STE 08

Chapter 08

Penelope Troia received the title of Countess about two months after the Empress left for the monastery in Armus, becoming the Emperor’s official mistress.

At the same time, she was granted permission to reside in Andos Palace. Although that was how it was officially phrased, in reality, Penelope behaved as though she were the mistress of Andos Palace.

She had been quite satisfied with this life.

At least, until that detestable woman ruined the banquet she had so ambitiously prepared last night.

[Aria’s Oracle Turns Toward the Imperial Family!]

[Will the Imperial Family’s Divine Power Return to Carnes?]

Around the same time Tethys had been reading the weekly magazines, Penelope was also reading the newspapers.

However, the newspapers brought by the maids of Andos Palace were roughly three or four times the amount delivered to the Empress’s Palace.

As Penelope flipped through them one by one, the crease between her brows deepened.

“There’s nothing.”

“…Pardon?”

Grind.

Penelope audibly clenched her teeth and tightened her fists.

She had spent three whole months eagerly preparing for this banquet, dreaming of welcoming countless guests from both within and outside the Empire.

She had spared no expense, from the orchestra to every last decoration in the banquet hall.

She had even spent a staggering 1.2 million euros having dresses custom-made so that she could appear each night in a different new gown.

Even Romain, who normally said nothing about her extravagant spending, had subtly hinted that the amount was excessive.

And yet—

“They’re saying they should recover all the money because they didn’t get their money’s worth.”

Not a single daily newspaper, weekly publication, or even society gossip magazine had mentioned the splendid banquet Penelope had prepared or the jewel-encrusted dresses she had worn.

The banquet hall she had painstakingly prepared, sacrificing sleep night after night, had merely been used as a venue to widely publicize Tethys’s return and the oracle bestowed upon her.

As a result, absolutely no one—not a single person—had written an article about Penelope.

For once, she almost wished that Aphrodite, the most vicious gossip magazine in high society, would tear her apart mercilessly.

That would certainly be better than being a mistress who had been pushed out of everyone’s attention the moment the Empress appeared.

“My, Pippi.”

In place of the maids who were nervously watching Penelope’s mood, her mother, Lady Gaya, stepped forward.

“Wouldn’t it be better to spend even more money right now and win their favor?”

“What did you say? Mother, do you even hear yourself?”

Penelope raised her voice in frustration.

“Look at them fawning over the Empress the moment she returns! Every article is portraying that woman as though she were some goddess who will save the Carnes Empire! What an ungrateful bunch.”

“But, Pippi.”

Lady Gaya approached Penelope and gently smoothed her daughter’s disheveled hair.

“If you want to remain by His Majesty’s side, you need to cooperate with the Empress. Even if the Empress lacks virtue, she oversees the Inner Palace. If you fail to win her favor, your life could become difficult.”

“Pfft. I have the Inner Palace firmly in my grasp. Does she really think she can take away everything I’ve already secured? Besides, honestly… although I serve His Majesty…”

Penelope glanced around and gestured.

Once the maids hurriedly filed outside, she lowered her voice.

“His Majesty killed that woman’s parents and elder brother. And yet she didn’t even bat an eye before marrying His Majesty, practically handing him the Imperial Throne.”

“Pippi! Watch what you say. Even so, this is…”

“I’m not trying to criticize His Majesty. I’m saying that while he may have harmed ‘others’ for his own purposes, the Empress sold out her own blood relatives.”

Lady Gaya immediately opened the door and looked around.

Only after confirming that no one was nearby did she let out a relieved sigh and frown.

“Even so, she is the greatest woman in this country. And an oracle has been bestowed upon her. You may criticize her morally, but there is nothing you can do about her legitimacy and symbolic importance.”

“I refuse to acknowledge her. I hate bowing down to her and watching my step around her. I absolutely despise it.”

Penelope’s violet eyes gleamed with long-standing hatred.

“Now that the oracle has been bestowed…”

“Wait.”

The contempt that had twisted Penelope’s face was quickly replaced by another expression.

Why had she never thought of this before?

“What if I take the oracle away from her?”

“What?”

“Mother, I… will take that oracle for myself.”

“What on earth are you talking about…?”

“The oracle never said Tethys Carnes.”

Only then did Lady Gaya understand what Penelope meant, and her wrinkled eyes widened.

Lady Gaya was a devout follower of Aria. That was why she had been worried about her precious daughter turning against the Empress—the woman who had received the oracle and was therefore under divine protection.

But surprisingly, there was nothing wrong with Penelope’s logic.

[The child born to the Empress of the Carnes Empire shall become the sovereign who unifies the continent of Para.]

The oracle’s subject was the Empress of the Carnes Empire.

What if Tethys suddenly fell ill and died tomorrow?

What if she suffered a serious injury in an accident and became unable to fulfill her duty of producing an Imperial heir?

Then the position of Empress would become vacant, and another woman would become the one destined to fulfill the will of the gods.

“The gods never stipulated that the Empress who gives birth to the sovereign who will unify the continent of Para must be Tethys.”

“That is true, but Pippi, are you serious?”

“…I am, Mother. There’s no reason I can’t do it.”

Even Romain, who did not have a drop of Carnes Imperial blood in his veins, had killed the Emperor, a man worshiped as an absolute being, as well as his son, and ascended the throne.

If so, what Penelope was attempting should actually be far more achievable than the path Romain had taken.

Penelope had caught the Emperor’s attention with her beautiful face and voluptuous body and obtained Andos Palace.

It had not even taken her very long.

One month of serving him as his personal maid and deliberately swaying her hips before him.

Another month of completely captivating Romain in the bedroom.

In other words, Penelope had accomplished the feat of becoming his official mistress in only two months.

“Even reaching this position wasn’t particularly difficult for me.”

Penelope smiled sweetly.

“His Majesty favors me. If I become pregnant, he may find that woman even more bothersome than he does now.”

So watch closely.

I’ll show you how I take her place.

“We don’t have time, so let’s get straight to the point.”

Romain rubbed the dark circles beneath his eyes, worn down by the banquets that had continued for days, and looked over the unwelcome guests before him.

They were truly persistent people.

“We demand the cooperation that was promised to us.”

The men explaining their purpose in broken Carnesian were priests of Alshir who had come as envoys from Lomdra, a kingdom known to be an enemy state.

They were also the people who had secretly supported Romain’s rise to the Imperial Throne.

However, immediately after ascending the throne, Romain had ruthlessly cut off all contact with Lomdra.

After attempting to contact him several times through the same routes they had used before, they apparently realized it was futile.

This time, they had sent official envoys to his birthday celebration.

Since Romain desperately needed to conceal the fact that he had brought foreign forces into the Empire, their appearance naturally made him wary.

That was why he had personally made time for people he had never intended to meet.

“Promises must be kept. Declare that you will abolish Aria as the state religion of Carnes.”

The envoys’ restrained voices clearly revealed the anger they were barely suppressing after being repeatedly turned away at the door.

Romain did not even blink.

“What are you talking about? You barged into my birthday celebration without an invitation, and that is all you have to say?”

Romain bared his teeth and let out a vulgar laugh.

“You’re bringing up a promise I don’t even remember making? My, my… What a group of swindlers.”

It was Romain himself who had made sure nothing was left in writing for security reasons.

Yet he felt not even the slightest pang of conscience.

“Are you making a fool of us?”

The man finally lost his patience and began radiating such hostility that he looked ready to lunge at Romain at any moment.

Click.

In response, the knights surrounding the envoys in a circular formation also placed their hands on the hilts of their swords.

After a brief standoff, it was Romain who spoke first.

“I’ll guarantee freedom of religion, so you can come here and make as much noise as you like at your own discretion…”

Snap.

Romain leaned back against his chair and crossed his legs.

At the same time, he snapped his fingers.

The knights simultaneously drew their swords.

The envoys panicked as the gleaming blades flashed before their eyes.

“What is the meaning of this!”

“What is the meaning?”

Romain rested his chin against one hand at an angle, his eyes narrowing into a smile.

“Your crime of trespassing into Carnes territory without permission. Your crime of failing to show proper respect inside the Emperor’s office.”

“Alshir will punish you…!”

“Yes, tell them to punish me as much as they like. Anyway, cut off these men’s hands and feet and throw them into the sea. Leave the rest of them in the forest to be devoured by beasts.”

“Understood.”

Romain stretched lazily.

Without even looking back, he turned and walked away.

Soon, horrifying screams erupted from the reception room he had just left.