Chapter 94

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Dealing with the Demon King was done, but improvements would take a bit longer to show. I also had to announce the new king of the Kingdom of Altain, and gather the fleeing nobles while stationing imperial soldiers. The Church began to declare Princess Lin as the new queen, but they quickly sent soldiers to various areas occupied by the demons, leaving only minimal forces behind.

The remaining demons weren’t that many, so it didn’t take long to deal with them as much as it did to identify them. As we cleaned up demon presence in the regions, and while nobles were thinking of taking advantage of the situation, a month surprisingly passed.

During this time, I barely saw Yulia. She was busy, yes, but it was also hard for me to see her face. As I was swinging the Sacred Sword a few times dressed in maid attire at the training grounds, I let out a small sigh. I asked if I needed to return the sword, and the answer I got was that I could hold onto it until I kicked the bucket, so the sword was still in my grasp.

From the Church’s perspective, it made more sense for the sword to be in the hands of the hero rather than within their organization, so it was an understandable response. I swung the sword a few more times. Honestly, I had no idea if Lilian, Princess Chloe, or Yulia liked me.

While I could somewhat wrap my head around Lilian, how could Princess Chloe or Yulia possibly like me, since we met for the first time at the Academy? Well, Yulia is a reincarnator, so she must have seen me before, but considering she talks about realizing her feelings for the first time in this life, I couldn’t help but think she wouldn’t have liked the previous version of me.

So what’s different this time around? Is it that I’m a ‘reincarnated person’? Nah, that feels a bit weird. I was still me in the previous lives, right? Why would things suddenly change now? Or maybe I just didn’t reincarnate until the previous lives?

No, that also seems strange. While I was pondering deeply, Yulia’s case suddenly popped into my mind. I recalled that she mentioned recalling memories from her past life relatively recently, even though she is a reincarnator. Perhaps neither of us, Yulia nor I, hadn’t awakened our previous lives during this timeline.

If that’s the case, it makes sense. There’s a so-called ‘original story,’ and it seems like Yulia and I were cast as the villains. If we hadn’t recalled our past life memories, we probably would have followed the villain’s path as we were meant to. Thinking back, it would make sense that I wouldn’t have gained Yulia’s affection.

So when does Yulia’s reincarnation take place? Considering the original story is in the form of an otome game, she must have been tied to someone. Given that she claims not to have known love, she must have been single until before then.

“Hmm, that’s not it. In reality, I had even married Prince Jeron. Sure, I reincarnated before our wedding night.”

After such a long time, I gathered the courage to mention this to Yulia, and she lightly shook her head in disbelief.

“Didn’t I say I felt love for the first time?”

“Yeah. But with Prince Jeron, it was purely political. We had no real feelings for each other.”

“Is that so?”

“Yep. But your previous guess was correct. You and Lilian have always been antagonistic towards me. So this time you being all chummy feels pretty odd.”

“Hmm…”

Honestly, I had a lot to say about that, but it wasn’t just my secret to reveal, so I couldn’t spill the beans so easily. As I kept my mouth shut, Yulia looked a bit disappointed.

“Hey, I told you my biggest secret. You’re not gonna share yours?”

“It’s not just my secret.”

“Well… if that’s the case, I guess there’s nothing to be done. It’s not like I wanted to trouble you to hear my secret.”

Casually said, Yulia claimed she had something to do and dashed off. I felt a bit off about it. I was the one finding it hard to face her, yet she appeared to be avoiding me—it felt unsettling. There was definitely something there.

From Yulia’s perspective, it must be hilarious. She puts in effort to steer clear of me, and I end up feeling uneasy instead. Honestly, it’s a bit funny because I’ve always been a lifelong singleton throughout my reincarnations, and I had no clue what to do in these situations. I used to be confident in controlling my emotions, but now I can’t even handle this tiny bit. It was just ridiculous.

Truth be told, I shouldn’t be overthinking this. In three days, I was supposed to wrap up my plans in the Kingdom of Altain and return to the Empire. Before that, I should prepare a present for Lilian. They say the famous local specialty in Altain is tea leaves, so if I get those, she would greatly appreciate it. After all, she really likes tea.

It would be better to prepare a gift for Princess Chloe too. Although our relationship is uncertain, it’s better to be safe than sorry. Even if I do try to woo her, it’s good to keep a friendly vibe, so she doesn’t go berserk.

If she tries to take my head, I’ll probably need to escape with Lilian. Her rage probably wouldn’t just be directed at me.

I decided to gather two boxes of Altain tea leaves. A nicely wrapped tea gift would be appropriate for our current relationship.

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While preparing for the improvement ceremony, Chloe often found herself thinking of Catherine. The image of her wielding a sword in front of her. It was that valiant sight that captured Chloe’s heart. To be honest, many had showcased their strength before her, but none did it with the beauty and elegance of Catherine. Her rapid strikes with twin swords felt like a goddess descending down as a priestess.

With black shoes on, white stockings hugging her ankles and calves, and the wide skirt of her maid outfit swirling, her delicate white wrists swung the sword like a dancer. Just thinking about it made her heart race. It was the first time a woman made her feel this way, igniting desires she had never experienced before.

As Chloe hummed while sorting through documents, one paper caught her attention. It contained information about Jeron. What was she supposed to do with this guy? Chloe pondered as she slowly examined the document.

Honestly, Chloe had lost interest in political power by now. So even if Jeron achieved great feats upon his return, she didn’t care much. However, she wanted to prevent him from ascending to the throne. She dreaded the future she saw playing out under Jeron’s rule.

While Chloe wasn’t particularly patriotic, she certainly didn’t want to see her country crumble while she was still alive. Obviously, with the formidable Marquis of Portus still alive, the Empire wouldn’t collapse any time soon. But regrettably, Jeron was the type to bring disaster to the continent. The mere thought of him becoming the emperor of the strongest nation was alarming.

Naturally, she wasn’t the only one aware of this. Jeron himself harbored ambitions for power, and the high-ranking officials of the Empire were aware of this too. Meyer, the first prince, likely knew it as well. Meyer Selvius was overflowing with potential yet still hadn’t ascended to the title of crown prince because of his indecisive nature, while Jeron was equally capable but prideful. The worries of the emperor must be weighing heavier by the day.

In reality, Meyer wasn’t the ideal candidate for emperor; otherwise, so many nobles wouldn’t support Princess Chloe. Nevertheless, Chloe didn’t want to crush her siblings just to climb to the top, so she remained silent.

Letting out a small sigh, Chloe casually flipped through the documents detailing Jeron’s activities during the war. If it had been a few months ago, she would have concocted all sorts of schemes reading these papers, but now, her thoughts had cleared, merely worrying about the future of the Empire.

While Jeron was distasteful to her, stirring up some scheme was not her job. She figured she’d toss these papers to Meyer, and he could figure it out himself. With that thought, Chloe passed the documents to Meyer through a maid and started to handle the remaining papers.

Honestly, the remaining papers were just preparations for the improvement ceremony, so it wouldn’t take long. All that was left was to prepare the dress and jewelry for Catherine.

“Wonder if she’ll accept my partner request….”

Putting aside the finished paperwork and slumping into the chair, Chloe stared blankly at the ceiling. She already couldn’t wait for the day Catherine would be improved.

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