The Villainess Lives Twice

It was shortly after Miraila was exiled that the Emperor’s last will was drawn up.

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There was an amount of property owned by Gregor, not the Emperor.

Some of the wealth left to him by his birth mother was inherited until his accession.
As the adopted son of the predecessor Empress, he also inherited his adoptive mother’s property.

In his will, the Emperor wrote about his two daughters and grandchildren, the blood of his birth mother whom he sent away so they could not get involved in politics, and the inheritance to be passed on to the predecessor Empress’ family.

He also decided on money and goods to be distributed among many people, from his favorite masseuse and musician he liked in his later years to his long-serving coachman and faithful chief attendant.

He was going to give Lawrence a considerable amount of interest and property, and allow him to start a new family.

Creating a new hereditary title was tricky.
But nothing was impossible.

By the time Lawrence was dismissed for his mistake, he had already made up his mind to do so.

He had a lot of work to do.

The Emperor knew that he would be able to deal with these things rationally and accurately if he stood before his death.

And he thought he could calmly organize his later years.

But he never did.
He knew what to do, but the Emperor did not do it.
His hands and feet did not accept the orders of reason.

Even though he knew he had to rest, the Emperor called his secretary every evening after they attended the State Council meeting.

The secretary organized all the orders that had left the Crown Prince’s office that day and brought them to the Emperor’s bedroom.

Of course, the Emperor did not read it.
It was because he had no energy and his sight were dim.

The young attendant read it for him, but it was impossible to judge the content completely just by listening.

So it was just an ominous sign that he hadn’t fully let go of it yet.

But he did not receive guests.
Because he didn’t want to show his debilitating figure.

Only Countess Eunice came to see him as usual.

“I didn’t bring the kids.
I was afraid that Father would be tired.”

“Well done.”

The Emperor said in a subdued voice.

He wanted to act like someone who would never die, but he hated being lonely.

“I’m sorry.”

Countess Eunice took the Emperor’s hand and said so.

“What do you mean?”

“If I had known it had gotten this far, I wouldn’t have brought honey.”

“How could that be your fault?”

The Emperor clasped her hand tightly and waved it.

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“The doctor didn’t know.
How many cups of that have you made for me this far?”

The Emperor closed his eyes and let out a sigh.
There was no end to rebuking, lamenting, and retaliation in that way.

Countess Eunice held the Emperor’s hand for a moment, then she said,

“I wrote a letter to Grace.”

It was the story of another daughter whom the Emperor had asked to marry a distant nobleman.

The Emperor married Grace to Count Josiah.
He was not ambitious and wanted to make a living by cultivating the land handed down from generation to generation.

County Josiah’s place was quite far from the Capital.
The husband and wife lived quietly in their manor, saying they had no reason to come to the Capital.

The Emperor looked at the Countess Eunice with hollow eyes.

“You did a good job.”

“What do you mean? If Grace comes up, you’re not going to say that other people will think politically like this and that?”

“It doesn’t matter either.”

The Emperor smiled faintly.

“Don’t say that.
Later, Grace will be regretful, too.”

“Okay.”

“You should also see the children that Grace gave birth to.”

“That’s right.”

“Have you ever seen her youngest?”

“She used to send me portraits.”

“He is five years old, and he looks just like Father.
His personality resembles his mom and dad, so he only reads books.
He is five years old, and already knows how to read.”

“He is smart.”

The Emperor answered in a shriveled voice.

“How is your husband these days? Is his job going well?”

“Yes, of course.
He has many things about Father in his heart?”

“Is Ced behaving harshly or not?”

“There is no such thing.
Don’t worry.
Rather, he seems to have helped me with what happened because of the last port fire.
After that, I received a separate letter of thanks.”

“I see.”

Countess Eunice said softly,

“I wrote a letter to the Crown Princess asking her to come back soon.
He’s not going to be mad, is he?”

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“To Tia?”

“Yeah.
She’s the Saintess.
I have heard rumors that Baron Morten Heir Apparent healed the plague by carrying the relic entrusted to her by the Crown Princess.”

“…….”

“I know the West is a big deal, but it’s nothing more important than Father’s health.”

“Thank you for taking care of me.”

Countess Eunice said in a lively voice on purpose.

“When did Lawrence say he would come back?”

“I told them to send the news.”

In fact, this wasn’t the first time the Emperor had asked about Lawrence.

Shortly after Grand Duke Roygar’s incident, he contacted him once.

With such a big event, it was time for Lawrence’s mistake to be buried.

Above all else, he was reluctant to keep Lawrence there in a situation where the East would be divided.

He had no intention of making him re-entering politics right away.
He decided to take a look at him, having him live near the Capital.

Then, when Lawrence grew, he would be able to entrust him with small tasks.

But there was no reply from Lawrence.

A strong willed man would have been annoyed.
The Emperor thought so, and he did not rush.

He hadn’t seen Lawrence for a long time, so he felt rather affectionate.

The Emperor ordered that even Miraila be summoned quietly.
He could not lift her exile, but he intended to allow her to live quietly in a stable place with Lawrence.

“You will be in touch soon.”

Countess Eunice said, stroking the back of the Emperor’s hand as if consoling him.

“Until then, just be satisfied with me.”

The Emperor smiled bitterly and nodded his head.

* * *

But he waited, and waited, and no news came.

If there were circumstances in which he could not come, he should have contacted to say so.
Lawrence, however, did not send a single letter, despite reports that he was in critical condition.

It was the same with Miraila.
Although it was impossible to run quickly across the wide West, it was only natural for the messenger to give him some news in advance.

“Has something happened to the East?”

The chief attendant replied with an apologetic face.

“Forgive me, Your Majesty.
How about waiting a little longer? It’s not that close to where Sir Lawrence is, is it?”

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“Well…….”

“I am afraid that you will get ill while you were worried.”

The Emperor thought he was right, so he passed on the day.

The longer he waits, the more distant news doesn’t come.

But two days later, the Emperor called for Ferguson.

“Have you not heard of anything happening in the East?”

“The only new thing that has happened recently is the dispute between Count Paellan and Viscount Hamelton.
They’re fighting for the Count’s guardianship.”

The answer was too obvious and insincere.
What the Emperor needed was more detailed information.

“It means that there is no one who has taken military action other than that.
Is there any reason why the messenger sent to Lawrence couldn’t arrive?”

“I do not know about military administrations.”

Ferguson bowed his head and replied politely.

The Emperor blinked his eyes.

Ferguson couldn’t help but be informed of the Eastern movement.
Isn’t it about those who fled entangled in a treason?

Even if he couldn’t immediately raise an army to subdue it, Ferguson’s investigation team had to have a thorough grasp of information about the East.

It wasn’t just that.

Even if it was the same as before, even if he didn’t understand it properly, he would have said that he would know it unconditionally.

And he would have run desperately to get information.
It’s not like him to casually say that he doesn’t know.

This was the first rift that the Emperor was sure to notice.

“Go back.”

The Emperor gave the order, expressionless.

Ferguson withdrew without making an excuse and with an apologetic face.

The Emperor tapped his finger.
He was already tired and his eyes were closed.
But this was not common.

But he wasn’t sure yet.

Ferguson was an opportunist.
In essence, such a person is the first to change his or her attitude according to the direction of power.

Had he known he was going to be like this, he would never have kept Ferguson in his place.

The Emperor called his servant and said,

“Call the servant Cobb.”

The secret investigator had to be summoned more secretly.
But the Emperor could not roam freely alone, so he just called him that way.

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After two hours, the servant returned with a pale blue face and fell flat on his face.

“For, forgive me, Your Majesty.
Servant Dinsky Cobb was fired last month.”

“What?”

“In order to hide Your Majesty’s illness, we sent out several servants and attendants from the main palace.
At that time, he was on the expelled list.”

The Emperor’s face turned red.

“Who did that?”

“I did.”

The answer came from the doorway.

The Emperor was furious and raised his head.
The Empress dressed in black was standing there.

She even wore a black hat with a black mesh ornament on her head.

Her clothes were obviously for mourning.

“I was going out, and I heard that you were looking for a fired servant, and I came to explain.
Because if not, the innocent errand boy will be scolded.”

“You, you…….”

“Does it matter if I change how many servants and attendants are in the main palace?”

Of course, there were no problems.
Because it was by law that the Empress managed the Imperial Palace in the first place.

It was not known whether the Empress knew that a secret investigator was among them or not.

However, at this point in time, the name of one of the secret investigators has definitely been given to the Empress.

“Don’t be angry.
And if you collapse again, even if the doctor cries to death, you still won’t wake up.”

“Katherine……!”

“At this age, when your body hurts, don’t think unreasonably, and trust your nephew for the rest of your life to live comfortably.”

The Empress narrowed her eyes and looked down at the Emperor.

“Affection, loyalty, bloodline…… Power and hatred, it was all in vain.
Wasn’t it?”

“Kugh…… !”

The Emperor groaned like a beast.

The doctor and attendants rushed in and laid the Emperor on the bed.

“Take care of him well.
He seems unwell.”

The Empress said so and turned around.

The door closed behind her.
Now it was the Emperor who was inside the door, and it was she who was outside the door.