Well, it’s not his concubine, so it wouldn’t be that shocking.
“Prince Tesla’s bodyguard chased and killed the servant of that concubine. Isn’t it strange?”
He continued speaking.
“Just being together wouldn’t lead to murder. There must be another reason.”
I simply nodded.
I couldn’t reveal the fact to Prince Norton that Pessilini might be a spy planted by Prince Tesla to monitor me as the ‘proxy empress.’
He did rescue me from danger a little while ago, but revealing my situation to him would be a foolish move.
“If Prince Tesla and that concubine are having an affair, and the servant witnessed it, then ordering the murder was inevitable.”
Prince Norton concluded.
Following his logic, it couldn’t be ruled out that Pessilini was both a spy and involved in an affair with the prince.
“But, Your Highness. Why did the servant choose to run away through the Empress’s palace?”
I asked, looking briefly at the place where the servant had fallen.
“Hmm…”
Prince Norton scratched his chin with a contemplative expression.
“Miyao!”
The quiet kitten in my arms suddenly meowed loudly, hiding its small head between my armpits.
“Quiet. Why were you silent until just now?”
I looked at Prince Norton again while stroking the kitten.
He glanced at the place where the servant had fallen and spoke after a moment of contemplation.
“Having escaped from the West Palace, the servant ended up coming all the way here. But more importantly, how did Prince Tesla and the concubine from the Raphion Empire know each other?”
“That’s true…”
I, too, had started to have doubts about that aspect.
“I think I know that!”
At that moment, an unexpected figure appeared around the corner of the Empress’s palace building.
“…Roje?”
“I greet Your Majesty the Empress!”
After greeting me and Prince Norton, she rushed towards me.
“Who are you?”
Prince Norton looked at Roje and asked me.
“I am the Second Concubine, Concubine Roje Adelheid.”
She introduced herself.
“How much did you hear?”
Prince Norton, still wary, looked Roje up and down and asked.
“Everything…. But don’t worry. I don’t go around talking about things wherever I go. I’m a consort who really likes Your Majesty the Empress!”
“!”
“!”
Despite her trembling voice, Roje responded confidently to Prince Norton, who looked at her suspiciously.
“Roje, what brings you here this night?”
I gently spoke to her to prevent her from getting scared.
“It’s, it’s because of that cat…”
Roje quickly pointed to the white kitten in my arms.
“It’s my pet cat. I left it alone for a moment, and it disappeared, so I was looking for it.”
“Is a consort supposed to talk to herself?”
Prince Norton asked her as if probing.
Actually, it’s not allowed, but it’s my secretly raised cat in my chambers. I thought it might be a problem if it caught the attention of other consorts while I was searching with the servants… That’s why I ended up coming all the way here looking for the cat.”
Roje responded to the prince while glaring at the kitten.
To raise animals within the palace, special permission from the royal family is required. According to Roje’s words, it seemed she had been secretly raising the kitten.
Interestingly, the kitten, just like it did to Prince Norton a little while ago, raised its two front paws and playfully pawed at Roje.
“That’s real…”
While giving me a knowing look, Roje bit the kitten’s teeth firmly and spoke.
“Seems like having the cat only in the bedroom was suffocating? Oh, could it be the egg you saw in the bedroom that time? The one that came out of there, right?”
“Y-Yes?!”
“Miyao!”
Perhaps my joke was too absurd; Roje, with a shocked expression, blinked rapidly and raised her voice at the end of her sentence.
The cat, too, continued to be affectionate in my arms, moving lively, then suddenly stretched its body.
Reflecting on my joke that even froze the cat, I quickly covered it up with laughter.
“But, Roje, what was that talk about earlier? Something like knowing how Prince Tesla and Pessilini are acquainted.”
“Yes, Your Majesty the Empress. Count Astor is from a prominent family that manages a large estate. They have connections not only with the northern continent countries but also, before the war, with nations from the southern continent.”
“Oh, come to think of it, on the day when there was a luncheon for the consorts in the Empress’s palace, I believe that topic briefly came up… right?”
“That’s correct. Moreover, at that time, Pessilini clearly mentioned that she had visited the Shato Nil royal family several times since her childhood.”
“If that’s true, Prince Tesla and Consort Pessilini must have been on friendly terms for a long time.”
Prince Norton muttered seriously.
“Please stay here for a moment. I will examine that servant and return.”
With vigilance in his surroundings, Prince Norton agilely ran towards the place where the servant had fallen.
A moment later.
“Oh my, what is that prince doing?”
Roje, hiding behind me, asked in a frightened voice.
Prince Norton tore a part of his robe.
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
