From that day onward, Jeanne officially became the mistress of Emperor Carlos.
To say it was a desperate measure to save her life would be an understatement—Jeanne was far too proactive.
She went to great lengths to win Carlos’s favor, even sneaking into the palace in the dead of night.
Of course, this was only possible with Carlos’s tacit approval.
One day, however, Jeanne faced an unexpected situation.
On her way to see Carlos, she ran into none other than Maria de Renal, the Empress of the Empire.
And, as fate would have it, their meeting took place right in front of Carlos’s chamber.
“Who are you, and why are you trying to enter my husband’s room? A young maiden like you… why?”
Maria’s instincts as a woman were sharp, and it didn’t take her long to figure out Jeanne’s intentions.
“So, this is why my husband has been so cold toward me lately. Now I understand perfectly. With a fresh young thing visiting his room, why would he bother with someone like me, an old woman?”
“A-ah, no, no, you misunderstand, Your Majesty. I-I mean…”
“This is a scandal. I won’t let this go. Carlos! What are you doing in there? Come out right now!”
Maria shouted venomously.
Inside the room, Carlos scratched his head awkwardly and stepped out.
“Ah… M-my Empress. What brings you here?”
“Why? Am I not allowed to visit my husband’s room? Or does my presence interfere with your fun with this young lady?”
“W-what are you saying? It’s not like that. I assure you, it’s nothing like what you think.”
“Then explain! Do you think I don’t know what’s going on? That girl is the princess of the recently destroyed Grave Kingdom, isn’t she? Did you start the war just for this? How disgraceful!”
“N-no, my dear. It’s not like that at all. Yes, it’s true that she’s the princess of the Grave Kingdom, but…”
“But what?!”
“Well… uh…”
At that moment, Carlos, sweating profusely, came up with an excuse that would alter the fates of many.
Even he didn’t realize the consequences of his words at the time.
“This young lady is a survivor of the Grave Kingdom, and as Emperor, I’ve decided to be her guardian. You see, she’s too young to live on her own.”
“So? Why did you have to invite your ward into your private chambers? If you don’t give me a proper explanation, I’ll make sure everyone hears about this!”
“Now, now, there’s no need for misunderstandings. You see… she’s just been admitted to the knighthood academy. I invited her here to congratulate her and bid her farewell.”
“…Is that true?”
“Of course! Isn’t that right, Jeanne?”
Carlos looked at Jeanne, pleading with his eyes to play along.
Jeanne, quick on the uptake, immediately responded.
“Yes, Your Majesty, the Empress. I only came to express my gratitude to His Majesty for his patronage as I prepare to enter the academy. If I’ve caused any misunderstanding, I deeply apologize.”
“Hmph! I’ll confirm whether that’s true. Don’t think I’ll let this slide!”
Maria meant what she said.
Because of her scrutiny, Carlos had no choice but to send Jeanne to the academy.
For Jeanne, it was a baffling turn of events, but she also saw it as an opportunity to distance herself from the Emperor.
After all, she didn’t truly care for him—Jeanne was more interested in leveraging his influence to her advantage.
From the academy, Jeanne frequently wrote letters to the Emperor, expressing longing, accusing him of abandoning her, and asking if he intended to let things end this way.
Each time, Carlos sent her gifts—sometimes money, other times connections to back her up.
During exam periods, he even bribed tutors to provide her with test answers.
This was why Jeanne consistently ranked first in the written exams.
The real problem lay with the practical exams.
While written tests could be preemptively solved, practical performance was based entirely on one’s skill.
Fortunately, Jeanne had some talent in swordsmanship, allowing her to secure second place.
First place, however, always went to Sylvia Grave.
Despite sharing the Grave surname, Sylvia was not related to Jeanne by blood.
She was the younger sister of Jack Grave and had once been an orphan before her exceptional talent earned her the bestowed surname.
Given her ties to the royal family, Sylvia had a strained relationship with Jeanne.
Jeanne despised Sylvia for taking the top spot, while Sylvia found Jeanne, who still acted like a princess, insufferable.
Their conversations always escalated into arguments.
“Oh my, Sylvia. Isn’t it improper not to greet the person who saved your life? If it weren’t for my father, you’d have starved to death on the streets by now. Do you not know gratitude?”
“…If you miss your father so much, why didn’t you die with him? Everyone wonders how you alone managed to survive that burning castle, and now you’re under the Emperor’s patronage? Rumors about you aren’t exactly flattering.”
“Rumors are just rumors. My presence here is purely due to my talent.”
“Talent? You’ve never beaten me in swordsmanship, yet you prattle on about talent. How amusing.”
“Hmph… Just remember, Sylvia, no matter how much time passes or the world changes, the walls of status set from the beginning cannot be overcome.”
“…Don’t forget that practical scores are weighted higher than written ones in the academy rankings. In the end, the top spot is mine.”
“Is that so? We’ll see about that.”
From that moment, Jeanne continued to send letters to the Emperor, pleading with him to secure her the top position at the academy.
In the end, the Emperor abused his power to manipulate the match-ups. Jeanne was deliberately paired against weaker opponents, while Sylvia was pitted against only the strongest, ensuring she was exhausted by the time of the final match.
This plan made it so that Jeanne would ultimately emerge victorious.
Additionally, the scoring weight of the final exam was absurdly inflated, causing Sylvia, who had consistently ranked first in practical exams throughout the academy, to graduate second due to a single loss.
Standing on the podium as the top graduate giving her speech, Jeanne shamelessly declared:
“I am thrilled to stand here today purely through my own efforts, without relying on anyone’s help. During my time at the academy, I made many friends. I’d like to dedicate this honor to one friend in particular, Sylvia, who motivated me greatly. Sylvia, you’re the best second place anyone could ask for! Thanks to you, I could become number one!”
Sylvia could only grit her teeth and applaud. At the time, she thought:
“I’ll surpass you by joining the hero’s party someday!”
However, she was unaware that the sole knight position in the hero’s party had already been promised to Jeanne by Carlos.
In the end, Jeanne built her social standing with the help of the very man who had annihilated her family.
A normal person, out of guilt for their family, could never have done such a thing.
But Jeanne was an extraordinary woman with a psychopathic tendency to pursue only her own happiness.
Although she had skillfully hidden this nature from everyone, this incident exposed Jeanne’s malicious character to the world.
“Uweeeek!!!”
The moment the video ended, Jeanne vomited.
Her eyes darted wildly as if she couldn’t endure it with her sanity intact.
“I-I had no choice. I had to survive. There was no other way…”
“Too proactive for someone who just wanted to survive, don’t you think?”
Lecia said, shrugging her shoulders.
“Besides, after you entered the academy, you could’ve ended things with the Emperor. Instead, weren’t you the one clinging to him? Using his power for your gain—isn’t that outrageous? Don’t you have any conscience? Your country and family were destroyed because of him, and yet you…”
“Ugh… Ugh…”
With nothing left to say, Jeanne turned bright red and collapsed to the ground, sobbing.
“Ugh!!! Aaaaaaahhhh!!!”
But no one came to her aid. Not a single person.
“Ha.”
Lecia burst into manic laughter.
“Kahaha! Looks like you’ve been socially annihilated without me even lifting a finger. At this point, leaving you alive feels crueler! Kahaha!!!”
“Stop laughing.”
It was then that Saintess Esther spoke, her face filled with anger.
Amidst the despair of her fallen comrades, she alone stood tall.
“You’re no better, Lecia. In fact, you’re not even human anymore, are you? Demon Lecia. Everyone has one or two secrets they’d rather keep hidden. Is it so enjoyable for you to expose others and humiliate them? To think that someone once hailed as Wizard of the Year could stoop so low… You’re more disgraceful than my comrades.”
“Hmph. Quite the speech,” Lecia retorted, but she seemed visibly irritated. Esther’s words had clearly struck a nerve.
With emotion in her voice, Lecia sneered,
“But don’t forget—you’re part of the hero’s party too. You’re next, Saintess Esther. I’ll expose your ugliest secret as well. Take this! Hell Memory!”
Despite the threat, Esther stood her ground against the demon’s attack.
Even as her deepest, most shameful secrets were about to be revealed to everyone.
Another video began to play.