Ironically, the place where the saint’s healing powers shone the brightest was on the battlefield.

However, the emperor at the time had no intention of waging war, and it just so happened that the emperor of the desert kingdom was the same. Not to mention the other minor kingdoms. So, despite becoming a saint, Helene was unable to seize the opportunity to spread her name far and wide.

Since she couldn’t just start a war, Helene had to find another way.

A way that would make everyone agree that her existence was valuable.

And that was to kill a demon.

Enrique, who was still in great danger of losing his life to his other brothers at the time, readily agreed to her proposal.

What could be greater than killing a demon in the Holy Empire and bringing back its corpse?

Helene wanted to give that glory to Enrique. And in return, she wanted to rise to a position that would be forever unchanging.

‘I didn’t expect the Empress to take over the task of arranging the banquet this time… but perhaps it’s for the best. If the Empress only decorates with oleander… Then the Empress will receive the criticism while I receive the praise.’

It wasn’t for nothing that Helene declared she would decorate the banquet hall with oleander.

She secretly found out that the desert people were so uncivilized that they would pick up and eat anything in the banquet hall.

So they would eat the oleander berries without suspicion. And when they suffered from stomach pain and high fever, she planned to step in.

She could just say she ‘didn’t know’ there was such a culture and heal them.

Imagining the faces that would be amazed by her powerful divine power, Helene let out a pretty sigh. Then, suddenly thinking of the Empress, she frowned.

The Empress had changed so much that Helene doubted if she was the same woman who used to be unmotivated and lazy in everything.

‘Moreover, that inexplicable pressure… Those eyes, I don’t want to see them again.’

The Empress looked down at her as if she were a real lion looking at a herbivore.

It was the look of a predator who knew perfectly well that it was superior and enjoyed that position.

‘It can’t be… but I need to find out through the person I planted in the Empress Palace.’

The reason why the Empress suddenly changed like this.

Strangely, a chill ran down her spine.

Since declaring that she would take full charge of the banquet, the Empress Palace had become so busy that there was no time to even blink.

I had no intention of using the items Helene had prepared in advance, so I had to find new ones, down to the curtains.

“The sculptors and painters have arrived, Your Majesty. I have guided them to have a meal in the Grand Reception Room for a moment.”

“Once they finish eating, take them to the Fruit Room as I said before.”

“Yes!”

The Fruit Room was a place completed yesterday, and I had filled the entire room with all the fruits produced in the empire.

The artists would work together to create works of art out of the fruits.

Edible works of art.

Decorations that are most meaningful when eaten and disappeared.

That was what I wanted.

“We should finish our earlier conversation.”

After giving simple instructions, I slowly turned my head.

In front of me now were three young architects I had summoned after making inquiries.

Wearing tools like hammers or chisels at their waists and dressed relatively lightly despite the cold, their eyes were all sparkling and shining.

Opportunity.

What I wanted to give them was opportunity.

“Your task is simple. You need to create an artificial waterfall and waterway inside the Grand Banquet Hall.”

“When you say an artificial waterfall, do you want it in its natural form? Or do you want an artistically reinterpreted form?”

“The latter. Decorate it very elegantly to make the nobles gasp in admiration. Can you do it?”

The three young architects were all women.

They had all graduated at the top of their class from prestigious art academies, but now they were doing menial tasks under established architects without having a chance to showcase their skills.

The reason was nothing special.

Because they were women.

The nobles did not trust the abilities of female architects, so they had never been able to build their own buildings.

I deliberately selected and summoned such individuals.

The best way to make a human serve as a demon’s subordinate is to fulfill that human’s desires.

I planned to fulfill their desires and make them my people.

“We will fill the waterways with champagne. However, the color must be clear and brilliant. Ah, it would be good to attach mother-of-pearl to the bottom of the waterways.”

“If we attach mother-of-pearl to the entire bottom of the waterways, the budget will…”

“Do I look like I care about money?”

When I spoke with a gentle smile, the architects gulped.

Desire mixed with greed filled their eyes.

A color I knew well and liked.

“This is the first banquet hosted by the Empress of this country. No matter how much it costs, you can do as you please. As long as you keep what I said, the rest doesn’t matter.”

They knew best that this kind of opportunity doesn’t come twice.

Not having to worry about the budget.

Even if they weren’t building the structure itself, this was how it started.

The architect who had tightly tied her hair into a single bun asked me a question. She was the oldest of the three, almost forty years old.

“Um, Your Majesty the Empress. But why are you giving us this opportunity… We don’t have any reputation or anything yet.”

“So, you can’t do it?”

When I bluntly asked, the hesitating architect gritted her teeth.

“No. We can do it. We will proceed with the construction so that it can become a banquet that will go down in history.”

“For this banquet, I looked at all the graduation works of architecture students. When I gathered the most outstanding ones among those numerous works, it was you.”

This was half-truth and half-lie.

Where would I have the time to look at all the graduation works?

I originally told them to bring me the top graduates of the architecture department who had not yet built a single building. And I chose from among them.

At the words acknowledging their abilities, the expressions of the other two architects brightened.

It was time to drive in the wedge and move on to the next agenda, so I patted everyone’s shoulders once.

“If you successfully complete this banquet, I promise the sponsorship of the Achillo Dukes to all of you. So don’t disappoint me.”

“We will do our best…!”

“Good. Go and have your meal.”

This was done, and what was the next thing to do?

“Your Majesty, I have brought all the types of champagne currently held in the palace!”

I wondered why there were seven reception rooms in the palace that were rarely used properly, but when I worked properly as the Empress, even that was not enough.

I entered another reception room and checked the liquor barrels and glasses displayed inside one by one.

“This color is too murky. Remove all the red ones.”

“Yes! Then we are left with these three.”

“You all, try drinking them. I will use the one that receives the most selections.”

I gestured to the maids trailing behind me. Then the maids swarmed in and filled the glasses.

Everyone must have been exhausted from preparing for the banquet, so they would have been delighted to quench their thirst with low-proof champagne.

“If I may humbly say, I found the third one to be the sweetest.”

“Me too.”

“Me too!”

Then it’s decided to be the third type.

While preparing for the banquet this time, I often sought the opinions of those around me in this way.

Rather than giving the impression that I’m doing things my way, it’s easier to defend when a problem arises later if it’s a ‘banquet made by everyone together’.

A banquet made by me alone is something I have to handle alone, but if someone slanders and attacks a banquet made by everyone together… everyone will step up to protect it.

Moreover, I desperately needed the image of a ‘communicating Empress’.

“The Empress, contrary to expectations, is not sensitive…?”

“Right. There were rumors that she was a prickly person.”

“The rumors must have been distorted. The maids were also laughing and drinking champagne with Her Majesty the Empress. I also got to drink a glass.”

“What? You’re saying she gave you that expensive champagne too?”

“Yeah. Her Majesty the Empress ordered the champagne barrels to be brought. The other servants in that reception room all got to drink it.”

“Wow, I’m envious. Was it a heavenly taste? Is the champagne that nobles drink really different from the alcohol we drink?”

“Her Majesty the Empress seems to be a good person…”

While hurriedly moving to the next location with only Derek, I heard chattering sounds from under the window and stopped walking for a moment.

The maids were chattering while holding laundry.

‘I did lead them to praise me… but actually hearing the praise feels awkward.’

I scratched my cheek and quickened my pace so as not to be caught eavesdropping. Tripping over my feet and stumbling was definitely not intentional.

“Your Majesty. It’s dangerous.”

“Uh… thank you, Sir Derek.”

Of course, it was Derek who caught me like lightning when I was about to fall.

“You ate too little for both breakfast and lunch. You might get anemia.”

“Anemia, no way. I’m fine. I’ve never felt this good and energetic.”

“I…”

Derek stopped and tightly shut his mouth as if he was about to say something.

Then, as if forgetting to let me go, I was still half-embraced, but it didn’t feel bad, like being snugly held by a winter bear.

Looking up at him intently with my head tilted back, I suddenly opened my mouth.

“You actually wish I hadn’t left the bedroom, right?”