âYouâre too strong and indifferent to be a princess. What if you become the Empress? If the Marquis, the backbone of the aristocracy, becomes a single-handed Marquis, what will the campaign be like?â
I donât care if I canât be a princess, but honestly, the empressâs logic was a little bizarre.
âSo you chose Lady Antebellum, from a family of traitors and a commoner? She has been a maid all her life and knows nothing about the position of the Empress.â
âIt is like an orphan in need of love, her personality will be obedient and kind, she will obey the imperial family, and she has captured the heart of the prince because of her beauty, so there is no need to worry about future generations. Even if we canât teach her the duties of the empress position until she ascends the throne, it will be fine.â
She meant to make Helena a puppet.
I couldnât afford to look into anyoneâs future, but wondered if Helena already had a future she wasnât aware of.
âDid Lady Antebellum say she would? She was really scared and ran away the last time.â
âIâm sure you scared her.â
âLike I strongly love him?â
âYou will fall in love. What can you do when a child as good as Alecto whispers love?â
Her self-confidence was reasonable. Itâs one of my personal resentments, but the crown prince, the male protagonist of the novel, has the same terrifying and destructive beauty as Helena.
Blond hair, which melted gold on white and beautiful rosy skin, scattered neatly just by turning its head slightly. The color of the sky blue eyes was sometimes mixed with golden brown to give off a subtle glow.
The tall, straight nose and deep eyelids seemed to contain a story, and the lips thinner than Hubris or Jason were rather nerve-wracking.
I thought Leonardo DiCaprio was the most handsome man in the world when he filmed (Total Eclipse) or
Catch Me If You Can). But after seeing Alecto, realized that there could be someone more handsome than him.
Appearance is not the number one requirement for falling in love but it is inevitable that attraction starts first with a personâs appearance before you begin to figure out whatâs inside.
If he hadnât been such a ruffian to me, I might have had some feelings for him.
How much worse if they chase after you saying they like youâŠ.I donât know why Helena still doesnât like the crown prince. Is it because the prettiest girl in the world is facing the mirror?
âNo, letâs be honest with each other.â
The empress suddenly waved her hands and spoke intently. Possessing a gracious face, yet everything that was said out of her mouth was poison.
âDo you hate or resent me for making such a scene in the place where you deserve to shine the most? But no matter what you think of me, I will hate you more than you hate me.â
The empress put down the teacup and stared straight at me. If her eyes were a physical weapon, I would have been stabbed to death by her at this moment,
âI want to kill you. I donât want you to just die. I want you to die in great pain. I know it wasnât you who killed my son. No offense to you, but you are the most precious thing the Marquis has, so there is nothing we can do about it.â
I remembered a play that I saw in Rundol.
The actress who played the empress was screaming. Did the empress who lost the crown prince scream like that?
âIt is natural for human beings to become angry when a dog is stoned to death. How does it feel to be framed by the Marquis and lose my son and close friends?â
The empress gritted her teeth and clenched her fists. Her fists trembled on her lap. She seemed to be struggling to contain her emotions.
âSince that day, Iâve been vomiting blood every night. Even in my dreams, I hear my son crying. My life is already hell, so what if I killed one more innocent person? So what if I fall into hell? The Marquis killed my innocent son. What does it matter?
She continued calmly, choosing to breathe for a while.
âIf I really wanted to take my revenge on you, I could have put you in the palace as the Crown Princess and slowly kill you day by day. But that wasnât enough for the two men who killed my son, as they wanted to make you the Crown Princess.â
The two men meant the emperor and the marquis. In the eyes of the empress, unlike the emperor, the empress seemed to have lost her love for the emperor a long time ago. The emperor was completely deceived by others and killed his own child, which, in modern times, could be a reason for divorce.
âYour Majesty, would you mind if this girl said something?â
âTell me.â
âThe girl doesnât want to marry His Highness.â
At that, the empress changed her expression as if it was unexpected.
ââŠDidnât you love the child for a long time?â
âWhat else in the world is as easily degenerated as love? Your Majesty knows thatâŠ..I once thought it was worth all that. But now, I do not. Iâd like to cut ties with the palace if you will allow me.â
âDoes your father know how you feel?â
âIt doesnât matter what my father feels, Your Majesty, Itâs more important that you understand my heart.â
The empress narrowed her eyes. I needed to put on an expression that showed I meant it. I gave such a pretty smile to the empress. I thought Iâd never be able to break up my marriage, but now there might be a way.
âIâll teach her, maâam. Your Majesty doesnât have time to educate the child whoâs been overworked, does she? Furthermore, if you teach her yourself, she may draw a lot of attention and say something hideous.â
I touched the end of the teacup. Teaching Helena will naturally lead to more opportunities for her to be left alone. I had to kill Helena once to get to the end of this novel anyway. Thatâs how Iâm going get the death penalty.
The one thing that stood out was the difference between now and the original novel. In the original, Eris never taught Helena in order to break up with someone.
Rejected due to causality, I had to ponder how to poison Helena.
Watching my expression, the empress smiled at me.
âAs expected, youâre not a good match for my son. He needs a little more of an obedient child.â
She didnât say it exactly, but I noticed it was a tacit permission. All right, weâre over the hump. I bowed my knees to her and left the room. The empress only took another sip of cold tea without saying a word.
I was trying to catch any maid because I thought it would be better to leave the palace before I say something to Helena.
The mirror across the street caught my eye. Unconsciously, I walked in front of the mirror, and the witch appeared in the mirror and talked to me,
âAre you back safely?â
âYou can manipulate people from nowhere you canât see?â
âWhat do you mean controlling? Iâm giving you an indication.â
âJust tell me your business. We canât talk for a long time because weâre inside the palace.â
âWeâve found a way. Come straight to the store.â
It was good news to hear. Since the palace was a place where I could visit if I wanted, I decided to find Helena next time and caught the carriage.
Whatever the sacrifice was to allow me to return, wanted to do it. I just hope it wasnât asking for a human sacrifice. It would be nice to be executed as a witch, but no matter how much this place was in the world of fiction, my morals wouldnât let me catch and kill innocent people.
The carriage soon stopped near the witchâs shop. When I opened the door, the witch welcomed me as if she had been waiting. I went down to her shop and asked.
âSo whatâs the offering?â
âWould you like a cup of tea?â
The witch was smiling as if she wouldnât answer if I didnât drink tea.
I couldnât help but concede roughly.
ââŠHa. With milk.â
âIâll bring it to you soon.â
When I drank the sweet and warm milk tea that the witch brought, my body melted, relaxed. I began to feel sleepy.
Unlike when I left, when I came back, I moved almost nonstop except when we had to let the horse rest. I dozed off leaning on Anakin as a chair, but I felt stiff.
As I pressed my forehead so that I wouldnât doze off, the witch reached out her hand and brought out something wrapped in cloth.
âLetâs solve it.â
When I untied the string, which was firmly fastened to prevent it from unraveling, a silver dagger with a garnet stuck in the handle emerged. The dagger weighed quite a bit, maybe because it was made of pure silver. Whatâs strange is that itâs a dagger without a blade. The tip of the knife was blunt, so it was close to decoration.
ââŠI donât think I can open a letter with this dagger.â
âBecause the dagger will be a sword that changes according to the will of the person.â
The witch sipped her share of the drink and raised her hand. The sword that was tied back to the cloth disappeared.
âStab with that sword.â
âWho?â
âWho else? The one the owner of the body is to kill.â
The words put strength into the swordâs hand.
ââŠStab Helena with this?â
âDampen it with blood.â
âHow can I do that? Itâs a blunt weapon.â
âI told you, didnât I? It depends on your will.â
She smiled at me with creepy eyes.
âYou have to have a heart that you really want to kill
her.â
Perhaps I was relieved. Poison was actually an indirect way. Killing someone indirectly versus stabbing them with your own hands was different as much as heaven and earth.
If someone asks what is the difference between the same murder, you can say that the determination to commit the murder is different from the guilt that comes after it.
Maybe thatâs why people encourage others to kill rather than kill someone themselves. Of course, the
biggest thing is that you can create an alibi so you donât seem suspicious.
At the same time, Helenaâs crying face flashed through my mind. When I was in a poor situation, I thought hated sympathy the most, but now I couldnât help feeling sorry for her situation.
The last crying face I saw is clear. The child was shaking. SheâŠ. was afraid of me