CH 18

TL/N: I think I stopped reading ahead around the end of the last chapter so from here on I’m reading tgt with y’all!

[Siana’s POV]

That night, after confirming that Aris was asleep, Siana left the Ruby Palace.

A man was waiting for Siana in the dark.

The moment he saw Siana, he smiled brightly.

“Welcome, Siana.”

Surprisingly, the man’s identity was Rashid.

Siana bowed her head to Rashid.

“Thank you for your help, Your Highness the Crown Prince. Thanks to you, I achieved what I wanted.”

Rashid’s eyes twinkled in surprise at those words.

Not long ago, Siana came to Rashid.

Siana asked Rashid for a favor.

[I want to know about the dead daughter of Empress Dowager, even if it’s a very trivial thing.]

Rashid did not ask why, but agreed to Siana’s request.

The Crown Prince’s intelligence was great.

Siana learned many facts about the Empress Dowager’s dead daughter through the letter he sent.

Siana made full use of it and devised a plan.

She put the perfume that the late Empress’s deceased daughter liked on Aris’ stationery and put Aris in a dress of the same color as the dress that the deceased daughter often wore to visit the Empress.

The acacia tea that Aris made for the empress was also a tea that the deceased daughter often drank with the Empress.

‘Perhaps the Empress Dowager won’t remember because it’s so trivial.’

So it was more effective.

Empress Dowager would unconsciously keep thinking of her daughter.

It was as Siana thought.

Empress Dowager saw her dead daughter in Aris.

The plan to win her heart with it was almost a success.

So now it was time to pay off the debt.

Siana said, making eye contact with Rashid.

“Your Highness the Crown Prince has done me a favor. So, now it’s my turn to fulfill the request of Your Highness.”

I was going to grant any request as long as I could.

Because this wasn’t borrowing Rashid’s power, it was an equal deal.

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Rashid stared at Siana before slowly opening his mouth.

“Tell me how you came up with the idea of seducing Grandmother among the countless people in the Imperial Palace.”

“… … !”

Siana’s eyes widened.

Because Siana only asked Rashid for information and said nothing.

But Rashid laughed as if he knew everything.

“Don’t worry, I have no intention of scolding a maid for playing with the Empress Dowager. I’m just curious why you chose Grandmother.”

Empress Dowager was a forgotten person in the imperial palace.

It was so strange to Rashid that she remembered such a person, a woman from a foreign country, not anyone else. Moreover, the existence of her daughter who died a long time ago.

After thinking about it for a while, Siana made up her mind.

‘Anyway, if this person really puts his mind to it, there’s nothing he can’t figure out. It’s not something to hide.’

Siana opened her mouth.

“I was a princess of a small kingdom, as Your Highness may remember.”

But she was no ordinary princess.

She was a precarious princess, with a vicious stepmother and an ugly father who fell in love with her.

In particular, the bullying of the stepmother became more severe day by day, and there were cases in which life was threatened.

Young Siana began desperately trying to find a way to survive.

Among them was borrowing the power of other countries.

“I also started collecting information about the imperial family. Then I found out that the Empress Dowager lost her young daughter. That’s when I thought of a plan. I wondered if I could get her support if I got closer by imitating the Empress’s dead daughter.”

Siana was twelve years old when she made the plan. It seemed possible enough to carry out the plan.

Siana lowered her eyebrows as if embarrassed.

“When I think about it now, it was an absurd plan. I do not bear the slightest resemblance to the Empress Dowager’s deceased daughter. I’m sure it would have failed. There was no way to approach the empress, who was essentially in a faraway empire.”

Ah, said Siana, with her eyes wide open.

“I was able to come to the Empire in the end thanks to Your Highness the Crown Prince.”

“……!”

[Rashid’s POV]

Rashid’s eyes shook for the first time as he calmly listened to Siana.

Rashid has destroyed many kingdoms so far. He never felt the slightest guilt about it.

Because it was just a result of the war.

The same was true of Siana’s kingdom. There was nothing to shy away from.

‘But why is my heart beating so fast?’

It was as if I were a cat who stole snacks and ate them.

No, I felt like I had done something worse than that.

Rashid asked without realizing it.

“Do you resent me?”

Siana widened her eyes.

Then she burst into laughter.

“You just heard my story. She was a princess who was thinking about how to survive.”

“…….”

“I have no affection for my family. So their deaths aren’t sad at all either.”

It was a pity that the kingdom was destroyed, but it was not a big pain either.

This is because it was a country that was so rotten that it would not be strange if it collapsed at any time.

Siana looked at Rashid and smiled softly.

“So don’t think about that. I don’t have a~ny feelings for you, Your Highness. I mean it.”

“…….”

It was a remark that could be clearly felt that she had as much interest in Rashid as dust.

Feeling sad about that, Rashid involuntarily stuck out his mouth.

“You have a cruel side with a cute face.”

Siana interpreted the words differently and laughed.

‘It’s not normal to tell the person who killed my family that it’s okay.’

—While thinking that.

***

[Third Person POV]

After that, Siana started to visit Empress Dowager’s palace often with Aris.

A fluttering dress, a smile like sunshine, a gesture like a butterfly.

Aris always showed the image of the girl the Empress Dowager dreams of.

The effort was not in vain.

As time passed, Empress Dowager’s affection for Aris deepened.

Now she smiled brightly when he saw Aris.

“Aris, what a beautiful day it is today.”

Siana, who was watching all of it from Aris’s side, realized that the time had come.

The reason why Aris strengthened her relationship with Empress Dowager by matching her temperament.

It’s time for revenge.

Siana and Aris put their heads together and wrote a letter.

Aris, who saw the completed letter, said with a frown.

“Haaa. The first invitation I’ve written in my life is to unlucky Yvette. What’s wrong with my life?”

Siana chuckled.

“Don’t be so sad. It’s going to be the most exhilarating invitation in the world.”

A pattern was stamped on the completed invitation.

Ruby surrounded by roses.

It was the seal of Aris that Siana made for this day.

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The carefully crafted invitations flew flutteringly and arrived at the palace of Princess Yvette.

<Aris invites you to her first tea party. Come to Ruby Palace and have a cup of hot tea.

-Lovely younger sister Aris ♥>

TL/N: Yes the raws had a heart! Hahaha

[Yvette’s POV]

Yvette, who read the invitation, muttered with a puzzled face.

“Isn’t she really crazy?”

It was normal for princesses to have a tea party and hang out as if they were having a meal, but Aris was an exception.

Because it was not a subject to hold a tea party.

What is a tea party for a girl with no proper tea leaves.

Aris is having a tea party. And invites me.

Yvette could vaguely predict why Aris would suddenly do such crazy things.

It was because, among the big and small news from the imperial palace that came in through those planted here and there, there was something about Aris.

‘That girl goes to Grandmother’s palace these days.’

It is certainly unusual for the Empress Dowager, who had not been involved in the affairs of the imperial palace for decades, to open the palace.

But…

Yvette said with a grim look.

“The trashy princess’s position doesn’t change just because you met Grandmother a few times. You arrogantly set it up without knowing that, the most foolish girl in the world.”

It was a spectacle to see her wriggling, trusting in her feeble-looking connections.

If I don’t go, they’ll think I’ve avoided it because I’m scared, and they’ll brag about it.

I can’t see that.

‘I’ll step on it so that she can know her place well.’

Because that’s the duty of the older sister.

* * *

A few days later, Yvette headed to Ruby Palace.

Aris, wearing a bright dress, greeted Yvette.

“Thank you for accepting the invitation, Yvette. Welcome to Aris’s first tea party.”

“… … ”

Yvette’s face turned ugly when she saw Aris.

‘You’ve gotten prettier since you haven’t seen me?!’

The last time I saw her was only three months ago.

But in the meantime, Aris’ features became clearer and her height increased dramatically.

‘Besides, the way she greets is becoming more elegant.’

Annoyance kicked in.

However, Yvette isn’t clumsy enough to get grumpy here.

Yvette raised one corner of her mouth and said.

“It’s my younger sister’s first tea party, so of course I should come. Isn’t that the affection of sisters.”

Of course, it wasn’t sincere.

The reason why Yvette came here was to trample Aris so that she would never wriggle again.

And Yvette knew the most effective way to torment Aris with the previous incident.

Touching Aris’s one and only maid.

The place where Yvette’s gaze was directed was Siana, who was standing next to Aris.

Yvette said to Siana.

“Go ahead and pour some tea.”

At tea parties held in the imperial palace, it was common for the master to prepare the banquet and the maids to pour tea on behalf of the master.

For this, each palace even had a maid dedicated to serving tea, trained in high-level etiquette.

Of course, there was no way that a maid attached to Aris or the like, and even a low-ranking maid, would have such an ability.

‘She’ll pour the tea terribly.’

That’s what Yvette is aiming for.

Yvette looked at Siana with terrifying eyes like a beast that found its prey.

The moment she showed even the slightest sloppy movements, I was about to bite her.

“… … ”

But after a while, Yvette’s face was filled with astonishment.

This is because Siana’s way of pouring the tea was impeccably perfect. It was not at the level of a lower maid.

Yvette pursed her lips.

‘No way. How can you be so good at pouring tea?’

At this rate, it would be wrong to use tea service as an excuse to find faults.

However, such a standard method was not the only way to nitpick and pounce on a maid.

Yvette furrowed her eyebrows at Siana, who was pouring tea into her teacup.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Yes?”

“You’re glaring at me.”

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Siana opened her eyes wide in surprise.

Before Siana could open her mouth, Yvette continued with a scowl.

“Come to think of it, you are the maid who was punished by me in the past. Don’t tell me you’re doing that with that in mind?”

“No way. I never had such disrespectful thoughts.”

Siana shook her head with a desperate face.

But Yvette, determined to push Siana, said to the maid beside her.

“What are you doing. You didn’t bring a whip to scold that desired maid.”

“I’ll get ready.”

The maid answered quickly and disappeared.

Aris stood up with a surprised face.

“Sister, what are you doing now?”

Yvette lowered her eyebrows and said coldly.

“You’ve been watching it, but you don’t know it? I’ll be educating the maid who was insolent because you didn’t educate her properly.”

“Stop it! I will not forgive you if you lay a hand on my maid again.”

Yvette’s face was distorted by Aris’ words.

How dare an abandoned princess talk to me about forgiveness. It was unacceptable.

“Aris, do you really believe in Grandmother and act like this without being seen?”

“… … !”

Yvette raised the corners of her mouth toward Aris, who opened her eyes wide.

“Why do you look surprised? You thought I wouldn’t know? I don’t know about you, who is stuck in a palace like this, but I know everything that happens in the imperial palace, no matter how trivial. Do you want me to tell you one more thing?”

Yvette said with a sad look.

“Although she is Father’s* biological mother, Grandmother has no power. Because Father* doesn’t have the slightest affection for Grandmother!”

TL/N: Similarly to Grandmother, Yvette addresses Father in the formal royal way.

It was a story that everyone knew at the Imperial Palace.

Empress Dowager raised her son with ambition, not love. Her goal was only the throne, not her son’s happiness.

Because of that, the emperor had no affection for Empress Dowager. There was only layered hatred.

Immediately after being crowned emperor, the emperor spoke to the Empress Dowager.

Don’t think about wielding me anymore and live quietly.

An old mother abandoned by her grown son.

The Empress was a rotten hand with power in an empty shell.

Yvette smiled triumphantly as she looked at Aris’ hardened pale face.

‘As expected, trampling on that girl is the most fun in the world.’

But it wasn’t over yet.

Yvette went on to thoroughly smash the corner where Aris believed.

“Is that all? Grandmother doesn’t have much time left to live. It’s stupid of you to choose such a person to flatter….”

“The little one has a bad habit of talking.”

Yvette turned her head at the angry voice.

Yvette couldn’t help but gasp at the face she saw in front of her.

There stood an old woman with white hair.

Wrinkled face, skinny body. She had the appearance of a frail old woman, but the dress and jewelry she wore were of the highest quality.

Above all, the feeling of intimidation was enormous.

Yvette easily inferred the identity of the woman she was seeing for the first time.

It was Empress Dowager Golderia.

Yvette shook her head with a pale face.

’Th, that’s ridiculous! Grandmother is someone who never leaves the Empress Dowager Palace! Why is such a person here!’

***

[Empress Dowager Golderia’s POV]

A few days before the tea party.

After Aris sent an invitation to Yvette, she visited the Empress Dowager.

Empress Dowager greeted her young granddaughter with a bright smile as always.

But Aris’ face was strange.

The young girl’s always bright face was dark as if she had a nightmare.

Empress Dowager asked, unable to contain her curiosity.

“What’s going on?”

“That’s…”

Aris hesitated and said as if she were confiding in her troubles.

“Actually, I’m having my first tea party in a few days. I invited my sister, but I feel anxious about making a mistake. As you know, there is no adult in my palace who can teach me.”

When a young girl had a tea party, her mother would watch over her and give her advice.

However, Aris had neither her mother nor anyone who could replace her.

Aris lowered her eyebrows and smiled bitterly.

“Even if I just had Grandmother by my side, I would feel relieved……It’s a shame to live away from Grandmother in times like this.”

She was a child who was always like a pretty flower.

At the same time, she was a grown-up child who never uttered words that troubled the Empress.

Seeing such a child say such a thing with such a face, even the icy empress could not help but shake her heart.

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“I’ll help you.”

“Really?”

Alice’s eyes twinkled at the empress’ words.

On the day Yvette was supposed to come, Empress Dowager visited the Ruby Palace early in the morning.

Empress Dowager looked closely at the table setting set up by Siana and Aris.

“It’s simple to call it an imperial tea party, but you prepared it without going against etiquette. That’s enough.”

At Empress Dowager’s words, Aris sighed in relief.

Empress Dowager smiled as if Aris was cute.

After that, Empress Dowager headed to the small room attached to the drawing room where the tea party was to be held.

When the young daughter held a tea party, it was the consideration of an adult to leave her seat so that children could talk comfortably with each other

Originally, I had to greet the guest and enter the room, but I decided to skip that.

Because I didn’t want to face a stranger.

‘It’s going to be like eavesdropping on guests without talking, but it’s going to be okay. At best, it’s a place for children’s chatter.’

Empress Dowager said to Aris in a deliberately stern voice.

“I’ll be listening to you if you don’t make any mistakes with your guests, so do well.”

“Yes!”

Aris answered vigorously with her hands put together.

After a while, the guest arrived and Aris went out to the drawing room.

“Welcome, Yvette.”

The corner of Empress Dowager’s mouth went up at the sound of Aris’ voice outside the door.

I was excited to see what my granddaughter, who was just lovably clumsy and perfectly elegant in front of me, would be like in front of others.

But now the Empress Dowager’s face was filled with anger.

The words uttered by an unknown granddaughter, Yvette, were a spectacle.

Talking about things like that there is no affection between the emperor and that there is not much time left to live… …

“I guess this Empress Dowager must have looked funny. How rude!”

Yvette fell on her butt with a faint face at the loud voice.

‘Sca, I’m scared.’

As Yvette had thought, Empress Dowager was not an old woman in the back room left to die.

She was Empress Dowager.

A woman who survived until the end in the palace where people die and kill and raised her son to the throne.

Even though the power she possessed had faded because she had left for a long time in a corner of the imperial palace, the fierce and ferocious energy remained.

At least she had the energy left to take care of one spoiled granddaughter.

While looking around, Empress Dowager’s gaze landed on a maid who had just entered the drawing room.

In the hands of the maid, who had just left after receiving Yvette’s order, was holding a cane made of leather.

“Give it to me.”

The maid, overwhelmed by her attitude, was unable to speak properly and was stripped of the cane by the Empress Dowager.