Chapter 71
Chapter 71. This is Your Last Chance, Eurene
“—Here is your medicine for today.”
At the maid’s words as she entered the room with medicine and a glass of water, Eurene, who had been lying motionless on the bed, raised herself.
Through her falling sky-blue hair, her dull green eyes revealed an unfocused gaze.
The servant placed the medicine and water on the bedside table and left the room. Soon, silence returned.
As no one’s company was allowed at the mansion in the capital, Eurene had no one to talk to at this villa.
Strange land, strange space, strange people.
All of this was the punishment imposed on her for a single night’s mistake.
“It really was a mistake. Just one night…”
That heat, that pleasure. The memory she had hoped would disappear like a dream finally became reality and overwhelmed her.
Transparent tears fell from Eurene’s pale cheeks as she clutched her stomach with one hand.
The medicine left by the maid was to remove any seed that might have taken root in her womb.
It was said to be very expensive and needed to be taken over a week, but had fewer side effects, typically used by noble families.
It was also what her mother had instructed her to take without fail before sending her daughter to the villa.
She couldn’t remember how many times they had relations that night. She was drunk on alcohol, fragrance, atmosphere, and sadness, but vaguely remembered mixing bodies until they collapsed from exhaustion.
Considering her menstrual cycle, there was a very high chance of pregnancy if she didn’t take the medicine.
Yes, a child. If she were to have a child someday, she wanted it to be his child. Brother Tatar. A child who looked just like him.
Eurene buried her face in the bed, closing her eyes as if exhausted.
Ah, if only she could never open her eyes again. She couldn’t bear the thought of living the rest of her life in this cramped villa, or the image of him living with the Empress while she was forgotten here.
After shedding tears for a long time, Eurene staggered to her feet.
How miserable she felt, diligently taking the medicine out of anxiety, even in this state.
Just as Eurene was about to tilt her head back with the medicine in hand, someone knocked on her door.
“Miss, a merchant sent by the master has arrived. May I let him in?”
“…A merchant?”
What could someone who was holed up in her room, not taking a single step outside the villa, possibly need?
At the mention that her father had sent him, Eurene’s gaze fell on the letter carelessly placed in the corner of the bedside table.
She hadn’t yet opened the letter she was supposed to check upon arriving at the villa, because she couldn’t forget her father’s devastated expression when he told her to go to the villa that day.
An angry mother, a resigned father, a brother who turned away.
She only realized she had been abandoned by her family after arriving alone at this villa.
Now she truly had no one to rely on. Not even the Emperor Emeritus who had turned his back on her.
Staggering to her feet, Eurene opened the door. After a quick grooming with the maid’s help, she headed to the reception room.
A red-haired man looked up. A look of surprise flashed across Balak’s face as he was about to offer a greeting. Now that he looked closely, wasn’t this the woman he had encountered in front of the imperial palace banquet hall on Empire Foundation Day? He seemed to have heard her name then, but to only remember now upon facing her, where on earth had he left his mind?
Sighing at his own patheticness, Balak quickly composed himself.
On the day of the Empire Foundation Day banquet, he had been half out of his mind with the pain of rejection, and hadn’t connected the dots despite hearing the name and family of the woman who had been fretting about not having an invitation.
“I am Balak Utar, head of the Valita Trading Company. Do you… remember?”
Eurene stared blankly at his face before slowly nodding.
“You’re the one who helped me before. Thank you for that.”
She expressed her gratitude in a voice that didn’t sound grateful at all. And for good reason – the moment he handed her the invitation was part of ‘that night’ which she bitterly regretted.
If only she hadn’t received that invitation. If only she hadn’t met him then…
“You said my father sent you.”
“Yes. I’ve brought some jewelry that I think you’ll like. All using the highest quality gems handled by our company.”
At Balak’s slight nod, a company employee began to lay out elaborate jewelry on the table.
As the colorful gems sparkled beautifully under the light, Eurene’s mood sank to the bottom.
What use were such dazzling gems in this remote villa that was more secluded than quiet?
Suppressing the urge to throw the jewelry before her eyes against the wall, Eurene turned her head.
“I don’t need anything, so please leave. And tell my father there’s no need to do this again.”
Contrary to her expectation that he would try to persuade her or encourage a purchase, he nodded and instructed his employee to pack up the jewelry.
Balak spoke to the maid standing in the corner.
“The master has prepared some jewelry for the servants to take good care of the young lady. We haven’t brought it in from the carriage yet, could you go with my employee to fetch it? I need to tidy this up.”
At the mention of something prepared for them, the maid nodded with a flushed face. As the maid left the reception room with the company employee, Balak grabbed the door handle and closed it as if he had been waiting for this moment.
Click.
As the thick door closed, Eurene frowned and took a step back.
“What are you doing?”
“I needed time to talk to you alone, my lady. It’s a matter that would be troublesome if it leaked out.”
Eurene’s complexion turned pale. Could it be that her dishonorable news had leaked out in the meantime? Her father had said he would take care of everything…
“I don’t know what you want, but I have nothing to tell you. And nothing to give!”
“Please calm down. I’m not here to blackmail you, but to propose a deal.”
“A deal?”
“Yes, a deal.”
Balak’s dark red eyes turned to Eurene. The thin, gloomy-faced woman was watching him warily with an anxious expression.
“Please tell me where Sefitiana is. I’ll pay whatever price you want.”
Eurene’s expression hardened. The thin fingers gripping the shawl around her shoulders began to tremble.
She didn’t expect to hear that story here.
How on earth did this man know that she knew about Sefitiana’s whereabouts? Only one person knew about it, Asha…
“Could it be that Asha…?”
Balak didn’t answer. But that alone was enough of an answer, causing Eurene to stagger and grip the back of the nearby sofa.
It was a shock to realize that even the person she believed to be her only true ally had left her.
“I am the head of the Valita Trading Company. I have the ability to fulfill whatever you desire, my lady. So please tell me what you want.”
“…I have nothing to say. So please leave now.”
“I heard you have someone you love. That you even obtained a ‘potion that kills people’ because of it.”
Balak finally mentioned the information he had bought from the old man in the back alleys. However, Eurene thought Asha had passed on her information.
“You…!”
Asha, how could you!
Eurene’s shoulders trembled violently. Why on earth were these things happening to her? What had she done, how had she wronged anyone?
That dangerous item, which she hadn’t dared to use, had come with her to this place where she had been cast away, still hidden in the deepest drawer. She had intended to drink it herself when she felt she couldn’t endure any longer, as she withered away day by day.
“I don’t know anything about such things! Why are you doing this to me? Go away, I said go!”
“Please calm down. I want only one thing. Sefitiana’s whereabouts. I’m not here to blackmail you. I’m here to give you what you want.”
“What do you know about what I want? It’s not something a mere merchant like you can provide…!”
Eurene answered with a distorted face.
How could a mere merchant possibly bring the Emperor’s heart?
However, Eurene froze at Balak’s next words.
“Would it suffice if I removed that woman by your loved one’s side for you?”
Eurene’s lips, about to blurt out what nonsense that was, quivered and then firmly closed.
Her lowered green eyes eventually looked at the jewelry spread out on the table.
Would she ever have the chance to wear such beautiful things and show them to someone again, perhaps for a long time, maybe for the rest of her life? If she resigned herself to the misfortune given to her, stuck in this villa, she probably would never have such an opportunity again.
She had to choose. Whether to kill that woman standing by his side, or not. And thereby keep him by her side despite his heart having left her, and claim the right to enjoy the most precious things in the empire.
Eurene placed her hand over her left chest where her heart was.
A person more beautiful than these mere jewels. Tatar. Ironically, even though things had come to this, she couldn’t stop loving him.
I want to have it. I want to possess it. His place beside him, the place of that woman who kissed him. The sweet power and freedom that can only be enjoyed by his side.
Putting on the appearance of an innocent victim, Eurene asked Balak in a trembling voice.
“Anyone at all?”
“Of course.”
Balak’s eyes pictured Vinea. To make her put down the heavy burden of the Empress’s crown, he had to obtain Sefitiana.
He was already prepared to give up everything he had. How could removing one woman be more difficult than resolving to face the Emperor of the empire?
After hesitating for a long time, Eurene parted her lips.
“—The Empress.”
Intense greed flickered in the green eyes that looked up clearly at Balak’s slightly widened eyes.
“Remove that woman, the Empress of the Tessibania Empire, from the Emperor’s side.”
“The Empress… you say.”
For a brief moment, Balak’s scales swayed greatly.
How could fate be entangled in such a way?
He inwardly sighed at the bizarre intertwining that could only be explained as God’s mischief.
Doesn’t this seem like God is telling him to possess her? How else could it be explained?
Balak slowly nodded.
“Very well. When things have progressed to a certain extent, please tell me Sefitiana’s whereabouts.”
“Alright. But I absolutely won’t tolerate betrayal. If that happens, I’ll tear your heart out no matter what.”
Her words, spat out as if chewing them, were filled with hatred for all those who had betrayed her until now.
The Emperor Emeritus, mother, father, brother, Asha… and even the hatred for him who didn’t choose her, hidden at the very bottom.
“All I can do for you is remove the Empress. How you remain by his side afterwards is up to you, my lady.”
Eurene nodded. Only then did Balak gather the jewelry laid out on the table and hold it to his chest.
Except for one set of necklace and earrings made of ruby as red as blood.
“It seems to suit you well, so I’ll leave it as a gift. Beautiful things are the easiest way to capture a man’s gaze.”
Balak nodded and left the villa. Left alone, Eurene sat on the sofa for a while before finally getting up.
On the way, the maids asked if she was alright, but she entered her bedroom with a blank face as if she couldn’t hear anything.
Eurene headed to the bedside table next to the bed. She put the medicine left by the maid into the water glass.
Before the round pill that had started to dissolve, making small bubbles, disappeared completely, she took Duke Castallo’s letter placed next to it and tore the envelope into pieces, carelessly throwing it on the floor.
Finally, Eurene picked up the glass in which the medicine had completely dissolved and stood by the window, opening it. Then, clutching her still flat stomach, she turned her hand over and poured the water out.
Splash—
With a short sound of water, Eurene slumped down with her back against the window. The empty glass rolled from her hand.
“Yes, this is for the best. This is for the best for a better future…”
After mumbling for a while, Eurene buried her face in her knees.
