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n“My lady, here are the documents from the government.”

n“Oh, Thank you, butler.”

n“And some letters to you.”

n“Really? Give them to me.”

nWhen I was having breakfast with my father, the butler brought a handful of documents and letters and put them down on the table.

nI put down the fork and looked through the piles of letters.

nEntea’s letter, banquet invitations from small and large noble families, and a light purple envelope.

n‘What is this one?’

nWhile grabbing it, I frowned my eyebrows.

nA black rose coiling an amethyst tiara. It was the crest of the Duke Jena family.

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n“Who sent it? Why do you look bad?” asked my father.

n“It’s from the Duke Jena family.”

n“Hmm, it seemed like they were very busy these days. So, what is it about?”

nActually, I was going to throw it away without reading when he asked.

nI opened the finely folded letter, and noticed someone’s handwriting in purple ink on light purple paper.

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n…What the heck is this?

nI drew my brows. Gathering young nobles? Are you going to actively move to become the next empress?

nI heard about the rumors that she was very active these days, but it was the first time I confirmed her activities like this.

nAfter staring at the purple stationery for a moment, I tore it in half. Then I stood up, holding Entea’s letter and the documents from the government.

n“Then, I’ll go upstairs first, Daddy. Butler, throw away all the other letters.”

n“All of them?”

n“Yes. And please don’t bring me those invitations from the nobles unless I really need to take a look.”

n“Sure, my lady.”

nI went up to my room after smiling at the butler who politely bowed to me.

nAnd I read Entea’s letter first

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nMy hands trembled.

nIs this really true? If so, I might already have a winning card in my hand.

nLooking back, I gave Entea some instructions to dig into some things about Countess Dias.

nIf it is black and a rose bud, obviously it refers to the successor of Duke Jenna.

n‘I have to watch this a little bit more.’

nIt would certainly be an unprecedented scandal if I broke it, but I wanted to deal with it with prudence. The chances that Entea’s tip was correct was more than half, but that was not enough. If something went wrong, they would seize the chance to ruin me.

nI got up and lit the candle. I put the letter on its flickering flame to burn it to ashes completely, then I opened the documents sent by the government.

nWhile reviewing them for a while, I noticed something strange in one of the documents. It recorded how they obtained the poison that sickened me in a foreign country, but they abnormally imported it. Even so, they didn’t smuggle it. Moreover, they didn’t even get rid of their conspirators.

nWhat happened? Is there another way to import goods from another country into the empire, rather than the usual import or smuggling?

nI drew my brows together.

nHow is it possible? It is absolutely impossible without going through the temple … Ugh? Temple?

nSuddenly, I recalled something that I heard recently. Come to think of it, the high priest told me that the tea he gave me was also a duty-free product.

nAccording to the imperial law, as for the goods for the temple, import duties were not imposed in principle as long as the accompanying priest proved that they were for the temple. In other words, priests were free to cross the border.

n‘What if the person who brought the poison to the empire is a priest?’

nI felt goosebumps. Even if there were border patrols, they could not search the priests recklessly. So, it was not difficult at all for a priest to hide a couple of poison bottles in his inner pocket when he crossed the border.

n“Oh my…”

nWhen I double checked the document again, I noticed several facts that I hadn’t noticed. When I put in the key word temple into this mysterious puzzle, all the unclear and vague things related to the investigation pointed to some significant clues.

nI got goosebumps at this surprising discovery.

nIf then, did the temple also get involved in this case?

nAfter hesitating for a while, I headed for the Imperial Palace. If it was really true that the temple was involved, it was clearly out of my control.

n“How are you, Lady Monique? Why are you here today?”

n“I have to tell the emperor something urgently. Can I see him?”

n“The emperor is seeing someone now. Can you wait a moment? ”

n“Sure.”

nWhen I was nodding, I saw a woman coming out of the meeting room at the moment. She was Grace Whir with her yellow hair hanging down to the waist, who was strongly supported by the pro-emperor faction as the emperor’s concubine these days.

nHer dark brown eyes turned towards me. My feelings were subdued because of her strange look because I was not sure if she was glad to see me or not.

nWhy is she looking at me like that? Does she want to hold me in check?

nI knew I was rude, but I headed to the meeting room, ignoring her silent bow.

nI felt very bad somehow.

n“… I, Aristia la Monique, am honored to see you, the Sun of the Empire. ”

n“Sit down.”

nA servant who came in hurriedly removed the two teacups on the table. The fragrance of lavender wafting in the room bothered me, but I presented the document, trying to stay calm.

n“I’ve asked to see you because I’ve got something to tell you, Your Majesty. It has something to do with Earl Lanier.”

n“Well, I’ve been briefed about the case. Do you have something new?”

n“Yes, I think the temple seems to have been involved… ”

n“Temple?”

nHis tone indicated that he was not interested, but I tried to ignore it and explain why.

nWhile he was listening to me for a while, he said, drawing his brows a bit, “What you told me makes sense, but I think it needs a little more investigation.”

n“Your Majesty.”

n“Don’t you know that the emperor should not interfere with the temple recklessly?”

n“… ”

n“So, just shut up and wait a little longer. I will instruct them to notify the Monique family of the results as soon as there is progress in the investigation.”

n“… Okay, Your Majesty. ”

nHe cut me off coldly, which made my heart jolt because I had an ominous feeling that he might close the case without further investigation.

nSuddenly, I was upset towards him. This was not only an investigation of those who tried to harm not only me but also the Monique family that had been loyal to the imperial family for generations. How can he deal with it lightly? He once told me he would pass over the incident, but how can he change his mind now?

nI didn’t expect he would think of it as a priority, but when he seemed to give me the impression that he was not as serious about the investigation as before, I immediately fell down.

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nI broke into a hollow smile because I was not only abandoned by the noble faction but also by the pro-emperor faction and the imperial family.

n“Oh, and… ”

n“Yes, please go ahead.”

n“… Nothing. Okay, let me take care of it like that. Do you have anything else to say? ”

nI looked at him blankly. Come to think of it, he only asked business at some point, touching his forehead as if I was annoying.

nI felt even more bad when I noticed his cold expression. No matter how loyal the Monique has been to the imperial family, does he think my family is just one of numerous noble families?

n“… No, I don’t, Your Majesty.”

n“Got it.”

n“… May I leave now, Your Majesty?”

n“Yes, please.”

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