“You want me to… eat this…?”

Hezen asked, his pupils trembling.

“Yes, I’ll feed you with my love. Ah, open up, Hezen.”

I scooped up the dessert with a fork and brought it to his mouth.

His hesitant and flustered appearance gave me a sense of satisfaction.

After a moment’s hesitation, he ate the dessert, but instead of chewing properly, he swallowed it down his throat in one gulp.

As if swallowing poison, he closed his eyes tightly with a very pained expression.

Meanwhile, the way he opened his inventory (*a space in games where players store acquired items) to check for antidotes was pathetically amusing.

‘Does he think I put poison in it or something?’

Though he swallowed the dessert, there was no change in his body.

Of course, I didn’t think I could inflict any damage on him with something like that.

“How can you swallow without even chewing? Here, drink this at least.”

I handed him a drink with a surprised face.

“Thank you, Lulu.”

Having confirmed that there was no change in his body, he sipped the drink with a more relaxed expression than before.

And at that moment.

Clack!

His dentures, no, his dentures fell with a clang into the glass.

“Oh my, Hezen! Your teeth…!”

I exclaimed in a shocked voice, hiding my face behind a fan I spread open.

Of course, the corners of my mouth behind the fan were twitching upwards.

[SYSTEM] You have lost your dentures, decreasing your charm by −500. (Charm: 499)

[SYSTEM] You have acquired the title 【(Rare) Toothless Tiger】.

[SYSTEM] You have gained 2490 experience points as a reward for acquiring a rare title.

[SYSTEM] Experience points have exceeded the maximum. Level is limited to 10 or below during the tutorial stage.

[SYSTEM] Due to the effect of the new title, your honor has decreased by −300. (Honor: 699)

Needless to say, his charm plummeted with that gaping appearance of five missing front teeth.

“Gasp, Lord Hezen’s teeth…”

“My goodness, five front teeth…”

I could see people’s favorability towards him dropping sporadically here and there.

I savored it, curling the corners of my mouth into a grin.

It was triggered by my peeking at his interface window, or more precisely, the [Player-Exclusive Shop] when he approached me earlier.

The [Player-Exclusive Shop] was the in-game payment system, simply put, a device for cash transactions, or “real money payments.”

I stole a glance at his purchase history, but it was less impressive than I thought.

Item 1 piece

A belt worn by the ancient hero Aslan. Wearing this item increases the player’s charm by 500%.

‘This charm-obsessed fool.’

Item 1 piece

A ring stolen from the god of fate, Miriam, while she was napping. Wearing this item allows one to know the ideal types and romantic views of characters.

‘I knew he had bought Miriam’s Ring…’

Item 999 pieces

The tail of a male electric eel known for its good fertility. Using this item increases the player’s virility…

‘This b*****d! Why did he stockpile 999 electric eel tails? This crazy @##%%^…’

I regretted peeking at his purchase history as it only made me feel worse.

I think there might have been a notification that ‘s murderous intent had intensified at that time.

Anyway, there was nothing particularly noteworthy in his purchase history.

Except that he was trash, as expected.

However, I discovered his weakness in his search history.

‘Dentures?’

It seems Hezen had tried to obtain ‘dentures’ but couldn’t find them in the player-exclusive shop.

I had someone investigate whether it was the dentures I was thinking of.

And I learned that he had secretly gotten dentures fitted the day after I hit him.

And not just one or two, but five front teeth!

‘Surely… it couldn’t be because I knocked out his corn, could it?’

I did punch him once out of anger when I caught him in the act of flirting…

‘So he secluded himself for three days to get dentures fitted and then came looking for me belatedly?’

Somehow, everything seemed to fit together.

Without teeth, his charm would decrease, and consequently, the favorability of the capture targets would drop.

It made sense for someone like him who lived and died by his charm.

Upon learning this fact, I immediately devised a plan to humiliate him.

In the Azester Empire, dentures were made by carving [Horn Ivory Bones] and attaching them with [Honey Snail’s Sticky Mucus].

And thanks to the additional description next to [Honey Snail’s Sticky Mucus] in his inventory, I learned that [Honey Snail’s Moist Tears] counteract the viscosity of [Honey Snail’s Sticky Mucus].

Item

Sticky mucus secreted by honey snails. Can firmly attach any object in the world. Loses its viscosity when it meets .

Of course, obtaining [Honey Snail’s Moist Tears] was quite difficult, but I was just a powerless princess with nothing but money.

I obtained it and put it in the drink Hezen just drank.

“H-How is this possible…”

Hezen’s face turned red and blue.

Unable to bear people’s stares, he soon used [Rus’s Footsteps] and dashed out at lightning speed.

I hummed a tune as I watched his pitiful retreating figure, carefully collecting his five fallen dentures as he left.

In fact, my goal wasn’t to break his dentures, but something else.

It was the cooldown!

In other words, the ‘skill reuse waiting time’.

Like other skills, [Rus’s Footsteps] had a waiting time before it could be used again after one use.

I had been quite annoyed because Hezen kept lingering in front of me but then using [Rus’s Footsteps] to escape.

But that skill had one weakness: its cooldown was incredibly long.

That’s all because he couldn’t level up the skill as he was too focused on his charm.

I thought that someone like him, who lived and died by his charm, would surely use the skill to quickly leave the place right after being humiliated.

He probably couldn’t have run far outside the Imperial Palace, and he’d come back soon to try to save face in this situation.

‘And that moment will be your death day.’

I retreated to a corner with an eerie smile behind my fan.

The sound of people gossiping about Hezen’s gaping teeth from here and there pleased me.

I still had unfinished business with Hezen, but it would be difficult to find him now that he had run away and hidden.

For now, there was one more thing I needed to do here before he appeared.

I sipped my drink in the corner and observed the hall.

In the distance, I could see people gathering around 2nd Prince Orent and 1st Princess Gloria.

The two, each having the head of the empire’s top two ducal families as their father, were often mentioned as likely candidates for the next emperor. I heard that Orent was getting more attention from people lately after successfully returning from subjugating magical beasts.

Both of them were different from me from birth, as I didn’t even know who my father was.

Not far away, Elizabeth unni was also having a pleasant conversation with her father.

I found myself blankly watching that scene.

‘I must have a father too. I wonder if mother knows who my father is.’

Mother didn’t give equal affection to all her children.

If she didn’t do it for those mentioned as candidates for the next emperor, there was no way she would give affection to someone like me.

But, just once.

Right after I realized I had been possessed, when I was suffering from a high fever, mother came to see me.

I still remembered that touch, placing a wet cloth on my hot forehead, in a hazy vision that made me wonder if it was a dream.

It was a touch that Yoon Sena from my previous life, who lived as a burden in her aunt’s house, had never experienced.

Even if it wasn’t affection but just pity for a young bloodline with no one to rely on, it was good enough.

After I fully recovered, I went to the Imperial Palace to express my gratitude, but I couldn’t meet mother.

The yellow flower I had picked to give to mother fell pitifully on the dirt floor.

‘Well, I’d dislike it too if I were her. I only caused trouble by getting a fever when I’m not even helpful to the imperial power…’

I was absently ruminating on the loneliness of that day.

The servant guarding the door announced in a loud voice:

“His Majesty the Emperor has arrived!”

At the sound of mother’s arrival, people stopped their whispers.

Mother walked to the high seat with noble steps without giving even a brief glance towards the people.

People lined up to greet mother.

I, who had been waiting for an opportunity, also greeted mother when it was my turn.

“3rd Princess Luibel greets Your Majesty the Emperor, the brightest sun of the Azester Empire.”

As always when standing before mother, my fingertips trembled finely, overwhelmed by the pressure.

But as soon as I raised my head and faced mother, I froze.

Emperor of the Azester Empire

Favorability: 999

“…”

Wow, this son of a b***h!

This f***ing bastard without even a minimal sense of ethics!

Although favorability doesn’t necessarily involve romantic feelings, thinking about how he had raised mother’s favorability for his own benefit made me furiously angry.

Filled with rage, I threw away all the tension that had enveloped my body until just now, and spoke in a clear voice.

“Your Majesty! I would like to take this opportunity to request the cancellation of my engagement to Hezen Ainsuhan.”

“Cancellation of engagement?”

Mother, who had been looking down at me indifferently, finally showed interest in me.

“An imperial engagement is not something that can be easily broken.”

It wasn’t just mother who was showing interest in me.

I could feel people’s gazes gathering towards me since I mentioned the cancellation of my engagement to Hezen earlier.

Amidst the quiet atmosphere in the hall, I carefully opened my mouth.

“I understand, Your Majesty. Hence, I too had much anguish and worry before bringing this matter to your attention…”

And I paused for a moment, fluttering my eyelashes.

“The truth is, he…”

By not immediately stating the main point and hesitating, I could feel people’s curiosity intensifying.

“He is…”

I shouted, squeezing my eyes shut.

“Hezen Ainsuhan is impotent, Your Majesty!”

“…!”

For a moment, even mother’s expression, which rarely shows surprise, faltered.

“So… you’re saying Lord Hezen has no reproductive ability?”

“Regrettably, yes, that is correct, Your Majesty.”

According to the imperial law of the Azester Empire, those without reproductive ability cannot marry into the imperial family.

It was also a great crime to hide the fact of infertility and get engaged.

Of course, Hezen wasn’t impotent yet, but he would be soon.

Because I will make him so.

‘Heheheh.’

Hiding my sinister smile, I deliberately wiped away forced tears with my sleeve.

Now the ballroom was in more of an uproar than when Hezen’s dentures had fallen out earlier.

“My feelings for Hezen remain unchanged, but an impotent man cannot become a member of the imperial family.”

If Hezen had been here, he would have blushed and objected.

But he couldn’t because he had left the place earlier.

In the Azester Empire, lack of reproductive ability was grounds for breaking off an engagement.

And if the engagement is broken, our lover status would also be automatically dissolved.

“…I will send a royal physician to confirm this with Lord Hezen soon.”

At mother’s answer, I inwardly rejoiced.

“If it is true that he lacks reproductive ability, your request for cancellation of the engagement will be approved.”

Favorability towards Hezen was dropping even more here and there.

Some even plummeted into negative numbers.

Even mother, whose favorability towards Hezen had been as high as 999 until just now…

Emperor of the Azester Empire

Favorability: −999

‘She must be thinking he insulted the imperial family by having a body incapable of reproduction. Mother is very strict about such matters.’

Having received a favorability of −999 from the Emperor, his future moves within the empire will be quite interesting to watch.

It served him right.

‘Of course, if my words turn out to be false, the backlash will come to me.’

I inwardly reaffirmed my determination to somehow complete Hezen’s impotent ending.