Sister I am the Queen in This Life [Novel] Chapter 133

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Translator: Harry Potta
Chapter: 133
Chapter Title: The Devil's Temptation
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Count Levien, a man of common sense, was shocked by Grand Duchess Lariesa's order to kill the child of a high-ranking clergyman from another country.

“Your Highness! What are you saying! How could you say such a thing!”

“That siren of a girl!”

Unable to contain her rage, Lariesa furiously kicked the wingchair already overturned on the floor.

“She pretended to be so demure, but she snatched Prince Alfonso away!”

Lariesa cast aside even the semi-formal speech she had maintained for appearances and screamed.

“The rotten de Carlo royal family is negotiating a marriage with the great Kingdom of Gallico while dallying with some filthy bastard of a clergyman from Etruscan! Does this make any sense?!”

“Oh dear…”

Count Levien finally understood why Grand Duchess Lariesa was in such a rage, having laid waste to the entire room. This was the first he was hearing of it. But it was not an unusual story either. It was more unusual for a monarch entering a political marriage *not* to have a local lover or mistress; having one was the norm. He calmly tried to soothe Grand Duchess Lariesa.

“Your Highness, please, calm down. I fully understand your disappointment, but this will not affect the greater picture. A mere mistress is no one for you, the future Crown Princess and legitimate wife, to worry about.”

“He says he won't marry me!”

“Pardon?”

“The prince! He says he'll call off the royal marriage with me!”

Lariesa, half in anger and half in frustration, pounded her chest.

“What?!”

This time, Count Levien was truly surprised.

“But, Your Highness, that is not a decision Prince Alfonso can make alone.”

“Yes, I know, I've heard it until my ears bled! A decision made by His Majesty Leo III, a matter of state between nations, they won't be able to refuse our proposal!”

Lariesa wailed.

“We've been in this rotten land for almost half a year! What have you accomplished of all the things you boasted about?! Nothing!”

It was a very unfair accusation. There had been significant progress on the details of the agreement, with most points fully negotiated. They were at a stalemate on just one issue: the gunpowder formula. However, if asked whether the marriage alliance treaty had been signed, the only possible answer was indeed ‘no’.

“I have to get rid of that wench. Prince Alfonso is so blinded by a woman that he's barking about calling off the royal marriage. If that woman disappears, his reason for avoiding marriage to me will disappear too, won't it?”

“Your Highness! I implore you to reconsider!”

Count Levien clung to her, desperately trying to dissuade her.

“Cardinal de Mare's second daughter is, of course, of a dust-like status compared to you, Your Highness, but she is the biological daughter of Cardinal de Mare, the leader of the young faction within the Holy See! If we carelessly kill her, we won't be able to handle the consequences!”

Lariesa's expression twisted.

“The great Kingdom of Gallico, you say? You said my father and my cousin, the King, would not ignore my plight, didn't you?”

Grand Duchess Lariesa continued, trembling with a pale face.

“While I am being humiliated by a mere clergyman's bastard, is your precious ‘great Kingdom of Gallico’ unable to take the life of that damned wench for the sake of its Grand Duchess, who will soon be a princess?”

“My apologies, I implore you to reconsider, Your Highness!”

The standoff between them was broken by an uninvited guest.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk… Unable to even grant the wish of the master you serve. You are quite an incompetent subordinate.”

Horrified, Count Levien whipped around toward the voice.

“Your Grace, Duke Mireille!”

The official head of the Gallico delegation, Duke Mireille, walked slowly in from the doorway of Grand Duchess Lariesa's chambers. Entering the room of a grown young lady—and one of a higher rank, the daughter of a Grand Duke—without an invitation was an incredible breach of etiquette, but Lariesa did not stop Duke Mireille. It was Count Levien who jumped.

“Your Grace, Duke Mireille! What brings you here? It is against etiquette for you to enter this place!”

“As the head of the delegation, I heard that the Grand Duchess, whom we are escorting, was deeply melancholic, so I rushed here like lightning.”

He gave a greasy smile.

“It's not a breach of etiquette if the owner of the chambers permits it, is it not, Grand Duchess Lariesa?”

Lariesa nodded as if mesmerized. She had a premonition that this man would take Ariadne de Mare's life as she wished. Duke Mireille had already made his calculations. The House of Mireille was a prestigious family with a long lineage in the Kingdom of Gallico, but their influence had been waning ever since the previous king's younger brother, Eudes de Brienne, renounced his claim to the throne and was granted the title of Grand Duke of Valois instead. In matters of protocol, influence, and power, they were increasingly being pushed into second place within aristocratic society.

‘It's a relief that Eudes's daughter is an utter fool.’

If the House of Valois were to form a marriage alliance with the House of Carlo of Etruscan, their influence would grow even greater.

‘I cannot allow the marriage, which His Majesty the King is watching, to fail.’

Duke Mireille had come to Etruscan under strict orders from Philip IV to ensure this engagement succeeded. He had been dispatched with secret orders that he could, if absolutely necessary, even concede the gunpowder formula, though he was to stall for as long as possible. If Lariesa failed to become engaged to Prince Alfonso and returned to Gallico, he too would not be safe.

‘But what if the marriage falls through due to an undeniable and clear fault on the part of the House of Valois?’

For example, a decisive mistake by Grand Duchess Lariesa against the House of Carlo.

‘At the very least, if I can get a firm hold on Lariesa de Valois's weakness, it could become a card to extract concessions from Grand Duke Eudes later.’

Duke Mireille was delighted by Grand Duchess Lariesa's rampage. He was so grateful he felt like kissing the back of her foot. Filled with this gratitude, he made a proposal to Grand Duke Eudes's utterly foolish, and now only, precious daughter.

“Whose life did Your Highness say you wanted?”

Color immediately returned to Lariesa's face. With gleaming eyes, she cried out the name she loathed.

“Ariadne de Mare!”

“Your Highness! No!”

Count Levien's piercing scream filled the room.

“This could escalate into a grave diplomatic issue, Your Highness! This would make an enemy not only of the Kingdom of Etruscan but also of the Holy See!”

Duke Mireille smirked.

“To be murdered for stealing a man. In my opinion, the punishment seems a bit severe for the crime.”

Fury sparked in Lariesa's eyes. *Everyone's the same! There's no one I can talk to!* But Duke Mireille was not here today to guide Lariesa onto the right path.

“Why not make the man leave the woman of his own accord instead?”

Lariesa burst out in frustration.

“You think that's as easy as it sounds?”

“Why? What's so difficult about it? When does a man leave a woman?”

“…When a woman's appearance is ugly?”

Lariesa answered according to her own complex. It wasn't exactly what Duke Mireille had in mind, but it was good enough. He laughed loudly and clapped.

“Our Grand Duchess is truly brilliant. Yes, a man leaves a woman when her value as a woman has diminished.”

Lariesa's eyes gleamed.

“Yes, that's it. Scar that girl's face! Make it hideous, like a mercenary who's spent ten years rolling around in Yesak! A long scar across her entire face!”

She spun around the chaotic room like a madwoman.

“We'll see how long Prince Alfonso's precious love lasts for an ugly woman! He said he disliked me because I wasn't pretty, did he? We'll see how long your love lasts for a woman more hideous than me!”

Alfonso had never once mentioned Lariesa's appearance. But Lariesa considered it an established fact. A long smile spread across Duke Mireille's lips as he watched the ecstatic Grand Duchess.

“Now, Grand Duchess.”

From a desk in the messy chambers, he picked up a sheet of parchment and a quill. After dipping the quill in ink, he scribbled something on the parchment.

“Look at this.”

He handed the finished paper to Grand Duchess Lariesa. She furrowed her brow and read the parchment.

“What is this?”

Duke Mireille's smile grew even wider.

“What is it? It is a contract that allows you to command me, Mireille, as if I were your own hands and feet.”

Sensing something was amiss, Levien rushed over. He practically snatched the parchment from Grand Duchess Lariesa's hand to read its contents. *Kill, or inflict equivalent harm upon, Ariadne de Mare, the bastard daughter of Cardinal de Mare of the Diocese of San Carlo, Kingdom of Etruscan. March 18, 1123, Lariesa de Valois.* It was overly simplistic for a contract. Which meant there were many ways for Duke Mireille to evade his obligation. Furthermore, the signature line below had no space for Duke Mireille's name, only a space for Grand Duchess Lariesa to sign.

“What is this!”

Having read Duke Mireille's inner intentions, Count Levien shouted in a rage.

“Your Grace! What is the meaning of this! What kind of contract is this! I absolutely, absolutely cannot allow this!”

“Tsk, where does a subordinate dare to speak on a matter their master is handling? Is the discipline in the House of Valois this lax?”

Count Levien began to plead with Grand Duchess Lariesa.

“Your Highness, Duke Mireille is trying to gain leverage over your father, His Grace Grand Duke Eudes de Valois! You must not hand over written proof of your involvement in such an affair!”

“‘Such an affair,’ you say.”

Duke Mireille smiled vilely and looked at Count Levien.

“Do you think I, Mireille, would back out halfway? I am a man of honor. What do you take me for!”

He turned back to Grand Duchess Lariesa and persuaded her.

“As for the execution of this contract's terms, I will not use my subordinates. I, Mireille, will carry it out with my own hands.”

Lariesa, not understanding what he meant, stared back at Duke Mireille with wide eyes. Clicking his tongue inwardly, Mireille kindly explained for her.

“I am saying I will personally become your accomplice, Grand Duchess of Valois. When people commit a crime together, the accomplices become friends. Betrayal is impossible, you see.”

Lariesa was about to ask Mireille, ‘So what do you get out of this?’ Reading the Grand Duchess's expression, Duke Mireille preempted her.

“It's because you're like a daughter to me.”

“What?”

“The excruciating pain of being betrayed by your fiancé, and yet you have an incompetent subordinate who is no help, and a father who doesn't look after you.”

Duke Mireille struck a sore spot.

“What kind of father sends his child, a grown daughter at that, to a foreign country and leaves her there for so long?”

She lowered her head to hide her face, flushed with shame. Or rather, she tried to hide it. But Duke Mireille did not easily let go of the weakness he had spotted.

“I could never do such a thing to my daughter. If my daughter were sent to a foreign country, I would have made sure the marriage contract was signed, even if it meant giving them everything. It would be the same if my younger cousin were in that position.”

Lariesa bit her lip and could not answer.

“But has our esteemed Grand Duke Eudes ever put such pressure on the great Philip IV? He's just sitting on his hands, isn't he?”

The claim that Grand Duke Eudes was sitting on his hands was not true. Philip IV had appointed Duke Mireille as the head of the delegation for that very reason. He feared that if he sent Grand Duke Eudes, the man would be blinded by concern for his daughter's well-being and sign an agreement disadvantageous to the Kingdom of Gallico. But there was no need for Grand Duchess Lariesa to know this.

“If it were Grand Duchess Suzanne here, would Grand Duke Eudes and Philip IV have acted this way?”

A cold fury rose on Lariesa's face. Duke Mireille added with a grin.

“If your father and cousin won't look after you, you have no choice but to save yourself. Even if this becomes known in Gallico, no one will blame you. You were abandoned first.”

Duke Mireille held out the contract to Grand Duchess Lariesa once more.

“Now, go on.”

As if possessed, Grand Duchess Lariesa picked up the quill pen.