The man slowly rolled his eyes to look in the direction of the sound.

A tiny black dragon, no bigger than a fist, was hanging on his shoulder, giggling.

[It’s the day you killed her with your own hands!]

“……”

Instead of replying, the man reached out and grabbed the black dragon’s neck.

[Gack, keck, keck! Let, go, ugh…!]

Eventually, the black dragon disappeared without a trace.

It was when the man was looking down at his empty hand with a cold gaze.

“Lord Cail.”

The castle’s butler came out to find him.

“How about attending even now?”

“……”

“They say the capital’s Yetrisha Street is already full of people celebrating the Empire’s Founding Day…”

The man’s face, who had been listening silently, twisted slightly.

The Alpenhayer Empire’s Founding Day was also a festival day for those who rejoiced in her death.

The man’s name was Cail Aleret.

He was the last hero loved by the people, who ended the seemingly endless winter of Shunaibel and brought spring to everyone.

However, for the past 5 years, he had never participated in the Founding Day celebrations, the symbol of peace he had achieved with his own hands.

People regretted his absence from official events despite deserving to be the main character more than anyone else, but they admired and worshipped him even more for his humility in not boasting about his achievements and living in seclusion.

But Cail’s absence from even the Founding Day celebrations wasn’t simply because he was humble or lacked ambition.

“I’m not going.”

Cail replied curtly and turned his head.

“If I go there……”

He trailed off, staring blankly at the falling snow.

If I go there… I might kill them all.

Because I might slaughter and butcher all those who are rejoicing in her death and raising toasts, causing a bloodbath.

Because I might end up destroying this peace she achieved with her death with my own hands.

And because I might end up being hated by her when we meet again someday.

He wasn’t afraid of destroying the peace she had achieved, but he couldn’t bear even a moment’s thought of being hated by her.

So Cail had been enduring all along.

To avoid facing those who rejoiced in her death.

***

“Here you go.”

As soon as dawn broke, I immediately called out a real estate agent and handed over the 3 million gold promissory note I had received from Niel.

“Ah, ahem. 3 million gold, I see.”

“Yes. Quickly, bring out the contract.”

“Oh, my goodness, what should we do about this?”

“……?”

“The property value has increased in the meantime.”

“What? The price went up?”

My eyebrow rose crookedly at the words the broker uttered while avoiding my gaze.

“So how much do I need to pay?”

“3.2 million gold.”

“……”

What’s with this subtle amount?

I had a strangely uneasy feeling.

“It increased by 200,000 gold in just a few days?”

As I narrowed my eyes and stared, the broker flinched and started rambling excuses.

“Well, you know, the location of that land is so good……”

“There’s no such thing!”

“If, if you don’t like it, don’t buy it. It’s a right guaranteed by the country to sell land at the desired price.”

“Isn’t this too much even for capital land prices? No matter how prime the land is!”

I grumbled as I handed over an additional 200,000 gold. It was the moment when the precious 200,000 gold I had extracted from my wealthy ex-fiancé was disappearing in vain.

That 200,000 gold was the initial capital needed to open the pharmacy. But it should be fine since I’ll soon be getting additional payment for Niel’s life anyway.

‘Yes, think positively. It’s payment for the Emperor’s life, so it should be worth more than 200,000 gold.’

My plan to open my pharmacy as soon as possible and completely cut ties with the underworld was just postponed a little.

Rather, it worked out well.

Because I hadn’t yet completely finished the infiltration mission into the Clarence ducal family.

‘I should wrap up my identity as Lady Jella Serk while waiting for Niel’s life payment.’

I planned to vaguely tell Emily that I was returning to the south where the Serk barony was located.

Anyway, once I finish the infiltration job and open my pharmacy, there won’t be any chance for me, an ordinary pharmacist, to encounter Emily, who is being mentioned as a potential Empress.

***

I visited the Clarence mansion to definitively wrap up the infiltration job, but I immediately regretted it.

“Waaaaaah.”

Because Emily grabbed me and burst into tears.

“Jella, you know, right? How much I was looking forward to my first dance with His Majesty.”

“Yes, yes. I know, I know.”

I suddenly had to comfort a crying Emily. I wasn’t used to this sort of thing.

‘Maybe I should have just quietly disappeared without wrapping anything up.’

A faint regret washed over me, but it was already too late. Besides, Niel had left the ballroom to escort me home…

“He really deserves to be beaten to death! Torn to pieces! Chewed to death!”

I chimed in with Emily, subtly cursing Niel.

“May he die alone without getting married, only receiving curses from the woman he likes! That idiot! May he grow old and die alone forever!”

It wasn’t exactly subtle, but rather a bit extreme…

“That wretched… mmph?”

“Jella!”

Emily stopped crying in surprise and hurriedly covered my mouth.

“Mmmmph.”

“B-But still, he’s His Majesty the Emperor! What if someone hears you!”

“Buh no one’sh lishening. (But no one’s listening.)”

Emily sighed deeply and removed her hand at my protest.

“Anyway, I’m glad you came today. I was feeling down, and you can help me soothe the pain of my heartbreak.”

“Actually, I came to say goodbye because I have to return to the south now.”

“What? Are you leaving the capital already? Didn’t you come to the capital to prepare for your debutante?”

Emily asked with wide eyes when I mentioned coming to say goodbye.

“Um… I’m planning to have my debutante in the south.”

Emily, who had been showing a friendly attitude towards me since I got her the skin medicine, seemed a bit disappointed.

“Then let’s go out together. You probably haven’t had a chance to properly see the capital since you’ve been helping me with my debutante preparations!”

Emily’s eyes sparkled as she grabbed my hand.

“Before you leave for the south, I’ll show you around the capital today!”

“No, you don’t have to…”

“There’s a place that sells incredibly delicious strawberry cake. Let’s go together!”

I ended up being dragged by Emily towards the city center of the capital.

It was a different street from where I used to sell flowers occasionally, a place frequented by noble ladies around Emily’s age.

I went shopping with Emily, ate delicious desserts at cafes, and chatted.

Emily talked non-stop about what happened at the ballroom yesterday.

It was gossip about which lady wore what dress, and which young lord confessed to whom.

I found it strangely fascinating.

In my previous life, I only had Yuphe as a friend, and even that relationship became awkward after Yuria’s appearance, so this was my first time having such an experience with a peer.

“You wouldn’t believe how bleak this capital street was just five years ago.”

“Really?”

I replied while resting my chin on one hand and sipping juice through a straw.

“It’s become this livable and peaceful since Niel became His Majesty the Emperor.”

Emily, who was nibbling on the nearly finished cake, tilted her head towards me and lowered her voice.

“You know, Jella. I’ve actually seen the tyrant Jella in person…”

“Oh?”

Was she going to badmouth me?

My heart started racing for some reason when my story came up.

“She was truly an extraordinary woman. The most beautiful and impressive woman I’ve ever seen in my life.”

However, contrary to my expectations, what came out of Emily’s mouth wasn’t criticism of me.

“She was a woman of a different species…”

Emily muttered, looking into space as if recalling my past self.

“Different species? That seems a bit disrespectful. Jella Shunaibel was human like us.”

“If you had seen her in person, you’d say the same thing as me!”

Emily exclaimed in a somewhat excited tone.

“But that doesn’t mean we can glorify the evil deeds that woman committed. Moreover, that woman hurt our Emperor.”

“By ‘our Emperor’, you mean Niel Alpenhayer?”

“Yes, our Niel.”

Huh? When did I ever?

I felt a bit wronged by this unfounded rumor.

It was Niel who met another woman during our engagement, who suggested breaking off the engagement, and who tried to kill me!

If anyone hurt someone, it was him hurting me, not the other way around, right?

“You know that our Emperor was engaged to that woman, right? But that woman hated Niel so much that she refused to marry him even after coming of age.”

“Ah, that’s…”