Chapter 579: A Bold Move

Inside the guest reception room, Cecilia sat beside Arkai, snuggled under his arm. They sat like they owned the palace itself, which made them look like they’d been poured into their seats and had no intention of leaving anytime soon.

Meanwhile, Angela sat in front of her, pouring tea, looking like someone who definitely had not, just hours ago, been caught in a compromising position by her brother.

The tea leaves swirled in the pot, and Angela’s hands were immaculately steady.

Damon stood facing the window, his back to the room, his hands clasped behind him in that imperious way emperors had. His silhouette was imposing against the pale winter light, all sharp angles.

Ruby did expect the Emperor. He was, after all, the one who had summoned her. But the criminal princess? The Dragon’s Physician? The Black Wolf King?

Her brain, which had been bracing for a polite but tense conversation with the empire’s most powerful figure, instead found itself staring down a table full of people who could collectively end her political career with a raised eyebrow.

"Come sit, Saintess. The tea is just newly made," Angela said warmly, welcoming in a way that made Ruby’s skin crawl.

Ruby swallowed.

Just facing the Emperor would make Ruby shed cold sweat, thanks to her knowledge of him in her past life, but three more people she considered impossible to handle? Suddenly, she felt more alone than ever.

Arkai was watching her how a full-bellied wolf might give a particularly plump rabbit. It felt like he would rip her apart if only he was hungry, but he wasn’t yet. His arm was draped around the Luna’s shoulders in a way she wanted to be held by Nikolas in front of the Emperor and his criminal sister.

The Luna, for her part, looked perfectly at ease. Her red lips were curved into a smile that Ruby quite grew to hate.

But still she curtsied first.

"Your Majesty," she greeted the emperor, her voice steady despite everything.

Damon turned slightly, acknowledging her presence with a tilt of his head. His expression didn’t change, but Ruby could have sworn she saw something flicker in his eyes. Something that might have been... pity?

The bitter thing in her heart spread wider and wider now.

And then, she turned to Angela, "Your Highness, it’s... surprising to see you here."

Ruby didn’t hide her discomfort toward the Princess. It would be even stranger if she, the Saintess, regarded Angela normally as a princess. First of all, this woman was notorious for her crimes.

And second... this woman was once the former Saintess... that fake’s best friend!

The thought curdled in Ruby’s stomach. As far as she knew, they had been allies. How it had come to be, she still didn’t know.

Perhaps, simply, birds of a feather stick together.

Ruby didn’t expect Angela to respond to her, so she turned to Arkai and his Luna. She curtsied separately to them.

"Your Majesty... and Luna," she greeted.

Arkai didn’t even look at her. But the Luna immediately took interest.

"How pleasant," Lady Sees smiled. "It’s nice to see you alright. It seems the rumors are exaggerated."

Ruby flinched.

The talk about her vulnerability had reached her too. That was... the most pathetic of all.

Ruby felt her face pale. The shame was cold, freezing her entire body. She wanted to say something clever, something that would wipe that knowing smile off the Luna’s face, but the words wouldn’t come.

By far, this room could contend to be the worst room she had ever stepped in, right after a room she must go alone with the pope in her childhood. The Luna was smiling at her like she was a particularly amusing child who had just fallen off a pony. The Alpha was ignoring her existence entirely. And Angela—

Angela broke the silence by pouring another cup of tea.

"Do sit, Saintess," she said, her tone almost gentle. "We have much to discuss."

Ruby’s jaw tightened. The gentleness was worse than hostility. Hostility she could fight, after all. She could use it to fuel her own righteous anger. But gentleness?

"It’s curious that it’s you who wants to discuss things, Your Highness," Ruby said. Although she clearly was displeased, she couldn’t show it too outwardly.

Angela’s lips curved. "Did you not know why you were summoned?"

Ruby’s heart stuttered.

"B-because of the prophecy?" Ruby nervously asked, looking as pitiful as possible, a strategy that always worked.

It was a tried and true technique. When in doubt, look small. Look fragile. Look like a delicate flower that might wilt under too much pressure. Men especially fell for it, they couldn’t help themselves.

Ruby had used that strategy countless times. It had never failed her.

But it would today.

"Thank you for your service," Damon finally turned from the window. He looked disinterested. "The war you described with the poison mist, that caused you to fall in fear, we have received it well and will analyze it."

Ruby’s face burned. How could he made it sound so trivial? So pathetic?! Like her terror was nothing more than an inconvenience, a minor hiccup in the smooth running of the empire?

Ruby glanced at the Alpha and the Luna, clearly displeased that the secret prophecy she claimed had tortured her so was being talked about so openly in front of the people who had insulted her husband’s family.

But Damon, seemingly not caring about her feelings at all, brushed it aside like it was nothing. "We summoned you for something else. The prophecy before that."

Ruby widened her eyes.

"Sit down, or are you so reluctant to sit with my sister, Saintess?" Damon coldly asked.

The words hit Ruby like a slap.

"No, Your Majesty, of course not. I—" Ruby stumbled forward, her legs finally cooperating as she moved toward the empty chair. She sat down heavily, followed by the healer behind her.

Only after she sat there did the Emperor begin his questions.

But Damon himself didn’t sit. He remained standing, his figure silhouetted against the pale winter light streaming through the window.

"Tell us again, in detail," he said, "about how our father, the former Emperor, was assassinated in your prophecy."

The prophecy before the new one.

The death of the former Emperor!

Yes.

Cecilia watched the Saintess’s face shift through a rapid succession of emotions, fear, calculation, panic, and then, finally, a desperate attempt at composure.

Cecilia did want to put the worry down. But she was not Cecilia if she didn’t tie the loose ends neatly.

Even though she could convince Ruby that Roarke was the one who killed the Emperor by receiving an assassination contract, and in turn convincing everyone who was behind him, she still needed to know.

What truly happened in the future before Ruby regressed.

But instead, Ruby was conflicted. She had genuinely believed that Damon was the one who killed his father. But with the man standing right there, how could she say that outwardly?

Damon was looking at her with that flat, unreadable expression that made her feel like she was being weighed on a cute little toy scale. His presence was overwhelming.

At the same time, she had a feeling that Lady Sees knew that she was sure it was Damon who killed his father. That was why she warned her that ’she could be wrong’ at the time after holding her back from accusing the Emperor.

They were going to speak about this specific prophecy, and now the woman who never existed in the life before she regressed was present here too?

It just meant that Lady Sees knew more than Ruby herself. That woman knew more than the Saintess!

Now, Ruby, tell me what happened in that life.

Cecilia whispered inside.

Even though Cecilia knew Ruby could’ve just spouted some nonsense, but in front of Damon and Angela, it wasn’t something even someone who came from the future could do.

Ruby’s mouth was dry. She could feel the lie forming on her tongue, but she also knew that any lie she told would be seen through. Even if what she said was what she believed as the truth, wouldn’t they just bury it with their overwhelming power and influence?

She couldn’t tell lies convincingly enough with how the world had changed after her regression, so even if it was a lie, it must be rooted in some truth from that life before her regression.

Unfortunately, she wasn’t informed enough, or smart enough to make a lie that could help her position.

Ruby’s fingers tightened. The world had shifted so much since she’d come back. People who should have been enemies were allies. People who should have been dead were walking around like ghosts from another story.

How could she possibly predict what the truth was anymore?

Ruby could no longer take the risk of being branded an inaccurate seer.

"In my vision, the person who murdered the Emperor was shrouded in darkness. And the people who were convicted as the one who planned it all... hailed from Iondora itself." Ruby decided to tell them what happened in that life just as it was.

"He was someone whose grandfather was titled a Prince Consort. His name is Baron Bruce Merdier."

Behind the veil, Cecilia’s eyes widened.

It was... the exact name Damon and Ivy chose as the murderer!

"But..." Ruby wasn’t done yet.

Since Lady Sees seemingly knew that she wanted to accuse the Emperor, right now, she had to save herself too. What if the Luna told the Emperor that she was about to accuse him?

"...in that vision, the gods seemingly hinted that the accused wasn’t the true perpetrator," Ruby said. "It is implied that the real murderer... was Your Majesty Damon Iondora himself."

Ah.

Cecilia smiled.

What a bold move!