-Two days before Victoria's Birthday-

ROWAN TROTTED inside her room. Tori immediately knew what he was doing in her room. After all, Tori only assigned Rowan two tasks. The first task is to ensure the safety of her beloved KANON camera developer. The second task is to secure all the letters from the Information Guild since her dear KANON camera developer had already sent her a message about his development the other day. Then the letter that Rowan was carrying came from the Information Guild.

From Prince Corean specifically.

Four days after their meeting, Tori was only waiting for the letter to arrive. This only showed how Prince Corean loved his mother.

His only weakness will be his downfall in the original plot. That's why I must connect to his weakness, to secure his life before he can claim the throne.

Queen Aurina was the second queen to be married to King Elphaim Eckrett. The just king loved his first queen, Queen Iliya, the first prince's mother. The first queen was also the Vesta candidate from the noble faction. When the first queen died from the plague, Prince Lauren was only two years old. The aristocrats took this chance and pressured the king to marry their Vesta candidate, the second queen, Aurina. Two years after their marriage, the second queen gave birth to Prince Corean.

The Vestas were the noble ladies that were both selected by the two factions to compete for the seat of the next queen. To be the Vesta from the noble faction was the primary goal of Sabina. This was the reason why she wanted to be the only heir to the Rozenreff Duchy. If she would be the next successor to the powerful Rozenreff Dukedom, her illegitimacy would not be questioned anymore.

Aside from the Hunt for the Elysian Crown to select the next king, the Vesta Challenge would be held to select the queen who would become the factions' pawn to take control of the Empire.

The noble faction did not feel any animosity or desire for the throne from the second queen. Her teachings to the second prince which were not to draw any attention and to hide his true talents had deeper reasons and it was only revealed in the original plot when the second prince was dying from the second great plague. The noble faction viewed Queen Aurina as a meek queen and a puppet who's been long disposed of by the aristocratic faction. That was the reason no one felt threatened by the second prince. What they didn't know was the fact that behind the closed doors of Queen Aurina's palace, she was just waiting to strike for her son.

It is just both pathetic and lame that she could not save his son from the second great plague.

But not this time, no one is dying without my permission.

"Thank you, Rowan." Ruby eyes met his cobalt ones. Rowan's gentle smile surprised her, but she immediately masked it by smiling back at him.

Rowan, are you my loyal subject now? Are you loyal enough to help me destroy your actual family? Behind her smiling face, wicked questions lingered.

Rowan bowed, "I will prepare the usual carriage, Lady Tori." He knew what to expect from the letter. They would need to go leave the Rozenreff estate covertly. During the months he spent with Tori, he already knew that behind those gentle smiles laid a beast ready to devour anything on its way. And Rowan was ready to lay his life down for the beast. He would betray the Empire himself if need be.

"You have my thanks, Rowan. You may go now."

Tori waited for Rowan to leave before opening the letter that she was waiting for. And as she was expecting, he arranged a meeting for her and his mother. And they would meet in the Turvy. The queen leaving her royal palace was something that only Lady M and Prince Corean only knew aside from her and the queen.

So the queen knew about the Information Guild. Just how deep does she know?

Tori rang the bell and Lily immediately came inside her room. "Yes, Lady Tori?"

Her handmaidens were quite busy preparing her birthday party to be held in the assembly hall located on the west wing of the Rozenreff estate.

"Prepare me a modest outdoor dress, Lily. We are going out for a walk."

Like Rowan, Lily knew what her mistress meant. Since the incident where Lady Tori saved Lady Sabina from the stairs by pushing the latter, her mistress seemed to change drastically. And if Lily could describe Lady Tori, she would describe her as someone who was like being chased. By who or by what? Lily did not know. "Yes, Lady Tori. Should I call someone to prepare your bath for you?"

"No, I can wait for you after you finished looking for a dress. I'll just finish my tea."

ACCOMPANIED BY Lily and Rowan while riding the familiar shady carriage, Tori stepped out towards the Pivet Alley. Like the usual scene, beggars, street people, and criminals loitered everywhere she looked. As the three of them walked towards the Turvy, the eerie feeling seemed to darken. Coming here for the third time, Tori who was wearing the baggy coat was now used to this feeling and scenery. Not knocking anymore, Tori just entered the Information Guild's secret base like it was hers, to begin with.

Unlike the previous visitation Tori did in this Turvy, the people were now back and were enjoying their drinks and food like what she remembered when she came here for the first time. Lady M was also waiting for her at the counter.

"She just arrived too. Let's go."

Tori followed Lady M as the latter led her towards the secret passage to the room where the queen was waiting.

"I don't know what you're planning, but the queen is not like what everyone knows," Lady M warned her.

"Trust me, I know."

Of course. If she is as pathetic as I thought, I won't be coming back here for the third time.

"Your Majesty, Lady Victoria Rozenreff is here."

"Blessings to the Empire's moon, Queen Aurina Eckrett." Tori curtsied in front of the queen.

Lady M excused herself and left Tori alone in front of the queen, who was comfortably sitting. Tori thought she would see Prince Corean. "Cory is not here. He told me to get to know you myself. Take a seat."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Tori was just suppressing her sly smile. Gone was the façade of the queen in front of everybody else. The queen sitting before Tori was the real deal.

"I don't know how you convinced my son, but your actions are ruining my plans." Queen Aurina told Tori in a no-nonsense tone. Her golden eyes were sharp and calculating. Now I know where Prince Corean gets that look.

"Your plans for what, Your Majesty? Your plan to keep Prince Corean alive?" Tori took the tea that was served readily in front of her and she sipped it calmly.

"And what's wrong with my plan to keep my son away from this Empire's bloody politics?"

Red eyes met her golden ones, "Then, do you plan to sit back and relax while Prince Lauren becomes the Crown Prince? Did you perhaps agree with him without telling the aristocratic faction, Your Majesty?"

Yes, that bastard Prince Lauren manipulated Queen Aurina's feelings. She believed that bastard's obvious lie, not knowing that he was just buying time to destroy the Elysian Crown. She was just waiting inside her palace to strike, but that's just it. In the end, all she did was wait, but she could never strike. Queen Aurina wasted her powers.

"Are you aware that you are slandering a royalty, Lady Victoria?" Her golden eyes blazed like the sun as the queen was glaring at Tori.

"The moment I gave the Elysian Crown's location to the aristocratic faction, I am already risking my neck, Your Majesty."

The queen could not come up with a reply to her honest words, so Tori continued. "We may have different goals, but we have one thing in common, Your Majesty. Just as much as you wanted your son to live, I wanted him to live too against our common enemies."

"You want him to live, but you wanted him to be king!" Queen Aurina scoffed at her.

"How sure are you, Your Majesty, that when Prince Lauren becomes king he will not turn his blade against his brother? Can you also risk your son's life by just believing one promise that the two of you only knew?"

Tori saw how the queen faltered at her words. "And why should I believe the words of a traitor?"

Because I don't want to die the second time around. Not when I can do something about it.

Tori already expected this. "Because my father will betray me. His blind love for my half-sister will push him to name her the next heir instead of me. If Sabina will become the next head of the Rozenreff Duchy, my neck will be her next target. After all, politics is bloody as you said, Your Majesty. Who's to say that my sibling will not kill me to secure her seat? Even though I am relying on a mere possibility, having a contingency plan will never be a bad thing. And siding with the aristocratic faction is the best route to take to secure what's rightfully mine."

Understanding washed in her golden eyes. 

She now realized that I too was like Prince Corean.

"Then what do you want from me, Lady Victoria?"

That is the question I have been waiting for, Your Majesty.

Smiling slyly to the queen, Tori answered. "Be my sponsor, Your Majesty. Use your power to aid me in securing my seat and I will deliver you the Rozenreff Duchy's loyalty to Prince Corean alone." Tori placed her right hand on her heart.

"The queen's power in exchange for the Rozenreff Duchy's support, is that it? Is that all I can get?"

Ooh, greedy queen. I love it.

"Then how about I will give you the reigns that hold your former friend, Marchioness Susana?"

Yes, after all, Marchioness Susana betrayed you. You both loved the Marquess, but she manipulated the aristocratic faction to offer you as the Vesta. Seize this opportunity, Queen Aurina.

It shocked the queen that she knew about her history with the Marchioness. Well, I watched that wretched scene in Season 2.

Tori could see the internal struggle within the queen. So Tori leisurely waited.

"No. I have long moved on from that past, Lady Tori. Though I commend your sources for finding that one. What I want from you is something that only you can give."

Tori did not expect the queen to refuse. "What is it, Your Majesty?"

But she's offering a deal. This is a good thing, right?

"Be the Vesta candidate for the aristocratic faction after you become the heir to the Rozenreff Duchy. That means you must do everything just to let my son be the king."

Fuck