“If Empress Sienna had not been pregnant, we would not have needed Count Ferrer.”

All those who Arya planted in the palace were gone. What she had been preparing step by step was ruined by that purge.

She wondered how Carl found out about her people. The fake identity was caught because they were in a hurry to bring them in and didn’t pay close attention to perfecting it. Another problem was the lack of education about Leipsden.

‘That sly tiger is the problem. How the hell did he know about my relationship with Castro? There’s no way a secret could have leaked out.’

No matter how hard she squeezed her brains, she couldn’t think of the exact reason.

She didn’t know that she had provided a clue. When she did not like Valore and Sienna getting close and tried to get her to the battlefield to kill her and Carl, Sienna heard Castro language from her enemies and guessed the relationship between them and Arya.

It was inconceivable to Arya that Sienna remembered the faces of some of Arya’s close associates because she remembered them from her past before her return, so that she could trace Castro’s knights based on information about them.

Things went wrong and Arya had to spend more resources. And she had to change her original plan significantly.

However, it didn’t matter if she had to throw away billions if she succeeded in this job. There was never too high a price for buying an empire.

Fortunately, the news of Sienna’s pregnancy was enough to attract Bluebell and Kenyon. With the help of the House of Ferrer, who had a hand in trade and owned several large commercial ships, she was sure to make her plan a success.

“Do you have to let him know? I’ll do anything you want. But don’t tell my father…”

“We don’t have time, as you know. Empress Sienna is pregnant. The Emperor will not be able to ignore your disgrace forever. That’s why I need Count Ferrer’s help.”

“But…”

When Bluebell hesitated, Arya clasped her hand.

“I’ll talk to him myself, so you don’t have to worry at all.”

Arya comforted the hesitant Bluebell and told a servant to put in a message for Kenyon to come to visit her residence.

*

“I heard you called me.”

Count Ferrer faced Arya with an annoyed look. Under the present circumstances, they were temporarily holding hands because of their relationship with the emperor, Carl, but Count Ferrer never liked Arya.

Rather, after rolling in rough political circles during her reign, he knew Arya’s insidious motives better than anyone else. What wicked and cruel snakes were playing behind her beautiful face. That’s why he never let go of his suspicions even now when he was holding hands with her.

After Valore, who was her pawn, died, many people considered her to have fallen off power, but Count Ferrer thought the opposite. It wasn’t Valore who supported her, but Arya who lent her strength to him.

Moreover, even now, her influence in the Southern aristocracy was never small. She was a predator who took a breath for a moment and watched her prey, never a defeated herbivore.

Even if a beast failed its hunting attempt, it must not be ignored with its teeth and claws. You never know when it’ll catch the next prey by the neck.

“I’m here to talk to you about something, Count Ferrer. Did you hear anything from Empress Bluebell?”

“No, I just heard that the Dowager Empress had something to say.”

“Is that so? Oh, sit down first. Would you like some tea?”

As soon as Count Ferrer nodded, her maid came out with tea.

“Salmon’s Orchid tea. I’ve heard from Empress Bluebell that Count Ferrer enjoys this.”

“I can’t drink it often because it’s so precious. This one is superior in color.”

“Can I use just anything to serve Count Ferrer?”

He savored the aroma and took a sip. The tea’s unique bitter taste and neat aroma soaked his mouth. He carefully laid down his teacup and asked Arya.

“May I ask you why you called me now?”

“The Count is very impatient.”

Arya said, beckoning the maids out of the guest room. There were only two people left in the spacious guest room now.

Kenyon was nervous about Arya’s behavior. Seeing that even her own maids were dismissed, it was clear that it was not a small issue.

“I’ve heard that Count Ferrer has been clashing with the Emperor in every way these days. His Majesty’s opposition to the rescue of Count Zebata and Baron Morrll is formidable.”

Count Zebata and Baron Morrill were people of Ferrer’s territory, and they were especially close to the Ferrers because they were linked by political marriage. Coincidentally, their names came up in the list during the search for the real culprit in the Sienna treason case, and they were immediately imprisoned.

As they were his strong supporters, Count Ferrer explained to Carl that they were framed, but he refused to comply with his request, saying the evidence was clear.

“Yes, and he is even moving the trial date to an earlier date…”

He gulped down his tea at the thought of it.

“Then do you know the story?”

“What story are you talking about?”

Kenyon asked back as if he didn’t know, but when she saw the deep wrinkles in his forehead, it was clear that he knew clearly what Arya was referring to.

“There has been no official announcement, but there has been a rumor that Empress Sienna has conceived. Well, even the city’s vagabonds know it, so there’s no way Count Ferrer doesn’t know about it.”

Count Ferrer’s face crumpled.

Not only that. He even heard that the child had a nickname called Sharillo. A name meaning child with a light.

Bluebell, who had conceived earlier than Sienna, did not receive a child’s name. It was an implicit sign that Carl had in mind the child of Sienna, not Bluebell.

“It seems that Count Ferrer is strongly against the Emperor.”

“What does that mean? Even if the First Empress had conceived, the Second Empress was first…”

“Hahaha!”

Arya burst out laughing at his words. Count Ferrer looked at her with a disapproving look. What on earth made her laugh?

“Hahaha… I’m sorry. I didn’t know Count Ferrer would say such a naive thing. You are the one who should be listening to everything in the royal family more than anyone else, what do we do when you are so stupid that you have been missing everything? Well, I understand. It’s easy to see other people’s back, but you can’t see your own back at all.”

“I don’t know what the Empress is trying to say.”

“I’ve heard that Empress Bluebell is still a flower that hasn’t been touched.”

Count Ferrer’s cup of tea was lowered roughly, and the tea overflowed and soaked his hand.

An untouched flower. To call the empress, who held the seeds of the emperor, a virgin who had not slept with a man. It was a ridiculous story.

“Who dares?!”

“I’ve tried to catch the people who told me that, but there are too many. If you try to bring all those people to justice, there won’t be anyone left in the castle.”

“There are people who tell such lies?! Empress Bluebell has the Crown Prince!”

“Oh, no. You haven’t heard from your daughter yet.”

“What…?”

“It’s true that Empress Sienna has conceived, but Empress Bluebell’s pregnancy is a lie.”

“False pregnancy? How dare you say such a cruel thing even if you are an Empress! How dare you!”

Even though Count Ferrer was angry, Arya continued her words without a single change of expression.

“You don’t want to believe it, but it’s true. Bluebell is not pregnant. It doesn’t make sense that the Emperor and the Empress, who never slept together, are expecting a child. Unless she has a child of a god.”

“…”

Count Ferrer couldn’t answer Arya’s words, shaking his whole body. He seemed to be paralyzed because what he heard was so ridiculous.

“What I’m telling you is not as unreliable as those stories going around. I heard this directly from Bluebell. She said she was pregnant out of spite, but she didn’t even share the bed with the Emperor. That doesn’t make sense. A virgin is pregnant. That makes no sense.”

Count Ferrer gnawed his teeth at her incredible words. The crunching sound was vivid.

He tried to get up at any moment. It was to talk to Bluebell and ask if it was true. But Arya dissuaded him from standing up.

“If you’re going to blame Empress Bluebell, don’t. In fact, it’s not about you and the Emperor, it’s about Count Ferrer and the Emperor.”

“What are you talking about? I mean, the reason why the Empress couldn’t get pregnant is an issue between me and Carl…the Emperor’s problem?”

“Why do you think the Emperor does not sleep with Bluebell? Count Ferrer doesn’t think the Emperor simply avoided sleeping to protect her femininity, do you?”

“…”

“The Count knows best that the Ferrers have been estranged since the Emperor’s ascension.”

Yes. Count Ferrer was feeling it with his skin more than anyone else.

As Arya’s power shrank and he got stronger, he often bumped into Carl. It was certainly related to his disregard for the life of Count Zebata and Baron Morrill.

“I’ve heard that the Emperor has long been interested in strengthening the imperial power.”

Kenyon nodded at her words. Once he had the same idea as Carl. In order for the empire to be strengthened, the imperial power was of paramount importance.

Especially, when the power of Emperor Rodbius and Valore was transferred to the hands of Arya, Kenyon felt it with his skin as he watched closely how messy the administration of state affairs was getting. The imperial knights’ ability has fallen to the bottom, and large amounts of taxes have been withdrawn under the pretext of useless public works. In addition, the number of low-ranking aristocrats surged with all kinds of excuses.