Chapter 29

“What the…”

Evelina came out at night to confirm the founding of the nation for the last time. She came to the banquet hall with a smile when she heard that Princess Elsius was not present. But what is this?

“Oh, my sister. Welcome.”

Evelina was embarrassed to see that other items had already occupied the place where the ritual items were intentionally empty.

“I think I put my sister in too much trouble.”

“What? Oh, yes.”

“Actually, I was going to give it back around this time of year. I thought you were following her more.”

Princess Elsius had already taken advantage of her servants to put all her things in place and looked at Evelina. Then she took the hand of Evelina in embarrassment and said,

“Be careful of the Dowager Empress. Otherwise, she can reach out to sister through your son in the future.”

“Thank you for your advice.”

Evelina was displeased, but she thought it was fortunate that she didn’t have to use problematic ritual tools. Her original plan was to borrow ritual tools from Ianathas Peran, and to say that it was because of the princess that she borrowed it.

Because Kaiden hates being set up at the Foundation Festival. If it’s because the princess caused a setback in what she ordered herself, she was sure she won’t leave her alone.

Besides, there was still something she wanted. It was up to her.

“Let’s walk together, sister, because we’re on the same path.”

“Yes.”

She was just pretending to open up to him. Even if he got angry for a moment, he would find her again. After obtaining her heart, as the only daughter of the Marquis of Logias, he will take her body and throw her away. Because that’s what he thinks is the best revenge.

If she was being poisoned and died a miserable death. There will be no more perfect revenge than that.

“As you know, the previous Empress, who was the mother of my brother, also passed away because of a bad thing.”

“What happened?”

Evelina knew that the life span of the women in this palace was not that long. Above all, the Emperor was the craziest man ever. The concubines and employees he replaced could not be counted.

“It’s… well… I don’t know if I can say it.”

Elsius had no idea what Evelina thought of Kaiden. Originally, if she became a Queen, she was bound to crave the emperor’s favor. Because it was the Queen’s lifeline. Especially for the Queen without children, it was even more important.

However, Queen Evelina looked calm without leaning on the emperor’s favor as if she were about to die. Rather, it was Kaiden who seemed impatient.

“If you’re in trouble, you don’t have to tell me, Princess. I don’t want to cause trouble for the princess.”

Evelina looked relaxed.

“No, I really like my sister. I feel like we’ve become family. I had no family but my brother.”

As Elsius spoke sadly, Evelina tapped her on the shoulder with a sympathetic look. At the action, Elsius said, “I think Evelina sympathizes with me.”

“My mother also became like that because of the Dowager Empress.”

Evelina waited for her to finish answering.

“My brother’s mother didn’t die of illness either. It’s because she had a mental illness.”

“Oh, my…”

“The mental illness was caused by the Dowager Empress.”

“Does Kaiden know that?”

“No, my brother doesn’t know. My brother doesn’t know what Her Majesty the Dowager Empress is like.”

Evelina didn’t believe her. Kaiden in the original novel was not a stranger to her, and Kaiden, who she saw now, was also not the kind of person who was swayed by his affections.

He just left the Dowager Empress because he needed her. Moreover, the previous empress was a person who did not give a drop of affection to Kaiden even when she was alive.

“The Dowager Empress cared about the Emperor greatly. Now that brother has become Emperor, she’s like that, otherwise…”

Evelina somehow thought it was strange that Elsius was saying this to her casually today. To the point where she felt like she wasn’t going to see her again. She seemed to be confused between what she should and shouldn’t say.

“How did the predecessor Empress die?”

“According to the rumor that I heard…”

Princess Elsius wanted to shake Evelina mentally. Even if she’s being obedient now, she’ll definitely obey her later if her life was in jeopardy. Kaiden was enough for Princess Elsius. Like the empress, if she loses her favor, she can’t be like the one above her who will always be abandoned.

“The previous empress did not want to be an empress from the beginning. She had a separate fiance.”

“…”

“But she became an empress because she had an older brother.”

“What the…”

Princess Elsius smiled and said, folding her eyes because Evelina seemed to be genuinely interested in this, not faking it.

“It was an accident, well. When the Emperor was taking a walk in the Imperial Palace Garden, the previous Empress entered the palace to see her fiancé.”

“Don’t tell me…”

“Yes. That’s when he heard she had a brother.”

“Who said that?”

“I heard about this from the Dowager Empress.”

Evelina knew this story, too. However, there was no one in the palace who could tell this story, so it was a story that she could hardly tell even if she knew it now.

“But the fiancé married another woman.”

“…”

“Because it was the day the predecessor Empress died. Everyone thought he was weird, that he couldn’t know.”

“What happened to the fiancé?”

Even though Evelina knew this story, she had no choice but to ask. Because she had to make a sad face more than anyone else.

“His Majesty beheaded all of them, saying that they were unlucky to have a wedding on the day the previous empress died.”

“Oh, my God…”

“At that time, it was really crazy. My brother was also kicked out of the palace, saying that he was not the son of the king.”

Evelina knew the story, too.

Kaiden, who was a prince, was expelled from the palace at the age of 10 and returned at the age of 15. What he did during that time was not known because it was only briefly mentioned in the original, but not accurately stated. However, he said that he had suffered a lot at that time, and when he came back, he was a completely different person. In addition, the reason why he was able to return was after an invention was created that could distinguish parental ties.

“The fiancé of the previous empress was not originally going to get married either. But who was the one who forced him to marry?”

“Don’t tell me…”

“That’s right. It’s because the emperor was gradually paying attention to his brother’s mother. The Dowager Empress didn’t want her power to be shared.”

Evelina felt strange when she heard the creepy story. When she heard why Kaiden had grown up as a psychopath, she thought she would have sympathy for him.

She thought she was a fool and completely drawn to the feeling of pity. She wasn’t in a position to pity anyone now. The psychopath was the one who drugged her to kill her.

“Thank you for telling me. There’s so much I don’t know.”

On top of that, the psychopath’s sister was telling her only the parts that were advantageous to her.

It was a lie to say that the predecessor Empress committed suicide. It was basically an attempt to deceive her.

The predecessor Empress was the one who chose the sword between poison and sword, and it was the Marquis of Logias who cut and killed her with his own hands. On top of that, it was the Marquis of Logias who held the largest stake in killing the predecessor Empress by joining hands with the Dowager Empress. The Dowager Empress wanted a powerful figure in the palace, and the Marquis of Logias held hands with her for a while to break the wings of Kaiden, the powerful prince.

“No, my sister is my family. My sister, myself, and my brother.”

“… Yes.”

“So please continue to take good care of me.”

Evelina kept getting caught saying that the expression of Princess Elsius was strange. But she smiled brightly and grabbed her hand and shook hands.

“Me, too, Princess Elsius.”

So the two separated and went to their respective palaces.

Returning to her room, Evelina told Usher Fronen.

“Can you check if the ritual tools are still there?”

“Yes.”

So she changed her clothes and washed up. There were so many ritual tools in the banquet hall that it would take time to check if they were all there.

She washed, changed into a negligee, and waited for Sir Usher Pronen. About two hours later, he came back. Then he reported.

“Everything is fine. Here’s a sign that everything I’ve checked is there.”

After confirming what Usher Fronen had given her, Evelina sighed in relief.

“The banquet is at 9 tomorrow, so can you check it out every hour?”

“Yes.”

“Thank you.”

Like that, Evelina fell asleep feeling uncomfortable. She woke up from time to time and was briefed on whether the goods were right.

~~~~

Clearly.

She had got reports to have all the ritual items in place by 7:30 pm. But now, at half past eight, staying in place was a problem.

“What the…”

Evelina looked at Ianathas in horror at the bright red blood sprinkled on the ritual tools. Even Usher Fronen, who was standing there with him.

“When I checked at 7:30, there was nothing on them.”

As the ritual tools had to be carried out only with things that were purified, blood was not to be sprinkled on them. She was terrified to see blood clinging to the ritual tools and ornaments.

There were two who would set up this kind of thing. One was the Princess, and the other was the Dowager Empress.

Due to the circumstances, it was the Princess who brought her things, so it was most likely to be the Princess.

But it wasn’t who did it that mattered now. It was about what to do with the Foundation Festival.

It was just before the door was opened, so it seemed that the ministers were gathered in front.

– Clang. Clang. Clang.

The door burst open when the bell rang. Ministers who should have come and settled before the emperor who would arrive at 9 o’clock were entering.

“What the…”

“Oh, my God…”

“Isn’t this blood?”

The ministers stood in their respective places, embarrassed by the ritual items and blood stains scattered on the fabric.

Evelina was going to break out in a cold sweat.

“Let’s change them to what I gave you at least now. I’ll be able to do it in half an hour.”

Evellina calmed down with Ianathas’ words. She recalled that it was the best she could do for now

“Do you trust me?”

“Oh? Yes.”

“You just do what I tell you to do. I’ll take care of this.”

Evelina thought it worked out rather well. If they show their hostility to her like this.

She gave a small order to Ianathas. Then he looked puzzled and hurried out of the banquet hall.

“His Majesty is entering!”

The emperor, who came earlier than expected, was also a blessing to her. If she couldn’t find any witnesses, it would be enough to say it verbally.