What on Earth Is the Empress Doing?
― She said something strange last time, so I was worried. I’m glad she seems fine.
After finishing my meal and returning to the Empress’s palace,
Jerome’s words still echoed in my ears.
“What was that about?”
Strange words? She seems fine?
My mind was spinning.
His behavior in the dining hall had been bizarrely two-faced.
He glared at me with terrifying eyes full of suspicion just moments before,
then the moment everyone left, his expression shifted so drastically it gave me chills.
“He’s really impossible to read.”
This was nothing like the Jerome I remembered from the original novel.
Back then, he’d always treated Helena with cold indifference.
Now? I couldn’t tell what he was thinking.
Ugh. Whatever! No use overthinking it—just gives me a headache.
I’ll deal with it properly when I get a chance.
Just as I set aside my thoughts on Jerome’s odd behavior—
“Hand over that young maid at once!”
A loud shout came from outside the window.
“There’s no point lying—we already know everything!”
The noise outside was growing louder by the second.
The commotion was so obnoxious, I found myself frowning.
Now what?
Curious, I pulled the summoning cord.
Countess Chloe entered soon after.
“It’s quite noisy outside. What’s going on?”
“Someone from the Crown Princess’s palace is here.”
“The Crown Princess’s palace?”
That’s where the female lead resided.
“What business do they have that they’re causing such a ruckus?”
At my question, Countess Chloe spoke with a troubled expression.
“Well… they say someone here tore the Crown Princess’s dress and they’ve come to retrieve the culprit.”
“…Is that so?”
Now that I thought about it, I did hear someone shouting to hand over “that young maid.”
The situation was clearly not looking good.
“I suppose I should go take a look.”
I stood up from my seat.
***
In front of the Empress’s palace gates.
A middle-aged maid was dragging a young maid by the wrist.
Two palace guards stood on either side of her,
making it impossible for the Empress’s maids to interfere.
“How dare you touch something belonging to Her Highness the Crown Princess! This won’t be brushed aside so easily!”
The older maid scolded the girl—
who, as expected, was Mari.
Mari stood trembling, unable to respond, like a criminal caught in the act.
Her wrist in the other maid’s grip.
So the moment has finally come.
I sighed inwardly and stepped forward.
“Wait.”
The middle-aged maid flinched at the sound of my voice.
“Your Majesty the Empress,”
she said quickly, bowing her head.
“I don’t recognize your face. Who are you to be making such a commotion in my palace?”
“I beg your pardon, Your Majesty. I’m Jasmine of the Parringdon Viscountcy, head maid of the Crown Princess’s palace.”
I gave a slight nod and asked,
“What brings the Crown Princess’s head maid to my palace?”
“I’m deeply sorry for the disturbance. We’re in the middle of catching a criminal who committed a heinous act, and… things got a little chaotic.”
“A heinous act?”
“Someone tore apart all of Her Highness the Crown Princess’s dresses. We’re trying to identify the culprit, and in that process, some disturbance was… unavoidable.”
“I heard about the damage to the Crown Princess’s dresses. But,”
I turned to Mari,
“are you saying this girl is the culprit?”
She raised an eyebrow at my question.
“Yes, Your Majesty. Several maids from our palace say they saw her.”
At Jasmine’s reply, Mari flinched.
“Mari.”
When I called her name, she slowly raised her head.
Her face was pale, eyes filled with tears.
“I’m sorry, Your Majesty,”
Mari said tearfully, bowing her head again.
I let out a silent sigh.
If I were the original Helena, I would’ve brushed this off as irrelevant and coldly walked away.
Worse, I might have slapped Mari and blamed her for making the Emperor suspect me.
But I wasn’t the real Helena.
Well, I was Helena now, but I wasn’t the kind of cruel villainess who would throw someone away to save face.
Mari was a maid of the Empress’s palace.
Even if Jasmine was head maid of the Crown Princess’s palace,
she had no right to treat my people like this.
‘She’s acting all high and mighty, thinking the Crown Princess’s status puts them above us.’
She was clearly using that as justification.
No way I was letting that slide.
I put on Helena’s signature haughty expression and said,
“Do you have proof?”
“…Pardon?”
“You’re not making such a scene based on hearsay alone, are you? Surely you have solid evidence.”
“T-that… will come to light once we interrogate her.”
Jasmine stammered, flustered.
Clearly, she hadn’t expected this reaction.
I shook my head.
“Whatever reason the witnesses had for claiming they saw Mari, they were mistaken.”
“But there were multiple witnesses who—”
“I did it.”
I cut her off.
“I thought so… Wait, what?”
Jasmine’s eyes widened in disbelief.
“M-my apologies, Your Majesty! I didn’t mean to imply that you—!”
“My, the head maid of the Crown Princess’s palace must be hard of hearing.”
“……”
Jasmine’s face turned beet red.
I repeated coolly,
“I’m sure I said I did it.”
“B-but the maids said they saw a small-framed maid—!”
“Then they were mistaken.”
I frowned.
“I tore the Crown Princess’s dress. I saw it and, out of jealousy, lost control and ruined it.”
I laid it out clearly—so she couldn’t argue back.
“If you understand now, stop taking your anger out on the wrong person.
If you must punish the one responsible, take me instead.”
“T-that…”
“Well? Aren’t you going to arrest me?”
Jasmine stood frozen, unsure of what to do.
One of the palace guards quickly stepped in to de-escalate.
“We apologize, Your Majesty. We’ll conduct a thorough investigation and report back.”
And just like that, they left after offering apologies for the disruption.
Relief washed over me.
‘That went better than I expected.’
Honestly, I’d been nervous.
Unlike villainous Helena, I was a regular person.
But it’s not like they’d throw the Empress in jail over this, right?
Helena had always relied on her status to get away with things—until it eventually caught up with her.
But for now, I should be fine.
“Your Majesty…”
A trembling voice called out.
It was Mari.
“Because of me… because of me…”
She sobbed, her chin trembling.
“You must’ve been scared. It’s okay now. It’s all over.”
I gently wiped her tears with my sleeve.
It stung a little, seeing her suffer because of my reputation.
“Y-your Majesty! You’re staining your clothes!”
“It’s fine. It’s just fabric—it can get dirty.”
“But because of me, Your Majesty—hic…”
She burst into tears again.
I gently patted her back.
“Hhh… What if His Majesty misunderstands because of me…”
“Oh, you were worried about that? Don’t be. I really don’t mind.”
I smiled and added,
“As I said before, I don’t want His Majesty’s attention anymore.”
Sure, this would deepen Jerome and the Crown Princess’s misunderstanding of me.
But at least I saved Mari from being dragged off.
“I’ve already done enough as Helena. What difference will one or two more incidents make?”
“But still…”
“It’s fine. More importantly, I think I need to make it very clear that I’m no longer interested in His Majesty.”
Otherwise, something like this could happen again.
“Countess Chloe, could you bring me everything we have on His Majesty?”
“You mean… the reports?”
“Yes. Every document we’ve stored. Don’t leave anything behind.”
Soon after, the maids returned with stacks of documents.
There were so many that, once piled up, they stood taller than a person.
I tossed them all into the fireplace.
The maids’ eyes widened in shock.
I watched the roaring flames without a flicker of hesitation.
Mmm, yes. With so much fuel, the fire burns beautifully.
After watching the blaze for a moment, I turned to the maids and said,
“As you can see, I no longer have any interest in His Majesty.”
Their eyes trembled as they looked at me.
“From now on, whatever I may have done in the past, stay away from anything related to His Majesty.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“We understand, Your Majesty.”
The maids bowed their heads.
There had been quite a scene,
but surely they understood my sincerity now.
After all, I even burned every last report.
This is it—my final farewell to villainy!
…Unfortunately, my relief didn’t last long.
***
The next day.
When I asked to have my meal in my room, the staff bustled to set everything up.
“We’ve prepared this with the utmost care for Your Majesty.”
Even the chef came to personally present the dishes.
Everything looked incredibly delicious.
I was enjoying the entire course, from appetizers to dessert,
when something caught my eye.
“What’s this?”
A small bottle placed on the last dish.
It looked like a digestive.
Inside the palm-sized glass bottle was a green liquid.
“That is…”
The chef glanced around cautiously,
then leaned in to whisper,
“We managed to acquire this from the black market.”
“B-black market?”
“Yes. It was quite expensive… but just a drop can achieve exactly what you desire.”
“Achieve…?”
I thought maybe it was some miracle beauty elixir.
Or a weight-loss supplement?
But then the chef added,
“If you add just one drop of this to His Majesty’s food, your wish will be granted.”
“…Whose food?”
Wait. Did I hear that right?
His Majesty’s?
So this was meant to be slipped into the male lead’s meal?!
Suddenly, that “effect” he mentioned felt terrifying.
“Hahaha. This one will take care of the rest.”
The chef gave me a knowing look.
Oh my god.
I couldn’t close my mouth in shock.
So it’s not just the maids…?!
Even the kitchen staff are in on it?!
After hearing Countess Chloe’s explanation, the situation finally made sense.
“You mean it wasn’t just the maids helping?”
“No, Your Majesty. It wasn’t.”
What the hell was Helena planning?
Maids weren’t enough, so she recruited even more talent?
No wonder things weren’t going as planned.
Clearly, the situation was more complicated than I thought.
This wasn’t something I could fix just by reining in the maids.
“I need you to gather everyone involved, Countess Chloe.”
***
“The Empress is acting strange?”
Jerome turned from the window and looked at his chief aide, Marquis Niklad.
The marquis, tense under Jerome’s calm gaze, answered stiffly.
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“She must be plotting something again.”
Jerome murmured as he turned back toward the window.
The warm spring sunlight poured through the half-open panes,
shimmering across his fine platinum hair.
“So? What is it this time?”
Still gazing out the window, Jerome asked.
Marquis Niklad, standing with perfect posture, read from the report.
“This morning, Her Majesty summoned her personal maids for an urgent and serious directive.”
“That’s routine.”
“She then summoned the chefs during her meal and issued unusual instructions.”
“Also routine.”
“She next called for her tailors and dress-maids and once again gave odd commands.”
“She probably didn’t like her dress.”
“After that, she summoned diplomats, clerks, treasury officials,
then artists, guards, and even prison wardens.”
“……”
Jerome’s expression finally twitched.
“…What on earth is the Empress doing?”
