This Three-Year-Old Is A Villainess - Chapter 121 - ④①
In the Empire, it has been a long-standing tradition to have one Empress and two Imperial Consorts.
It’s a rule designed to prevent power from concentrating in the hands of one wife and dominating the imperial palace.
The current Emperor follows this tradition as well.
Or at least, there were once three wives.
To put it simply, the situation was like this:
– Empress: No children
– Imperial Consort Annamaria: Died in childbirth
– Imperial Consort Othellia: Mother of the First Prince
Imperial Consort Annamaria and Imperial Consort Othellia were pregnant around the same time.
However, Annamaria gave birth a month earlier.
This meant Othellia’s child would become the second.
With an Empress present and Annamaria giving birth to a son, Othellia’s son being second meant the throne was out of reach.
So, the trick Othellia played was…
‘Bribing the doctors and maids in Annamaria’s palace.’
It was announced that Annamaria died from excessive bleeding during childbirth.
Her son, Alexis, was born safely but, according to the plan, was supposed to die before he could even cry.
However, the doctor, who grew a conscience at the last moment, secretly smuggled Alexis out.
The Consort found out only when it was too late and was furious.
Since then, the Consort has been secretly tracking Alexis.
This is a secret known only to the Consort, unbeknownst to Astra.
‘It makes sense that Alexis is in Astra.’
The Astra estate is known as a den of crime, easily accessible to foreigners, unlike other regions that strictly manage their denizens.
‘Imperial Consort Othellia is seriously scary.’
When the First Prince acted as regent in place of the sick Emperor, the first thing he did was attack Astra.
‘If the known First Prince becomes Emperor, Astra won’t be safe.’
And now, when Dahlia comes, she will be linked with Alexis.
‘Alexis is the male lead, so he’s bound to become the Emperor, right?’
I don’t know the ending since the novel is ongoing, but I’ve never seen a novel where the prince, being the male lead, doesn’t become the Emperor.
There might be exceptions.
But not for <Grandvill>, which fully embraces clichés.
‘Alexis will become the Emperor. Then, Dahlia will become the Empress.’
Then, Astra, being the Empress’s maternal home, will be safe.
‘The family can’t fall into ruin.’
If Astra falls, it naturally affects my family, being of the same blood.
Here are my goals:
1. Gain enough power so that no one dares to mess with me.
2. Once Dahlia arrives, make sure she’s not bullied. At the very least, aim to be just a cousin, properly distant.
3. As a Young Lady of Astra, lead a happy and prosperous life of luxury.
“Goodie.”
I clenched my fist and decided to take action.
Immediately leaving my room, I dashed through the corridors.
Then, I went to the administration office and got a pass to go out under the pretext of buying tea leaves.
On my way, I assigned Han Ji-hyuk as my servant.
‘It’s good to be among the top ranks.’
In the ducal castle, children with high rank almost always got what they requested without any special procedures.
Han Ji-hyuk and I took a carriage to the shopping district.
The shopping district, which I hadn’t visited in a long time, was still vast and beautiful.
‘I need to shake off the guards.’
There’s an easy way to do that.
“I wanna eat cwake.”
No sooner had I said this than Han Ji-hyuk exclaimed, ‘Ah!’
“I heard that the cakes from Cranklin Bakery are really delicious. But, oh no! Escort knights can’t enter that place, what do we do?”
I followed Han Ji-hyuk’s lead with another ‘Ah!’ of my own.
“Thwen mishtow nice can wait in fwon the bakewy.” (Then mister knights can wait in front of the bakery.)
“No, since we are knights of the main castle so we can─”
“Yes! Exactly, that would inconvenience the noble customers of the bakery. How very considerate of you, sir knights! I will escort the Lady inside by myself!”
“No, we can enter─”
“Yep! I am a wady who cawes fow ouw tewwitowy pipow! (Yep! I am a lady who cares for our territory’s people!)”
“……”
Han Ji-hyuk and I, in perfect sync, left the escort knights speechless and slipped into Cranklin Bakery.
As we entered the bakery, a clerk hurried over to us.
Han Ji-hyuk subtly handed over a few gold coins, and the clerk nodded.
‘So, he’s been bribing the clerk here all this time.’
Nicely done!
