The room echoed with crashing sounds as the Empress hurled one ceramic figurine after another.
"Curse that cunning, evil bitch!" the woman shouted curses, beside herself with rage.
The Empress puffed and fumed as anger boiled inside her, and then began to gnaw her nails.
"Why... Why didn't she die?!"
At the moment when all the stars finally aligned and the Empress's cherished dream of making her daughter the Crown Princess was closer than ever, everything collapsed in an instant like a house of cards. The hated stepdaughter, who should have been resting in the rotting ground, had returned from the dead and ruined everything.
No, the ruined inauguration ceremony wasn't even her worst act. The empire's prosperity had been shaken in just one night.
All the officials were dead. All those who held vital government posts had been ruthlessly killed by the Crown Princess and her people in one night. The crazy girl hadn't even spared the members of the empire's founding families, who had made significant contributions to the country's development. Like crushing a colony of ants, without distinction.
Consequently, right now in the Imperial Palace there were many vacant positions in the main government posts. The aristocratic parliament, from which almost nothing remained either, was in an extremely precarious position. No, the entire empire was in a precarious position.
And all this was the work of the Crown Princess.
The Empress's eyes flew open furiously, and she whispered:
"If I could, I would have torn that spawn apart right then and there..."
However, she had to admit that in this situation she was completely powerless. The mission to kill the Crown Princess surpassed the most difficult of impossible tasks. Not only did Kaena have eyes and ears everywhere, but getting close to her was incredibly problematic.
All the mercenaries the Emperor and Empress sent after their daughter never returned. Even simple spies, whose job was only to observe, risked their lives greatly. The Empress was on the verge of despair. But what made her even more nervous was that she couldn't predict this girl's intentions at all.
That day, Kaena de Ronan, for some reason, had spared the lives of her family members. Although all the government officials, priests, and others had been killed, members of the imperial family had only received injuries of varying severity. This gave the Empress no peace at night.
She couldn't understand what she was planning.
The Empress felt her heart tearing apart, but she restrained her emotions and only exhaled heavily. Lately, her heart often ached, and her blood pressure was unstable. However, she had no time to worry about such things. "Now that this spawn from hell has returned, I have no time to think about my health..."
"Do not worry, Your Majesty," a servant addressed her timidly, "Sooner or later we will have a chance to turn everything around again..."
Hearing this, the woman in a luxurious, jewel-encrusted dress turned around. Soon her gaze, darting with anxiety, fell upon the man in dark clothing who was still kneeling before her.
"You..." she indignantly pointed a trembling finger, "All you're doing right now is standing here! How can you turn the tide of events?"
The woman's ringing voice echoed loudly through the magnificent gilded room.
"Your Majesty, I... forgive me..." the subordinate swallowed and bowed his head low.
When the woman heard these words, her beautiful face distorted with anger, and she raised her voice.
"You should regret it! Do you think you did a good job? Was it really so difficult to carry out just one task? Useless trash!"
While the Empress hurled accusatory words at her subordinate, her blood pressure rose again. In the end, she couldn't take it and sank onto the sofa.
"What a headache."
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Undoubtedly, a crime such as the unauthorized invasion of the palace and the murder of government officials could not go unpunished. Even the Crown Princess could not walk away without consequences. If the Empress couldn't handle her physically, the woman hoped she could at least punish her by law.
However, the problem was that in order to stand trial, the princess must first receive a summons.
But since that day, Kaena had never appeared in the palace. As for delivering the summons personally... None of the messengers working in the imperial palace agreed to do it. Each of them would rather lose their position or be punished for disobedience than voluntarily enter the Crown Princess's lair.
Well, these people could be understood.
But that didn't change the main point. Since no one dared to go and carry out the order, the Empress was again in a hopeless situation. Because of this, the woman hadn't been able to find peace for days now.
The Emperor, experiencing health problems related to the recent incident, was temporarily suspended from his duties. Because of this, his place was temporarily taken by the Empress, acting as regent.
And since the care of the state now lay on her shoulders, the Empress felt even more responsibility.
While the Empress continued to drown in her anxieties, her subordinate gathered the courage to report the results of recent surveillance, which was one of the few that had been successful.
It was not easy to obtain any information from within the walls of Heilos residence. However, some rumors did manage to reach him. Before the spy was exposed and killed, he managed to send a message to the main headquarters.
"Your Majesty, if I may, not so long ago we received a message..."
The Empress furrowed her brows as she listened to her subordinate's report. "What? The Crown Princess kidnapped a girl?"
"Yes, we managed to ascertain that she is the daughter of Duke de Walte." Hearing this, the woman couldn't help but admit that she was a little surprised.
The Crown Princess was not one to kidnap people. More often than not, she simply killed the undesirable on the spot. However, if such a thing did happen, the victims were immediately sent to the torture chambers. But, according to her subordinate, this lady was not put in prison, but delivered directly to the main residence where the princess lived. This was something new...
Moreover, the Crown Princess for some reason needed to invade the Duke's house itself, where she killed all its inhabitants. The stepdaughter's unpredictable behavior increasingly baffled the Empress.
Duke de Walte... The Empress only knew that a person with such a surname held one of the positions in parliament, but so insignificant that she didn't even remember this man.
Why would this crazy woman suddenly want to kill him? And even personally ambush his daughter, an even more insignificant person, to kidnap her?
The Empress really didn't understand this. She hesitated for a moment, and then opened her mouth.
"Did you find out anything else?"
"Only her name..." the servant stammered, "Camilla de Walte. We couldn't find any more information. She had no previous connection with Her Highness. Moreover, she almost never attended social events, and they couldn't have crossed paths."
The Empress's face, which showed bewilderment, continued to darken. And then the subordinate remembered that this wasn't all the information he had received.
"There is one more thing I must report to you," he added hastily. "What exactly?" she immediately inquired.
"There are rumors that Her Highness intends to pay a visit to the Duchess of the North in the near future."
The Empress was even more astonished by this unexpected statement than by the previous one.
"Why is she suddenly going there? What is she planning?"
The de Lun family was one of the most powerful families in the Ruwens Empire, but they had never expressed any particular political views. Neutrality. The Duchy de Lun had always maintained its neutrality.
The de Lun family could maintain their power without joining any party because they had made significant contributions to the empire's development. Since ancient times, they had never interfered in any political affairs.
However...
The Empress clenched her fists tightly, unable to suppress her anger. "How could this happen?"
Knowing the Crown Princess's nature, the woman was convinced that she had arranged all this to achieve her insidious goal. Most likely, Kaena was going to visit the northern duchy in order to...
"Wouldn't it be a good idea to secure the support of the Northern Duchess to get her to join the uprising?"
The Empress pursed her lips as vague conjectures swarmed in her head.
No, simply seizing the throne was not enough. The Crown Princess could probably handle that task herself without seeking outside help. So, her ambitions were probably much broader.
"Could it be... She's planning to conquer the entire continent?!"
Selina de Lun was known as the most powerful sorceress on the continent. And if these two joined forces, this goal wouldn't seem so unattainable. Although this was still an unconfirmed fact, the Empress could no longer remain calm.
"I should have taken more precautions." she lamented.
While her subordinate silently waited for further orders from the Empress, the woman impatiently bit the nail on her finger. Soon, by an effort of will, she suppressed the rage boiling within her.
"Someday I will definitely tear her to pieces and throw her to the dogs." the woman's face twisted into a grimace as she mentally dealt with her stepdaughter in the most terrible ways.
Nevertheless, before it was too late, she had to prevent the realization of this monstrous plan at all costs.
The Empress, with a determined face, gave her subordinate the following order: "Report to me on all the rumors circulating about the Crown Princess."
"Understood, Your Majesty," he immediately responded.
At that moment, a barely perceptible rustle was heard in the corridor.
The Second Princess, who had been eavesdropping on this conversation from behind the door, turned away. An indefinite expression appeared on her beautiful face, which resembled that of the Empress.
"Camilla de Walte...?" she said quietly.