As Reneb nodded, both Amber and Kieran exploded in anger.
“How can someone even do that?”
“It’s truly awful! To put on an innocent face and then commit such acts behind your back!”
Whether Ashika knew in advance about Reneb’s peach allergy or not, it seemed that neither of the two cared at this point.
Reneb stared intently at the checkerboard.
‘What should be my next move?’
Like himself, Ashika would soon realize who sent the gift under the name of Baron Shaban.
Upon learning the truth, Ashika would become furious and was more likely to retaliate in a more aggressive manner.
Originally, Reneb had harassed Ashika, who suddenly appeared and threatened his position, in various ways.
At first, it was merely causing humiliation in public, but every plan had failed.
‘Rather, it was Reneb himself who repeatedly got burned.’
As this situation continued, a twisted Reneb decided to eliminate Ashika.
He quietly kidnapped Ashika, planning to sell her off in the slave market.
‘Well, even that plan failed just when success was in sight.’
In reality, the original Ashika was a lower-class noble and was no match for Reneb.
‘At that time, Ashika only had Lucius to rely on.’
But now it was different.
Though it was a lie, Ashika’s current status was that of a princess, the pinnacle of a hierarchical society.
“Your Majesty, recently two gifts have entered the palace under the name of Baron Shaban. One was sent to the fake princess, and the other to Count Siren.”
At that moment, multiple footsteps resounded from outside the reception room.
Soon after, the sound of knocking followed by Bain’s voice.
“Your Majesty, Baron Shaban has arrived.”
As Dohan opened the door to the reception room, a middle-aged man stood next to Bain.
The moment the man made eye contact with Ikar, he trembled as if a thief had numbed his feet.
“Are you Baron Shaban?”
“Ye, yes. It is an infinite honor to meet the sun of the empire.”
Ikar stared at Baron Shaban with an emotionless expression.
An Indifferent Woman is the One Men Desire the Most
One-line summary: The female lead is actually cold-hearted and extremely rational. She has stage-by-stage relationships and won’t two-time, but there will always be someone who secretly likes her.
This novel has the following triggers, so if you’re sensitive to these, please don’t read:
1. The female lead has had many relationships, but she treated each one seriously and broke up properly.
It’s just that the men unilaterally pestered her incessantly. For the female lead, when she doesn’t like someone anymore, she simply doesn’t like them.
(This applies to her relationships with Male Lead 1, 2, 3, and 4 as well, but she’s loyal in each 1-on-1 relationship!)
2. In this novel, Male Lead 2 and the female lead kiss in a car, and Male Lead 1 sees it and beats up Male Lead 2.
The female lead calls the police and sends both Male Lead 1 and 2 to the police station! Male Lead 1 begs the female lead not to break up with him.
3. Male Lead 1 has a gentle appearance but an obsessive personality.
Male Lead 2 has a delicate and soft appearance, slightly green tea-like (two-faced).
Male Lead 3 is a youthful college student and a smart person who has secretly liked the female lead for a long time.
Male Lead 4 is the female lead’s father’s special assistant, a business elite with deep, hidden thoughts.
4. At the beginning of this novel, the female lead has already broken up with Male Lead 1 (Chapter 4) and gotten back together with Male Lead 2 (ex-boyfriend).
5. Enter with caution if you have triggers!!!
