Only when Delia forcibly pushed him away did he take a step back.  

But that was all.  

Kaiel turned back to look at her.  

His eyes were flickering with an emotion that felt out of place with his cold gaze.  He asked, each word laced with force.  

“I haven’t heard the answer yet.  How are you feeling, Delia?”  

‘He’s worried about my condition in this situation?!’

Delia felt a surge of emotion welling up inside her.  

“I’m fine, I’m fine, I said I’m fine!  So just go see Lady Rant already!”  

“Get some more rest.”  

“I’ll take care of myself!”  

Delia repeated that she was fine as she slammed the door shut behind him.  

She felt a moment of relief now that he was out of sight.  But it wasn’t long before she felt suffocated again.  

If Lady Rant’s health deteriorated again, everything would be for nothing.  

‘I wasn’t thinking straight.  If Lady Rant recovers, Roena Roches won’t just stand by.’

She had changed the course of the story, so it was only natural that there would be variables.

As she listened to his retreating footsteps outside the door, Delia organized her thoughts. 

‘First……!’

Delia called out to the system. 

‘System, what’s the current plausibility score?’

She had helped Lady Rant, so the plausibility score must have hit rock bottom.  It was strange that she was perfectly fine.  

Ding.

[The current plausibility score is 23 points.]

Delia tilted her head as she checked the status window. 

‘I’m sure it dropped to 3 points right before I got the penalty?’

She had no idea when or how the plausibility score had gone up. 

Delia asked the system, 

‘System, can I check the record of the plausibility score increase?  You’re going to say no, aren’t you?  Yeah, yeah.  I know.  You can’t do as much as I thought you could.’

As if to make a mockery of her sarcastic question, the system window honestly admitted its lack of ability. 

Ding.

[You cannot view the record of increases and decreases in the plausibility score.]

‘Ha, ha, ha.  Figures!  You idiot!’

Delia was furious at the system because the last penalty was too lenient. 

Delia cursed the system inwardly, venting her anger, and took a small, deep breath. 

She was a little frustrated that she didn’t know why the plausibility score had jumped by 20 points, but whatever it was, higher was better. 

‘First, I have to go see the Empress.’

She had no intention of staying quietly locked up in her room. 

She couldn’t just leave the Empress alone after she had poisoned Lady Rant with lapocia and tried to poison her too. 

Soon, she would kill Kaiel with her own hands, and there would be no one left to protect Lady Rant from the Empress’s threats. 

She was planning on paying her a visit to instill a proper sense of fear in her so she wouldn’t dare do anything like this again. 

Since she created this character, wasn’t it her job to scold her, advise her, and lead her in the right direction?

Delia pulled the string in her room to summon a maid.  She had something to ask of her. 

***

The Empress’s Palace boasted the most beautiful scenery in the entire Sheriton Palace.  A fountain with ornate statues and flowerbeds in full bloom decorated the front of the Empress’s Palace. 

Suddenly, a head of red hair appeared in a corner of the beautiful Empress’s Palace. 

“Somebody come out here, anybody!”

Delia was hiding in a corner, waiting for any maid to enter the palace. 

Her appearance was a little different than usual.  Her long, red, wavy hair was tied up in a high bun, giving her a neat look. 

And unlike her usual attire, her clothes were dark and tidy, with a white apron around the front of her dress. 

It was a maid’s uniform. 

‘This is the only way to see Roena Roches.’

She couldn’t shamelessly ask Ashlene or Niol to let her see the Empress when she was being falsely accused. 

So she chose to approach the Empress by disguising herself as a maid.  As the saying goes, the best place to hide a tree is in a forest.  There was no better disguise than a maid to suddenly appear out of thin air. 

Of course, she needed a plausible excuse, but that was Delia’s specialty. 

Finally, when a maid appeared, entering the Imperial Palace, Delia seized the opportunity and quickly approached her. 

“Oh, you scared me!  Why did you come out of there?”

Delia glanced at the basket in the maid’s hand and smiled innocently. 

“There was a pretty flower blooming in the corner.  Would you like it?”

The maid narrowed her eyes and examined Delia. 

“But why haven’t I seen your face before?  I’ve never seen red hair like that before.  Hey, who are you?”

Delia shook her head as if she was used to it. 

“Everyone says that.  Well, I work in the auxiliary palace that’s practically empty, so how often would I see anyone?  Thank goodness His Grace has moved in lately.”

“The auxiliary palace?  Well, that makes sense……,” 

Delia naturally took the cleaning basket from the maid. 

“Well, never mind.  Karen, you were on your way to clean, right?”

Only then did the maid, relieved of her suspicion, nod her head.  The character list was one of the few system functions that was actually useful. 

‘It’s a good thing I at least know her name.’

Delia said, looking inside the basket, 

“All the mops we were using in the auxiliary palace were old and broken, so I came here in a hurry to borrow some.  Do you have more when you go in?  His Grace has such a fiery temper, I’m afraid he’ll pull a knife on me if I don’t keep things as clean as possible.”

When Delia made a frightened expression, Karen nodded vigorously in understanding. 

Then, Karen looked around for a moment and whispered, 

“But did you hear?  There’s a researcher here from Tranade to treat Lady Rant, and they say she sent her spices laced with poison as a get-well gift!  And then she pretended to faint to avoid suspicion!”

“……Oh, really?”

That’s me!

Delia shook her head inwardly.  As expected, rumors in the Imperial Palace spread faster than she could have imagined.  The last part of the story was especially upsetting.  That she pretended to faint to avoid suspicion. 

It would have been less painful if that were the case. 

But thanks to that, she also heard some good news. 

“I heard it by chance as I was passing by, but fortunately, I heard the Lady has regained consciousness.  I guess the antidote she took before helped.”

Delia breathed a sigh of relief this time.  If Lady Rant woke up, it would be a relief. 

They continued walking and soon passed by the Empress’s office.  Karen left to get some tools, and Delia, left alone, pulled out a duster from the basket. 

She was going to pretend to dust the candlesticks that decorated the hallway wall and get a sense of the atmosphere inside the office. 

Just then, she heard a man’s voice coming from inside the Empress’s office. 

‘Who is that?’

Delia brushed the dust off the candlesticks along the wall, approached the office door, and put her ear close to it. 

Soon, she could make out what was going on. 

“You’re still no match for that child.  You’re still incompetent.”

“……”

“If you found out who the culprit was, you should have stepped forward and punished them yourself!  Don’t you know how much His Majesty cherishes Michelle Rant, that snake of a woman?  You should be the one to punish the culprit!  That’s how you get on His Majesty’s good side, don’t you think?”

“He is not the culprit.”

“Then who is it?”

From what she could overhear, it sounded like Niol was inside.  The Empress’s voice, thick with agitation, continued. 

“Come to think of it, I heard you personally sent that child to His Majesty the Emperor not too long ago?  Why on earth would you do such a thing!  Don’t you know His Majesty cherishes that child more than you?’

“……”

“You’re going to be the death of me!  You useless good-for-nothing, you.”

“I apologize.”

Delia shook her head as she listened to the conversation.  It was even more pitiful and heartbreaking to hear it in person. 

‘Niol had a tough childhood……’

How could brothers get along when he grew up like this?!

This kind of upbringing for Niol was a narrative device used in the original story to create a confrontational dynamic between Niol and Kaiel. 

Listening to Niol being berated and verbally abused, she understood why the plausibility score had been cut by another 40 points. 

‘I was wondering how much misery he was going to get from the changed course of events.’

The pressure of knowing that no matter how hard he tried, he could never surpass Kaiel Ceder. 

That was Niol Roches’ role. 

If the price of changing the flow was to be constantly compared to his half-brother and verbally abused by his mother, it was enough to make Niol miserable. 

While Delia was feeling sorry for Niol, 

“Gasp……!”

Delia, gasping for air, quickly hid behind a pillar. 

It was because she started to hear familiar footsteps in the distance. 

Sure enough, as soon as she turned on the character list, a familiar name appeared. 

Kaiel Ceder. 

Delia’s eyes widened. 

‘What is Kaiel doing here……?’

Delia suddenly remembered the situation in the original story and broke out in a cold sweat. 

Kaiel in the original story, after realizing who was behind his mother’s lapocia poisoning, immediately went to see her and brutally took her life. 

He had only visited the Empress once after finding out she was behind it, and in that one visit, Roena met her death. 

But, 

Kaiel came to see the Empress now?