“We have arrived, Your Highness.”

The coachman’s voice came through the small window connected to the carriage. Evelyn’s body trembled at the sensation of s*men lightly smeared on her pubic hair and scattered around her entrance.

Luinel briefly kissed her panting lips and took out a handkerchief from his jacket pocket. The soft cloth thoroughly wiped away the fluids and s*men flowing from her private area.

“Nngh, Your Highness.”

“Stay still. Unless you want the outside of your dress to be a mess too.”

“…I think it’s already a mess?”

Seeing Evelyn’s dejected expression at the completely altered state of her dress since leaving the annex palace, Luinel burst into laughter. Yet his hands were unnecessarily meticulous in wiping away the s*men and fluids that had splashed onto the hem of the dress.

“Be grateful it’s not an even bigger mess. If I had my way, I’d be thrusting into you until my c*ck was chafed, banquet or not.”

He held back because this banquet would be attended not only by all members of the imperial family but also by the five great noble families of the empire. Despite his recent obsession with Evelyn’s body, he didn’t want to create a situation that would please the Empress, who was responsible for sending his mother to the guillotine.

After fixing Evelyn’s disheveled hair, Luinel personally helped her up as her legs had gone weak.

“It would be better to continue this after the banquet is over.”

“I’m still not fully recovered from fatigue. Could you please go easy on me?”

“You’re the one who crawled into the Crown Prince’s chambers claiming to heal me. I told you, didn’t I? That you would have to take full responsibility for fearlessly intruding into the Crown Prince’s bedroom.”

The wind that rushed in through the wide-open carriage door drove away the erotic smell and heat that had accumulated inside. He stepped out of the carriage looking so impeccably neat that one could never imagine the indecent situation from moments before and escorted Evelyn to the main palace with a composed face.

“Crown Prince Luinel El Granteum and today’s guest of honor, Saintess Evelyn!”

The gazes of the people gathered in the main palace hall immediately poured toward the entrance. Since her official public appearance would be at the upcoming Founding Festival, she had heard that only the imperial family and nobles from the five core families of the Granteum Empire had been invited today.

Therefore, although the number of people gathered wasn’t that large, the gazes scanning her as she entered with Luinel sparkled with their own calculations. They looked intent on figuring out how to effectively utilize her, the first Saintess to appear in the empire in a hundred years.

Since all the core figures of the empire were gathered, the main palace was tightly guarded by the Imperial Knights as well as police officers dispatched from the police department.

Evelyn smiled brightly when her eyes met with Nox, who was commanding them. It was puzzling why, when looking at Nox smiling back at her, she simultaneously visualized a crimson c*ck dripping pre-fluid.

‘At this point, it seems like I’m thoroughly possessed by a demon.’

Fearing that her lower regions might get wet again despite Luinel’s thorough cleaning, Evelyn hastily turned her head away. At the end of the red carpet she was walking on, she could see the Emperor engaged in conversation with the Empress, who was smiling coquettishly.

‘That woman is the Crown Prince’s political enemy and the most troublesome villain in this game.’

The Empress before her eyes was one of the greatest risk factors in “Evelyn’s Manor.” More precisely, she was a major landmine that one inevitably faces the moment they take the Crown Prince’s route. Lowering her eyes, Evelyn recalled a review posted by a persistent user who had been pursuing Luinel’s route.

[Must-read for anyone taking the Crown Prince route in ‘Goblin’s Manor.’ It’s infuriating enough that the Crown Prince brat treats people like stalkers and puts up walls, but then the Empress starts plotting to poison you. I’m going crazy. It’s my 15th poison ending already—are they telling me to play the game or not?]

She could bet all the male protagonists’ affection points that she wasn’t the only one who had mentally trashed the Crown Prince route after reading that review.

What’s more, in the original game, despite Luinel openly despising Evelyn and treating her like a stalker, the Empress, concerned about the possibility of them getting together and strengthening Luinel’s position, took preemptive measures, leading to endless poison endings.

The Empress had been desperate to poison her even when Luinel treated Evelyn worse than a sack of barley. Now that she was openly wearing a dress bought by Luinel and had entered as his partner, it was clear that the Empress would be constantly looking for ways to eliminate her.

With that in mind, Evelyn, determined to stay alert, performed the etiquette she had learned at the Grand Temple flawlessly before the Emperor and Empress.

“Saintess Evelyn greets the most brilliant sun of the Empire. It is an honor to meet Your Majesty.”

“Raise your head. It is I who am honored to have a Saint appear during my reign. Tell me, how is life in the imperial palace? Is it tolerable compared to the Grand Temple?”

The nobles, who had been glancing at her while sipping their drinks, let out small laughs at the Emperor’s slightly joking remark. Evelyn recited her pre-prepared textbook answer while scanning the Empress with her peripheral vision.

The Empress, hiding her mouth with a fan adorned with elaborate feathers, was looking down at her with a gaze that was the trademark of villains. It was intimidating as if she were calculating how to eliminate her without complications.

“Welcome to the imperial palace, Saintess. Luinel, make sure to pay more attention to the Saintess’s comfort until the official purification ceremony.”

“Yes, Father.”

After answering concisely, Luinel withdrew with Evelyn. Next came the turn of the high nobles. While exchanging brief greetings with them beside Luinel, his aide suddenly approached.

“Your Highness. A small issue has arisen in the preparations for the Founding Festival parade.”

“I shall excuse myself for a moment.”

Luinel glanced at Evelyn, who was dealing with the nobles with an automatic smile, and disappeared following his aide. As if he had been waiting for Luinel to leave, a man with ashen-tinged golden hair cut in.

With a wine glass between his fingers, he openly looked Evelyn up and down.

“Are you really the Saintess? You look quite ordinary. I heard you healed injuries from a second-class beast in one go?”

” Your Highness the Third Prince.”

“Can I have a private word with the Saintess?”

The nobles slipped away one by one at the appearance of the 3rd Prince, whose nickname among users was “Empty-head.” Each one wore a face that suggested they were avoiding him not out of fear but disgust. Evelyn, who seemed destined for a private audience with this excrement that everyone else was desperate to avoid, felt a little sad.

“I heard you’ve been close with my brother recently. Surely you two didn’t know each other before?”

“Of course not. I first met him at the Imperial Palace.”

More accurately, Luinel had rescued her when she fell from the palace wall in cat form due to a servant’s harassment. But it was true they first met at the palace. Seemingly satisfied with her answer, Empty-head—no, the 3rd Prince—spread a sinister smile across his face.

“Is that so? By the way, weren’t you a maid working under the Margrave? Perhaps you took care of the Margrave’s other needs as well?”

The 3rd Prince’s gaze openly lingered around her cleavage. No wonder users called him Empty-head. Unlike the Empress who was the ultimate slanderer, the 3rd Prince’s outside matched his inside to a chilling degree. He was famous for his lowly speech and behavior unbecoming of the noble Imperial family, to the extent that even palace servants were reluctant to work in the 3rd Prince’s quarters.

“I was too busy taking care of myself to attend to the Count’s needs.”

“Instead of my brother, would you consider coming to me and attending to my needs? We can have a more detailed conversation on the terrace,”

“I apologize, but the Saintess has important appointments after the banquet, Your Highness.”

Both the 3rd Prince and Evelyn turned their heads simultaneously at the icy voice that seemed cold enough to freeze one’s marrow. Nox, dressed in uniform, naturally stepped in front of Evelyn. The 3rd Prince’s lips twitched briefly at the appearance of Nox, the former Knight Commander who was treated as a national hero among the Imperial citizens.