“I locked her up in her palace for now. I’ll do whatever you want. Even if you wanted me to execute her in the main square, I would.”

At Carl’s words, Sienna shook her head.

“What are you talking about? She’s the one that is pregnant with your child…”

“No. I’ve never slept with Bluebell. She lied for some reason.”

“…”

Sienna couldn’t hide her surprise. False pregnancy. It was such a big lie. On the other hand, she felt sorry because she understood why Bluebell told such a lie.

She could also understand why she wanted to drink the tea. She was trying to cover up the false pregnancy by accusing Sienna of poisoning her and miscarrying because she could not continue her false pregnancy.

But there was one thing that didn’t make sense.

“But you knew that. That she wasn’t pregnant. Then why would she do this?”

“I don’t understand either. Why did she try to poison you directly?”

Sienna shook her head at his words and said, “I changed the cup. I think she was trying to charge me with poisoning…”

“Why would you do such a dangerous thing?!”

Carl screamed. Feeling the pain of his heart being torn while she was asleep, he had no choice but to reprove her for her reckless behavior.

“I thought it wouldn’t be too dangerous if she intended to drink it herself. I thought it’d be a stomachache or a headache at least… I don’t think that drug was right for me.”

When Carl’s expression didn’t get any better, Sienna swept down his arm and apologized. It was only after several times that she vowed to never do such a reckless thing again that he could only let go of his anger.

“Now that I listen to your story, I understand.”

“How?”

“Bluebell tried to frame you with a charge of poison.”

Sienna nodded.

“But you knew that. That she wasn’t pregnant.”

“Yes, but only I knew it. She must have believed in her father’s power. No matter how much I claim to have never done anything with her, it would have been very complicated if Count Ferrer had other aristocrats on his back and insisted on you to be guilty. Moreover, it is difficult to find and show evidence that she was not pregnant, so she could simply claim that I am lying for you.”

Sienna’s expression hardened coldly at his explanation. It was all the more real that Bluebell tried to do something horrible. Carl also said with a stiff face.

“I thought she was just innocent, but she is just as evil as her father.”

Until then, Carl had seemed to have sisterly affections toward Bluebell, but now he was shaking as if he was sick of her.

Arya scratched the handle of the sofa with her fingernail tip and agonized.

“That bitch has nine lives. I wish she hadn’t opened her eyes.”

She said such scary words out of her mouth without fear. Nevertheless, those who worked beside her were not at all agitated. For them, this kind of talk came from Arya so often that to them it was a familiar routine.

“What did Empress Bluebell feed the bitch?”

“It is called Depenhy.”

Her maid added that Depenhy gives stomachaches to the normal people and risks miscarriage if eaten by pregnant women.

“Why’d you give her drugs that wouldn’t kill her? It would have been more effective to give poison if she was going to do this anyway. It’s not even hard to get poison.”

Whether Bluebell’s nanny sneaked poison or medicine that causes a stomach ache, the crime of hurting a member of the royal family called for execution. If the nanny had tried to poison Sienna at the risk of her own life, it would have been better for Bluebell to have given poison to Sienna than to give her some drug for abdominal pain like a joke.

Of course, no one thought that it was Bluebell’s nanny’s solo action.

“I don’t think it was because she was kind-hearted.”

There were too many strange issues.

“So when I congratulated her pregnancy, she didn’t look happy at all.”

At that time Arya thought it was because Bluebell was jealous of the affections between Carl and Sienna, but now that she recalled again, maybe that was not the only reason.

When Arya explained to her about the herbs that pregnant women should be careful of, Bluebell was not surprised, but rather showed a bright face. Moreover, how many times did she ask about the existence of such herbs?

“Depenhy could lose a child…hahaha, that’s what happened!”

Arya burst out laughing.

Bluebell’s room, which didn’t smell of love affairs, the emperor who only visits Sienna’s palace every night, and the emperor who doesn’t react to the news of her pregnancy. On top of that, considering the effects of the Depenhy, it was easy to connect the dots.

Having been relieved of her frustration, she couldn’t stop laughing. Arya felt like heaven was still on her side.

“But I’ll still have to check.”

A suspicious smile drew over Arya’s face.

*

“Your Majesty, have some of this.”

“Get away from me!”

Bluebell threw the tray containing soup to the floor. She kept crying and rejecting all meals. The worried maids tried to appease her, but to no avail.

“I miss the nanny. Get my nanny back to me now!”

Bluebell wept bitterly. The maids looked at her with embarrassed faces. How could they bring the executed nanny back, who died on charges of trying to assassinate the royal family?

“Please calm down. She’s already dead. For the sake of the baby in your stomach, have some food…”

Bluebell slapped the head maid on the cheek before she even finished talking. The sound was so loud that all the maids working there looked at her with surprised eyes.

“How dare you, bitch!”

Bluebell was very angry with the head maid. Although everyone was well aware of her bond with the nanny, it was clear that Bluebell’s current behavior was excessive.

“I’m sorry. I made a slip of the tongue. But for the heir in your womb…”

Bluebell slapped the other cheek this time. Every time she talked of the child that did not exist, she felt like she was being made fun of.

“You know it, don’t you? You must have overheard a conversation between me and the nanny!”

Bluebell felt like the head maid knew about the false pregnancy.

“I don’t like your eyes. How dare you look down on me, the empress?”

“No! I don’t look down on you. Absolutely not. You misunderstood.”

“Are you saying I was wrong? I’m sure I saw your eyes looking down on me!”

“No, that’s ridiculous…”

“What? So I’m crazy and stubborn, you bitch?”

Bluebell roared and went wild. Then she found a whip to discipline the maids.

Holding a thin, long stringed whip at the end of a hard round rod, she began to whip the head maid’s back right away. The head maid’s back and whip bumped into each other, making a chilling noise.

Bluebell, who exuded a violent spirit, was like a lost soul. The maids, frightened by the madness in her eyes, could not stop her, and only panicked anxiously until the head maid was bloodstained and unconscious.

Bluebell couldn’t keep herself sane. Everyone felt like her enemies. The only nanny who cared about her died. And that was her own fault.

But she still couldn’t admit it. So she denied her responsibility in the nanny’s death. Bluebell needed someone else to blame. As a result, she thought that everyone but herself was responsible for the death of the nanny.

She was angry at Carl for making her do this. If he had given himself to her, she wouldn’t have told such a lie.

She was also angry at Sienna, who stole Carl’s heart. Why did Sienna take the position of First Empress and torture her so much?

She was also angry at her father. He treated her like she’s useless if she didn’t give birth to the imperial heir. So Bluebell turned down all his requests for a visit. Even though he came to her palace and begged for a visit, she didn’t let him.

And lastly, she was angry with the maids who were probably despising her and laughed at her behind her back. She knew how the maids were talking among themselves behind her back. Poor empress who became violent because she was not loved by the emperor.

She was most angry at the fact that she couldn’t refute the remark at all. Carl was hers, he was hers, so why should she be treated like this?!

“Ahhhhhhh!”

Bluebell was so upset that she couldn’t even stay still. She had to vent her anger by being violent, yelling, and throwing things. That’s how she felt like she could at least breathe.