“Damn bitch, I’ll kill that bitch.”

The anger that could not be contained finally slipped out between her lips. She had lived her entire life learning that the foremost principle of the imperial family was to cultivate a noble and pure character.

She was someone who would never utter a foul word out loud, but after losing her father, elder brothers, and now even her nephew – family members for the fourth time – she no longer had the capacity to care about such things. Now, only evil remained in her heart.

The empty imperial throne would be temporarily occupied by Monika, the deceased emperor’s mother and her sister-in-law. While Monika served as regent, the empire would be busy seeking a new emperor to welcome.

The most likely candidate for the next emperor was Carl, the son of another elder brother. No, he wasn’t just likely – he was the only one. No one else even had the qualifications to come near the imperial throne.

Pulcheria quietly bit her lip.

“If someone dares to covet the throne without knowing their place…”

Then she would kill Franz with her own hands. Just by setting foot in the imperial palace, he had already enjoyed undeserved luxuries. What an absurd thing it was for someone so unworthy to be treated like a prince due to his vulgar mother’s pillow talk.

But that would be the extent of the luck he could enjoy. It had to be all of it.

Of course, Carl would ascend to the throne, but according to the rumors, the movements of some high-ranking nobles had been suspicious lately.

Skilled in trickery and excellent at luring people to his side by stirring the greed in their hearts, that son was no different from a black-hearted serpent, just like Marina whom he resembled.

“My lady, I prepared warm water. If you soak your feet lightly, it will make your sleep more comfortable.”

“You went through the trouble of bringing that all the way here again.”

Thanks to Layla, who entered huffing and puffing while carrying the foot basin, Pulcheria broke out of her thoughts. Whenever she got lost in anger and deep contemplation like this, her whole body would become as heavy as water-soaked cotton, making it impossible to move.

Each time, it was always Layla who refreshed her from the darkness.

“If your feet are cold, you can’t sleep.”

Layla’s face, smiling as she spoke, was as bright as sunshine. She was the purest and clearest woman Pulcheria knew among all people. If only her background was a bit better, Pulcheria would have considered pushing her as Carl’s match at least once.

Pulcheria let out a short sigh of regret. Then, as if she couldn’t resist, she entrusted her feet to Layla’s hands.

“Mm, it’s nice.”

“Your feet have become too cold.”

“How would I be doing now if it weren’t for you. Thank you, Layla.”

“No, my lady. It is I who am always grateful to you. For taking in me, who had nowhere else to go…”

“Don’t say such things. If you are my husband’s niece, then you are also my niece.”

Kneeling on the floor beside the basin, she rolled up her sleeves and unhesitatingly took Pulcheria’s bare feet. Carefully pushing both feet into the warm water, she began to rub the toes so gently that it almost tickled.

“Um, my lady.”

Having her feet soaked in warm water and receiving a massage, it felt like her whole body was melting. Pulcheria entrusted her feet to Layla and leaned back in the chair.

“Hmm?”

“It’s about something I heard at His Majesty the Emperor’s funeral today. I was wondering if you knew about it.”

“What is it?”

“His Highness the Grand Duke…”

She wasn’t a child to drag out her words like this. What difficult thing was she trying to say by lengthening the end of her sentence?

“You mean Carl?”

“Yes, my lady. I saw His Highness Albrecht at the funeral today…”

Pulcheria, who had leaned her head back and closed her eyes, had to open them abruptly at Layla’s next words.

“I heard he’s getting married. Do you know about it, my lady?”

“What? Marriage? Who’s getting married?”

Splash. She was so startled that she almost knocked over the basin while moving. Hastily withdrawing her legs from Layla’s hands, Pulcheria grabbed the armrest of the chair and sat up.

“His Highness Albrecht.”

“Carl said he’s getting married? He told you that?”

“He didn’t tell me directly, my lady. Today, I was talking about this and that with Lady Vanessa of the Tecula family, and His Highness showed up.”

“Again? Really, why does that child always harass you whenever he sees you. I told Grand Master Tecula to educate his nephew properly, but he did it again?”

“He didn’t harass me.”

“Don’t lie. It’s obvious even without seeing it, what kind of fault he must have found with you.”

“He really didn’t, my lady. Today, there was also a grateful person who didn’t just pass by but took my side.”

“A grateful person, you don’t mean Carl, do you?”

Relief and worry simultaneously raised their heads at the mention of a grateful person who had saved her from jealous noble ladies. When a handsome man and woman got entangled like that, nine out of ten times, it was bound to lead to a romantic relationship.

“No. It was Lord Louisette.”

“Louisette?”

A completely unexpected different name.

“Lord Louisette, you mean…”

Pulcheria’s brow furrowed. Wasn’t the Louisette family the wealthiest in the empire besides the imperial family? He was also a person whose name had been circulating along with Carl’s lately.

“Yes. I had passed by him a few times from afar before, but today was the first time I saw him up close. How can someone with such graceful features also have such a kind heart? He could have just passed by, but he purposely stopped to save me from the noble ladies.”

“That child did that?”

Thinking of the middle-aged man with purple hair, Pulcheria quietly recalled that the Count had passed away in an accident two years ago and his only daughter had inherited the title.

At that time, she had been preparing for Maximilian’s coronation, so she hadn’t had the leisure to look around at such surrounding circumstances.

As Carl reached adulthood, Pulcheria had diligently examined every girl from renowned noble families one by one.

Naturally, the only daughter of the Louisette family had also crossed her radar, and if only objective conditions were considered, the girl was lacking in nothing to become the Grand Duchess.

However, there was something about her cold-looking impression that Pulcheria didn’t quite like.

She had the glamorous beauty that made countless men’s hearts flutter, but… how should she put it, kindness couldn’t be felt from her appearance? Moreover, from the time rumors began circulating about her involvement with Franz, Pulcheria had stopped looking in that direction altogether.

“That child helped you? That’s quite unexpected. So what’s this about Carl talking about marriage? Explain it properly.”

“Lord Louisette was taking my side, and… Lady Tecula said something insulting to her. So a big argument almost broke out, but His Highness the Grand Duke appeared.”

“Something insulting, like what?”

“Um, well.”

She hesitated to answer rashly. Judging by Layla’s disposition of extremely refraining from saying anything negative about others, what Tecula had said must have been more insulting than imaginable.

“She called her an impure person who gave birth to a child out of wedlock without even knowing who the father is.”

Even though they weren’t her own words, Layla conveyed them with a mortified expression. Perhaps Layla couldn’t understand how someone could casually throw out such rude and hurtful words to others.

“Child… what do you mean?”

Pulcheria knew there were unsavory rumors circulating about Celeste Aisha Louisette and Carl, but this was the first time she heard anything about a child. Barely holding onto her mind that threatened to go blank, Pulcheria asked.

“Louisette should be unmarried, are you saying she has a child?”

“I also thought that rumor was just a rumor, but seeing her reaction, it seemed to be true. But my lady, what’s more important is…”

Not only were there scandalous rumors about her and that Franz bastard, but she was also an unwed mother. The back of her head felt chilled. All her excellent qualities that could have been taken into consideration were canceled out at once.

Pulcheria staggered, intending to go find Carl right away and tell him that woman was unacceptable.

“His Highness the Grand Duke appeared and told them to apologize for saying she had a child without even knowing who the father was.”

“What does that mean… Is he saying he also knew she had a child?”

“Yes. Wouldn’t he just know? That child, he said it was His Highness’ child.”

Even though there were only two of them here, Layla lowered her voice to a whisper as if afraid someone might hear.

“He also said that her child is his child, and since they can’t hold a ceremony in the middle of the funeral, they’re just waiting for the right time.”

“A ceremony, you mean…”

“Yes, marriage!”