Chapter 131: Tug of War
One day, Sigren made an interesting and sudden remark. Read the translation only on itsladygrey.com.
“I think I’ve discovered a new power structure.”
“A new power?”
“I forgot to mention this, but I have a younger sibling.”
Sigren’s sibling… Ah, I finally remembered that there was a princess younger than Sigren. Well, in my defense, she never played a proper role in the original plot. Since she wasn’t even an extra, I couldn’t help but feel a little curious.
“The princess?”
“Yeah, I heard she has a weak constitution, but strangely, she’s been walking around more lately.”
“She’s getting better? That’s a relief.”
“Well, she could’ve been healthy all along and just pretending to be sick.”
“Why?”
“The timing is too convenient. She started becoming active just when the Empress and the Crown Prince went quiet.”
“Ah.”
I had a feeling I knew where this was going. The princess was the only daughter of the Emperor, born to a concubine from a lower noble family. Read the translation only on itsladygrey.com.
“She’s probably been keeping a close eye on the Empress all this time.”
Sigren responded calmly, “Yes, the Empress would have killed the princess if she’d been a nuisance.”
“…”
He understood this better than anyone. “Usually, the Empress makes multiple attempts to kill any woman who sleeps with the Emperor.”
Oh wow, that was awful. The Crown Prince and Empress really needed to be dealt with soon.
“That’s why most of those women don’t survive long enough for their children to even exist.”
“However, the princess’s mother, though she was from a lower noble family, was still a noblewoman. That status likely kept her safe.”
“Obviously, if the mistress had given birth to a son, the Empress would’ve killed both the mother and the child.”
“Exactly. The only reason the princess was spared is because she’s a girl.”
“So, she’s been keeping a low profile all this time just to watch the Empress?”
“I didn’t think she was worth noticing before, but after reconsidering, it seems she’s smarter than I gave her credit for.”
Smart people knew when to swallow their pride and admit their mistakes, and Sigren was no exception. Read the translation only on itsladygrey.com.
“So, the new power structure is connected to her?”
“That’s correct.”
Sigren idly spun a letter knife in his hand.
“Among the five noble families, the ones claiming neutrality are suspicious. Are they truly neutral?”
That meant Duke Priscilla and Marquis Clovis.
“That makes sense. Neither of them are foolish, yet they’re being so neutral that it’s almost unnatural.”
I recalled the original Arrendt. His moves were entirely different from now. The same went for Duke Priscilla.
As events shifted, the original storyline was no longer reliable. Based on what Sigren was saying, there was a chance they were pursuing a completely different option.
“If my theory’s right, I might need to stop it early.”
Of course, “it” referred to the princess.
Honestly, I despised the crown prince, but I didn’t harbor any ill feelings toward the princess. Read the translation only on itsladygrey.com.
“Sigren, what do you want to do?”
If he aimed for the throne, he’d need to outmaneuver them. But I knew Sigren wasn’t that driven to seize power. In the past, I would’ve thought, ‘Shouldn’t we follow the original plot?’ but things were different now.
“I want to observe a little longer.”
“Then do as you please.”
“But surprisingly, I don’t care as much as I thought.”
“Maybe it’s because neither you nor I have much attachment to power itself.”
As for me, I just wanted him to be happy. Still, we’d probably need to discuss this with Abel. Even if we weren’t planning to make a move, we had to be prepared for the other side’s intentions. If this theory was correct and things escalated, would that mean Livya would become our enemy? That would be a bit disappointing. Well, I’d deal with it when the time came. No point worrying about it now. Read the translation only on itsladygrey.com.
I gathered the letters addressed to me. “Sigren, give me back the letter-knife.”
He handed it over without hesitation.
I opened the letters one by one. Most were invitations, but there were a few personal letters mixed in. One of them stood out. At first, I thought it might be from Abel, but when I looked at the sender’s name, it was someone I didn’t recognize.
I pulled the letter out of the envelope and started reading it.
[Lady Fiona, I’ve been longing for you…]
What the hell? Was this a love letter?
Reflexively, I crumpled it up and glanced at Sigren. Read the translation only on itsladygrey.com.
He looked at me curiously. “What’s the matter?”
“No, nothing,” I replied evasively. I’d read it properly later and then burn it. Since I only saw the first line, I wasn’t sure if it was actually a love letter or not.
“What kind of letter is it?”
“A lucky letter.”
Of course, Sigren didn’t get the joke. His expression darkened. “What’s that?”
“There’s something like that.” I quickly folded the letter and slipped it back into the envelope.
I called a maid to bring the invitations—and the mysterious ‘love’ letter—to my office.
I had forgotten about the letter for a while, but when I entered my office after Sigren left, it came back to me.
“Ah.”
I picked up the letter that had been mixed in with the invitations. “Let’s just read it…”
I started reading the letter absentmindedly. Read the translation only on itsladygrey.com.
[Lady Fiona, I’ve been longing for you.]
I skimmed through the rest. It was just a fairly desperate love letter.
[If you and I are together, we could definitely dream of a better future.]
That was basically the gist of it. After reading, I folded the letter and glanced at the sender’s name on the envelope again: Bill Curtis.
As expected, he was a stranger. When I say ‘stranger,’ I mean someone I hadn’t set up in this world, nor someone who had any relationship with Fiona.
Receiving a love letter was a nice little novelty, but that was the extent of it. I already had a lover, and there was no reason for me to get excited about someone I didn’t know.
If there was no reply, it meant rejection. That was the unspoken rule.
I suppose this was why people around me considered me cold-hearted.
Anyway, that was how I promptly forgot about the letter. Read the translation only on itsladygrey.com.
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