The palace of the Empress, Erphia.
Bright sunlight came through the large
The room where all the maids had been taken was as quiet as if it were dead. The carpet was made of golden fox fur and was as shiny as velvet.
Erphia was lying on the long sofa in the center of the room, tapping the armrest of the sofa with her hand.
Even though a long time had passed, Ben did not return.
Ben, who has quietly been by her side for over 20 years, has never been as late as today.
'Surely, something went wrong?'
Erphia bit her lower lip in nervousness.
'It wouldn't be a problem for Ben to give that girl some poison.'
Erphia knew Ben's skills best.
He is someone who has had blood on his hands without hesitation on her behalf for a long time.
While being by her side, Ben never made a single mistake.
Although she thought nothing would happen, she didn't know why she was feeling so gloomy today.
- How come you don't like that woman so much? To the Empress, she is the mother of all people, so why should she be swayed like this by a nobody?
What Illeon said last time never left her mind.
Unlike herself, a noble Empress, Seliya is a nothingwomen.
Other than a smooth face, she has nothing.
However, a lot has changed since that one woman appeared in the imperial palace.
Her relationship with her son, Jeremy, was strained, and Dietrich, who she thought would harm the woman, was maintaining an intimate relationship with her.
'Even Illeon.'
Erphia's hands, holding on to the armrests of the sofa, were trembling.
If all Seliya has is her looks, all she has to do is ruin them.
The best way to undermine a person's value is to throw that person's greatest strength into the mud.
At that time, angry footsteps were heard across the closed hallway.
'Is it Jeremy?'
At the same time, Erphia frowned, and the closed door slammed! It opened roughly and made a noise.
"Mother!"
It was a voice that was different from usual, like a desperate scream.
However, Erphia got up from the sofa with a calm smile, feeling very happy to hear her son's voice after a long time.
“Are you here, Jeremy?”
Erphia's face hardened as she faced Jeremy.
There was a monster there.
It was a man who was exactly like her son, with only golden hair and purple eyes.
The skin on his face had completely melted off, and Jeremy's eyes, nose, and mouth were grotesquely distorted, so ugly that she couldn't bear to look at him with her eyes open.
Her voice was trembling slightly and she muttered her words as if she could not believe it.
“Um, really Jeremy? Well, what is that face....”
Jeremy walked out of the doorway and approached Erphia.
When she saw his face up close, it was truly cruel.
The exposed fleshy bones of the face were visible, and the eyes, nose, and mouth were out of place, making it seem as if one was face-to-face with a monster rather than a human being.
Erphia's legs gave out and she sank down on the sofa.
“My mother knows best why I became this idiot.”
The resentful voice coming from the monster was clearly Jeremy's.
Even if things go wrong, they are definitely wrong.
Her son Jeremy ended up eating the poison that Seliya was supposed to eat.
“You had a knight named Ben feed me some poison, right? Without even knowing it, I just drank the honey water my mother gave me. Like a double head!”
Jeremy's lips twisted against his left cheek.
Erphia felt as if her eyes were going dark.
She cried out like a scream.
“No, Jeremy! There’s no way I would do that to you, my son!”
“So where is your mother’s knight, Ben, now?”
Erphia felt her heart drop.
Ben still hadn't come.
But, Jeremy just said that Ben drugged him.
No matter who saw it, she was in a situation where she had no choice but to be accused of being a criminal.
'Could it be that Ben is trying to get me into trouble?'
He had been taking good care of her for over 20 years, but how could he do this to her just before Jeremy ascended to the throne?
Erpiha's eyes looked as if they would pop out at any moment.
'Since when?'
arched window and illuminated the antique room.
The room where all the maids had been taken was as quiet as if it were dead. The carpet was made of golden fox fur and was as shiny as velvet.
Erphia was lying on the long sofa in the center of the room, tapping the armrest of the sofa with her hand.
Even though a long time had passed, Ben did not return.
Ben, who has quietly been by her side for over 20 years, has never been as late as today.
'Surely, something went wrong?'
Erphia bit her lower lip in nervousness.
'It wouldn't be a problem for Ben to give that girl some poison.'
Erphia knew Ben's skills best.
He is someone who has had blood on his hands without hesitation on her behalf for a long time.
While being by her side, Ben never made a single mistake.
Although she thought nothing would happen, she didn't know why she was feeling so gloomy today.
- How come you don't like that woman so much? To the Empress, she is the mother of all people, so why should she be swayed like this by a nobody?
What Illeon said last time never left her mind.
Unlike herself, a noble Empress, Seliya is a nothingwomen.
Other than a smooth face, she has nothing.
However, a lot has changed since that one woman appeared in the imperial palace.
Her relationship with her son, Jeremy, was strained, and Dietrich, who she thought would harm the woman, was maintaining an intimate relationship with her.
'Even Illeon.'
Erphia's hands, holding on to the armrests of the sofa, were trembling.
If all Seliya has is her looks, all she has to do is ruin them.
The best way to undermine a person's value is to throw that person's greatest strength into the mud.
At that time, angry footsteps were heard across the closed hallway.
'Is it Jeremy?'
At the same time, Erphia frowned, and the closed door slammed! It opened roughly and made a noise.
"Mother!"
It was a voice that was different from usual, like a desperate scream.
However, Erphia got up from the sofa with a calm smile, feeling very happy to hear her son's voice after a long time.
“Are you here, Jeremy?”
Erphia's face hardened as she faced Jeremy.
There was a monster there.
It was a man who was exactly like her son, with only golden hair and purple eyes.
The skin on his face had completely melted off, and Jeremy's eyes, nose, and mouth were grotesquely distorted, so ugly that she couldn't bear to look at him with her eyes open.
Her voice was trembling slightly and she muttered her words as if she could not believe it.
“Um, really Jeremy? Well, what is that face....”
Jeremy walked out of the doorway and approached Erphia.
When she saw his face up close, it was truly cruel.
The exposed fleshy bones of the face were visible, and the eyes, nose, and mouth were out of place, making it seem as if one was face-to-face with a monster rather than a human being.
Erphia's legs gave out and she sank down on the sofa.
“My mother knows best why I became this idiot.”
The resentful voice coming from the monster was clearly Jeremy's.
Even if things go wrong, they are definitely wrong.
Her son Jeremy ended up eating the poison that Seliya was supposed to eat.
“You had a knight named Ben feed me some poison, right? Without even knowing it, I just drank the honey water my mother gave me. Like a double head!”
Jeremy's lips twisted against his left cheek.
Erphia felt as if her eyes were going dark.
She cried out like a scream.
“No, Jeremy! There’s no way I would do that to you, my son!”
“So where is your mother’s knight, Ben, now?”
Erphia felt her heart drop.
Ben still hadn't come.
But, Jeremy just said that Ben drugged him.
No matter who saw it, she was in a situation where she had no choice but to be accused of being a criminal.
'Could it be that Ben is trying to get me into trouble?'
He had been taking good care of her for over 20 years, but how could he do this to her just before Jeremy ascended to the throne?
Erpiha's eyes looked as if they would pop out at any moment.
'Since when?'
The sense of betrayal felt like her whole head was pounding. Erphia bit her lip until it bled.
Jeremy laughed at Erphia, who was in shock and couldn't say anything.
“Mother, how come I don’t even see a guy named Ben turn his nose? You couldn’t have ordered him to do this and then secretly taken it away, right?”
Erphia denied his words with her eyes wide open.
“What on earth are you looking at this mother for? How much I love you!”
“Everything in the letter my mother sent, including the handwriting and the honey water, was the same! Are you still going to deny that is not my mother?”
Erphia's face turned pale at Jeremy's words.
"Someone... Someone must have imitated me. This is to drive a wedge between you and me! Where is that letter now?”
“Mother’s knight, Ben, will be holding it. As soon as I saw that it was my mother’s handwriting, I handed it to him, took some of the honey water, and drank it.”
Contempt flashed in Jeremy's eyes.
“I will ask you one last question. Where is your mother’s escort, Ben, now?”
Erphia felt like she was going crazy because she couldn't breathe.
Why did loyal Ben disobey her orders to give Seliya poison and harm Jeremy?
The angles fit together as if someone had put together a script.
There was more than one strange thing about Ben doing this on his own.
Now, there was only one person who could solve Erphia's situation, Illeon, of the same Duke Gregrick family.
Illeon, who provided the poison, the source of everything.
Illeon might know something.
“I need to see Duke Gregrick right away.”
Jeremy grabbed Erphia's wrist as if he was going to crush it as she tried to leave.
“Mom, I am asking you now.”
“Jeremy! Common sense tells you there’s no way your mother would do that to you!”
“Then look me straight in the eyes and say something. Why don’t you look at my face?”
As if he didn't like the fact that she kept avoiding his gaze, Jeremy put pressure on his hand holding her wrist.
“Huh! Jeremy, I am your mother. I care more about you than my life, so why would I do something like that?”
Even though Erphia appealed to his sympathy, Jeremy did not let go of her wrist.
“Mom, are you disgusted with me like this? Is my face so terrible that you can’t bear to open your eyes and look at it?”
Erphia looked up at Jeremy's face, her breath catching.
Inside his distorted face, there was madness lurking in his purple eyes that looked exactly like her own.
Just a brief glance at him made Erphia's stomach churn.
Erphia covered her mouth with her other hand, which was not being held by Jeremy.
“Wook!”
Jeremy's eyes sank low when he saw this.
Jeremy let go of Erphia's wrist and muttered coolly.
“As of today, my mother is gone.”
“...Je, Jeremy?”
“If I sit on the throne, I will dethrone you first.”
As soon as Jeremy finished speaking, she turned to him.
Erphia hugged his torso and cried, but Jeremy coldly shook her off and left without even looking back at her.
“Jeremy!”
Erphia's bitter scream rang out high. Her fingernails trembled as she dug into the carpet.
The imperial palace was so vast that it was not easy to remember thr geography.
Seliya traced her memories step by step until she reached Dietrich's mansion.
As she went, she saw a few knights and ministers, but perhaps because the news of Jeremy's disfigurement had spread, people didn't seem to care about Seliya.
Dietrich's mansion, with its stone dome and pointed spire, was magnificent, but unlike the countless other imperial palaces made of gold and marble, it felt foreign.
'Obviously, the Emperor said it was sent down.'
While giving him the title of Duke, he actually built a mansion in the imperial palace rather than on his estate.
She thought it was in bad taste.
A Baron, the lowest rank among nobles, also had his own fiefdom, a barony, but Dietrich, a Duke, had no fiefdom of his own.
‘I pity him. It's not even funny.'
Seliya laughed and mocked herself.
Who sympathizes with whom now?
Even though it was only a superficial operation, he rose to the rank of commander of the Imperial Knights on his own.
'What does Dietrich want to achieve by using me?'
Does he, like herself, want to bring down Abelon?
So, what if he whispered in the early morning that the three Dukes, who were the central figures, were really her enemies?
'If that's the case, I can use him as much as I want.'
Since they had the same goal and he was the only person who could heal her terminally ill body, Seliya had no reason not to join hands with Dietrich.
'What is the scope of the healing ability?'
Holding Dietrich's hand calmed her anxious mind, and kissing him seemed to bring out her vitality.
'...Kiss.'
She couldn't trust him and her mood became strange as she recalled the kiss he had given her.
Seliya shook her head to shake off her endless thoughts.
'Just as Dietrich uses me, I can also use him. What's the big deal about kissing?'
As she thought about it, Seliya found herself standing in front of Dietrich's mansion.
In front of the mansion, a man whom Seliya had seen in passing several times was guarding the door with his back straight.
Judging by the gray hairs growing through his hair and the wrinkles around his eyes, he must be around 50 years old.
'Dietrich called the him Anderson.'
Seliya, realizing that he was Dietrich's right-hand man Anderson, approached Anderson.
Anderson's eyes watered when he saw Seliya's face.
It was worth it. When Seliya stayed at the mansion, she saw Anderson standing outside the mansion through the window, but Anderson never saw Seliya properly because he was carrying out Dietrich's orders.
After being embarrassed for a moment, Anderson quickly returned to his job.
“What’s going on?”
The blunt way of speaking resembles Dietrich.
“I came to see His Excellency, Duke Calypso.”
“The Duke is not at the mansion right now.”
Seliya frowned. She thought he was definitely at the mansion, but where did he go in this mess?
“May I know where he is? I have something to tell him.”
“Your Excellency...”
Anderson trailed off. At the same time, one of his robes was draped over Seliya's shoulders.
Jeremy laughed at Erphia, who was in shock and couldn't say anything.
“Mother, how come I don’t even see a guy named Ben turn his nose? You couldn’t have ordered him to do this and then secretly taken it away, right?”
Erphia denied his words with her eyes wide open.
“What on earth are you looking at this mother for? How much I love you!”
“Everything in the letter my mother sent, including the handwriting and the honey water, was the same! Are you still going to deny that is not my mother?”
Erphia's face turned pale at Jeremy's words.
"Someone... Someone must have imitated me. This is to drive a wedge between you and me! Where is that letter now?”
“Mother’s knight, Ben, will be holding it. As soon as I saw that it was my mother’s handwriting, I handed it to him, took some of the honey water, and drank it.”
Contempt flashed in Jeremy's eyes.
“I will ask you one last question. Where is your mother’s escort, Ben, now?”
Erphia felt like she was going crazy because she couldn't breathe.
Why did loyal Ben disobey her orders to give Seliya poison and harm Jeremy?
The angles fit together as if someone had put together a script.
There was more than one strange thing about Ben doing this on his own.
Now, there was only one person who could solve Erphia's situation, Illeon, of the same Duke Gregrick family.
Illeon, who provided the poison, the source of everything.
Illeon might know something.
“I need to see Duke Gregrick right away.”
Jeremy grabbed Erphia's wrist as if he was going to crush it as she tried to leave.
“Mom, I am asking you now.”
“Jeremy! Common sense tells you there’s no way your mother would do that to you!”
“Then look me straight in the eyes and say something. Why don’t you look at my face?”
As if he didn't like the fact that she kept avoiding his gaze, Jeremy put pressure on his hand holding her wrist.
“Huh! Jeremy, I am your mother. I care more about you than my life, so why would I do something like that?”
Even though Erphia appealed to his sympathy, Jeremy did not let go of her wrist.
“Mom, are you disgusted with me like this? Is my face so terrible that you can’t bear to open your eyes and look at it?”
Erphia looked up at Jeremy's face, her breath catching.
Inside his distorted face, there was madness lurking in his purple eyes that looked exactly like her own.
Just a brief glance at him made Erphia's stomach churn.
Erphia covered her mouth with her other hand, which was not being held by Jeremy.
“Wook!”
Jeremy's eyes sank low when he saw this.
Jeremy let go of Erphia's wrist and muttered coolly.
“As of today, my mother is gone.”
“...Je, Jeremy?”
“If I sit on the throne, I will dethrone you first.”
As soon as Jeremy finished speaking, she turned to him.
Erphia hugged his torso and cried, but Jeremy coldly shook her off and left without even looking back at her.
“Jeremy!”
Erphia's bitter scream rang out high. Her fingernails trembled as she dug into the carpet.
***
The imperial palace was so vast that it was not easy to remember thr geography.
Seliya traced her memories step by step until she reached Dietrich's mansion.
As she went, she saw a few knights and ministers, but perhaps because the news of Jeremy's disfigurement had spread, people didn't seem to care about Seliya.
Dietrich's mansion, with its stone dome and pointed spire, was magnificent, but unlike the countless other imperial palaces made of gold and marble, it felt foreign.
'Obviously, the Emperor said it was sent down.'
While giving him the title of Duke, he actually built a mansion in the imperial palace rather than on his estate.
She thought it was in bad taste.
A Baron, the lowest rank among nobles, also had his own fiefdom, a barony, but Dietrich, a Duke, had no fiefdom of his own.
‘I pity him. It's not even funny.'
Seliya laughed and mocked herself.
Who sympathizes with whom now?
Even though it was only a superficial operation, he rose to the rank of commander of the Imperial Knights on his own.
'What does Dietrich want to achieve by using me?'
Does he, like herself, want to bring down Abelon?
So, what if he whispered in the early morning that the three Dukes, who were the central figures, were really her enemies?
'If that's the case, I can use him as much as I want.'
Since they had the same goal and he was the only person who could heal her terminally ill body, Seliya had no reason not to join hands with Dietrich.
'What is the scope of the healing ability?'
Holding Dietrich's hand calmed her anxious mind, and kissing him seemed to bring out her vitality.
'...Kiss.'
She couldn't trust him and her mood became strange as she recalled the kiss he had given her.
Seliya shook her head to shake off her endless thoughts.
'Just as Dietrich uses me, I can also use him. What's the big deal about kissing?'
As she thought about it, Seliya found herself standing in front of Dietrich's mansion.
In front of the mansion, a man whom Seliya had seen in passing several times was guarding the door with his back straight.
Judging by the gray hairs growing through his hair and the wrinkles around his eyes, he must be around 50 years old.
'Dietrich called the him Anderson.'
Seliya, realizing that he was Dietrich's right-hand man Anderson, approached Anderson.
Anderson's eyes watered when he saw Seliya's face.
It was worth it. When Seliya stayed at the mansion, she saw Anderson standing outside the mansion through the window, but Anderson never saw Seliya properly because he was carrying out Dietrich's orders.
After being embarrassed for a moment, Anderson quickly returned to his job.
“What’s going on?”
The blunt way of speaking resembles Dietrich.
“I came to see His Excellency, Duke Calypso.”
“The Duke is not at the mansion right now.”
Seliya frowned. She thought he was definitely at the mansion, but where did he go in this mess?
“May I know where he is? I have something to tell him.”
“Your Excellency...”
Anderson trailed off. At the same time, one of his robes was draped over Seliya's shoulders.
Two series are out now! If you like mystery, horror, and historical genre, you can check it out!
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