I immediately clenched my teeth.
'After all… that bastard couldn't even protect the land, and in the end he passed it on to my uncle!'
The Empress and Franz did not know that there was a diamond mine in the land and handed it over to the Marquis, who offered to pay them ten times the market price.
‘If only the metals from there were used, it would be worth 100 billion gold!
But handing over the land stupidly...'
I still feel nauseous when I think about how Marquis Arjen enjoyed my land.
Fortunately, I have already been through this situation.
“Seeing you suddenly say something like that, my proud little brother must have had another incident?
For example, he bet and lost money, or touched the daughter of a powerful aristocratic family by falsely promising to make her the crown princess, or...”
“Shut up!
As a big sister, you should cover up your little brother’s mistakes, but you criticize him like this!”
Franz was now eighteen years old, it was unreasonable to say that he was young because he had reached the age of majority.
However, the Empress spoke as if she thought her son was still a child.
He was raised to be this kind of idiot because he only got everything he wanted.
Before I went back in time, Franz unreasonably raised taxes for his own pleasure, often arresting and killing those who revolted against him.
Moreover, under the pretext of making her empress, he seduced, drank and fooled women from aristocratic families, regardless of status.
It was the Marquis of Arjen, who cared about the consequences.
In the end, only the servants and the emperor's women remained in the palace, and the nobles incited the angry people to revolt.
Because Franz had become hopeless, our mother, who was the Empress Dowager at the time, tried to rely on my uncle, the Marquis of Argens.
However, the Marquis of Argens, who understood the situation better than anyone else, joined the rebels, and sold the Empress Dowager and the Emperor to the rebels to prolong his position.
Until my death, he was alive to stand trial, but I wonder if he would disappear by the executioner's sword after that.
‘If you had thought about me even a little, maybe this wouldn’t have happened…’
But nothing changed, and I was only her daughter when she finally needed me.
I didn't want to live as her daughter anymore.
“Why do I have to deal with an incident he caused?
I don’t know why I have to do this.”
“He is your brother and your family!
How can you say that!”
Again, I said sarcastically at the loud voice.
“Have I ever been a part of your family?”
My short words were a denial of the childhood desires I had suppressed.
I wanted to be loved.
I wanted to be part of your family.
I wanted you to look at me like your child.
I realized my present self, who had been begging so much in the past,
I was never part of her family to begin with.
So, it is time to extinguish this false hope.
However, the Empress dropped her elegant mask and raised her voice, perhaps thinking that I was mocking her.
“You're not family?
Now you dare say that I'm not your mother!?”
“Her Majesty was the one who said that a daughter was only a stranger after she married, and from the point of view of a stranger, she felt more compassion for Count Gofried's daughter, whose life had been ruined, than for Franz...”
“This-this filth..!”
Without listening to me, she was overcome with anger and rolled her eyes,
Trying to hit me again.
'It's still the same...'
Is that why I felt that way?
I didn't feel like seeing her at all.
“Isn't it normal in situations like this for you to ask how did you know about this?”
"What?"
Although I simply mentioned these, all of the things I said were incidents that Franz had committed only recently.
Moreover, you just said the name of the young miss that Franz touched.
‘Besides the Empress’s assistants, I know the Prince’s secret, which only a few know, how does a stranger who doesn’t come to the Imperial Palace often know about this?’
And in the case where strict restrictions are also imposed?
The moment she pointed out a fact she had not noticed in her anger, her hand stopped.
Her trembling eyes and paleness showed how surprised she was.
"You…!"
I approached her and whispered in her ear.
“Don’t worry, I will keep it a secret that Franz has become crazy by gambling and touching my father’s personal wealth.”
I raised my head and fixed my eyes on the Empress.
“Of course, this is on the basis that Your Majesty will not touch me in the future and will fulfill my request.”
If they were in a normal situation, they would have slapped her on the cheek and pulled her to the ground while holding her hair, saying, “How dare you threaten me!”
However, the Empress gritted her teeth and stared at me.
She will endure this, for the sake of a precious son who will one day become Emperor.
Franz is the only legitimate son, but because of the Emperor's character, he will not forgive his son if he crosses his limits.
Moreover, this does not mean that there is no alternative to Franz.
Among the nobles, there were also those who were eligible to succeed the throne.
Among them, the one who stands out most is Reinhardt, son of Archduke Tarrant.
He was a descendant of Rotbart Tarrant, the younger brother of the First Emperor, one of the founding members of the country.
Thanks to his humble disposition and outstanding abilities, he was favored by the Emperor as well as supported by the nobles and relatives of the imperial family.
'So you won't be able to refuse my offer…'
After a while, she broke the silence and opened her mouth.
"What do you want?"
I opened my eyes wide.
She, who had always treated me with violence and abusive language, was trying to talk to me for the first time.
The first victory I won was more fun than exciting.
“I don't have a big request.”
In the past, I respected the empress who mocked me,
Believing that she is an ideal member of the imperial family.
It was because her ability to make noble wives bow their heads seemed so great.
However, you did not notice anything strange about my actions, even though I knew Franz's secret.
She treated my threat coldly, only because her love for her son made her ignore any threat against him.
An emotional woman who is weak in front of the powerful, she only sees her son and does not care about anything else.
Despite her high status, my mother was just such an ordinary woman.
I was disappointed and had a strong desire to leave the place immediately.
But I suppressed this feeling, there was still an unfinished conversation with the Empress.
“If you give me your Majesty’s Jade Mine, I won’t reveal it.”
Her mother's family was engaged in jewelry manufacturing and distribution as a family business.
Her maternal grandfather, the former Marquis of Argens, gave the jade mine to his daughter, and the Empress became the second largest owner of a mine storing a lot of jade after the Duke of Brant.
However, the Empress always considered it useless.
If you asked for something like that in exchange for my silence, you would honestly feel like an idiot.
But I was already well aware of how high Jade would rise in the future.
In addition to the fact that the jade from the Empress Mine is a high-quality product with high hardness.
“Will this really be enough?”
"Yes, of course."
Of course it will be enough, I will live in luxury for the rest of my life because of him.
The Empress made an expression full of doubts, perhaps thinking that I would change my words.
“If you suddenly change your mind, you won’t...”
“If you have any doubt, I will write a contract in exchange for my silence, I will not back down from moving the mine.”
Then the Empress immediately pulled the string and summoned the maid.
“Bring paper, pen, ink, and stamp.”
After a while, the transfer of the Jade Mine was completed and the contract became signed by both of us.
“You can't say anything else now.”
Seeing her accepting the necklace, satisfied with it, made me feel better too.
I would have also because this necklace was insurance that would keep her from talking about my mine.
“Yes, I didn't mean to say anything else.”
When I answered, she narrowed her eyes in disapproval and said coldly.
“I will never forget the vulgar words you said today, don’t forget that the reason I dealt with you is simply because of your brother.”
She was a stubborn person, so I didn't even get angry.
I answered dryly,
“Yes, it's okay.”
Her eyebrows twitched, but she did not raise her hand, perhaps because she was forbidden from touching me.
However, her tongue was unrestrained.
“Mean, useless girl, I shouldn't have given birth to something like you.”
These words I heard before became a dagger and stabbed me in the same place again.
If there was a difference from before, it was that I had become numb to the pain now.
“I always regretted having you as my daughter.”
Once upon a time, I thought that maybe the day would come when I could become a mother like you, and then I could understand you.
But when I had a baby, I knew I would never understand her.
When the baby was in my womb, I was filled with the desire to meet him no matter if he was a boy or a girl, and after the baby was born, I sometimes thought that he could have been beautiful even if he was a girl.
Everything about the baby was beautiful, without even having time to do any calculations.
'I know now, you don't even deserve to be a mother.'
I looked at her coldly and opened my mouth.
“No matter how hard I try, Your Majesty hates me, so I decided to give up being your daughter as well.”
Her face twisted at my words, which contained a will to stop living like a fool.