We talked about mundane things as we laid together in my bed. We talked about what we ate, what happened during teatimes, and so on.
Finally, we returned to the subject of Lisbeth.
Lucretius asked, “I didn’t get to see too closely, but she seemed like she wanted to kill you. Is she going to be dangerous?”
I answered easily, “That’s what I want, so it’s okay. She needs to genuinely hate me so that the dowager empress becomes interested in her.”
“What if she does something stupid even before the dowager empress approaches her?”
“I will get rid of her if that happens. I have other plans too, so even if Lisbeth doesn’t work out, I am not worried.”
Lucretius reminded me.
“I know you are already aware of this, but it is always dangerous to keep someone who hates you close. It could get out of hand if the dowager empress really gets to Lisbeth. It could get very dangerous for you.”
I knew what he was trying to say, so I answered in the same serious tone.
“I know, but if I continue to play defensively, I will never be able to get someone like the dowager empress. You know this already. Even if I have proofs and witnesses that Lisbeth was ordered by the dowager empress to kill me, we still wouldn’t be able to dethrone her.”
“… I know.”
Attempting to assassinate me wouldn’t be enough. This was only a small part of the plan. We needed something bigger, like proofs the dowager empress was planning the murder of the emperor or a rebellion against him.
I explained, “So when it looks like the dowager empress is about to use Lisbeth, we will have to be ready for it.”
“Yes. When the times comes… We will have to make it look like the dowager empress was trying to kill me through Lisbeth.”
After a brief silence, I sighed and replied, “… I feel like I am giving up on my morals.”
He laughed quietly.
“I will take care of the details, so let me be the one who feels any guilt. You are only doing what I am asking you to do. Besides, I am the bad guy, remember? I am the one who killed my own father.”
I shook my head in response.
“No, we are accomplices.”
“…”
“So I will not let you take on everything. I can’t blame you for it and pretend I didn’t do anything wrong. I chose to do this. It was me who made my own decisions, whatever I feel is my own burden to carry. Don’t try to take that away from me.”
“…”
***
Lucretius was impressed again. She was willing to accept her guilt as her own. He never imagined her to say something like that.
Lucretius was so used to taking on everything and be alone. No one had offered to be by his side. He started to think that perhaps it really was true that Bina was from a different world.
She was so strong and decent.
Lucretius answered, “… alright.”
“You promise?”
“Alright. Oh, by the way, that girl will have to be monitored closely so we know exactly when and how the dowager empress contacts her.”
Bina nodded.
YOU ARE READING
Empress of Another World
FantasíaSa Bina was on her way to write her SAT when she suddenly finds herself in a strange world. She is sent to be the old emperor's concubine, but on their wedding night, the emperor gets murdered by no one other than his own son and the heir! To surviv...
