Chapter 27

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter Title: Chapter 7. The Villainess's True Nature (5)

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Greenwinter's Empress Dowager Viola was a stunning beauty who looked just like Edwin.

Her youthful, radiant appearance showed no signs of the passage of time—it could pass for her thirties—but she had already passed sixty this year.

Edelaine had often been summoned to the empress dowager before she ran away, receiving all sorts of affection. From their first meeting when she was around eight until she fled at eighteen, that was over ten years. The empress dowager's looks hadn't changed a bit during that time, so Edelaine had seriously wondered if she was some kind of elf-like异族.

Unlike the emperor, who was recuperating in a distant villa on grounds of poor health, she wielded influence not just in high society but in the political sphere as well, holding Delmuse firmly in her grasp. She was the backbone allowing Edwin to seamlessly fill the emperor's void without formally ascending the throne.

Despite her doe-like appearance, her temper was fiery, and she was a force of nature with her drive and decisiveness. Some whispered behind her back that she seemed more like the emperor than the emperor himself. The emperor was gentle, if you put it kindly—or lacking in charisma, if you didn't. In a way, they made a fitting pair.

She and Emma had been close even before Emma's marriage, and Emma still served as her lady-in-waiting, staying by her side.

'Father's in the council of elders, big brother's lord of fertile lands, little brother's a hotshot businessman, and Mother's the empress dowager's lady-in-waiting... Isn't the Bertrand family just ridiculously stacked?'

Emma was probably one of the most influential figures in high society.

She smiled but didn't hide the chill in her tone.

"I heard you nearly got into some serious trouble..."

"Shane protected me well."

"We told you to hide behind someone if anything dangerous came up."

Edelaine had no words, even if she grew ten mouths.

She wanted to say it was fine since she wasn't hurt, but voicing that would surely land her in a tearful hell. It hadn't been long since Emma had gotten her "lost" daughter back, only for her to almost face the same peril again.

"There were plenty of shields nearby you could've used."

Shields that sounded an awful lot like people, not actual shields or stone walls... or am I imagining things?

As Edelaine averted her gaze with an awkward expression, Emma let out a low sigh.

"I'll stop here for now. But Patrick and Jeff will come see you soon. Gregory will have his say too. You know how intense those three can get. Brace yourself."

"Yes, ma'am..."

She could practically see Jeff's terrifying scowl. Gregory and Patrick would lecture her too. Especially Gregory—he was such a silver-tongued devil that by the end, you'd feel like the world's worst criminal drowning in guilt. Edelaine had once seriously wondered if this was politician gaslighting.

"Emma, even you turn into a helpless mother in front of your daughter."

"Please don't tease me too much, Your Majesty."

"Isn't she just precious?"

"Isn't she? All children are."

"If my kids had been as adorable as Edelaine, I'd have doted on them just as much as you..."

Viola clicked her tongue.

"My children are all so odd, every last one."

"Don't say that. You adore them in your own way."

"I adore them... in my own way."

The conversation felt oddly loaded. Edelaine sipped her tea, gauging the mood.

Bloodlines ran true, it seemed. The moment Viola laid eyes on Edelaine's face, she said exactly what Edwin had.

'You're really alive, Edelaine.'

Just the gender swapped, hearing the exact same line from eerily similar people sent chills down her spine. And those piercing blue eyes, narrowed just like her son's, appraising her—it was downright unsettling.

But she soon broke into a bright smile, offering warm welcomes and congratulations, so Edelaine let it slide without a word.

When she'd heard Jeff had called Lloyd for backup, Edelaine realized no one in the Bertrand family bought the saintess's "miracle" nonsense. Yet they pretended to believe without prying meant they were willing to play along.

We'll let it slide. You're back—that's enough.

It was more burdensome than any interrogation.

"You should've just married her off to my son."

"That's out of the question. It would be overstepping."

"Blancard's fine, though? That's imperial blood too."

"That's why we went with the engagement for now. At the time, Crown Prince Edwin had marriage talks going with the princess of Lemby."

"What a shame. If I'd known it'd turn out like this, I'd have pushed it through."

It was a spine-chilling exchange.

Even dodging the engagement to the male lead Shane meant waiting for a betrothal to sub-male-lead Edwin.

Imagining that alternate future was pure hell.

For instance, if Shane would just ignore a fiancée he didn't like, Edwin would flaunt embracing another woman right in front of her.

The worst part was not breaking off and getting the empress dowager ending.

"I need to hurry up and get rid of my son."

"Don't talk about Crown Prince Edwin's marriage like it's trash, Your Majesty."

"Can't pick just anyone. Not after that Lemby princess forgot her place and ran off with another man."

"Surely that won't happen twice."

"Exactly—once is enough. Edwin let it go with some compensation, but I wanted to flip the table. The nerve. Clinging to him first, claiming she loved him."

Edelaine listened raptly to the tale of Edwin's broken engagement.

"Falling head over heels for a rebel leader and stabbing her parents in the back to crown her man king."

"You admired her spirit, didn't you? Called her no pushover."

"That's why it irked me even more..."

Edwin had been the sub-lead in that fiasco too, apparently.

The Lemby princess hadn't been captured by the rebel leader—she'd toppled her own parents and placed the crown on her lover's head. Edelaine made a mental note to meet her someday.

It explained Viola's tastes perfectly.

That's why she'd doted on Edelaine endlessly before she fled.

Edelaine had played the part of the demure noble lady. Keeping distance from people, acting sweet was the safest bet.

Though she occasionally got dragged into Edwin's schemes, approaching or prying into others intentionally.

"So, Edelaine, you'll help me out, won't you?"

"I'll do anything I can. Just say the word."

"Blend in with the young ones and report back on who's thinking what. No holds barred. You can manage that, right?"

The "no holds barred" carried a hidden edge. As Edelaine met her gaze, Viola smiled slyly.

"I thought you were just a meek little thing—that was my mistake. You can't judge a book by its cover. Who could've guessed you'd fool the entire world single-handedly? Should've married you to my son... such a waste."

"......"

I... was meek...

Edelaine swallowed her protest. Emma pretended not to hear, downing her tea.

The saintess's miracle? No one bought it.

Emma fussed over her to take care of herself before sending Edelaine off.

The audience with the empress dowager had lasted barely an hour, but Edelaine felt a decade older. Drained.

'I'm not the one who faked my resurrection!'

Why did she feel like the star of a botched magic trick? Mortifying...

Shane said,

"Tired? Shall we head back?"

"I have to see Genevieve."

"She said she won't meet you."

Edwin chimed in. His voice carried the petulance of a spoiled son dodging his mother's scolding.

"I'll wait at her door until she does. Even all night."

Shane snorted.

"Fat chance. You'll be back before dinner."

Edelaine shot Shane a glance.

"Skipping one meal won't kill me."

"It will, Edelaine. I'll carry you out like a sack in front of everyone."

Shane grinned. His mouth smiled, but his eyes were ice-cold. He was genuinely pissed. Edelaine knew he'd do it—hoist her like luggage.

Still, she wasn't backing down.

"Stubborn girls aren't popular, Edelaine."

"Sometimes you have to know when to persist."

Edwin snarked from the side, but Edelaine was resolute.

Truth be told, she believed in not harassing people who said no. They needed time to sort their feelings.

But with Genevieve, her gut said otherwise.

Genevieve was hurt and holing up. At least she met her husband—that was a relief—but the girl fundamentally didn't lean on others. If she could tough it out, she'd swallow it and pretend all was well. The fact she couldn't even fake composure meant she was deeply shaken.

Specifically naming Edelaine as the one she wouldn't see meant she was the source of the pain.

"Besides, Genevieve likes me. She'll open up soon enough."

"Genevieve. I'll wait here until you open the door."

And so, standing before Genevieve's door, Edelaine had been ignored for fifteen minutes straight.