After the conference.

Duigi Angenas and Ethan Klaus returned to Empress Lavigne\'s palace.

Flop!

The sound of Duigi\'s legs falling down into the chair was loud.

"It\'s all....over."

Duigi muttered, squeezing his head.

In addition to being deprived of the territory of Angenas, he was eventually deprived of his position as the Western representative.

"It\'s a perfect play."

Duigi was still dazed.

"Commerce Pellet....The Pellet Corporation...

Should I be angry or afraid?

I didn\'t even have a clue.

"The Deputy Patriarch of Lombardi is the owner of the Pellet Corporation....Huh, by the way."

He even laughed out of nowhere.

"In that case, from the first time Claryvan Pellet came to lend money, no, from the state of Sushou....No, that\'s not it either."

Duigi shook his head.

The reason they needed the Patriarch of Sushou was because the Western development project failed, and the reason that the project failed.....Duigi Angenas covered his mouth with both hands.

"Where the hell did you start-----."

"Duigi."

Standing on the back of the sofa, Empress Lavigne called her younger brother coldly.

"Shut up."

The Empress, who shed sad tears while holding the Emperor\'s sleeve in the assembly room, was nowhere to be found.

Her complexion was white, but a flame still remained in her eyes.

Lavigne curled up her hand with rotten fish eyes, wanting to tear Duigi\'s mouth to stop it\'s chattering.

The leather of the chair made a horrifying noise as Lavigne scratched her nails.

"Yovanes, that cowardly man."

It didn\'t matter when the lowly Second Prince and Florentia Lombardi began to work together.

In the end, it was Yovanes who put a knife in the back of Angenas.

From the day he became engaged to Lavigne, Yovanes had never been a decent spouse for a single moment.

He was constantly weighing on Angenas and was only called to worship him, and then he would coveted new women.

Perez was the only illegitimate child that Lavigne missed out on among the many seeds of infidelity.

And that mistake was now strangling Lavigne.

"I should have killed him when he was in his mother\'s womb."

Lavigne muttered coldly.

"Now, isn\'t it something we have to talk about well?"

"...what?"

"The Second Prince, if we apologize well for what you\'ve done in the past, isn\'t there a possibility that he might leave us alone?"

Duigi said with a blank eye.

"Or, if you call for Florentia Lombardi and try to get along with her...?"

Then he nodded his head as if he liked his own idea.

"Even if you kneel down and pray for three days and nights, do you think the Second Prince will leave Angenas alone?"

"You don\'t know until you try!"

Duigi, who screamed at Lavigne, even rose from his seat.

"This is a decision I will make as the Patriarch of Angenas. It\'s useless even if my sister stops me-----."

"Ethan."

"Yes, Empress."

"Cut the tongue off of Duigi."

The moment the order was given, Ethan Klaus stepped up to Duigi without any hesitation.

"Who...Sister...Empress!"

Duigi freaked out and ran away.

However, it happened in an instant, he was caught and Ethan forcibly opened his jaw.

"Huh! .. uhhh!"

It was when the dark dagger was about to dig into Duigi\'s mouth.

"Give it to me."

Lavigne\'s white hand took the knife from the hand of Klaus.

And pointed it to Duigi\'s eyes filled with fear.

"Patriarch of Angenas?"

Lavigne laughed in a faintly trembling voice.

"You, who had done nothing for the family except being born as a son, said that in front of me?"

"No, uhh..."

Duigi trembled and shed tears at the terrifying power of Ethan Klaus, who was holding his jaw.

"As the Patriarch of Angenas, you will apologize for that lowly thing?"

Lavigne\'s blue eyes flashed lightly.

"Then I\'ll have to tear your mouth so you can\'t do that."

"Ah! Ahhh!"

The blade of the dagger cut a long tail of Duigi\'s mouth.

Red blood gushed out of the cracks.

"Uh...uh..uh..!"

Duigi couldn\'t even scream.

He held his torn mouth in his hand and trembled.

"Now it\'s a little quiet."

Lavigne threw the dagger next to Klaus.

The blood-stained dagger rolled casually on the floor.

"How did I come this far?"

Lavigne said, remembering the days when she had to endure all sorts of shame and humiliation to get the favor of Yovanes.

And the only way out to deal with this situation crossed her head.

"Yes, that\'s better."

A smile that can draw a chilling sensation on anyone form on her red lips.

"I am the Empress of this Lambrew Empire."

The authority that the Second Prince and that adorable little girl have not yet taken away from her.

And it will remain that way.

Lavigne summoned one of her maids who had been waiting outside.

As soon as she entered, the maid\'s face who saw the Patriarch of Angenas, that is still covered in blood, looked horrified and scared.

"D-did you call, Empress?"

"Go and call Maid Otua."

Contrary to the horrible view of the room, Lavigne\'s voice was so calm.

"Yes, Empress."

The maid replied quickly and left the room as if she were running away.

\'Otua..the maid of honor?\'

Duigi, who shuddered in terrible pain and was only focused on stopping the bleeding of his wound, opened his eyes wide.

The maid of Otua was the one who attended right next to the emperor.

\'No way.\'

And Lavigne, who was looking at him, met his eyes.

"You must have noticed this time."

Lavigne threw her handkerchief at Duigi and laughed.

"What happens if the Emperor dies without an appointed Crown Prince? You know, don\'t you, Duigi?"

"Haaa..b-but s-sister..."

"Yes, I have the authority to choose the next heir to the throne."

Gulp.

Duigi swallowed unconsciously.

The taste of his metallic blood spread in his mouth but he was so shocked that he couldn\'t even notice it.

"If he can\'t make my son the Crown Prince, then I will make my son the Crown Prince."

After a while, the maid of Otua stood in front of the Empress.

"Did you call me, Empress..."

The maid of Otua said without even looking at the side of Duigi.

"Where is Your Majesty now, Maid Otua?"

"He haven\'t returned from the falconry yet."

"If you\'ve gone hunting, you\'ll be thirsty when you get back."

The empress put down a small bottle in front of the maid of Otua.

The maid of Otua closed her eyes tightly with her head down.

This wasn\'t the first time the Empress had put a \'small glass bottle\' in front of her.

"What you gave me the other day... it still remains."

"I told you to put it in diligently. You must have been lazy again."

Empress Lavigne spoke as if she were scolding a child.

"It\'s not that..."

"Take it. It\'s not different from that."

At the words of the Empress, the maid of Otua was forced to put the glass bottle in her arms.

Her fingertips were shaking to bits.

"It\'s the poison of a Titi spider. Pour in all of the contents in the bottle this time."

Maid Otua knew well what that meant.

From the time the Empress\' order began to poison the Emperor\'s food little by little, she thought that this day would come.

"What about my life?"

Asked the maid of Otua.

"You\'re asking an interesting question."

Empress Lavigne then said, raising one corner of her mouth crookedly.

"Are you going to make a deal with me?"

"That\'s not what I meant! I only wish that even if I put this poison in His Majesty\'s drink, my life would be guaranteed...!"

"Who is it that has allowed you to become the maid-in-chief now?"

The maid of Otua bite her lips.

Although she was a maid, because of the influence of Empress Lavigne she became a maid in a higher position.

Towards the maid who was biting her lips and couldn\'t say anything, Empress Lavigne said.

"Don\'t forget that your blood is still in Angenas."

"....Okay."

The maid of Otua only said a word and returned to the palace of the Emperor.

"Do you believe it?"

Ethan Klaus, who was watching quietly, asked.

"What if I don\'t believe it?"

"I will follow you even more."

He meant to destroy the accessory to the murder.

"I\'m always happy for your loyalty, I know I can trust you."

Empress Lavigne said, sitting in a chair for the first time after entering the room.

"Well, a maid who poisoned the Emperor\'s liquor by her own hand is now snitching on me. Should I be scared?"

(A/N: That whole conversation between Lavigne and Ethan is a mess, I don\'t get what the Empress is trying to say. So I tried to type it the way I understand the flow of the story.)

In addition, she held Otua\'s maid-in-chief\'s family hostage in the Angenas estate.

"The maid cannot betray me."

Lavini, who said so, ordered Ethan Klaus.

"Go back to the mansion and prepare the troops of Angenas. And when I send a notice, bring them to the Imperial Palace."

Empress Lavigne picked up another handkerchief and said, wiping away the blood on her hands.

"If Your Majesty dies, some disturbing forces may do something dangerous."

"I accept your orders, Empress."

Ethan Klaus answered solemnly.

But Lavigne wasn\'t looking at it.

Her frowning eyes were on the blood splattered on her dress.

It was a red bloodstain that was imprinted on the blue silk dress and would never be erased.

****

The sun has set.

A carriage carrying Emperor Yovanes returned to the palace and it was quite some time later.

Lavigne, took off her blood stained dress and changed into a new one, sat alone.

Lavigne didn\'t move any eyelashes, as if the flowing time were deflecting her.

How much time has passed?

"Empress!"

Lavigne opened her eyes straight from the urgent voice calling him.

"Your Majesty! The Emperor has fallen!"

"What do you mean!?"

Lavigne shouted as she last checked herself in the mirror.

Along with her dress, her jewelry was also replaced with tiny ones.

The Empress, dressed up next to the dead emperor, is not good to look at.

"Well, I\'ve just heard from the Imperial Palace...I think the empress should go..!"

"If it\'s a false rumor, I\'ll slit your throat!"

The Empress burst open the door and shouted.

She looked at the mirror a little while ago and only a surprised face remained at her face from the sudden news.

Lavigne grabbed the hem of her dress and hurriedly walked to the Imperial palace.

As she neared the Emperor\'s bedroom, the Empress smiled inwardly.

This was because the chaotic atmosphere of the Imperial palace was evidence that everything went according as planned.

Once she got there.

"Here you are, Empress."

The Palace Doctor was coming out of the Emperor\'s bedroom wiping his sweat.

Then he said with a sigh of relief.

"The Emperor has safely overcome the crisis."

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A/N: Ha! Let\'s see how you will move, Lavitchy !