The Emperor whispered very tenderly.

“You seem quite troubled today. Is it those gifts you want?”

He pointed to the little dog running around Christine in the distance.

“Tch, I’m not envious of the gifts. I just don’t have a man who can give me such things.”

“A man like Werner?”

“No, someone even better than him.”

She felt her anger might subside if she could flaunt such a man in front of Christine and Werner.

“As it happens, I know someone like that. Would you like me to introduce you?”

Hearing his words, Barbara nodded vigorously with a boisterous laugh.

And then her memory went blank.

The next day, the Emperor summoned the Duke of Mücke. He personally told him what had happened the previous night.

“Let’s just call it an accident. Your daughter-in-law had too much to drink. She mistook me for a marquis.”

The Duke’s wrinkled cheeks trembled at his words. The Emperor then asked in a somewhat subdued voice.

“Are you displeased? I’ve bestowed a great favor, but seeing your reaction, I’m quite disappointed.”

Only after the Duke strongly denied this with all manner of excuses did the Emperor’s tone improve.

“I thought it would be fine to plant one of my bloodlines in my most loyal subject. It would make you even more trustworthy.”

The Emperor had been displeased with Werner, who was amassing wealth daily with his exceptional navigation skills. He found it distasteful to see his most cherished subject, the Duke of Mücke, fawning over Werner at his party.

So he chose Barbara as an example. It also irritated her to see Barbara drunk and still pining over her unrequited love despite being married.

The Emperor lightly patted the Duke’s shoulder. At a glance, it looked like he was encouraging her subject, but his following words were cruel.

“Don’t worry about it being just a one-night affair. My women always conceive without fail.”

The Duke of Mücke bowed his head to the Emperor throughout their meeting and upon returning home, summoned Barbara separately.

Barbara trembled before her father-in-law, who glared at her as if he might kill her on the spot.

“Return to Gustav immediately. And never breathe a word of this until the day you die.”

Barbara left the capital in such haste that she barely packed her belongings. As soon as she arrived at the territory, she apologized to Gustav.

“Darling, I’ve been so childish. Please forgive me. I’ll do my best as your wife.”

Though initially reluctant, he gradually softened and accepted her back. Not long after, Barbara became pregnant.

From that time on, she stopped dyeing her hair black. Instead, she washed it frequently to remove the black dye faster. Once a significant portion of her blonde hair had grown out, she cut it short.

All the while, she prayed desperately that the child in her womb would have brown hair like Gustav.

Three months later, just as the snow began to melt, Christine gave birth to Daphne. Seven months after that, Barbara gave birth to Leonhardt.

Gustav and Werner sincerely congratulated each other.

At the end of that year, on a day of heavy snowfall…

The carriage carrying the Duke of Mücke and the young duke slid on the snowy road and crashed severely. The carriage was completely destroyed, and House Mücke lost both its head and heir at once.

Rumors began to circulate that this was no simple accident. Whispers suggested the Emperor had intervened because the Duke of Mücke kept trying to interfere with trade, but these rumors quickly disappeared.

Gustav, who had been relegated to a rural territory, immediately came to the capital and inherited the title.

The Emperor even made a special appearance at the party celebrating his succession to the title.

He occasionally glanced at Leonhardt, smiling behind his mask. While pretending to chat with Barbara, he whispered in her ear.

“Your son is blonde, so you’ve stopped dyeing your hair?”

When Barbara gasped in surprise, the Emperor giggled and said.

“If you make it so obvious, the man better than Werner will be upset. I even replaced the duke for a child who might be mine, but instead of being grateful, you’re deliberately emphasizing that you both have blonde hair. I’m hurt.”

Barbara’s legs trembled at this shocking revelation. The Emperor lightly grasped her arm and said.

“So keep dyeing it black as you’ve been doing, for life!”

Barbara nodded slightly and quickly retreated.

The Emperor was someone who had personally eliminated even the crown prince when he felt threatened. What wouldn’t she do to someone like Barbara?

She was terrified. She almost wished the Emperor would just die already.

After that, Barbara’s situation steadily worsened. Gustav, who had once been practically a son-in-law living in her family’s home, changed his attitude completely upon becoming a duke.

He ruled at home as a duke rather than a family member and treated Barbara poorly. Having mistreated and disrespected her husband before, Barbara now lived in silence.

She avoided going to the imperial palace using all sorts of excuses.

But soon the Empire’s Foundation Day approached. Unless she had the plague, she had to attend even if she was dying of pain.

The Emperor, seemingly satisfied with Barbara’s black-dyed hair, said he had prepared gifts and called Gustav and Werner aside. He asked after Daphne and Leonhardt, then laughed softly.

“I believe I once heard that your parents had promised a marriage between your families, is that correct?”

The two men were taken aback by this sudden question but confirmed it was true.

“Then there’s nothing more to consider. Let’s proceed with the engagement of Daphne Armin and Leonhardt Mücke.”

Both men were extremely flustered by the Emperor’s sudden marriage decree.

Barbara and Christine were equally shocked. The two women breathed heavily as they looked back and forth between their husbands and the Emperor.

But the Emperor showed no intention of changing his mind. At this point, the two families dared not refuse.

Moreover, upon reflection, there was no particular reason to refuse. It would strengthen the friendship between the two men and a marriage alliance between the families would significantly contribute to the Empire’s stability.

The two men obeyed the Emperor’s command on the spot.

Shortly after, the Emperor naturally inquired about Barbara’s health.

“I heard you’ve been ill every day. Are you feeling better today?”

He was clearly pointing out how Barbara had been avoiding him with feigned illnesses. Barbara stammered her reply.

“I-I’m sorry, Your Majesty.”

“Why so serious? Now I’m embarrassed for asking after your health.”

He laughed lightly and then asked in a lowered voice.

“Are you pleased with the solid future I’ve given your son?”

Barbara was so flustered that her response came late.

“Y-Your Majesty……”

“Never mind. You don’t need to answer. I just find your trembling amusing, so don’t worry about it.”

To think this was all done for amusement. Barbara was not in her right mind, but the Emperor was twisted in an entirely different way.

As if to prove this, he whispered again.

“Isn’t this a joyous day when the imperial throne, the duchy, and the marquisate have all become mine? You’ve essentially gained control over the mother and daughter you hate most. So smile.”

With those words, the Emperor departed.

But the words he left behind struck Barbara like a thunderbolt.

‘The mother and daughter I hate most…’

The clues the Emperor had left began to fall into place.

How Barbara had missed her prime marriage years pining for Werner, her feigned illnesses to avoid the Emperor, and now the engagement to Daphne.

It was like a puzzle. The scattered pieces of evidence found their proper places, revealing the bigger picture.

‘If I keep pretending to be sick, the two children can’t marry. Daphne will miss her chance to marry, and Werner and Christine will be anxious the whole time?’

Even after being practically driven to the territory by her father-in-law, Gustav continued to treat her coldly. After becoming a duke, his treatment worsened rather than improved.

If she hadn’t given birth to Leonhardt, she might have been divorced long ago. Of course, she was anxiously hoping he was Gustav’s son, but her position as a duchess provided some consolation.

And now, to have a way to torment Werner, Christine, and Daphne all at once…

For the first time in her life, Barbara felt profound gratitude toward the Emperor.

Even though the Emperor didn’t care for her personally and was merely tormenting her for amusement. If she was going to be used as a chess piece anyway, she welcomed any power given to her.

The Emperor suddenly died of a heart attack.

For someone who had killed and tormented so many people, instigated countless conflicts, and committed numerous sins, it was a relatively peaceful death.

A girl with so little presence that she had avoided the succession struggles inherited his position.

People whispered that if the dead Emperor knew this, he would burst from his grave, but nothing of the sort happened.

Barbara felt the same way. She couldn’t believe someone so terrifying had died so anticlimactically. It seemed like a ploy to identify those who would rejoice at his death.

She feared the Emperor might still appear and carry out a terrible purge. But that didn’t happen either.

Although Werner and Gustav had major political differences, they maintained a good balance and got along well. And while there were rumors questioning who Daphne’s real father was, both families remained unshaken.

Meanwhile, Barbara firmly grasped the legacy left by the late Emperor and took every opportunity to torment Daphne and Christine to her heart’s content.