So the memories that had been sporadically surfacing became complete after smelling the fragrance of flowers.

It was shock, pure and simple. I looked up at Ascan, who was right in front of me, with a complexion that had rapidly turned pale.

Suddenly, Ascan’s words from a little while ago came to my mind.

Is that all you remember?
What else is there here?
No, nothing. Forget it if you can.

Naturally, Ascan, who hadn’t had a drink, couldn’t forget the memories of that day. That’s why he asked me such a question.

Looking at me, Ascan, with a concerned voice, asked,

“Are you okay?”

Unable to give any response, I stared at Ascan with a hardened expression. Ascan reached out his hand towards me. I quickly avoided it and ran away.

“Uh, ahh!”

Without realizing, I screamed and ran into the mansion, making a fuss.

Though Ascan, who was left alone for a moment, seemed to be standing with a bewildered expression, I didn’t pay any attention to that now.

‘I overpowered Ascan while drunk!’

Just thinking about the simple acts of drinking, vomiting, and running around like a crazy person made me cringe, and my face wouldn’t stop blushing.

Surprisingly, I caused a bigger incident.

Without anyone stopping me, I entered a room and lay on the bed.

Even flipping the blanket over my head didn’t calm my mind.

‘Tanasia, you couldn’t resist your desires and touched him.’

It was said that when you’re drunk, your emotions become honest.

At that time, Ascan reflected in my eyes was so handsome. I couldn’t resist his beautiful face, and I didn’t have the skill to handle it.

Coincidentally, the line was, ‘Open your mouth,’ so it wasn’t unreasonable for me, who was drunk, to recall something else.

After the kiss, I couldn’t remember the expression Ascan made. It felt like he was frowning slightly, holding back something.

Grabbing my cheek with his large hand, Ascan opened my mouth and pushed the medicine inside.

Because of the sudden entrance of the medicine into my mouth, I couldn’t say anything anymore. Ascan hugged me, and in a low voice, he said,

“This one doesn’t count.”

What on earth does that mean?

Did he intend to pretend that nothing happened since I kissed him unilaterally?

Maybe that’s why he said it was okay to forget if I wanted to.

Feeling embarrassed, I clenched my head and burrowed deeper into the bed.

‘Ah, I want to disappear.’

The confidence in facing Ascan’s face in the future was completely gone.

The next day, unable to sleep, I sat with tired eyes when Jerin approached and handed me an invitation from Kalua Palace.

“Miss, there’s an invitation from Kalua Palace… Oh my! What happened to you?”

“Nothing, really…”

I answered in a weak voice and looked at the invitation Jerin brought.

It was an invitation to a party at Kalua Palace that Ascan mentioned last night. There was a separate message hoping I would attend, stating that a welcoming place for me had been prepared.
On the invitation envelope was the seal of the Kalua Empire, and the content related to my welcoming ceremony showed the seal of the Empress.

Just by looking at this, I could tell that the Empress personally sent the invitation.

‘What’s her hidden agenda?’

After tossing and turning in bed, I grabbed my throbbing head and thought.

Logically, they couldn’t kill me at a party hosted by the imperial family. Then what could the Empress and the Manoco family be aiming for?

It couldn’t be just to embarrass me.

There was no way I could prevent myself from becoming the Empress due to a trivial incident. Of course, I never intended to become the Empress in the first place.

Ideally, I wanted to inform in advance that I would reject the position of the Empress, but there was a high chance they wouldn’t believe such words.

Moreover, if I tried to discuss these thoughts with Helsion, I would be in an awkward position in the middle of everything.

‘The Manoco family…’

At the moment, the original story of “Beloved Saintess” had changed significantly. Especially, the internal affairs of the Kalua Empire were even more altered.

Originally, the rightful Emperor should have ascended the throne, but now the story had changed, and Helsion had become the Emperor.

Although through experience, I realized that the novel’s plot did not unfold as I had seen, it didn’t mean that the original story was of no help.

When the story about the Kalua Empire came up in the novel, I had read descriptions about the Manoco family.

‘They were definitely a family proficient in hypnosis.’

If they could use hypnosis on the desired target to control them, it meant they could devise various schemes.

In the original story, the Manoco family was a powerful ally of the Emperor, but perhaps it was because of this ability that they caught Helsion’s attention.

‘In that case, are they considering hypnotizing me?’

If they controlled me with hypnosis, they could make me refuse Helsion’s Empress position in various ways.

Not only that, even if I became the Empress, there would be various ways I could be useful.