The Villainous Family Loves Me Too Much!

‘Is it because it’s dark? I’m feeling a bit disoriented.’

Having secretly slipped out of the banquet hall, I couldn’t carry a fire, so I ended up wasting a lot of time wandering around aimlessly.

Fortunately, no one paid me any attention since I was in disguise, but still.

Right now, I’m disguised as a maid assisting the Archduke and Archduchess of Felosite.

And the reason for this is…

After receiving the invitation to the Crown Prince’s investiture ceremony from the Emperor, Lucian and I decided to take this opportunity to gain entry into the imperial palace.

Our goals for today were to check on the Empress’s condition, and if possible, obtain the diary she had shown me previously.

The magic tool we used for this disguise was this transformation mask, currently being tested at the Felosite Magic Research Institute.

After the subject wears and removes the mask, if someone else puts it on immediately after, they will appear as the subject to others.

Although still in testing, its effects were astonishing.

So Sylonne and I each wore one – me as a maid, Sylonne as myself – to enter the palace.

After wasting too much time, as I was surveying my surroundings heading towards the Empress’s quarters, I heard this:

“So now I’m just her maid, is that it?”

A woman’s sharp voice grumbling came from somewhere.

Fearing she might spot me, I quickly hid behind a column.

“To have me do such menial errands. If I weren’t an Imperial Princess, I’d be the Archduchess of Felosite!”

Casually mentioning the Archduchess of Felosite, her tone sounded somehow familiar.

In the faint light, I glimpsed her face handing a small vial to another woman in front of the Empress’s room.

‘Why is Priscilla here? And what’s that vial?’

After seemingly completing her task, Priscilla left the Empress’s quarters without entering.

‘Should I follow Priscilla or not?’

I briefly debated following her to find out why she was here.

But I couldn’t lose sight of my original purpose.

I had to uncover what Liam and Beatrice were plotting.

To do that, I needed to know the Empress’s current state and obtain the diary. I couldn’t afford any distractions.

So instead of the smooth stone floor where footsteps would echo, I quietly approached the Empress’s quarters by pushing through the bushes.

* * *

“I truly did not expect you to come, Archduke.”

Liam extended his hand to Lucian in a warm welcome.

“Congratulations on your investiture, Your Highness.”

“Hahaha, you still won’t call me Crown Prince, I see.”

Liam forced his brightest smile, but truthfully he couldn’t stand sitting regally under everyone’s gaze while Lucian and Karena seemed so unruffled.

When Gabriel was alive, Gabriel outshone him. But now he was pushed by his own younger sister and brother-in-law.

‘How dare some vulgar Felosite and banished imperial princess act so poised?’

How could they smile so boldly?

“Long time no see, Karena.”

At Liam’s greeting, Karena simply nodded in silence without a word.

“Now you won’t even speak to your elder brother?”

“Regrettably, my wife has come down with a severe cold, so I must offer congratulations in her stead.”

After exchanging greetings with the couple, Liam gradually drifted away to receive congratulations from the other nobles.

“Phew, that was a close one.”

After Liam left, Sylonne, disguised as Karena, let out a sigh of relief, prompting Lucian to quickly cover her mouth while scowling.

“Say no more. The Crown Princess is watching.”

Sylonne looked up to see Lucian was right – Beatrice, seated beside the Emperor, was glaring right at them.

Meeting Beatrice’s gaze, Sylonne forced her head down, and Beatrice abruptly turned away.

“Why is she acting like that? Is she holding a grudge against the sister?”

Unlike the flustered Sylonne, Lucian curled his lips in a satisfied smile.

“It likely means our plan is working properly. Enraging those two fools to focus only on the situation in the banquet hall.”

* * *

I took slow, careful steps forward.

Wearing the light footwear maids use for chores, my feet made no sound on the marble floor.

There were hardly any attendants in the Empress’s quarters.

‘Were they all deployed for the investiture ceremony?’

The number of staff attending the Empress was suspiciously low.

‘Even considering the Crown Prince’s investiture, completely stripping the Empress’s quarters of her maids like this is unthinkable.’

Oddly, neither guards nor handmaids were in sight.

Although I didn’t enter through the main door, slipping through the bushes and opening a window to get inside, not a single maid crossed my path, which felt unsettling.

Then I spotted a woman exiting the Empress’s bedchamber.

It was Marchioness Tasslerope, the head lady-in-waiting who had long served the Empress.

Shortly after, another woman who appeared to be a handmaid approached the Marchioness and whispered to her quietly.

“My lady, shouldn’t you still attend the banquet tonight?”

“No. As one attending the Empress, how could I laugh and make merry at such an event? Did you get the medicine?”

The maid produced a small purple vial from her dress sleeve and handed it over. The Marchioness peered into the vial and sighed heavily.

“The Crown Princess has so kindly procured this medicine… Yet Her Majesty shows no signs of regaining consciousness…”

“Surely she will awaken, knowing of Her Highness’s sincere care. There is no way the Empress will remain asleep.”

“It seems His Majesty doesn’t believe so. Considering he has already enforced staff reductions.”

The Marchioness tightly closed her eyes, as if reining in her emotions.

‘Beatrice brought medicine for the Empress?’

From their conversation, it seemed Beatrice had delivered medicine to the Empress. But there’s no way Beatrice would help the Empress, who is only an obstacle, not an aid, to her.

‘That medicine is definitely harming Her Majesty.’

And the one who delivered it on Beatrice’s behalf was Priscilla.

Then essentially, Priscilla is currently working for Beatrice.

‘So Her Majesty has been unconscious and bedridden since that day?’

Hearing the approaching footsteps of the Marchioness and maid, I quickly hid behind a decoration.

Thankfully, in the dim hallway, the two passed by without noticing me.

‘When I was imprisoned, Her Majesty mentioned the diary and suspicions about Beatrice and Liam while speaking to me.’

And Colin was in my room when she conveyed that to me.

‘Colin must have relayed our conversation to Beatrice.’

Beatrice probably took measures to prevent the Empress from taking the stand with that diary.

That measure was presumably poisoning her with that medicine.

‘Then where is the diary?’

Slowly poisoning the Empress wouldn’t be too difficult once she set her mind to it.

But finding the diary the Empress had so preciously hidden wouldn’t be easy.

I had searched the Empress’s study earlier, but found no diary in her desk drawers or bookshelves.

‘Then perhaps…’

If my memory serves, the diary is likely in that very place.

I hurriedly exited the Empress’s quarters and headed towards the banquet hall area.

The place filled with memories of the Empress and Gabriel.

Two years ago, the place Gabriel and I had painstakingly created as a gift for Her Majesty.

We had a treasure hunt there, exchanging gifts.

Of course, we had secretly delivered the Empress’s gift there too.

Only the three of us knew about that place.

As I was looking around near the banquet hall trying to find the path to that location,

Suddenly, I felt someone tap my shoulder.

“Hey, why are you loitering out here like that?”