At that moment, a thud came from outside the door.
It seemed like someone who had been eavesdropping had gotten so worked up that they collapsed.
Helene, even more excited, continued to blurt out nonsensical remarks.
“The prince and the princess will both yield to Your Majesty the Empress. After all, as a saintess, I must not bear a child.”
Helene’s attitude was exceedingly condescending.
She didn’t even bother to hide her suggestion that she didn’t need a child, so she would leave that to me.
‘She must be hoping that I get so angry that I slap her.’
But there’s at least a thousand years’ difference in age between you and me.
Blinded by this first experience called love, betrayed by that love, and having all my power drained to become a human left me momentarily struggling to control my emotions.
But talking with Helene, I found myself calming down instead.
‘It’s good that we met.’
I finally felt like I could look at my hatred and loathing rationally.
After sending Helene away, I glanced briefly at the items she had left behind and tapped the table.
“How can there be someone so shameless and insolent!”
As I was saying this, Mrs. Berthold stormed in, visibly upset. Yet her steps were so dignified that I inwardly admired her.
“To think she would sit beside Your Majesty the Empress without permission! The audacity of her! Even if Your Majesty had invited her, she should have politely declined!”
“She must think she’s my equal.”
“How can that be! Coming from such a lowly Quidd background!”
Mrs. Berthold was so angry that tears eventually filled her eyes.
I quietly stood up and patted her shoulder.
“Susan. I have a task for you now. But you must be very careful. There might be ears of the saintess even in our palace.”
“That means…!”
“I don’t doubt your loyalty, nor Charlotte’s. But I can’t trust anyone else.”
Helene is cautious. She’s good at acting and knows just how far she can push things, like playing a game of chess.
I know her type well.
Someone who isn’t satisfied until they have everything under their control, so it’s impossible that there are no spies in the Empress’s palace.
“Exactly. I realized it after our conversation. The saintess has planted her ears in the Empress’s palace.”
Honestly, there was no hint in our conversation earlier that Helene had dropped. It’s just that my long life has made such things blatantly obvious.
Mrs. Berthold clenched her fist and whispered urgently.
“I’ll find them. I’ll make sure they’re expelled.”
“No, the opposite. Find out who can really be trusted. I’ll cut the rest. And there’s something more important.”
I checked for eavesdroppers and then whispered closely into Mrs. Berthold’s ear.
Upon hearing my words, Mrs. Berthold nodded seriously.
“Now, call Duke Ahillo. We need to continue our interrupted conversation.”
I was getting tired, but the story needed to be concluded. There was something I had to ask Duke Ahillo.
“Are you alright, daughter?”
“Yes, I’m fine.”
“You must completely crush her this time. The Emperor is very fond of the saintess… There won’t be a second chance.”
Despite the unexpected visit and long wait, Duke Ahillo didn’t show anger, just concern for his daughter.
I wasn’t in this body by my own will, but now that it’s come to this, I wanted to show Duke Ahillo that ‘his daughter is doing well’.
“Don’t worry. By the way, I have something I want to ask, Father.”
“What is it?”
“There must be a real reason why the desert country requested a summit with Nyx, right? Please tell me.”
I said this and called a maid to bring a map I had borrowed earlier from an old sage.
Duke Ahillo stared at me with a somewhat clouded gaze.
Perhaps if I were the real Leonarda, I wouldn’t have asked such a thing. Nor would I have had a world map, much less spread it out on the table.
It was natural for him to find it strange.
“…I’m not certain, but from what I’ve gathered, there’s an odd atmosphere in the desert country.”
“Odd, you say?”
However, Duke Ahillo eventually answered my question.
“Yes. Last year, a revelation was said to have come to one of their high priests.”
“Do you know the content of it?”
“That’s right. But it’s certain that the request for a summit came after this revelation.”
A revelation.
Humans think gods send revelations, but such cases are extremely rare. Even a demon of a royal rank can issue revelations.
And the desert country has deeper ties with demons than gods.
‘Could it be that my sisters are doing something?’
They might have planned to put the soul of the foolish youngest sibling, who died stubbornly and without listening, into this body.
I had my suspicions for a moment.
I thought of my sisters, who were very dear to me, and bit the inside of my cheek as I was overwhelmed with longing.
“Is there anything else special happening in the desert country? I thought it might help with the banquet preparations.”
“Hmm. The atmosphere in the royal court is… decent, I suppose, but the general populace seems restless.”
“Is that so?”
Are the officials extorting the people while the emperor squanders money?
The Male lead Always Seduces Her with His Beauty (Matriarchy)
Xin Jiao Zhou is the leader of the world’s premier sect. She has just experienced betrayal from all sides, was poisoned in an assassination attempt, and faced death squad attacks while the poison was taking effect. After finally clearing out the scum from her sect, she was drugged again while trying to detoxify.
After waking up from a night of unconsciousness, she gained a “beautiful and kind-hearted” husband.
Xin Jiao Zhou: “???”
He fell ill.
She came to see him, bringing breakfast.
As she put down the breakfast and was about to leave, his hand slipped while holding the spoon. “Clank!”
She turned around upon hearing the noise.
He looked up at her, his eyebrows drooping: “My hand… has no strength.”
“Shall I… feed you?” she asked tentatively.
He opened his mouth cheerfully: “Ah—”
Thinking she was drowning, he jumped in without hesitation to save her, but nearly drowned himself. In the end, it was she who swam over to rescue him, giving him air underwater.
After emerging from the water, his ear tips turned red. He lightly brushed his cheek, tucking his sideburns behind his ear, revealing delicate, pink-tinged ear tips. He lowered his gaze, too embarrassed to look at her.
Xin Jiao Zhou: He’s truly beautiful, kind-hearted, and adorable.
A certain someone when disciplining subordinates behind the scenes: “If they don’t obey, just kill them.”
What’s that? She might already have someone she cares about in her heart? A certain someone: Find out who it is, kill them, and then there won’t be anyone.
What? She met a man by the riverside? What? That man even hurt her? A certain someone: Whichever hand hurt her, chop off his entire arm.
Love at first sight without realizing it, gradually falling in love, slowly getting closer…
Family and national grudges, schemes and desires, good and evil, crime and punishment, she and he face the future together, seeking justice with passion!
A naturally dark female lead who could accidentally destroy the world but is actually an honest person VS a weak, pitiful, and helpless but skilled fighter, beautiful white-cut black male lead
My heart is not of stone, how steadfast is your love? — Tao Yuanming “Imitating the Ancients (No. 3)”
— Reading Guide —
Cold female lead & dramatic black lotus with hidden yandere traits male lead
