These days, Lorelei’s patience was wearing dangerously thin.

The closer the wedding got, the more insolent Sylvia became. To make matters worse, Lorelei had to wait until the wedding day itself to put Nell’s plan into action.

This meant that she had no choice but to wait and hope that time would move faster.

“Honestly! Is there truly no other way? We could at least bribe the boutique owner, couldn’t we?!”

And so, Violet and the rest of Lorelei’s attendants had to endure her shouting her frustrations at Nell every day.

Without fail.

‘At this point, shouldn’t she be tired of her own complaining?’

‘Our princess never gets tired, does she.’

‘Well, I’m tired. Completely worn out.’

The maids, who were never far from Lorelei, exchanged glances and rolled their eyes.

Their ears were ready to bleed.

How could she throw tantrums like this every single day?

It was partly due to Lorelei’s temperament, but Sylvia certainly didn’t help matters by teasing her sister almost daily.

“You have no idea how diligent the duchess is. She practices every single day without missing even one.”

“The duke absolutely dotes on his wife, you know? I heard the duchess married him because she liked him first, but it turns out the duke likes her just as much.”

“Watching the two of them makes even me feel happy. Sister, you should meet someone like that soon too.”

“Oh, isn’t Duke El courting you these days? He’s not a bad choice, right? Stop aiming for someone who already belongs to someone else, Sister.”

And this didn’t just happen for a day or two, it happened every day.

Sylvia would leave the palace daily under the pretext of wedding preparations, only to immediately seek out her older sister upon her return.

She would sing the Duchess of Ambrose’s praises endlessly, or gush about how loving the Duke and Duchess were together.

She made sure to do this in the company of maids who did not live in the palace permanently — maids whom Lorelei could not easily silence.

Permanent palace maids could be forced into silence if necessary, but those who travelled back and forth could easily spread rumors beyond the palace walls.

Of course, they all knew exactly what kind of person Lorelei was, but since she had never harmed them directly, they kept their mouths shut, bound by the strict confidentiality oath required of anyone who stepped foot inside the imperial palace.

So, Lorelei could do nothing but endure Sylvia’s humiliating little speeches, unable to explode or lash out as she wished. She had to hold herself back and maintain her composure.

Behind her, Nell continued to give her sharp, warning glances, the kind that clearly meant: Keep your mouth shut.

For their plan to succeed, they had to make Sylvia lower her guard, and any outburst from Lorelei might ruin everything.

It was an unspoken warning: endure it.

But such restraint could not last.

What had started as days had stretched into weeks, and Lorelei could no longer tolerate it.

“Your Highness. That boutique belongs to House Peyton. If you try to bribe them, it’s the same as exposing our intentions directly.”

“Then what am I supposed to do?! Am I not pitiful, having to hear that arrogant brat every single day?!”

Nell wasn’t wrong, but this only made Lorelei want to scream even more.

In order to follow Nell’s advice, she had to remain silent and pretend to be ignorant.

She hadn’t realized, however, that this would mean standing there, utterly defenseless, forced to endure humiliation with no way to fight back.

Lorelei had reached her breaking point. She no longer needed to compromise. She no longer needed patience. If she could destroy Sylvia and the Duchess of Ambrose right then and there, she would.

With fury blazing through her, Lorelei shot to her feet, her breath trembling with rage.

“Whatever it takes, I’m not letting that wench go. Do something about her—not the Duchess of Ambrose, but that brat Sylvia first!”

Her enraged scream filled the room. Yet Nell, receiving all of it head-on, didn’t even blink.

“There are countless ways to change the plan, Your Highness. But doing so would render everything you’ve endured so far meaningless.”

“Meaningless or not, think of a way to drag those women down. I don’t care how, or how much it costs. Just do it. Now!”

Lorelei’s voice was so sharp that it could have cracked glass. Everyone present grimaced at the grating sound, but she paid them no mind.

She was a princess. She ruled supreme, and beneath her, nothing else could stand. In this empire, there was nothing she could not possess or accomplish.

As she seethed, Nell looked at her quietly, as if considering something, before finally speaking.

“Then give up the Duke of Ambrose.”

“…What?”

The air in the room froze. Everyone knew just how obsessed the princess was with the Duke of Ambrose. To her, he was the final piece she needed: an absolute ally on whom she could build her grand ambition. So why would Nell suggest abandoning him?

“What did you just say, Nell?”

The princess lowered her voice to almost inaudible levels. The woman who had been screaming moments earlier was now speaking quietly, which made the tension feel even sharper.

Violet and the other maids desperately wished they could run from the room. But Nell simply looked straight at the princess, unfazed.

“Just as I said, Your Highness. You already have a suitor no less worthy than the Duke of Ambrose.”

“…Are you joking? What use is a duke who can’t even mobilize soldiers?”

Nell wasn’t wrong.

Another duke — one of only two in the empire — was currently courting Lorelei. He was a powerful and reputable young man. However, unlike the Duke of Ambrose, he lacked the authority to command troops.

The Duke of Ambrose had earned his military rights through his achievements on the battlefield, which gave him the ability to raise and organize forces.

Meanwhile, the Duke of El, who had secluded himself in his territory for so long, possessed nothing beyond his inherent authority and influence as a duke.

He only had the basic power expected of a nobleman of his rank.

“What I need is military force. I can obtain political power easily enough once His Majesty grants me the throne. So why should I choose Duke El?”

“Because, Your Highness, the Duke of Ambrose is a battle you cannot win.”

“A battle I cannot win?”

A battle with no chance of victory.

At those words, Lorelei’s voice sharpened again.

“How is there no chance of winning? Ariadne Peyton is nothing without her parents and brothers!”

Indeed, Ariadne was nothing. Strip away her name, her family and everything she had been given, and she was left with nothing.

Lorelei, on the other hand, was superior in her own right. And yet Nell dared to claim that victory was impossible?

Lorelei’s eyes widened with fury.

“Don’t say something so absurd! Why would I be nothing? In what way am I inferior to that woman?!”

It felt as if everything inside her had exploded all at once. All the stress Sylvia had put her under and all the days she had held herself back, waiting for the right moment, came pouring out in one violent explosion.

Lorelei stomped her foot and shouted.

There shouldn’t have been anything she couldn’t do.

So why—why?!

Unable to contain her fury, she screamed again and again, then began throwing everything within reach. Crashes, thuds, and the sharp ring of shattering glass filled the room. Even after the noise faded, Lorelei still couldn’t calm down. She couldn’t understand why she had to listen to such things or swallow such humiliation.

Why was Ariade Peyton being compared to her? Why was she being forced into a competition with someone so far beneath her?

Competition?

The very idea was absurd. They weren’t even in the same league.

One was a fragile woman who trembled at the thought of appearing in society. The other was a pampered daughter who couldn’t survive a single day on her own.

It wasn’t just Lorelei who saw Ariadne Ambrose, or rather Ariadne Peyton, that way; everyone did.

So why?

Why?

“Shut up and send someone into the boutique. Bribe them, threaten them, I don’t care. Just bring me results—now!”

Lorelei screamed again.

Everyone in the room flinched — except Nell.

Lorelei knew Nell would be unaffected, of course, but that didn’t matter. She wanted to scream until something inside her finally broke open and her fury drained away.

But it wouldn’t.

No matter how loudly she shouted or how many things she threw, the anger refused to leave her.

Nell watched in silence, letting out a quiet sigh.

A reckless, selfish princess.

She was only helping her now because it served a purpose; she would never spare her a second glance once all this was over.

Nell looked down at the shattered vase at her feet, then slowly lifted her gaze towards the raging princess.

“As Your Highness wishes.”

Everyone in the room was startled by those words, except Lorelei.

Nell? Reversing a decision?

Nell had never gone back on her judgement before. She believed that she had no reason or need to do so. That was precisely why the princess had thrown such a tantrum, trying to push Nell into changing her mind.

And now, for the first — and probably last — time, Nell had done just that.

“As Your Highness commands. We will bribe someone and have them ruin the bridesmaid dress at the boutique.”

“Truly?”

Hearing that things would finally be done her way, Lorelei at last stopped throwing her tantrum.
Truly, she looked no different from a spoiled child.

Nell pressed her temple with a throbbing sigh, then spoke again.

“However, if anything goes wrong, Your Highness must take responsibility.”

“…Responsibility? Me?”

Lorelei stiffened again.

She looked as though she were about to explode, how dare anyone suggest that a princess should take responsibility?

But Nell just shook her head.

“If Your Highness wishes to become emperor, you should at least be able to handle this much.”

‘So you should deal with the consequences of your own actions.’

Nell’s eyes glinted sharply, sharp enough to silence even the fierce, unrestrained princess.