Chapter 79

"I told you that I will let you live."

Lisbeth's blue eyes glared at me. She escaped from her mother's arms and walked towards me. Agnes stopped her before she got too close. Lisbeth tried to kill me after all, so there was no way Agnes or my royal guards would let her get near me.

Her blue eyes looked crazy.

She murmured, "You will take everything from me and all you'll give me is my life? How could you say that?"

The Duke tried to stop his daughter, but Lisbeth wouldn't let him.

She screamed, "How can you be so selfish? You stole everything that was supposed to be mine!!"

"Stole?"

Lisbeth nodded and replied, "Yes! Without you, I would be the emperor's wife! If it was me who was sent to become the concubine, I would be the one the emperor falls in love with!"

I knew this wasn't true. If Lisbeth was sent instead of me, she would have been dead by now.

I said to her, "It was your choice to send me instead of yourself. It was your family's choice too. This means the current situation was created by your choice. You tricked me and sent me to save yourself, and now you want what is mine?"

"You want to steal everything from me and now all you offer in return is my life? How can you even say that?"

I had enough. She wasn't making any sense. This conversation was useless.

She yelled again, "If you are going to use me, then you need to pay for it!"

"Pay?"

"Give me the emperor's love. It should have been mine! Don't you agree?"

"…"

I was speechless. I was beyond angry now.

What the hell was this bitch talking about? His love?

"How dare you?!"

I spat my words out like knives.

"Even if I don't accept his highness's love, do you really think he will give his feelings to you?"

"… well…!"

Before Lisbeth could answer, I continued, "Even if you were the one who came to the castle, there is no way the current emperor would have fallen in love with you. It will never happen in this life or your next." I smiled cruelly.

Lisbeth suddenly started to cry like an animal. "No! It can't be!"

She tried to get to me and scratch my face. The guards stopped her quickly and threw her towards her parents.

"Liz!"

"Lisbeth!"

"My lady!"

Orlean and her parents held her while she continued to cry out loudly.

I looked at them coldly and said before leaving."Think carefully about what you do next."

***

Lucretius entered the Girand with an unpleasant expression.

The dowager empress requested his visit after Bina met with the Aeal family. It was clear the dowager empress knew what was happening.

She tried to kill Bina but failed. The emperor had the murder weapon in his possession. The dowager empress must have felt anxious.

Lucretius could ignore her request, but officially, she was his mother. He had to, at least, pretend he respected her.

He planned on warning her during this meeting. He grinned at the prospect of threatening her.

However, his smile quickly disappeared as he entered the dowager empress's room.

The very pregnant lady was sitting on a semi recliner. Her red hair and eyes were blinding.

Katleyanira smiled like a snake.

"Welcome, your highness. I am sorry to bring you here, but your mother is unable to move due to her condition."

She spoke as if Lucretius was her beloved son.

He answered just as smoothly, "It's no problem at all. I am sorry I didn't get to visit you sooner."

The dowager empress smiled and asked him to sit. The maid brought in the tea set. Inside the cups were lined with silver. Lucretius grinned and took a sip.

"Your highness' tea is the best."

"My new principle maid-in-waiting is very good."

Lucretius smiled at the mention of the change in maid.

"I'm glad to hear it."

The dowager empress smiled generously. "By the way, I heard something bad happened?"

Lucretius' face became rigid for the first time.

"… Yes."

"That's terrible. She hasn't been in this kingdom for too long, yet so many bad things have happened to her already."

Lucretius smiled again calmly and replied, "Your highness has nothing to worry about. We have already found the culprit, and based on the quality of the replica saddle, we know for sure the Bonafit family had someone helping them."

"I… see." The dowager empress's smile didn't waver.

The emperor added, "Don't worry. The prisoners will confess soon. I will make sure nothing will happen to them, like what happened to Marchioness Toruka."

"Of course."

The dowager empress scratched her teacup causing horrible sounds.

Lucretius said to her quickly, "I am glad to see that you are doing well, your highness. As I said earlier, I have a lot of work to do, so I will get going. Please take care of yourself."

His last words sounded threatening, but Katleyanira answered without even blinking.

"Please stay safe."

***

After Lucretius left, Katleyanira tapped her cup again with her fingernail.

"So they are protecting the prisoners day and night." Katleyanira giggled. "Well, there is more than one way to get them."

She already had a plan in motion. The reason she asked the emperor to come was for something else.

"I'm surprised, but it must be true."

She always thought he was emotionless. This was why he made the worst enemy.

However, something has changed.

It was only for a second, but Lucretius couldn't hide his fury. He was always so careful in front of her.

He must have had genuine feelings for her.

She dropped the teacup on the ground. It hit it with a loud clang and shattered.

"How young and naïve to fall in love so easily."

***

That night, I woke up from a nightmare. When I opened my eyes, I could hear noises from outside my window.

I walked out to the terrace, and what I saw made me speechless.

The burning smell made me cough. I almost fell on the floor.

The castle was burning. The fire was so big and red the sky above it looked like it was burning too.

It was a huge fire. It started from a nearby wing, and it almost reached the main quarters.

Many died, including the Aeal family who was trapped in the tower.

No one could figure out how the fire started.

I felt cold and hot at the same time. It was like a déjà vu.

Lucretius, who was sitting across from me, seemed to mirror my thought.

He murmured, "I have seen something similar before."

I nodded. "Yes."

He smiled gently and asked, "Who do you think it was? I want to see if we are thinking the same thing."

I opened my mouth without hesitation. We were in my bedroom. It was just the two of us.

"It's obviously the dowager empress. Last time, it was Marchioness Toruka." I paused before adding. "This is too good to be a coincidence."

Lucretius didn't joke as usual. Instead, he agreed immediately.

"Yes. We were just about to interrogate the Bonafit family when this happened. Those were the only people who could testify against the dowager empress… How annoying."

I felt angry. I frowned and nodded.

Lucretius smiled unpleasantly.

"She is an evil genius."

I agreed with him. She was very intelligent, cruel, and determined.

The worst possible combination in one's enemy.

She was getting even more dangerous. It was one thing to send an assassin, but to cause a fire big enough to burn down a whole wing was crazy.

Could… Could we really win against this woman?

I wanted to go back home. To return home, I had to first survive in this world.

I felt anxious and was about to bite my fingernails when Lucretius grabbed my hand.

I was confused. "What's wrong?"

He touched my damaged fingernails.

"Hmm, you've ruined your hand."

"Oh…"

Samantha and the other maids did their best to keep my nails pretty, but I always ended up ruining them with my bad habit.

I sighed and mumbled, "I should apologize to my maids."

Something must have ticked him off. He frowned and held my hand tightly.

He asked, "Just your maids?"

"Pardon? Who else would I apologize to?"

Lucretius pouted like a child.

W, what the heck was with this guy?

"You hurt yourself. You should treat yourself better, my wife."

He was making no sense, but I agreed with him anyway.

"I guess. I guess I should apologize to myself then."

To my surprise, he continued to pout.

"That's it?"

I didn't know what else he wanted.

"What else is there?"

Lucretius kissed each of my fingers. After the five kisses, he asked me, "If you hurt yourself, it hurts my heart, so shouldn't you apologize to me too?"

"…"

Too much! Too corny!

Someone help me!

I pushed my hand toward him. It was an unexpected move and because he was holding my hand, my action caused him to kiss the back of his own hand.

His green eyes looked surprised as they blinked.

I thought he looked cute just then.

What I did next… I couldn't explain even if my life depended on it.

Perhaps it was temporary insanity.