One month ago,

“Eunivs?”

Resban Deon Lucein, who had Esika Klaus leaning on his shoulder, twitched his eyebrow.

That was the land of an empire that Resban had conquered years ago.

“You said there were rocks there that are the raw material for Henomos.”

Esika slowly lifted her head from Resban and sat up straight.

Resban didn’t like her moving away from him, but he decided to listen.

Esika reached out to fasten the collar of his broad chest, which was somewhat exposed, and said,

“I think it would be good to leak information that His Highness the Crown Prince is coveting that place.”

“……”

“If it’s a place that must be obtained without fail, we’ll help him get it a little faster. Of course, there should be a price. What I want is also the price that the Empress must pay.”

“You’re talking about Breyton.”

Resban tilted his chin slightly to look at Esika.

Her blue eyes were shining coldly like a calm sea, and he found it quite enjoyable to see Esika chirping her characteristic moves.

“……”

Esika paused for a moment and looked at Resban.

His neat black hair was disheveled due to the intense lovemaking of the previous night, and his attire was likewise, but his attitude was always full of composure.

Especially those golden eyes staring at her.

She still couldn’t read his thoughts, but somehow she felt he had her all figured out.

What kind of personality did Dokying have in her past life? He was indeed a reliable and good elder brother to the spirit…

To rise to the position of the Heavenly Demon Church’s leader from an orphan background, one must have not only strong martial arts but also the wisdom to read several moves ahead.

“Why did you stop talking?”

“It seems like you already know even without me saying it.”

“That can’t be.”

Resban shifted his gaze elsewhere as if feigning ignorance.

Dokying, who rose to the supreme position in the Demon Sect where cunning snakes writhe. And Resban, reincarnated with that soul.

As mentioned before in monologues, masters are eccentric and inscrutable.

Esika was a bit annoyed by Resban’s pretending attitude, but she decided to continue speaking anyway.

“The Empress herself won’t want to go to Eunivs, so she’ll send Breyton.”

“……That woman would do that.”

“Additionally, since Prince Breyton is the Empress’s most vulnerable point, she’ll want to hide him from sight now that a formidable enemy has appeared. And if I make it clear that I don’t want that……”

Resban nodded slightly.

“But there’s one problem.”

Resban said with a smirk.

“What problem?”

“It’s not appropriate to use a scheme to drive a wedge between the Empress and the Prince. In other words.”

Resban reached out to wrap his arm around Esika’s shoulder again, pulling her into his embrace.

And burying his nose slightly in her hair, he said,

“That guy isn’t smart enough to fall for such a scheme.”

It’s a problem if he’s not stupid enough to fall for it, but it’s also a problem if he’s too stupid to understand it.

“What I intend to use isn’t a scheme to drive a wedge.”

Esika whispered in Resban’s ear.

“It’s creating a situation where the Empress herself has no choice but to abandon her son.”

Resban’s eyebrow twitched at Esika’s unexpected words.

Esika remembered Sela’s bloodstained fingernails.

The Empress must also experience how painful it is to tear off something attached to oneself.

Even if she’s a monster who can’t feel pain, she should at least be given a lingering, long-lasting, and irreparable discomfort.

Esika cupped Resban’s face and looked at him.

His nose was just a few centimeters away.

“What do you think?”

Resban, who had been looking at her with a faint smile as if admiring that thought, lightly kissed her lips.

“That’s too much. I’m being serious.”

Her eyes were filled with immediate vengeance rather than passion for him.

At times like this, it’s inevitable that small dissatisfactions accumulate.

Despite knowing why she came here.

Resban also knew about the things happening in the Imperial Palace.

He just didn’t pay attention because he was busy with the war, including the fact that the Empress was killing women pregnant with Breyton’s children.

“I just had a good idea.”

Resban looked at Esika with a languid expression.

“Wait, I’ll tell you after I get the spoils of war.”

**

“……!”

The moment the Empress saw Esika’s expression, she realized that she had been caught in a scheme from the beginning.

Where did it go wrong?

She thought she was controlling the whole situation, but she wasn’t.

But even if she tried to run away, it was after the fire had spread everywhere, so it was either jump or burn to death.

The Empress had no choice but to choose one of the two.

Her tightly clenched fist was so forceful that her nails dug into her flesh, drawing blood.

“……”

A deep silence hung over the main palace hall where the Empress was alone in the spotlight.

How indifferent you are.

It would have been nice if Tameron had struck lightning, but there was no response from the heavens.

She had to open her mouth herself about whether the responsibility for the murder case of eleven corpses that would incur heaven and earth’s wrath lay with the Empress or with the Second Prince in Eunivs.

“I……”

The one who would be held responsible for this unprecedented incident would lose many things.

Power and future are typical examples.

The Emperor had no intention of letting this matter slide.

Not just one or two, but eleven corpses. No matter how powerful the imperial authority of Turessia was, there were laws and procedures for killing people.

Especially the corpses of pregnant women cause tremendous repercussions.

It’s clear from the circumstances whose babies they were carrying.

“……I didn’t kill them.”

The words that finally came out of the Empress’s mouth caused both a sigh and admiration from Esika.

Although she had never given birth herself, many women consider their children’s future more important than their own honor and power.

Even her political opponents who fought in the Imperial Palace when she was a spirit were like that.

No matter how harsh and wicked a woman is, she’s not like that to her children.

“Breyton……”

The Empress moved her lips with a pale face.

“He might know about this matter.”

She chose herself over the Second Prince Breyton.

Although it was a scheme set up thinking she would surely do this, seeing it unfold was even more impactful.

To escape from her own crisis, she was framing her son who was in a distant land.

“Come to think of it, Breyton told me there was a woman pregnant with his child. When I asked who it was, his face darkened, so I didn’t ask further, and he didn’t mention it again, so I forgot about it……”

The Emperor’s eyebrows hardened as he listened to the Empress’s confession.

“I might have made wrong choices.”

“No matter how immature and wicked, how could he kill people!”

The enraged Emperor bellowed. The Empress bowed her head and said,

“I apologize, Your Majesty.”

“The Imperial Investigation Team will thoroughly investigate this matter, and summon Breyton from Eunivs…… No, have him atone in the temple there for life!”

The Emperor shouted angrily as he gave the order.

“It’s a capital crime that deserves stripping of his prince title. No matter how lowly the women, how could he kill those carrying the bloodline of the Lucein Imperial Family!”

The right of succession to the throne was in a position unreachable by the Second Prince Breyton, no matter how much he rose, compared to Resban Deon Lucein.

However, the Emperor, who valued balance and harmony, paid considerable attention to the Second Prince’s faction led by the Empress.

The Second Prince might not become Emperor, but he could be protected by the power of the Second Prince’s faction even after the Emperor’s death.

However, the Klaus family, the huge force leading the Second Prince’s faction, collapsed, and even the Second Prince Breyton incurred the Emperor’s wrath.

“……The Empress also pretended not to know when the Crown Princess mentioned the woman pregnant with the Prince’s child, even though she knew about it! Thinking about it now, the Crown Princess was right!”

“……”

“The Princess is also greatly disappointed!”

“I apologize.”

The Empress’s face was bowed with clenched fists trembling, her eyes full of anger.

Behind her, Astia Lucein bowed her head and calmly apologized.

“Have the investigation team also look into whether Breyton switched the bodies that day to deceive me!”

“By your command!”

The solid pillars she had worked hard to build were collapsing like dominoes.

The Empress could only curse inwardly.

She would surely have Esika, that witch, burned at the stake.

Someday, she would pour oil on that body and make it burn forever.