A visitor is here to see you, my lady.

Guest? Who?

She is Lady Jena.

I frowned to hear that.

Why is Jiun here? Is it because of what happened at the meeting yesterday?

Granted that, why did she come here without any notice?

After she returned, I initially felt she was more cultured than before, but she was not.

Given her behavior at the recent title succession ceremony at the Mirwa familys house and her abrupt visit today, she was rude.

As I was about to stand up in a bit of an annoying mood, I sat down again, smiling at him.

Well, butler, it would be polite for me to come straight down there as I have the guest here, but Im so busy right now. Im afraid I cant see her right now.

Oh, I see. You seem to be very busy in my eyes. Youve got too much work on your plate.

Yes, I do. When I replied with a big smile, a smile came on the blunt butlers face.

He and I laughed happily, looking at my clean desk without any paperwork to handle at the moment. He was quick-witted enough to grasp my intention.

Tell a maid to convey her a message that Ill be coming down soon. In the meantime, butler, why dont you play chess with me? Strangely enough, I would like to play chess, starting yesterday.

Its a good idea, my lady.

Isnt it polite to respond to someones rudeness with the same rudeness?

I stood up from my seat only after winning three times in a row. I giggled in spite of myself.

By now, she must be very much annoyed.

After laying down the queen next to the white king standing alone, I touched the crown-shaped tiara on the queens head and headed to the parlor.

I see you often these days, Lady Jena. Didnt I see you only ten days ago?

You must have been very busy, Lady Monique.

Yes. As you know, I have a lot of work to do all the time.

After instructing the knights nervously pacing up and down the parlor to stay away, I looked at her again after confirming that the parlor door was closed.

Jiun stopped smiling at me out of courtesy and said, raising her eyebrows, You kept me waiting on purpose, didnt you?

Do you think Im so free and leisurely? Its a bad habit to apply your own standard to others arbitrarily.

Are you kidding me?

You had better be more careful. You seem to be mistaken. Youre now in my house.

I knew you were very clumsy in showing due manners, but your words and deeds these days really make me feel displeased.

I am not here to argue with you over trifling things. And I dont want to talk with you for a long time. Let me get to the point. What did you do to me?

What did I do to you? Dang it, you really dont understand what I said to you. Im very annoyed by the way you speak to me. Got it?

Given that she, who was so hostile to me, came to visit me in person, it was evident that she came here on urgent business. I wondered why she came, but the more I dragged my feet, the more impatient she would be. So, it would be definitely better for me to stall time as much as possible.

Looking at me smiling at her in a leisurely manner, she clenched her teeth and said, Dont beat around the bush. Im talking about what happened at the meeting yesterday.

I hear they dealt with a lot of agendas at the meeting yesterday. Which agenda are you talking about?

Are you kidding me? Im talking about the agenda of the empress! You wouldnt say you didnt hear it, right?

Oh, Ive heard about that. So what?

What did you do to make our faction members support you as the empress, not me?

I have no idea. Thats what I want to ask.

I see. Obviously, the noble faction raised the empress issue without Jiuns agreement in advance. In fact, there was no possibility for her to give up the position of the empress because she said she came back to beat me. The Jena family who valued the family pedigree more than anything else or their successor would not have accepted her from the bottom of their hearts, and they would not have told her that the pro-emperor faction was trying to make the best use of her weakness.

Why are you asking me about the matter of your faction? Are you not trusted enough to grasp whats going on in your faction?

Isnt it the same to you? Every time youre being played into the hands of your faction for their interests or the interests of your family, right?

Hey, stop it if you want to distract me with that kind of cheap trick. At the very least, Ive got a full grasp of whats going on in our faction. Dont treat me like you.

Okay, okay. I never thought youd talk about it anyway, but let me get this straight.

Go ahead!

Who do you think you are? You said youd withdraw your name from the candidate for the empress, right? Why did you retract your promise? Why didnt you refuse it out of hand? Are you still attached to that position?

I let out a deep sigh. How good would it be if everything was as simple as she said?

Staring at me fiercely when I kept silent, Jiun said, as if she was dumbfounded, Are you crazy? Are you still attached to that position when you suffered so much? Did you forget what he had done to you in the past just because he looked a bit different these days?

What are you talking about?

He forcibly had sex with you, killed your father, ruined your family, and aborted your baby. He is the man who killed you. Nonetheless, do you still like him? Are you out of your mind?

Well, dont you know you were also partly responsible for that? Why are you talking to me like that at this point?

Sure, let me admit Im also responsible, but at least I know his true personality.

Confessing bitterly, she leaned her back on the sofa with her arms crossed.

Crossing her legs, she opened her mouth, while pretending to stay calm, Whenever I see you, I feel you are as stupid as you were in the past. You may feel that you have changed, but to me, you havent changed at all, compared to the old you. Well, how can I express it? Oh, you dont have any discerning eye for a man. To be honest with you, you like to see only what you want to when it comes to your lover.

So, what do you want to say to me?

Are you curious about the true colors of that man that you love so much? Dont you want to know what happened after you died? she asked, sweeping up her black hair.

Red lips curled into a smile on her face. Trying to calm down my nausea, I asked casually, His true colors?

Only

Dont you remember you told me this the other day? You asked me if I was not still satisfied when I took away your love, honor, position and everything else, right?

Yes, I clearly told you so. So what?

It was obvious, but what was she talking about?

Love? Are you kidding? Do you think the love he is whispering to your ears will last forever? It lasted only four years for me. Hes made such a big fuss about it for that short period of time.

As if she was very upset at the mere thought of his love in the past, she swept up her hair hysterically and said, He turned his back to me after four years when he said he loved me so much. Although I tried my best to love him, he always compared me with you. Ha, isnt it funny? Although he hated you so much, did all kinds of bad things to you and even killed you with his own hands, he missed you so much.

What the heck are you talking about?

You know how much he hated you back then, right? He looked very happy for some time after you died because not only you, a pain in the neck, and the two dukes who bothered him too much disappeared, but he seemed to miss you after killing you. He began to miss you at some point.

She began to raise her voice higher and higher.