Who decided that? Marian shut her mouth. Cesare also seemed to lose the mood to speak further, as he turned his head away from her.

Even when Marian rose from her seat, Cesare didn’t look back at her. Benjamin also kept his mouth tightly shut with a pale face.

No one paid attention as Marian left that suffocating place. She moved quietly and meticulously.

She put on a shadow. A magical field embraced her.

Click, click.

By the time Marian left the corridor where shadows fell heavily, she had become a woman wearing an unfamiliar dress, with reddish-brown hair and dark brown eyes. Her face had light freckles, and she was slightly shorter. Marian exhaled a light sigh.

She walked slowly.

The place she headed to was the seating area for the bourgeois class guild masters. Marian walked into the seats that emitted a musty smell. She sat in an empty seat next to her target.

The head of the Lucerta merchant guild, after confirming Marian, cleared his throat three times. Marian also cleared her throat three times. It was a sign they had agreed upon.

It was to ensure the uninterrupted supply of the Essence while Liebe was away.

There was no conversation to share. People were enthusiastic watching the tournament and paid no attention to them. Marian snapped her fingers. Items that had been hidden in the magical field appeared under the guild master’s legs.

“……I didn’t expect to meet you like this.”

The head of the Lucerta merchant guild, unable to contain his moving lips while fidgeting, said.

“It’s nice to meet you.”

Marian said while looking ahead.

“Thanks to Liebe, such an honored……”

“I’ll likely have additional quantities in a week.”

Marian interrupted the guild master. She had no desire to form personal connections with the head of the Lucerta merchant guild. Although she was using the Lucerta guild out of necessity, he wasn’t particularly pleasant. The head of the Lucerta merchant guild was the very person who had made Liebe’s life miserable.

“……Yes. Then at this place on that day.”

Marian nodded and immediately stood up from her seat. The payment would be processed through Liebe. Marian had something else to do using this opportunity. She slowly moved her steps.

Marian hadn’t forgotten yesterday’s incident.

‘Benjamin.’

He had no idea how far Marian could go. Her eyes sank darkly. He truly didn’t know that if Benjamin could harm her people, Marian could do the same.

Marian spotted attendants snickering near Benjamin’s party’s seats. Among them, the one Benjamin trusted and relied on the most was…

“That guy, you know. The one wearing the mask! His Highness the Crown Prince has his eye on him. I bet five gold coins on him today. Who did you bet on and how much?”

That’s the one. Benjamin’s aide, Kesis Katra.

As the Empress’s nephew, he had been with Benjamin since childhood. Kesis was always with Benjamin when he tormented Marian.

With a rather vulgar mind, he was also the one who taught the stupid Benjamin to do bad things.

It was also his doing when Marian, at thirteen, collapsed after knocking on the closed Princess’s Palace door while drenched in ice water. Marian smiled brightly and tapped Kesis’s shoulder.

“Excuse me, Sir Kesis.”

Marian smiled brightly. And he, too, couldn’t resist women.

The face of the man who met Marian’s eyes loosened into a grin. He had fallen under her spell.

“It’s an honor to meet you like this, Sir Kesis. I’ve wanted to meet you at least once. Could you spare me some time?”

Right now, Kesis would see Marian as a great beauty. He must be seeing a fantasy of her dancing seductively n*ked toward him. Marian coldly raised her lips.

The fact that he fell for such a simple spell also meant that he was that careless.

“Yes, yes. Where did this pretty one come from? Did you all see her?”

“Whistle!”

The other attendants whistled. Kesis, who had risen from his seat, put his arm around Marian’s shoulder.

“I’ll be back shortly. What hero would refuse a woman!”

Kesis, with his shoulders raised proudly, led Marian to a secluded place. After taking her to a guest room inside the arena, Kesis drove away the people around. He was practically setting the stage for her. Marian smiled as she watched Kesis approaching her while throwing off his outer garment.

“It’s such an easy thing. Why have I only been enduring all this time?”

“What?”

Marian snapped her fingers. Kesis, who had been staring with wide eyes, gradually shrank and turned into a disgusting snake. Marian bent down to look at the small snake as thin as a finger joint.

“I could have made you lose as much as I lost. Huh?”

The snake spun around in place. It would take time to understand the situation. Marian neatly burned Kesis’s clothes. Watching the snake’s tail fleeing from the fire, Marian smirked.

“See? Even God says this much is fine, you damn bastard.”

Having neatly completed her revenge, Marian turned around. The snake followed her but was soon spotted by people.

“Eek, what is this! What are the guards doing to let such a thing in! Oh my, oh my!”

The noble ladies made a fuss. Screams rang out from everywhere. Marian laughed as she watched Kesis curl his tail and flee, avoiding the noble ladies’ sharp heels.

Why bother getting her hands dirty?

Marian slipped through the crowd with sharp eyes. When she, who had regained her original appearance, returned to her seat, Abel was just securing a victory. Cesare glanced at her,

“Where have you been?”

“……I felt a bit dizzy, so I went to rest.”

“You seem to have overexerted yourself.”

“Perhaps.”

Marian answered briefly and fixed her gaze on Abel, who then glanced toward where she was and left the stage.

Not long after, voices calling for Kesis could be heard. Benjamin, who had been watching the match while drinking, finally rose from his seat. Marian let out a small laugh.

‘Look for him all you want. As if you’ll find him.’

**

And that day……

A new storm once again swept through the imperial family that never knew peace.

The Emperor urgently summoned a noble council. Nobles who had been drinking and enjoying themselves at the arena gathered in the council chamber with excited faces.

The Emperor entered with a deathly pale face. Benjamin was with him, looking somewhat dazed. The Emperor struck the table.

“You’ve all heard by now. Viscount Bochetti has started a rebellion.”

His words were solemn and heavy.

Everyone kept their mouths shut. A rebellion. Just hearing the word made hearts race. Whoever got involved would lose their life.

“What reason did they give for the rebellion?”

The Emperor’s gaze turned to his aide who then read the report with a pale face, stammering.

“……We no longer have the strength to endure excessive taxes. The people die of starvation every day. We are tired of burying corpses. We no longer have an emperor. We are trying to protect ourselves. Emperor obsessed with war……”

The aide’s voice trembled.

The Emperor’s frosty gaze turned toward his aide. The aide kept his head bowed low, avoiding that gaze. Despite not being the author, fear washed over him. The aide squeezed his eyes shut.

“Read the next part.”

“……Your Majesty.”

“Didn’t I tell you to read the next part!”

The Emperor shouted. Finally, the aide read the sentence he had been reluctant to read.

“We will hang your head on a pole and show it to Lorenzo. Thus, we will stop the war and protect this thousand-year empire with our strength.”

The Emperor gritted his teeth. At that moment, Benjamin seemed to have come to his senses. Benjamin stared at the aide with a pale blue face. No one gathered in the council chamber dared to speak carelessly. It felt like speaking would lead to death.

Amid all this, Cesare burst into a hollow laugh.

The Emperor’s gaze turned to him.

“Crazy bastard.”

Cesare muttered.

He threw an arrogant look at the Emperor. It was the look of someone watching a half-wit who couldn’t even protect his own position. Cesare spoke as if it were obvious.

“Your Majesty. Do you intend to just watch this spectacle? Send troops immediately to strike them down. Behead Viscount Bochetti and make an example of him. Do you plan to stand by and watch the authority of the imperial family crumble?”

“……How about you take the lead yourself?”

“What will you give me in return?”

Cesare’s gaze greedily scanned the Emperor’s chair. He turned his head to the Emperor with a sickening smile.

“What can you offer me?”

The Emperor’s lips trembled. He wanted to shout for someone to cut off this man’s head right now. But there were too many watching eyes for that. How many among them had pledged loyalty to Madrian? How many despised the Emperor, steeped in aristocratic ideology?

He felt dizzy.

Bochetti’s rebellion might just be the beginning. Perhaps Madrian would be next.

As history proves, rebellions tend to occur one after another, like a chain reaction. The Emperor’s nails on the table scratched its surface.

“Being the Princess’s husband is not enough for you, it seems. What else must you possess to satisfy your greed? Surely, you don’t want my position?”

Cesare clicked his tongue.

“How could that be? The imperial family descends from heaven, doesn’t it? How could I, a child of the earth, covet that position? Isn’t that right, Your Highness the Crown Prince?”