Chapter 212: It’s an Evil Plan!

A few days earlier in Lucratis...

"Well?" the golden eyes questioned.

But the brown eyes of the woman sitting across from her answered with boredom:

"I should be the one asking that. Your mother seems to have more affection for you than you thought, though I suppose that’s good for us."

Astrid frowned at that and remembered how her mother had been behaving all this time; she had never really been able to understand her completely. A deep sigh escaped her lips as she murmured:

"Even so... even so, there is no need for us to consider her. She’s only treating me well now because Lucas is dead."

"Mmm, missing brother." Cordelia’s hands began to play with the teacup in front of her as a mischievous smile spread across her lips.

Astrid brushed those thoughts aside with a wave of her hand, preparing to discuss their next moves, but the door suddenly swung open, interrupting her.

"WHAT DOES THIS MEAN, ASTRID?! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!"

The younger woman’s golden eyes looked at her mother with boredom.

"Could you not make so much noise? It’s still early."

"And you dare speak to me like that?" Vivienne glanced toward the servant accompanying her. Dominic nodded at her. The woman, a living copy of her daughter, hesitated for a moment, lowered her voice, and began speaking more gently. "Why? What are you planning? And who is she?" She pointed toward Cordelia, who had not had time to leave. "You can’t play with the empire, Astrid. I didn’t let you take over so you could do this."

"No. You let me take over because you couldn’t do it yourself, Mother. Right now, I am the Empress of Lucratis; I decide how to handle things."

"Do you realize that soon there won’t be an empire left to manage?"

Astrid smiled. Cordelia couldn’t contain herself either, the corner of her lips curling upward.

"That’s the idea, Mother. What is an empire, anyway? The Transcendents haven’t returned to Lucratis in a long time; there’s a reason my father took you as his wife, isn’t there? Or are you going to keep ignoring it?"

Vivienne bit her lip. Astrid was right: she hadn’t seen any of them return in years.

"Even so, there are many ninth-circle mages or practitioners of similar power... Besides, what does that have to do with practically giving away our resources?"

"Your daughter isn’t giving anything away, though perhaps she is giving you away," Cordelia replied curtly.

"You’re not very popular among your own people either," she added after thinking for a moment.

"The army and guards listen to everything I say," Vivienne shot back sharply. "And you still haven’t told me who you are."

"Mmm, I suppose you treat those you consider valuable well... Your daughter is another clear example of that now." Cordelia settled back into her chair as she replied, crossing her legs confidently, her long skirt barely revealing part of her ankles with the movement.

Seeing the doubt in Vivienne’s eyes, she finally introduced herself.

"Cordelia Valois."

"Valois?"

"She’s from the Demor Empire, Mother. You’ve probably heard of her family."

Upon hearing that she was from Demor, Vivienne’s suspicion began to grow. She quickly approached her daughter and started shaking her.

"Is she threatening you?! Is that why you’ve practically thrown all our wealth toward the Demor Empire?! No, that doesn’t make sense... You did the same with Pradiles and Midvern, even with minor kingdoms..."

Astrid fixed her gaze on her mother, who continued shaking her. Then she looked around the room, her eyes settling on the guards, her mind wavering until she finally made a decision.

"Why are you so obsessed with power?"

"Huh? What are you talking about? Isn’t it obvious? If you’re not strong, people will walk all over you, Astrid."

The younger woman shook her head.

"Is that why you walked all over me when I was a child? You let Lucas see me that way too, and let him believe I was a burden because I had no ’talent.’"

Vivienne pulled her hands away from Astrid’s shoulders and stumbled backward.

"If I’m not strong, the young lady won’t survive."

"The young lady?" Cordelia murmured, having been listening attentively from the side, her brow furrowing more and more.

"My sister," Vivienne admitted. "Well... not exactly." She lowered her gaze, nervously fidgeting with her hands.

"Your Majesty..." Dominic intervened, looking at her with concern.

But the woman shook her head and continued.

"You can hate me. She probably doesn’t like what I’ve been doing to try to help her either, but if you’re going to leave me with nothing because of it... there’s something you need to know first."

Astrid raised an eyebrow. Cordelia leaned back, listening intently. It seemed they were about to hear something very interesting today.

But instead of speaking, Vivienne began to change.

Two horns that hadn’t been there before appeared on her head. Seeing the astonished looks on both women’s faces, she raised her chin arrogantly.

"You should be able to do it too, Astrid. You’re half-dragon, half-human, just like me. And both of us should serve the young lady."

The youngest of the three women blinked several times.

Cordelia, who had risen in surprise at the revelation, sat back down with an analytical expression.

Once they finally recovered from the shock, the two women who were secretly planning to conquer the northern continent of this world looked at each other, unsure of what to do.

Cordelia quickly regained her complete composure, however; with an elegant gesture, she invited Vivienne to sit down, her expression impassive.

Astrid knew she had to obey Cordelia, so she said nothing and prepared herself to listen to her mother.

Meanwhile, in Pradiles, a rather peculiar situation was taking place.

"I just don’t understand!" Ravena grumbled, speaking with her mouth so full of cake that the words were barely audible, looking like an indignant little squirrel.

Meanwhile, the woman who kept feeding her desserts listened attentively.

"There’s nothing to understand. They’re giving us things. They’re going bankrupt. We should take them."

Ravena frowned and looked toward Morgana, her cheeks puffed out with all the food she still hadn’t managed to swallow.

When she finally managed to swallow the enormous bite, she stopped the piece of cake Morgana was about to give her and spoke in a higher-pitched, more spoiled voice than she had ever used, except with her sister, who had been missing for a long time.

"It’s an evil plan, Morgana! I’m sure of it!"