***

Poze slowly began to talk at Arthur’s eyes that had been glaring at her since a while ago.

“I’ve heard most of the rumors, but it was difficult to know what was happening in the main palace. For now, the plan is going smoothly.”

Arthur’s mouth formed a faint smile when the ‘plan’ came out of her mouth. Poze hurriedly bowed her head as the corner of his mouth trembled in delight.

“Princess Helen seems to have received the emperor’s favor.”

“..it’s a relief.”

Arthur inhaled as if he was thrilled.

Then, he put down the bouquet he was holding dearly in his arms in front of the desk and stroked his chin.

It resembled Edith, but that was all he thought about.

“It turns out even that lazybone has some talent.”

Arthur’s satisfied voice reverberated through the office.

Helen might make her wish come true if she did well on this.

Poze continued her report while staring at Arthur’s eyes, which was full of expectation.

“According to the rumor, she was spotted in the emperor’s arms and he even gave Princess Helen the pray that he had caught that day.”

Arthur opened his eyes wide in pure disbelief upon hearing Poze’s report.

He ordered Helen to kill the emperor, but he didn’t expect she would execute the plan this well.

Carmun, the Emperor of Idelberg, was someone who had a distinctive side.

Even though the man owned the largest empire, he was stoic, quiet on the surface, and was rumored to be vicious, but he didn’t like war.

The reason of him being rumored as vicious was because he annihilated his own family and the ruthless crime punishment for the sinner.

Such a man favored Helen?

This was something worthy of praise.

A satisfied smile spread across Arthur’s face.

Poze sat on her knees in front of Arthur and looked around. Actually, the report about Princess Helen was easy to get.

“What else did I ask you to find out?”

Arthur’s eyes began to gleam fiercely.

He closed the window where the only light was coming through and asked in a dark voice.

“The emperor’s weakness.”

Poze bit his lips as she spoke in a quiet voice as if it was a secret.

“..I haven’t....”

Poze had done her best. She went all the way to Idelberg alone and investigated secretly, processing what Emperor Arthur had ordered.

However, Arthur, who wasn’t satisfied with Poze’s answer, and he asked back while secretly rolling up his sleeve.

“The emperor is not leaving the main palace, is he?”

His voice was pitiful, but that was all because as soon Arthur was done rolling up his sleeve, he took the vase that had been placed in front of his desk and threw it toward Poze, hitting her forehead without an ounce of hesitation.

Crash!

Her forehead was torn and blood flew out of it like water in the vase. Red blood dripped down from her forehead to the wet floor, but Arthur’s expression remained unchanged.

“You have to do what I told you. Got it?”

“..Yes.”

Poze wiped her eyes with her sleeve, acting like she was used to Arthur’s violence.

As her hazy vision returned a little, she could see Arthur’s enrage face.

Even though he had hit her forehead, he was still panting as if his anger wouldn’t go away.

Poze was prepared to be hit more, but surprisingly, a flat remark followed after that.

“Yes. Go there again. Two months will be enough, right?”

Today, at least she was hit less.

She naturally had to be beaten like a dog if she failed to process her master’s order.

‘Because I couldn’t get my job done properly.’

Arthur despised useless people so much. Poze lowered his head deeply on the floor while murmuring words of gratitude.

“Yes. Your Majesty. I won’t disappoint you this time.”

“Yes, you’re supposed to.”

Poze breathed a brief sigh of relief when he spoke in a slightly relieved voice.

“Ah. Right.”

Arthur added with a bright smile as if he had a good idea.

“Oh, Poze. This time, go along when the delegation returns.”

“With the delegation?”

“Yeah. It’s not easy to get into Idelberg Palace. I can’t believe you failed my order....”

His eyes looked as if they just saw a horrible thing, which was Poze, who failed her mission.

Poze avoided eye contact with him and bit her lower lip.

“You will have to do it well this time. It’s a must.”

Arthur came closer and whispered to Poze in a gentle voice.

Poze knew. This man before her already had a lot of right-hand men previously.

His voice hinted that if she didn’t do this properly, the next right-hand man would appear to replace her.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Poze’s voice quivered slightly.

Arthur’s eyes that looked down at Poze, who bowed her head meekly, shone dangerously.

By pretending to be a part of the delegation, he could send her to get in touch with Helen in the palace, and if things work out well, she would have a chance to see the emperor’s weaknesses.

He had no desire to put Idelberg in danger or wanting Idelberg’s wealth.

He just wanted Carmun to be dead.

He didn’t want to see the last remaining lineage of the previous emperor in this world.

A lot of lineage left by the previous emperor were all killed by Carmun himself, so it was his turn to deal with the last remaining lineage.

‘Now that she is indebted to him, it would be better to let her take care of him.’

Helen would do it for him.

“Go and meet Helen. Ask her what she’s thinking and what is her plan. When will she kill the emperor..... You will have to find out his weaknesses as well.”

Poze nodded, loyalty embodied her gaze.

“Leave.”

Poze clenched her hands and placed it in front of her chest following Arthur’s command.

“I’m ready to receive your order.”

She picked up the black uniform she had taken off to hide her face again. After that, she disappeared through the window where she had entered earlier.

Arthur muttered quietly as he watched her move like the wind.

“I hope Poze will do her job well...”

His voice wasn’t laced with worries.

It’s just that it would be trouble to look for the next right-hand man again.

Arthur looked at the quiet room once and then closed the window where Poze had disappeared to.

After making sure the room was perfectly closed, he picked up a bouquet of flowers that he had put on the desk earlier.

It was still fresh, but when he realized it wasn’t as good as earlier, he crumpled his face with a gaze flashed with annoyance.

He wanted to give her the best.

Arthur walked to the front of a huge portrait of Ovya inside the room with a bouquet of flowers in his hand.

He walked slowly, as if each step he took was precious.

He moved forward until he stood in front of the 25-year-old portrait of Ovya when she was still in the young age.

After losing Ovya in the past, he finally developed a foundation for revenge. But he was almost fifty by now.

Arthur touched Ovya’s portrait with his miserable finger.

“Ovya, our day is near. Isn’t it, Ovya? You’re expecting it as well, aren’t you? That day...”

Arthur’s voice trembled slightly as he continued speaking by himself.

“The day we will meet, when we will become perfect again. Ovya.....”

***

Helen tossed her body around uncomfortably, but she couldn’t sleep.

It was late at night, she felt awkward having to lie on her bed.

“Haah...”

Today, she lied down intending to sleep after Van suggested she take a rest, but she couldn’t fall asleep.

She wasn’t able to fall asleep because she felt uneasy.

‘Isn’t Mar waiting for me?’

She had asked Van to do her a favor, which was informing him properly.

‘I heard that Van was standing in front of the door all day yesterday...’

It would be nice if he could stand out of the maids’ sight. Helen had no choice but to hide Van in her room because even the other concubines were peeping at them.

Helen hugged herself as she circled around, biting her lips due to the rising anxiety inside her.

“What would father say if he finds out about this?”

Would he compliment her for doing her work well? What if he orders her to kill the emperor after that?

Gulp.

The thought of having to kill someone was terrifying to her. But the scarier thing would be her father’s reaction if she didn’t listen to him.

Father had no mercy and he thought horribly of me.

Father wouldn’t save me even if I died in front of him.

He never fed me or helped me.

I was responsible for the death of her mother, and he left me alone.

If I don’t listen to father, he will kill me without an ounce of hesitation.

Helen couldn’t breathe properly when her thoughts reached that far.

To be precise, she was attempting to rest, but strangely, she felt choked as if someone was preventing her from breathing.

“..Ha, hakh.. Ukh...”

Thick beads of sweat ran down Hazel’s forehead as she inhaled shallowly similar to the breath of a criminal. Her face was crumpled painfully as she moved her arms and legs wildly, yet she couldn’t breathe.

Helen struggled with the pain and hoped that her breath would return quickly.

‘S, save me!’

She thought it would be better if she distanced herself from it, but she felt like losing her mind due to the formless fear. Helen just couldn’t resist that fear.

L-Let’s think about something else.

Helen tried not to think about everything related to her father.

Then a man came to her mind.

‘Mar.’

“..Ma... Ma..r......”

Large drops of tears came out of Helen’s eyes.

Funnily enough, the moment she called out Mar’s name, she managed to regain her breath.

Helen cried for a while, hugging her knees while muttering Mar’s name.

I was scared of my father to the point where I wanted to die. She was so scared of her father that she just wanted to die.

***

After spending a long time crying in bed, she opened the window leading to the backyard to clear up her head.

As the cool breeze caressed her cheek, she felt the gloomy feeling inside her receding.

“Who put the poisonous herb here?”

It’s probably on that day. The person whom she mistook as Ellie.

Come to think of it, it wasn’t Ellie.

They entered quietly like a thief.

“Even if it’s the concubine, the security is not that loose...”

Does it mean she’s familiar with this person?

“Who would have attempted to kill me?”

She didn’t expect to be hated to that extent.

She had mixed feelings. They even wanted her to be dead.

“Moreover, Her Majesty...”

At that moment, Helen was overcome with a strange feeling of similarity when she looked at the empress.

The appearance of the empress, Josephine, at the hunting festival was perfect.

It was her first time to see anyone prettier than her sister, and at the same time, she was dumbstruck seeing her elegant appearance.

‘I won’t be able to be such a pretty woman even if I continue to live...’

Helen recalled Josephine’s terrifying eyes. Although she thought it was awesome.

‘What should I do now?’

Someone detested her terribly, meanwhile the emperor used her to hide his secret.

Father will begin to urge her.

In the meantime, she had two people who she needed to protect.

Mar and Ellie.

Helen pondered what I could do. It was an evening of gloom that nothing could be done. Helen thought about what she could possibly do. It was a gloomy evening where she ended up not doing anything.

***

Early in the morning, half an hour before the sun would rise, Van headed out of the palace to do an investigation.

The body of a maid, whom he believed to be the culprit, was found outside the capital.

Van gathered evidence while taking a look at the body.

First, a large cut at the stomach. He presumed that she had been stabbed.

Then, a letter telling her to leave the palace was found in the pocket filled with gold coins until it was full.

Van considered it rather suspicious when there was poisonous herb as if she was showing it proudly.

“Who would take these things when they’re on the run? Was she trying to demonstrate what a criminal would look like?”

It seemed that someone who did this wasn’t good at dealing with these kinds of stuff.

The maid, who died with a terrible expression etched on her face, was under the command of the first concubine.

‘Did Concubine Ersa order this? Was it for the empress?’

Van returned after collecting evidence. He planned to report to the emperor when the morning came around.

***

Part 1 END

[t/n: see you in Part 2 with more of the day-emperor and Helen moments XD !]