She must be planning to ask a difficult question. Although Celiya was released from prison, she couldn’t escape the charge of assassinating the emperor.

Dietrich read the empress’s mind, but it was clear that if he intervened here, the situation would only worsen.

As soon as the commotion died down, the empress would gather even nonexistent crimes to throw Celiya back in prison. The empress Dietrich knew was more than capable of such things.

How would Celiya escape this situation? With the order to leave given, Dietrich staying here would only incur the empress’s wrath.

“…As Your Majesty commands, I shall take my leave for now.”

Dietrich turned to look at Celiya before exiting the room. Celiya had already lifted her head and was sitting with her back straight.

With a click, the door closed. Left in the room were the empress, her maids, and Celiya.

“I said it would be just the two of us, but it could be dangerous to have a private audience with the criminal who assassinated the emperor.”

The empress fabricated a benevolent smile towards Celiya.

“You understand what I mean, don’t you?”

The empress did not believe the rumors that Celiya had been falsely accused. She had only released her temporarily to avoid provoking the angry crowd, but Celiya was an irritant in many ways, like a hangnail.

It would have been better if she had died along with the emperor when she killed him.

At the very least, if Dietrich’s knight had done something to Celiya during the emperor’s funeral, it wouldn’t have come to this.

The empress had not only condoned the knight’s attempt to cause trouble but had also promised not to punish him no matter what he did inside. However, contrary to the empress’s wishes, Celiya did not lose her purity or die.

Being alive caused these complications.

The empress hid her dark intentions and smiled brightly at Celiya.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

At Celiya’s docile response, the empress said,

“Standing must be uncomfortable. Please sit on the sofa opposite me.”

Celiya sat down across from the empress as instructed.

“Would you like some refreshments?”

“I appreciate the offer, but I’m fine. I heard Your Majesty called for me because you had something to say.”

The empress’s eyes sank. She had planned to put deadly poison in the refreshments. The empress possessed large quantities of toxic substances that would not take effect immediately, but after several days.

But the poison didn’t necessarily have to be in the refreshments.

The empress looked into her own teacup and smiled faintly.

“I recently imported some expensive tea from the Eastern Continent. It has a rich flavor and tastes very good.”

“…”

“I’ll give you the special opportunity to have a cup.”

Celiya felt the empress’s intentions were extremely sinister, calling her a criminal while continuously trying to offer her something. But while she had refused once, she couldn’t guarantee what would happen if she refused a second time.

“Then I’ll gratefully accept.”

“Of course, you should. Bring the flower tea now. The freshest one.”

“Yes.”

The maid immediately brought a teapot filled with flower tea and two teacups on a tray. Celiya quietly watched as the maid poured the tea into the cups.

Steam rose from the tea, with yellow flowers floating in it, true to its name.

“Here, drink.”

Celiya looked back and forth between her cup and the empress’s cup. Though they seemed to contain the same flower tea, upon closer inspection, the tea in her own cup appeared to have a deeper color.

‘I clearly saw it poured from the same teapot. Is there some kind of manipulation inside?’

Having been exposed to various threats while staying at the viscount’s estate, Celiya was extremely sensitive to such matters.

If it weren’t for her, someone else would have accepted and drunk the tea without any suspicion.

“…Aren’t you going to drink, Your Majesty?”

At Celiya’s question, the empress smiled with narrowed eyes. But she couldn’t hide the sharp glint in those eyes. No. It was more accurate to say she had no intention of hiding it in the first place.

“Are you suspecting that I put something in this tea?”

Such clear hostility. Celiya pretended not to know and smiled back at the empress’s words.

“How could that be, Your Majesty? It’s just that I’ve never seen such pretty tea in my life. It’s almost too beautiful to drink.”

Celiya answered while holding the teacup in her hand. The empress watched Celiya’s actions.

“From what I know, the Brillian Viscount family is said to have so much wealth that their storehouses are bursting at the seams.”

The empress’s words seemed innocuous on the surface, but their true meaning was to mock how Celiya had never tasted proper tea despite having wealth rotting away in excess.

Celiya was well familiar with this manner of speech where the surface and underlying meanings differed. It was the conversational style that Gabriel, with whom she shared no blood, often used on her.

“That’s merely the wealth of the Brillian Viscount family, not my own.”

Celiya deliberately gave an ambiguous answer.

“Are you not also a member of the Brillian Viscount family? Even if you are an adopted daughter.”

Instead of answering, Celiya lowered her head and subtly trembled the hand holding the teacup. The empress looked her over.

“It seems you have circumstances you can’t speak of. As a criminal, you should tell me everything without hiding anything.”

“…How could I possibly lie to Your Majesty?”

“Then, I’ll ask one thing first. Is it true that you assassinated His Majesty the Emperor?”

Celiya stared at the empress. How perverse to ask while already being convinced that she had killed him.

“Yes, it is.”

The answer seemed unexpected, as the empress swirled the teacup in her hand and said,

“Did you just affirm that you assassinated the emperor?”

“How could I possibly lie to Your Majesty at this point?”

“…There’s no mastermind behind this? You assassinated the emperor alone?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“The men outside the palace would faint if they knew this. They were so certain you had been falsely accused.”

Hearing the empress’s words, Celiya seemed to understand the current state of affairs. When she stayed at the viscount’s estate, the men who saw Celiya called her something very noble, very pure, and worshipped her.

But beneath the worship, there was always lust as a premise.

The men who fell for Celiya at first sight all blatantly coveted her. With their mouths, they whispered all sorts of honeyed sweet words, claiming they alone were different from other men.

But whenever an opportunity arose, they always tried to do something to her.

While claiming it was love at first sight. While saying they loved her.

Is this truly the right attitude towards someone you love? If you truly love someone, isn’t it right to cherish them?

Like her father the king had done for her, like she had done for her parrot Popo.

That day, a renowned high priest had visited the viscount’s estate to see Celiya. The high priest, who had spent the money offered by believers at the temple to meet Celiya, did not hide his lecherous gaze towards her.

When they were left alone, the high priest tried to make advances on Celiya. Celiya was so curious about his true intentions that before using her ability on him, she had asked him once.

The answer he gave was outrageous.

If he took her first time, wouldn’t she remember him for life?

What kind of expression would she, called the angel of Brillian, make if she became entangled with him? Even if she came to feel disgust towards him, wouldn’t even that seem lovely?

Although it was a sacrilegious act, if he sincerely apologized to God after doing such a thing, this sin would be washed away, and he would remain in her memory.

Celiya recalled a man whose face she couldn’t even remember and held a faint smile on her lips. It was a fleeting, misty smile.

“It’s true that I was falsely accused, but what they’re saying is not true.”

It was difficult for even the empress to understand. The empress frowned and asked,

“You say you killed him yourself yet were falsely accused, and now you say what they’re saying isn’t true. Which of your words is the truth?”

“I was forcibly dragged to Your Majesty’s bedchamber by people from my family. So I was falsely accused, and it’s true that I killed the emperor with my own hands to protect myself.”

To speak so calmly about killing the emperor. Is she taking me for a fool with such lies? Or is it the truth?

‘Whether it’s the truth or not, I can’t stand the sight of you sticking close to Dietrich.’

Instead of revealing her true thoughts, the empress took a sip of tea from her cup.

And once again, she offered tea to Celiya.

“Come, have a cup before the tea gets cold, and let’s talk more.”

“…”

The empress had drunk the tea first and even offered it to her. Celiya had no right to refuse.

As she brought the teacup to her lips, Celiya didn’t miss the empress’s mouth loosening.

Celiya pretended to make a mistake and dropped the teacup. With a crash, the cup fell to the floor and shattered.

“!”

Rage flashed in the empress’s eyes.

“I have committed a mortal sin. The tea Your Majesty gave me…!”

Celiya prostrated herself on the floor and bowed her head before the empress could say anything.

The empress glared at Celiya’s head as if she would bite and swallow it.

“It’s alright, so get up. We can bring a new cup.”

The empress immediately had a maid bring a new cup.

“Surely you won’t make a mistake again? Especially with tea I’m pouring myself.”

The empress said as she personally poured tea into the cup. The inside of the teapot was divided into two compartments: one with poisoned tea and one without.

This teapot, which poured poisoned tea when touching the stubby part inside the handle and normal tea when not touching it, was a gift Ileon had given to her, the empress.

After confirming that Celiya had taken the teacup, the empress smiled in victory.

“Drink. Surely you don’t think I put anything in this?”

Now there was no escape, and she had to drink.

Just as Celiya brought the teacup to her lips, someone’s voice was heard from beyond the door.

“Mother, it’s me.”