CH 229

“W-what are you saying…!” Yuliana struggled desperately to shake off Kalia’s hand, but the more she flailed about, the stronger the grip around her neck became. The struggle was brief, and Yuliana’s body soon fell limp. There were no screams to be heard or groans to be uttered. She died instantly.

Leaving behind the former princess’s collapsed body, Kalia walked to the window and stared outside with a faraway look. “The last Cecile sure is lucky. She’s benefitting from all the solutions we worked so hard to find for free,” she murmured. Anger began to spark in her eyes.

“Me, though… I could do nothing… No one helped either… And I had to let Estian go, just like that…” she hissed. Her voice was one of petrifying intensity and barely contained fury that threatened to explode at any moment. Staring icily at the distant sky, she glimpsed her reflection in the window. This was a similar, but different world. Here, she was not ‘Cecile.’

“You too will fail,” she whispered to herself. “You have to fail. Only then… will it be fair.” A tear rolled down Kalia’s cheek.

* * *

“So, let’s think about it, alright? Let’s go over every single point,” Cecile began, crossing her arms. Her demeanor was like a teacher trying to address the stupidest student in the world. “What do I get out of going to the Hyun continent?”

Ruin thought back to the gesture she’d made with her fingers moments before and said, “If… If it’s money you want then you won’t be disa—”

Hearing his somewhat cowed reply, Cecile retorted imposingly, “I don’t need money. I have more than enough as it is.”

‘But didn’t you just say you like money?’ the prince thought, as he shot an incredulous look at Cecile. He shrunk back when he saw her clutch at her forehead with an exasperated face. After some hesitation, he tried again.

“Th-then, how about gold, silver, jewels…? Or treasures…?”

“How much?”

“Eh?”

“I’m asking how much can you give? Just for your information, the things my emperor gave me started from here”—Cecile pointed at the bottom of the tallest tree nearby and raised it until it reached the very top—“and went up to there.”

“You mean he piled treasures that high? Well, that much the Hyun continent can also—”

“No, not the treasures, but the list of those treasures was about that long.” It was a bit of an exaggeration, but the list of treasures Estian had given her was quite lengthy. That’s why the empress palace’s storage room was veritably bursting. It made Cecile dizzy just thinking about it. Her husband had casually given it all to her, as if he was picking up souvenirs on the way back home.

Ruin, who’d been blankly listening to Cecile speak, nodded in understanding. “Fine. I promise that you will receive just as much from us as well.”

Cecile was momentarily speechless. She’d expected he would ask if she was crazy after making such a demand, but he seemed to be a man who wouldn’t give up easily. If that didn’t work, then she would bring out her second request.

“Okay. Then, putting money aside, the next item is honor.”

“Honor?”

“I’m the empress of this continent. If I went to the Hyun continent and married you—although that would never, ever, ever happen—wouldn’t that only make me the crown princess? Anyone can tell that would be a downgrade.”

Ruin fell into deep thought. He couldn’t fault her logic that going from empress to crown princess would lower her status for the time being, even if she eventually regained the title of empress later down the line. After a brief moment, he answered, “Then, I’ll convince His Majesty to let me succeed the throne immediately along with our marriage. Then, there would be no problem since you would still be the empress, right?”

His smooth answer surprised Cecile, who had thought he would at least express some hesitation. In the end, she was forced to play her last card.

“That’s not all. Although money and honor are important in life, there’s actually something that trumps it all.”

It was a demand that Cecile was certain Ruin could never fulfil.