CH 5

(Eve’s POV)

While I was pondering, a blonde-haired middle aged woman who had been sitting quietly muttered worriedly.

“There is nothing to worry about, since His Majesty the Emperor is in charge… However, we can’t help ourselves but be worried, since no one can tell whether we will win or not.”

As I was quietly drinking my tea, I quickly added a word to that line.

“Oh, don’t worry. Because our Albion Empire will win the war.”

When I suddenly interrupted them, the surroundings became quiet as if I poured cold water onto them. 

Eve, who has no interest in international affairs, suddenly intervenes in the conversation.

In fact, the original Eve doesn’t have the intellectual capacity to understand political issues.

Not only that, she even failed the exam for the most basic political science class that was taught personally by a well known tutor, and ended up as a failing student.

It was a fact that everyone in the empire knew.

The Empress also looked at me with questionable eyes.

The blonde lady who spoke about it asked me politely.

“It would be great if that happened, but….. Is there any special reason?”

Please do not repost our translation. Read only at Pink Muffin Translations.

“Of course.”

I put down my teacup and explained in my usual manner.

“Rasken is quite busy with the succession rights as of now. The person who came out on the battlefield is the youngest prince, right? It is said that the Emperor of Rasken sent out his youngest son to set him aside from all of the succession scheme. In that situation, there’s no way that a home country can provide full support.”

Not only the guests, but as well as the Empress, looked at me in amazement.

Then I continued with the statement.

“It would not be that long for them to defeat them, so our Emperor, who was good in tactics, will come back victorious.”

If the plan goes well, the Emperor will end the war faster than before and return back immediately to the capital.

I finished my statement and leisurely drank my tea.

Everyone in the room suddenly became silent. Then, after a while the blonde-haired lady smiled and praised me.

“Her Highness the Princess, is really smart. You are very knowledgeable about political affairs…..”

“That’s overrated.”

Everyone’s eyes gaze upon me.

They just couldn’t believe that the stupid and foolish Eve, could understand a political issue.

They were also surprised, when I didn’t comment over their discussion about Sorel.

Some ladies glanced at the Empress and looked into her eyes.

Smiles disappeared from the Empress’ so called good-natured face.

The Empress looked at me with an expressionless face, then in a second she smiled again.

“It might be because Eve has studied a lot. And as a mother, I feel so proud.”

The Empress praised me with a warm attitude and then added it with a soft smile.

“And it would have been nice as well, if the Grand Duke would also recognize our Eve’s effort.”

The Empress sighed as if she was genuinely sorry, then took the hand of the blonde-haired lady who was sitting next to her and made a request.

Please do not repost our translation. Read only at Pink Muffin Translations.

“If the Duchess of Rohan has a chance to meet the Grand Duke, please tell him all about our Eve.”

‘Duchess of Rohan?’

I glanced back at the Duchess, who had a neat blonde hair.

The Duchess of Rohan was the younger sister of the deceased Grand Duchess and the aunt of the Grand Duke.

Although she was not a very important character in the original story, she was still an affectionate aunt who occasionally helped her nephew, the Grand Duke.

“Ah, yes….. Your Majesty….”

The Duchess held the hand of the Empress and looked at me with a troubled face.

The Empress continues her words in a gentle voice.

“And doesn’t it seem too harsh that he never makes an effort to visit Eve, when the wedding is less than a month away.”

Far from visiting, the Grand Duke had been purposely avoiding Eve for a long time now.

The tone was full of concern, but everyone knew what the Empress meant.

Even if she put it that way, it was still a disgrace to be completely ignored by my own fiance, which is the Grand Duke.

Although the Empress instigated a quarrel, she still managed to maintain her dignity.

To those people who have no idea about our situation, it will appear that she genuinely cares about her stepdaughter.

Most of the ladies who were close to the Empress covered their mouth with a fan and exchanged giggles.

“I’m fine, mother. There are a lot of couples who are lucky enough to get married even if they don’t get along at first.”

As I said those words softly with an innocent face.

“I heard that the Grand Duke hates having side concubines under his lineage. Does that mean that he values your marriage vows?”

This world was very unfair towards women, where men of the ruling class were allowed to practice polygamy.

The Emperor as well as the nobles had several concubines in addition to the main wife.

However, the Grand Duke loathes those men who have side chambers or second wife.

Please do not repost our translation. Read only at Pink Muffin Translations.

‘It was explained in the original plot that his father, the former Grand Duke, was such a horny person, as if his heart had become rotten.’

I smiled at them naturally, then I placed one hand into my chest and continued speaking as if I was vowing.

“He will not be looking at anyone else and will only be faithful to me, his only wife, and I also think that our relationship will gradually improve as I work hard for it. And I will do anything to make it happen.”

The atmosphere inside the drawing room suddenly turned cold as if it was frozen.

Everyone knew that the current Empress was the Emperor’s concubine.

Although she is now the Empress, her past as a side concubine, would always be attached to her like a dog tag.

As expected, the moment I finished words, the Empress’s face turned pale.

The smile that she has been using had completely disappeared, as if the temperature around her dropped.  

As I sip the rest of my tea like an indifferent child, and then put it down slowly. Then went back to the Empress.

“That’s right, I have a favor to ask of you mother?”

“A favor?”

“Yes, it is not a difficult request, I promise.”

I smiled and looked at the Empress.

‘As if I was trying to break the cold atmosphere and then ask for a favor?’

Everyone looked at me with a baffled face, but I just ignored them and continued smiling.

That is why, I intentionally scratched the Empress’s feelings so that I say this from the beginning.

“Okay, tell me what it is.”

The Empress, who had managed to control her emotions, asked again with a benevolent smile.

I smiled obediently and said.

“It will be Feast of Ensha soon.”

Three days before and after the Feast of Ensha are a time to commemorate the souls of the dead.

Ordinary people commemorate the deceased family members and close friends, and the country holds events to commemorate the previous Emperors and heroes of the empire.

“Before I become the next Grand Duchess, I would like to go to the temple to pray for my deceased mother and offer up the relics.”

When the talk of ‘dead mother’ came out, the atmosphere dropped even more.

And then I added it quickly.

“And since I am going to the temple for the first time in a long time, I would also like to pray for the safety of His Majesty the Emperor.”

“Hmm…”

A slightly troubled expression showed on the Empress’s face.

‘It would be a very difficult decision to be made.’

It would be awkward to stop me, her stepdaughter, from going out when I say that I would be praying for my dead mother and my father who went to war.

Four days after I possessed this body,  the Empress went out of the Imperial Palace twice.

Once, to go to the temple to pray, and then the other is to attend the banquet of the countess, the Empress family.

Please do not repost our translation. Read only at Pink Muffin Translations.

But on both occasions she didn’t even attempt to invite me to go with her.

The Emperor, Crown Prince, Second Prince, and Sorel have left the Imperial Palace, and now there is only the Empress and I in the Imperial Palace.

‘She should have taken me with her, out of courtesy.’

Usually, the Empress liked to take Eve with her.

Because she would get praise for being a considerate stepmother and also to show everyone how wild and selfish Eve is.

‘But the reason why she didn’t take me with her, maybe because the Emperor must have instructed her not to let me leave the Imperial Palace.’  

The Emperor didn’t explain the details of his plan to the Empress, but right before he left, he ordered Eve to just stay in the palace to avoid getting into any accident.

That’s probably why she couldn’t take me outside and just kept me inside the Imperial Palace.

If everything was just the same, then the Empress would have made an excuse to prevent Eve from going outside to the temple even at this time.

Because Eve was a troublemaker who caused commotion everywhere.

But today was different.

I’ve established myself to be smart in front of the ladies, and implicitly insulted the Empress.

The enraged Empress would deliberately want to send me out to humiliate me.

Especially, If I go outside and visit the temple, she knows that I will surely embarrass myself.

‘Because today is the day that the Grand Duke will visit the temple.’

The Grand Duke secretly visits the Great Hall on the eve of Ensha’s feast every year.

On the day of the feast, the temple is crowded with visitors.

Please do not repost our translation. Read only at Pink Muffin Translations.

In order to avoid the attention from the public, the Grand Duke would visit the temple in the evening, when there’s no other people, before the feast the next day.

And that was today.

This was a fact that only few people would know, including the Emperor and his wife.

The Empress looked into my eyes for a moment without saying a word.

She’s trying to check whether I’m doing this on purpose, knowing that the Grand Duke will be coming to the temple today.

I purposely gave her an innocent smile.

I also didn’t forget to look at her with a gaze full of expectations.

It gave off an atmosphere of ‘I’m pretending to be nice because I really want to go to the Great Hall’.

There are no complicated schemes, just pretending to be a good daughter because she wants to meet the Grand Duke at all cost.