The nobles’ gazes fixed on Lyudmila as she entered through the entrance.

Having taken more care than usual with her appearance, she shone like a flame.

Her black dress, contrasting with her red hair, gleamed with hanging onyx ornaments.

Naturally, the invited guests around her made way, and Eve slowly, very slowly, moved toward Lyudmila. The two women, one in a white pearl dress and the other in a black onyx dress, created a stark contrast that drew everyone’s attention.

Eve employed all her acting skills to wear an arrogant yet charming smile.

“You came, Marchioness.”

Combined with her elaborate adornments, her smile was highly effective.

Pretending to move her long hair to the side, Eve lightly caressed her nape.

Lyudmila raised the corner of her mouth and replied:

“Yes. Who else would come if not me?”

Though she didn’t speak down to her out of awareness of others, Lyudmila’s eyes were filled with contempt.

‘If she suffers great public humiliation, the King and Queen wouldn’t keep that woman Eve as their Princess!’

“I’d like to chat longer, but the performance is about to begin.”

With a grin, Eve opened her white ivory fan and covered her mouth.

“That’s a shame. I have so much to say—”

Lyudmila’s eyes fell on Ivan Child, who was mixed among the people.

Noticing her gaze, he walked toward Lyudmila.

Lyudmila thought that the Hessen King and Queen had made her, a commoner and actress, their Princess because they didn’t know about Eve’s dirty and ugly life history.

When the grand banquet atmosphere ripened, she would use that man to spread throughout the world how disgracefully Eve Saint had lived as an actress.

But an unexpected situation shook Lyudmila.

It was because of the sudden appearance of an unexpected figure.

“Victor?”

Victor, who had rushed like the wind at Eve’s signal, bowed his head to Lyudmila and stuck close to Eve.

“Oh. Sir Victor. Let’s go to the dressing room together.”

Victor, whom she couldn’t find despite thoroughly searching the major cities of Aria, Hessen, Lethe, and neighboring countries, was in Hessen? And beside this woman!

Flames of jealousy and anger blazed in Lyudmila’s red eyes.

Eve glanced sideways, met her eyes, turned her head, and quickly left the grand banquet hall.

Victor escorted Eve forward without looking back.

“Could he have become a guard knight?”

After becoming a commoner, he came all the way here to guard that woman?

Consumed by jealousy, Lyudmila completely forgot her planned scheme and chased after Eve.

“Marchioness?”

Ivan, who had just reached where Eve and Lyudmila had been, hurriedly began to follow her.

* * *

The grand banquet hall was uniquely designed with a central staircase at one end and a large stage installed on the opposite side.

The excited voices of invited guests seated in the audience area in front of it could be heard from everywhere.

“What kind of play will it be?”

“I’m so excited!”

“The Princess acting in a play, what an interesting spectacle.”

“What could it be about?”

The Aria royalty seated in the VIP section were also looking at the stage with slightly flushed faces.

Only Former Queen Isabella was pale.

“What’s wrong, Your Majesty?”

“Ah, Your Majesty the King. No, it’s nothing.”

Herod looked at Isabella with concern, but she brushed it off. She couldn’t regain her composure as Clara’s words kept bothering her.

Her only friend had declared the end of their friendship. Reflecting on Clara’s words, Isabella reached one conclusion.

“What does it mean to be royal? Commoners are also your subjects and mine. Instead of wielding the power given by heaven as you please, you should have shown more grace to poor Eve. What if she’s not a commoner but really my daughter?”

“What?”

“They say there are people in the world who look exactly alike, but what are the chances of that happening by coincidence, Isabella?”

‘Now I understand.’

Something happened in the Hessen royal family in the past.

Something related to Eve Saint…

“Mother?”

“I’m fine.”

Agnes also called out to Isabella. Abigail and Alberto sitting next to her also focused on her.

“Are you ill? Your complexion is pale.”

“I’m fine, Abigail. Look ahead. The play seems to be starting.”

“Isabella, watch the performance today and come to your senses properly. You’ll need to hold onto your sanity tightly.”

Former Queen Isabella raised her eyes to the stage, ruminating on Clara’s words echoing in her ears.

The curtain lifted, revealing a stage set against the backdrop of Hessen Castle’s maternity room.

“Whoa. Goodness.”

The audience was shocked by the appearance of figures they never imagined.

Though they had heard the Princess would be acting, the King and Queen of Hessen were on stage, having changed into stage costumes.

Peter and Clara were sitting on a bed, and Joan was standing behind Monica, who was seated in a wheelchair.

“Aren’t those two women the ones from the portrait?”

“Indeed.”

At that moment, court actors appeared from the wings on both sides of the stage and began to reenact the events of “that day” from over 20 years ago. Eve Saint, one of the two babies, was saved by Monica’s hands, and how she had lived as someone else while the world changed twice was revealed to the world.

Though it was a short play, the hall was enveloped in silence due to the shocking story.

“Now the real protagonist of this play will appear. Please wait a moment.”

With Joan’s neat explanation, no one opened their mouth or left their seat.

* * *

Lyudmila walked quickly, chasing Eve who was heading to the dressing room.

“Whoa-.”

The audience’s voices could be faintly heard through the wall.

The soundproofing must have been good, as other sounds weren’t clearly audible.

‘Has the play already started? Are you trying to evade me like this, coward?’

‘In that case, I’ll humiliate you on stage.’

Glancing back, she saw the idiot Ivan Child following her.

“Marchioness!”

Without answering, she hastened her steps and, seeing Eve enter a room, followed her in.

In the dressing room she hurriedly entered, Eve was sitting at the vanity, fixing her makeup.

Victor stood with his hands behind his back right next to the door.

Meeting his eyes, which looked down at her indifferently, made her even more furious.

‘You followed me well, Leader?’

He was someone who efficiently carried out tasks according to her signals without needing specific instructions.

As long as she paid him plenty of gold coins.

Meanwhile, Eve calmly looked at Lyudmila, who was glaring at her while breathing heavily.

Then she secretly pressed the first button under the vanity.

This dressing room had a secret.

The stage device that Professor Marina and she had painstakingly created was this very dressing room.

This dressing room was a massive revolving stage attached right behind the stage wall of the grand banquet hall, and the two buttons controlling it were under this vanity.

The first button was a device that allowed the sound from inside to flow into the grand banquet hall on the opposite side.

Before pressing this button, it was perfectly soundproof, but once pressed, the audience could hear the conversation taking place here, as if listening to a play.

“I didn’t expect you to follow me here. It’s soon my turn to go out, so please leave.”

“No, I can’t leave. I came to humiliate you, Eve Saint.”

The buzzing sound from beyond the wall was heard and then stopped abruptly. However, Lyudmila paid no attention and continued speaking.

“How dare you, a vulgar former actress, not content with becoming a duchess, become a princess? What country’s law allows that?”

Lyudmila repeated the same story like a parrot.

Eve almost felt sorry for this woman who didn’t know how to evolve.

‘I wonder if they can hear well on the other side?’

Judging by the silence after the slight sounds that were audible until just now, it seemed that the King, her parents, and Monica had successfully completed the short play depicting the twin story.

“I won’t ask about what the Marchioness did before I came to Hessen, so stop here. It’s all over now.”

At that moment, Ivan Child burst into the dressing room. Briefly taking him in with her eyes, Lyudmila twisted her lips and said:

“What’s over? There’s a witness here? Your colleague will reveal your ugly past in detail before the distinguished guests.”

“That’s right!”

Ivan chimed in from the side.

Eve snorted and stared straight at Ivan. Backed by Lyudmila, an emboldened Ivan was grinning.

“Go ahead and try. I have nothing to hide.”

“Nothing to hide? I’ll give you a chance now. If you give up your position as Princess here and find your proper place, I might let this go.”

Lyudmila folded her arms and sneered.

‘No. Even if I step down here, you would track me down and try to harm me, like last time.’

Eve looked directly at her and deliberately raised the corner of her mouth spitefully.

“What if I refuse? Will you try to have me kidnapped again, like you did with Canon Hampshire?”

“What are you talking about? I know nothing about that. That stupid fellow just went to the rental place on his own and found out where you might be.”

“…I only said you ordered it, I never mentioned a rental place, so how do you know about that?”

Startled, Lyudmila realized her mistake and froze, but soon grinned. Beside her, Ivan was rolling his eyes, trying to read the situation.

“Fine. It’s just between you and me anyway. Ivan, you didn’t hear anything.”

“What? Yes.”

“I was going to let you live quietly if you had just done as I said…”

Pushing away Ivan’s shoulder as he answered glumly, Lyudmila approached Eve, who was sitting on the vanity chair.

“It would have been better if you had been taken by Canon Hampshire and become his mistress, or just died.”

“So you did want me dead after all.”

“That’s right. Someone like you… the fact that you had Mikhail is too humiliating. This Lurie couldn’t become Mikhail because of you!”

Lyudmila screamed with a reddened face. Eve glared at her and spoke in a calm voice:

“Marchioness Lyudmila, you’re finally showing your true colors.”

“Anyway, it’s just lowly you and me, the stupid Ivan, and that fallen man.”

Lyudmila turned her head and looked at Victor with irritated eyes.

‘You stupidly gave up the name of Mikhail and your royal status to stay by this woman’s side?’

Victor glared at Lyudmila with eyes burning with anger, as if he would devour her.

The veins on his fists were swollen and reddish.

Throwing her gaze back at Eve, Lyudmila said triumphantly:

“So who else would hear?”

Lyudmila, who had been using others to execute her plans, was in a state of excitement.

In the pleasure of pouring out her hidden instincts, she couldn’t easily stop her opened mouth.

“Are you sure about that, Duchess?”

Eve twisted her lips and firmly pressed the second button.

“How dare you laugh? Aah!”

With a loud rumbling sound of gears turning, the four sides slowly began to rotate sideways.