Chapter 74 (2/2)

“Now that I think about it… You said you talked to ‘him’ and not ‘them’, right?”

I did say that, and I had no intention of lying to him now. I didn’t do anything wrong!

“That’s right. I talked to him after Princess Liliana left.”

Lucretius’s eyebrows went up sharply.

“Where was this?”

“In the main library. Why?”

He now looked very angry.

W, what? Was he really mad?

Lucretius drank a sip of water in a fit of aggression before he asked me, “So you two talked in a private deserted place? Just the two of you?”

“We just talked very briefly.”

He accused me in frustration.

“Just the two of you after Liliana left!”

“…”

What the heck!

I shouted angrily, “What are you insinuating? Nothing happened! Besides, I didn’t trust him, and I was very careful!”

To my surprise, he agreed.

“I know. You would have been careful.”

“… Pardon?”

“I’m telling you I believe you.”

“Then why did you bring this up?”

I was becoming furious. If he gave me a stupid reason, I would explode.

However, what he said to me made me speechless.

“I was just jealous.”

“…”

W, what?

I felt myself becoming red.

I turned away quickly.

“Stop being stupid. We have more important things to discuss.”

Thankfully, he stopped his nonsense.

“That’s true.”

I sighed in relief.

While I tried to calm down, Lucretius continued, “Anyway, you did well by making a deal with Marquis Toruka’s son and Liliana. I was right about you.”

What? What was he talking about now?

Before I could ask him about it, he continued, “Especially considering the news I heard today.”

“What news?”

Lucretius smiled and replied, “The dowager empress announced that she will not attend the upcoming ball. In fact, she decided to spend her time somewhere else during the celebration.”

“Pardon?!”

“She said she didn’t want the noises and the crowd. She is also very pregnant and needs some time for herself, some peace and quiet.”

“So where is she going? Lonez?”

“No. She hates it there.” He paused, enjoying my curiosity. After a brief silence, he finally answered, “Now that the former emperor is gone, she said she wants to go somewhere peaceful to rest.”

“Could it be…”

He shook his head with an odd expression.

“Not her family home. She decided to go to Girand, which is similar to Lonez. Girand was a wing where pregnant women often go to give birth or recover from it. I felt uncomfortable having her where I can’t spy on her… but I feel better knowing we have Princess Liliana on our side.” When I nodded, he continued, “The best thing would be for her to give birth to a princess, but… If she has a prince and openly tries to take over the throne, it might be even better. It will give us a good reason to take her down. Besides, even if it’s a girl, the dowager empress won’t give up.”

I agreed with him. The dowager empress wouldn’t give up no matter what.

Lucretius added, “Also, as long as I don’t have a child, all of my sisters still have a chance to take the throne. They can’t sit on it, technically, but their husbands can still become the emperor.”

I was shocked. I didn’t know this.

“So the princesses can inherit the throne as well?”

“It used to be not possible, but four generations ago, there was no living male heir, so they changed the law. A princess’ husband can become the emperor.”

“That means…”

“That’s right. Until I get my own child, Liliana’s husband can become the emperor. This means… Marquis Toruka’s son may be more ambitious than you think.”

I got goosebumps. I thought the way he looked at Liliana was from love, but perhaps I was mistaken.

“…”

So Liliana could be Lucretius’s biggest competitor. This meant it would benefit Lucretius for Liliana to marry a nobody like Clodys rather than someone with more power and influence.

“…”

This must have been why he agreed with the deal I made with them. It worked out in a much bigger way than I anticipated. Then why did he ask me to explain myself in such a judgmental manner?

He was so annoying.

I replied to him sarcastically, “Well, congratulations. It seems like I brought my master two birds instead of one like a good dog.”

He grinned.

“And you can even make it into three birds.”

“How?”

“Give me a child. It will fix a lot of our problems.”

“…”

That bastard!