The words Amara said felt like a stab in their hearts. Carina's hands trembled around Amara's. "Dear...? What makes you say that?" Amara gazed down at the floor, trying not to waver in guilt under their terrified looks.
Amara remembered that Eleanor confronted the maids who knew about the affair between her sister and her fiancé. And oh boy, she was really mad. 'I would be mad too if that's the case. But I wouldn't go so far as to try to poison someone for it... I'd do something worse!' Humiliating them and making them feel guilty over their mistakes was definitely better—a taste of their own medicine.
Trying to hide the sly smirk on her lips, she carefully looked at Carina. "I confronted the maids; they said that Christine and the Crown Prince are secretly dating behind my back. I could never afford to be married to a man who does not love me—and prefers my sister instead. No matter how much I loved the Crown Prince, I could never let myself suffer over such a man." The determination bewildered the married couple, causing Harley's hand around Amara's shoulder to slowly lose its grip.
A small gasp left Amara's lips when she was engulfed by a hug. "I'm proud of you. Thank you for telling us. It must've been hard to cope with this truth." Harley's words left Amara's mouth gaping, yet she slowly returned the hug. 'It wasn't really THAT hard, considering all of this drama is nothing to me.' Amara's thoughts betrayed her thirst to watch the unfolding drama between the royal family and the duke because of this lovely affair.
Despite her villainous thoughts, a rising warmth took over her chest— the feeling was pleasant yet unfamiliar to her. 'They're proud of me...' Living in a poor life like Amara, the word proud seems a bit foreign to her. No matter how big that achievement is, the word proud never seem to pass through her ears and heart.
"I am not certain of what I will do from now on. Breaking an engagement to a royal family is extremely difficult." Amara keeps up her act of being pitiful, her inner self begging for her parents to fall for it so she doesn't have to take on more work.
I mean, come on! Give this gal some slack. Amara's hand was suddenly snatched by Carina. She gave her full attention to the mother, who gave her a determined yet adoring look. "Do not worry about that, my child. Your father and I will take care of all of this; things must've been really difficult for you." Amara's face visibly softened at Carina's words, and she couldn't help but give the mother a tight hug. Carina didn't hesitate to reciprocate the gesture. "Thank you for everything, Mother." It was weird to be saying this as an orphaned child, but Amara couldn't help but adore Carina's caring nature toward her children. Even though Amara wasn't Eleanor, she knew deep down that the villainess loved her mother too.
"If the gods are truly pleased with us, I'll be taking the legacy of our family," Amara said seriously after breaking the hug with Carina. She felt a reassuring pat on her shoulders. "I'm glad, Eleanor. At least someone will take care of the dukedom when this old man is too old to even move." Amara gave a chuckle. "But you're strong as a horse."
Carina gave a small smile at this. "It is a relief that you'll be inheriting our dukedom, considering you're supposedly meant to be an empress, and Christine has secured my old position at the Divine Temple."
Amara's eyes widened in acknowledgment, remembering the plot in a quick second. 'Geez, I forgot she's a Saintess too.' Unlike Carina, she was also blessed with the power of light. Although Christine has more abundant power compared to her mother, it was stated that the gods had personally blessed her more, making many greedy people try to sway her, hoping to have a share of her power—for the next generation.
'I guess with all of that type of power, you can have everything. Even a married man. Speaking of married men, she already did!' Technically, even the Crown Prince can't resist falling for Christine. 'What a fucking beta male.' Shaking her head, she refocused on Carina. "I think it would be best if I retire for the night; I apologize for tarnishing my chambers."
Harley gave Amara a reassuring pat on the back. "Do not worry, child. I have given orders to make your new one comfortable."
Amara only gave a soft nod and walked off—leaving the couple to think their own thoughts about her upcoming future. Despite the bitterness in Amara's gut, which made her uncomfortable with the fact that she had made herself pitiful in front of someone, she most definitely needed it for her future. This time, she wouldn't get herself looped into another cycle, and she definitely wouldn't let anyone carve her path other than herself.
'I'm not letting anyone fucking walk all over me, especially with that goddamn system.'
—
It was hard to hide all the time. After giving excuses, Heisenberg finally found a perfect one to give the Duke just so he could bring Christine along with him: a trip to another kingdom, a conference where he could bring a Saintess with him. Eleanor, who was supposedly the better option to stay at his side at these events, was insistent on joining him, so he needed to do what he had to do.
"I just hope the poison doesn't harm Eleanor that much; it supposedly just makes her catch a fever for a few days." He turned his attention to the huge window in the guest room he was in, in the Kingdom of Hadelia. It was their neighboring kingdom, and he came here in peace. Recently, there had been a few disagreements between their kingdoms. As a Crown Prince, he came here to clear up any misunderstandings along the way. Stress was getting to him, he thought. He could feel the bundle of nerves in his body twitch and tremble each time he tried to reason with the Emperor here, just so he could stop the war. It wasn't like he was doing this because they were short on military resources or because their kingdom couldn't fight back. He simply wanted peace for both empires. 'Not to mention, even if we did win, it would leave many damages that would be difficult to fix, and our people would be in danger.'
He sighed, rubbing his temples due to a headache. He jolted a bit when he heard a soft knock on his door. Hugging the robes around his body tightly, he went to the door and opened it gently. His eyes lit up instantly, brighter than any light in the cold night. It was Christine, wearing a hood over her head. "May I come in, my love?" Her soft voice made him shiver down his spine as he opened the door wide for her to come in.
Thinking that nobody saw this exchange, an engaged prince was mingling with his supposed sister-in-law. Unfortunately, someone did. The maid had a scowl on her face and eventually went to someone to report her findings.
—
"What a fool. Bringing his mistress into our empire, what does he think of our kingdom? Does he think it's something he can play around with, like girls, when he's engaged to Eleany?" The maid had her head bowed down as she listened to the Emperor's ramblings. Emperor Kaiser, a young tyrant, sat on his throne with a scowl on his face. "To think that I used to be friends with him." He sneered in disgust, "Christine, of all things? Eleany's sister. Fuck, he doesn't really have any taste."
He gave a long, tired sigh. "I'm just worried about how Eleany will take all of this. I can't just rush her with all of this information. Quite frankly, she loves Heisenberg dearly." Mumbling the last few words to himself, he couldn't help but frown. 'Just what did she see in him?'
'Why him, and not me?'
—
"If you don't shut the fuck up, I will seriously kill myself before I can even prove that I don't need any man to be independent in this society." With a pillow wrapped around her ears, she gritted her teeth due to the annoying voice from this twink system.
[COULD YOU NOT JOKE ABOUT THOSE CERTAIN THINGS?]
"Who said I was joking?"
[...]
"Look, I know you're upset because apparently, I'm 'drifting away' to my own sister and I won't be able to save her, and the world would reset again." Removing the pillow from her ear, she sat up and faced the system with a determined look. "But I gotta look out for myself; I can't just worry about other people when my future is not safe itself. I'll proceed with this 'mission' of yours when I get things together in shape, on my own terms. Then I'll give a fuck about that Saintess of yours, alright?"
[Does that mean you're willing to help us?]
Amara sighed, "Do I have a choice? I'm basically stuck here; I might as well give it a shot."
[Well, there are some adjustments that need to be made.]
Giving the system a sassy look, she asked, "And that is?"
[As your assigned system, I will assure you that I will be on your side the whole journey!]
"Like some type of RPG game?"
[I guess if you put it that way. But yes! I can assist you anytime if we make a mutual connection!]
"Mutual connection?"
[It is where you accept me as your system! That way, you can have multiple benefits for your mission.]
"Uh, how do I do that?"
[Just accept me...?]
"..." The two stared at each other.
[IS ACCEPTING ME THAT HARD?!]
"Well, if you put it that way, you're making me feel guilty."
[YOU PRICK!]
The night went on, Amara drifting off to sleep, while the system's cries went deaf to her ears.
—
Morning came, and Heisenberg dressed in fine clothing—resembling a true future emperor. Standing next to him was his lover. People just don't know it yet, but he will make them see how great Christine is. He was shoving Eleanor to the back of his mind, carelessly thinking that she would forgive him if he talked to her properly about the matter.
They arrived at the meeting, and after a few introductions, they began conversing. An hour had already passed, and things were going well in Heisenberg's favor. Beside him, Christine was truly eye-catching. People in the room seemed unable to stop staring at her figure, which made Heisenberg frown a bit. He reached his hand out to Christine's underneath the table.
While everyone's busy discussing matters, Duke Fernaj's eyes squinted a bit, seeing the suspicious duo beside him holding hands. He raised his eyebrow at this, glancing at the Emperor, who was looking at him with a knowing gaze. Kaiser merely rolled his eyes, sticking his tongue out. Fernaj glanced away, dumbfounded. It seems like he's not the only one who knows about this affair.
Even through this peaceful morning, someone will always ruin it. Make this day an example for Heisenberg.
A sudden bang from the door startled everyone. A knight, wearing armor from Heisenberg's kingdom—Azure Isles—entered. Heisenberg stood up instinctively, his face scrunching up in displeasure. "What brings you here?" he commanded, his tone lingering with authority and power.
The knight did not flinch at his tone; instead, he gave him a stoic look, yet in his eyes, a fire ignited in fury. Nobles from Hadelia were flabbergasted at the behavior. A knight seemingly can't hide his manners in front of the Crown Prince, the future Emperor! In a monotone voice, he said, "I came here due to the orders of Emperor Jonathan." Heisenberg perked up at the mention of his father and waited for the knight to continue—his calm demeanor betrayed the dread he felt in his stomach. If it wasn't weird enough, this knight had clearly disrespected him.
"The Emperor and Duke Hawthorne have requested your presence back in the Azure Isles." Pulling a scroll from his pocket, the knight cleared his throat and began to read the contents. "Due to unexpected issues, Duke Hawthorne reported that he will be filing a formal complaint against the Crown Prince, Heisenberg. The complaint, to be presented before the Royal Court, alleges infidelity on the part of the Crown Prince, specifically citing an adulterous relationship with Lady Christine, the younger sister of the Crown Prince's betrothed, Lady Eleanor Hawthorne. Duke Hawthorne has expressed deep disappointment and outrage at this egregious breach of trust and vows to pursue this matter vigorously to ensure justice is served and the honor of his family is upheld. Further details will be released following the court proceedings."
Gasps rang inside the room, bewildered nobles giving the Azure Isles duo disgusted looks. Murmurs from the people made the room noisy, causing Heisenberg to lose his sanity at the constant whispers around him. Christine had her hand over her mouth, stopping herself from breaking down in front of everyone. Meanwhile, Kaiser gave a menacing smirk. "Expected from Harley, always quick on his feet," he cackled loudly, fueling the last remnants of sanity in Heisenberg's bones. His breathing became ragged, his eyes wandering everywhere yet avoiding eye contact with the nobles.
—
If there is something Harley really liked, other than loving his wife and children endlessly and raising loyal people in his Dukedom—humiliating people who dared to mess with his family. If he can't beat the Crown Prince into a plump, humiliating is what he will bring to the table. He couldn't care less anymore, even if Christine is with him; she had it coming. He raised his children right, and he knows that Christine is aware of the consequences of getting herself into this betrayal against Eleanor. He glanced at King Jonathan, who sat on his throne, clearly bothered by the events. He hid his sly grin.
He will most definitely lavish each second of Heisenberg's suffering.
End of Chapter Two.