I Sought Out the Tragedy's Scheming Mastermind

That day. The day when Verkley tried to take Eliana’s power and failed.

Their eyes had unexpectedly met.

But when he used the demon’s power, Eliana seemed fine even though she looked into his red eyes.

“No, rather…”

‘I thought we made eye contact! Sometimes, it feels like I’m always drawn to Your Majesty’s eyes. Haha.’

Verkley was not fooled by the obvious lie.

She seemed to already know that Verkley signed a contract with a demon.

Her reaction was different from the first person who saw his red eyes.

The Empire was a place of great hostility toward foreigners.

If someone saw that the emperor had red eyes instead of blue, a symbol of the Owen Royal Family, it would cause a ruckus.

But Eliana’s response was completely different.

It was a reaction that seemed to reconfirm what she already knew.

She was surprised, but she showed no signs of discomfort with the fact that his eyes were not blue.

Clearly, Eliana was hiding something, but he couldn’t guess what.

Then, Verkley’s eyes opened at the sound of footsteps nearing.

His red eyes returned to blue.

At the same time, Eliana entered the bedroom.

“I’ve returned.”

“Come here.”

A gentle smile hung around Verkley’s mouth.

He reached out, and Eliana naturally placed the back of his hand against her forehead.

As soon as she held his hand, his slight headache was temporarily relieved.

Verkley felt a need to touch Eliana, and he wrapped an arm around her waist. It was a little impulsive.

“Y-Your Majesty?” Eliana called, tense and embarrassed.

He hugged Eliana even tighter.

When he took a deep breath, he caught a whiff of Eliana’s fragrant scent.

“You’ve been going out a lot these past few days.”

“I have a lot to prepare for the ceremony. Were you bored?”

“I felt a little empty.”

Verkley let out a long breath and released Eliana.

Eliana naturally sat at his eye level.

She always made eye contact even though it wasn’t necessary since he was blind.

Verkley stared at her deeply. Eliana’s bright smile reflected in his eyes.

“Just be patient for a little while.”

“What if I don’t want to be patient?”

“Umm… Shall I say I won’t do it?”

Eliana suggested, looking slightly troubled. She didn’t want him to tell her not to.

Verkley silently shook his head.

“Just focus on me when you’re with me.”

“How should I focus on you?”

Eliana took Verkley’s hands with a playful expression.

Verkley calmly said, “You just need to stay by my side.”

“Are you really okay with that?”

Eliana asked, her voice filled with doubt, and Verkley held her hands together and brought them to his lips.

Then he answered with a kiss on the back of each hand.

“Stay by my side. Don’t look anywhere else, just me.”

‘Otherwise, I don’t know what I’ll do to you.’

Verkley felt an unquenchable thirst.

He instinctively wanted to have Eliana’s power, but he had a strange feeling he shouldn’t.

With his contradictory state of mind weighing on him, Verkley tried to crush his feelings.

* * *

Preparations for the debut were running smoothly.

Eliana watched as Mary spun around her in her dress.

The dress suited Mary well, embroidered with silver thread and blue cloth.

She was proud to see her full of excitement.

‘At first, it was hard for her to choose what she liked…’

She was enjoying herself more because she was sweating and choosing her own dress and accessories.

Mary still lacked an understanding of her tastes.

She chose to help Mary with the dress when she couldn’t decide halfway.

“Do you like it?”

“Um, I feel like it’s missing something,” Mary said hesitantly.

Eliana stood beside Mary, examining the spot that looked empty.

“Ah, does your hair feel empty? I think you’ll look better with a hair accessory.”

Eliana took a jewelry piece from the jewelry box and placed it on Mary’s head.

Mary shook her head as she pondered which accessory would match her gorgeous dress.

“Um, what else is there? I want something a little plain but with a glamorous feel.”

In other words, she vaguely refused because she did not like it.

Unlike before, when she couldn’t refuse at all, Mary now knew how to change her opinion and speak up.

“You want something plain but with a glamorous feel?” Eliana looked at Mary with uncertainty.

Whether or not she knew what Eliana was thinking, Mary added, “Yes! Something light and heavy.”

Mary’s face was bright, her eyes sparkling.

Eliana later realized that there was a contradiction in her words.

Come to think of it, was it possible to have something light but heavy?

“Princess, do you realize what you’re saying is very contradictory?” Eliana replied with a smirk.

Plain yet glamorous, and light yet heavy accessories.

What kind of pun is that? If it’s light, it’s light, and if it’s glamorous, it’s glamorous.

It’s like when your boss rejects a report but asks for corrections.

Or when someone uses all sorts of expressions to explain something but doesn’t understand a single one.

That’s exactly what it felt like now.

“Uh, I mean…”

Mary rolled her eyes at Eliana’s words. She seemed to be thinking of a better expression.

At the same time, Eliana thought about accessories that were plain but glamorous and light but heavy.

Then someone came up with an answer.

“If you want something plain but glamorous and light but heavy, then you’ll want to choose this.”

Eliana turned her head in surprise.

There stood a tall handsome man dressed in a uniform specifically tailored to fit him. His indigo blue hair was styled to perfection.

The man’s gaze was directly on Mary.

Mary brightened up as soon as she saw the man.

At that moment, warmth flooded into his cold purple eyes.

Apparently, seeing Mary’s smile softened his features.

The “choose this” man picked a veil.

Unlike a normal veil, this one sparkled as if it’d been sprinkled with tiny jewels.

As soon as Eliana saw the veil, she knew that was what Mary wanted.

It looked light, but it was heavy enough to suit a sacred ceremony, and it also looked like plain cloth, but it was woven with small jewelry and detailed lace, which made it glamorous.

It’s exactly what Mary described.

Eliana stared at him as if stunned, and Mary shouted as she ran to him.

“Kal!”

Kal?

Eliana’s eyes widened as soon as the man’s name dawned on her.

No wonder she thought his features looked familiar.

His indigo hair and purple eyes reminded her of the main hero.

He held Mary in his arms as she rushed at him.

His eyes were full of affection as if they were the only two in the room.

They seemed so in love. Eliana felt like she was invisible.

She wondered why he didn’t realize his feelings when it was so obvious.

Eliana stared at the sweet display of affection between the two.

Kallius Harpons.

Originally, he was the second son of Duke Harpons, but his innate ability was so remarkable that he became the head of his family after the accidental death of the duke and his wife.

He was also the hero who received a lot of criticism from the readers.

Because he was busy chasing after his ambition, he let Mary go, not knowing she was going crazy.

Eliana gathered herself and formally introduced herself.

“Hello, I’m Eliana Mussieux.”

“You are Count Mussieux’s daughter,” Kallius stated indifferently. 

His tone was annoying. It was as if she was not even worth looking at.

What the? Why was she strangely being ignored?

Eliana’s face hardened when Kallius was as indifferent as a stone on the road.

It was the moment she saw the male hero in a different light.

Mary was rather embarrassed by his standoffish response and introduced Kallius.

“Ah, Eliana. This is Duke Harpons. Kal, this is your first time meeting each other. Aren’t you being too hard?”

“I’m just not interested in other women besides you, Mary.”

‘Ah, yes. There’s no surprise in that.’

Eliana inwardly groaned.

In the novel, Kallius was the epitome of a bad man.

A man who was cold to others but only kind to his woman.

He was one of the character types that readers raved about.

It didn’t matter how trashy of a person he was; as long as he treated the heroine well, it was enough.

Of course, toward the second half, he even showed his trashy persona to the heroine, causing resentment.

‘As soon as Verkley, the scheming emperor, completely took her powers, he turned cold to the heroine…’

Mary spoke affectionately, holding on to Kallius’ stiff arm.

“I told you last time, right? Miss Eliana is the one who agreed to help me with my ceremony.”

“Mary, you don’t have to be respectful to your subordinates.”

Kallius was quite adamant. He seemed displeased with how Mary referred to a count’s daughter as “Miss.”

He was a man who was proud to be of nobility.

A man who knew what his title meant and how to use it.

Of course, Kallius had a point.

Mary ranked third in the entire empire.

Therefore, she had no reason to treat Eliana, the count’s daughter, respectfully.

‘Yeah, that’s true. But is there a reason why you had to say that in front of me?’

Eliana smiled on the outside and felt rotten on the inside.

Kallius’ personality was worse than she thought.

When she read the novel, she cheered whenever he *hit an iron wall like a knife to others.

[ *T/N: not 100% sure, but this might be another way to say closed off or rude. ]

She felt that men who were nice to everyone were not attractive.

However, she’d done nothing, yet she was ignored and hit by an iron wall, which was a strange feeling.

She was standing still, minding her own business, and it felt like she was being attacked from all over.

There was a contradiction in what Kallius said.

He also had a lower rank than Mary, but he received her respect.

‘You’re her subordinate, too!’

Eliana struggled to hide her dissatisfaction.