Chapter 2

(T/N: I’ll be referring to the Duchess (mc) as the Duke from now on, since she’s the head of the Baloa family)

She’s a Western romantic fantasy novel and a ‘waste’ keyword fanatic.

(T/N: Waste is a term in Korean novel literature wherein the female protagonist is subjected to abuse, torment, and hopeless predicaments that causes her to become weak. You can read more here)

A drama novel, in which her heart gets choked when the protagonists rolled and her heart becomes cathartic, was truly like an addictive drug.

However, there was a novel that was too much for her, who collected ‘waste’ in her heart and soul more than anyone else, and it was this novel that she transmigrated to.

The princess of the small kingdom of Esland, was taken as a concubine by the tyrant of the empire, Cardan Zeon, and rolled around, which was the essence of waste.

But the problem comes after that.

The Crown Prince of Esland, the elder brother of the female lead, became furious and declares war against the Hythronian Empire despite the dissuasion of his subjects.

The war between the rotten empire and the kingdom led by the newly awakened sword master, the Crown Prince, gradually tilted the war to the victory of their kingdom.

In fact, the empire easily collapsed as the Empress Dowager, who was from Esland, handed over confidential information to her home country.

In addition to this, the betrayal of the Empress Dowager was not surprising since she was not Cardan’s biological mother anyway.

The emperor Cardan, who was busy playing around with the female lead, far from war, took his life in front of the female lead when the enemy stormed in front of the Imperial Palace.

The female lead, who was pregnant at the time, had a miscarriage due to shock, and the novel ended with her returning to her hometown, overwhelmed with trauma, unable to escape from the nightmares of the past.

At first, the male lead gave a sense that he’s a strong character however at the end, the male character of this novel left only a feeling of discomfort.

She likes the bad ending, too. That’s what she’s trying to say.

The male lead is trash even when he died.

But why did she become the “Duke Baloa” of all people?

She almost tore her head off, forgetting that she was standing in the middle of the conference hall.

She acted like the right hand of the emperor and did all sorts of dirty things, but in the end, she was a villain and a nobody who was executed for disobeying Cardan once.

Although there’s not much in the novel, but it was not only once or twice that she slapped her knee as she read the words Duke Baloa spoke in the novel to appease the emperor.

Whenever she saw the Duke Baloa comforting the furious emperor gently, she became too immersed without realizing it.

Duke Baloa reminds Nana of herself, a call center agent, who has to smile while cursing.

So, she clearly remembered the death of Duchess Baloa.

Even though the national treasury began to run out as a precursor to the fall of the empire, Cardan suddenly ordered the Duke to build a greenhouse for the female lead.

As soon as he heard that it was difficult to build a greenhouse right away because of the astronomical cost, she was immediately put on the execution table.

She got goosebumps and trembled.

If this continues, she will die soon.

No.

“Princess Baloa, tell us. What did Sir Ethan do wrong?”

Clank clank.

The dagger in Cardan’s hand began to make a brutal sound.

No, she can’t die right now.

She quickly rolled her head to find a way to defend her life.

She roughly grasped the situation by the conversation of his servants a while ago.

She thought she could weave a story that would fit the emperor’s heart with just some added flesh to it.

As she instinctively raised her voice by two tones, a gentler voice came out, like an announcer.

“Sir Ethan is a heinous man who has committed terrible inadequacy.”

She’s seen customers like this emperor countless of times. Customers who keep insisting that they are not at fault even though they are.

What they want to hear are words that justifies their actions.

He didn’t do anything wrong, so he wants to blame others unconditionally.

If it was a customer consultation, she would have repeated like a parrot that she could not compensate for the damage caused by customer’s negligence.

However, he’s holding a knife.

The person holding the knife is unconditionally right.

When she touched the glasses that had been obstructing her view from before, she naturally raised it once.

As if she’s done it hundreds of times before.

At the same time, a reliable whisper came out of her naturally.

“We assigned the least-skilled knight among the Knights of Guard to His Majesty’s side and the same man made a mean move to prevent His Majesty from winning. Nevertheless, His Majesty is on the verge of victory with his unrivaled skills. However, as soon as His Majesty was about to win, he dared to cheat and intercept the victory.”

“Really?”

Kardan spun the dagger once again with an unknown smile.

Bang!

Without closing his eyes, the dagger immediately split the air.

“Argh!”

Sir Ethan twisted his left arm and struggled once again.

“It’s the words of the duke.”

She held her chest inside. She avoided death.

“Sorry, I’m sorry. Your Majesty! I’m sorry! I’ve sinned to death!”

Sir Ethan did not try to make excuses, whether it was unfair or not.

He just unconditionally apologizes for his mistake.

However, the emperor, who had already lost interest in Sir Ethan, looked at her with sparkling eyes.

“As expected, the only person who recognizes my heart is the Duke.”

“That’s an exaggeration, Your Majesty.”

She bent her back in a hurry. She was still puzzled by the whole situation, but she was barely coming to her senses.

“Then, tell me. How to punish Sir Ethan.”

It was a question that made her swallow hard.

If she comes up with an answer that does not appeal this crazy tyrant, she will be the next one to stand on the wall after Sir Ethan.

However, if she tried to cry out, “Let’s hit his neck right away!” her conscience wouldn’t take it.

As the silence prolonged, Cardan slowly began to tap the armrest of the throne with one long finger.

Once, twice.

“It’s not enough to return all the humiliation that Your Majesty has suffered, twice, or three times.”

She began to speak, looking at the emperor’s eyes.

As the emperor’s thick eyebrows, which stretched out like wings, narrowed slightly.

“It’s a sin that he can’t pay back even if he dies!”

She forgot about herself for a second, when she was reluctant to kill people.

She has to live first.

The corners of Cardan’s mouth rolled up satisfactorily.

However!

Obviously, she thought it was none of her business if she could keep herself alive, but strangely, her lips kept moving.

“Even if you kill the knight, why don’t you let him taste the painful pain of being unjustly deprived of what he has done fairly with his skills?”

Fortunately, Cardan touched his chin as if it were interesting.

“With the grace of your Majesty, he has risen to the honorable position of the captain of the Guard, but I implore you to demote the captain to the lowest rank of the Guard.”

She looked at Cardan’s expression while bending down.

“Extremist guard?”

Her mouth is dry.

“Yes, Your Majesty. Instead of killing him right away, we could give him grace period so that Sir Ethan’s career ends as a low rank member of the Guard, not as a captain.”

While talking, she was anxious that a knife would fly towards her neck in the next moment.

“Okay.”

However, surprisingly, positive response came to me.

“Do as Duke Baloa says.”

She swallowed a sigh inside.

When Cardan snapped his finger, soldiers led Sir Ethan.

As if he was satisfied only then, he stood up smiling. Each movement was slow and elegant like a leopard seeking for its prey.

“Let’s wrap up today’s meeting.”

She doesn’t know how she’s able to leave the conference hall.

Following the guidance of a person who appeared to be an attendant, she arrived at the office of the prime minister in the imperial palace.

In the original work, Duke Baloa assisted the emperor, living in an office prepared in the imperial palace.

To some extent, it never appeared in the original novel, even though she had her own estate.

Instead, within the imperial palace, an office, bedroom, and bathroom were all provided for the Duke of Baloa.

The unprecedented special treatment showed the position of the Duke as the center of power.

But it was the original Duke Baloa, and she had no idea what was going on.

But she can’t keep it in her hands.

Cardan Zeon lived in pleasure every single day instead of taking care of the state’s affairs, and after purging all of his loyal servants, he entrusted the government to the Duke Baloa.

Tyrant.

In order for her to survive under such a person, she has to stay alert.

She immediately sat on a chair and searched the tidy desk.

Her fingertips were still shaking slightly, but she found what she wanted without difficulty.

Calendar. Today’s date was the 998th year of the imperial calendar.

Based on the original, the fall of the empire was in the early 1000s. That means she has about a year left before her execution.

At that moment, dizziness came over her and she slapped herself on the cheek.

“There must be a way.”

Suddenly, a neatly organized document on the desk attracted her attention.

Imperial accounting books.

Although it was informal, the Duke seemed to be a trusted servant to the extent that the she was even in charge of managing the books.

She hurriedly read the ledger.

There was no need to read that long.

“We’re screwed.”

The imperial family is on the verge of bankruptcy.

She doesn’t think she needs to even wait for a year if the emperor decides to build another villa by tomorrow.

She rubbed the back of her neck at the eerie sensation that ran through her back.

But she can’t just give up.

She sighed, sweeping her hair back.

The only people who sympathized with her ordeal were the white pigeons squealing “gugugugu” in a cage in the corner of the office.

“First of all, I have fill up the national treasury and stay alive.”

And then…

“You have to runaway before the empire collapses.”

She clenched her fist.

There’s one goal.

Surviving under a tyrant until she raises enough funds for her escape.

After that, it’s none of her business whether the empire goes bankrupt or not.

“What’s so important about being a servant?”

As the pigeons agreed, they cried ‘gugugugu’.

“How many years have I worked as a call center agent?”

The decision was quick.

The original Duke Baloa, who died of a mistake while acting as clumsily, will cry.

“I have no choice but to be the servant for the meantime.”

She walked in front of the mirror, tore it apart, brushed her white hair with her hands, and straightened her black jacket, which was crumpled from the struggle.

Then she raised the corners of her mouth to check her expression.

Neat appearance, check.

Dark outfit that will make her stand out from Cardan, check.

The mean side of the world, check.

It was so perfect that she wondered if it was her or someone else.

“Then, shall we go to fulfill the Emperor’s dreams and hopes?”