Empress of Another World

One Hundred Two

I answered coolly, “I am being framed.”

Ksania’s shrill voice ordered, “Ludia, please tell us what you saw two days ago.”

Princess Ludia glanced at the dowager empress, me, her aunt, and her brother before speaking. It was exactly what I expected.

“Two days ago, I visited the castle library out of curiosity and saw the emperor’s wife from afar. I noticed she was with another man. They looked very close.”

Coronel shouted in anger, “This is unacceptable. A proper Genoan woman would never commit adultery.”

I asked Ludia coldly, “Did you see the man I was with?”

Ludia flinched but quickly smiled.

“I didn’t get to see his face clearly, but I remembered his outfit. He was wearing a deep green top decorated with golden thread and a pair of black pants.”

As I expected, she didn’t get to see Clodys’ face, but just in case, I had already warned Clodys not to be seen by Ludia in the castle. You could never be too careful.

Ksania continued to accuse me triumphantly, “Why would any married woman meet with a man in secret unless she was having an affair?”

The dowager empress answered, “I agree.”

It was funny how in this case, Ksania and the dowager empress seemed to be in perfect agreement. An enemy of my enemy was my friend…

Ksania threatened me, “If an empress or a wife of an emperor commits adultery, it’s considered treason. Isn’t this correct, your highness the dowager empress?”

“Yes. In fact, the former empress Beatrice was executed for this exact crime.”

The dowager empress looked at my neck sharply. She was probably remembering the Empress Beatrice’s execution.

She continued, “If Sa Bina has committed this crime, she won’t be able to escape from execution.”

Ksania seemed like she wanted to high-five someone. Ludia and Coronel also seemed excited.

I found this situation hilarious.

Even if I was found guilty and was executed, this didn’t guarantee that Ludia would become the next Empress. Yet, the Genoans were acting like I was the only obstacle.

I answered evenly, “I am innocent.”

Ludia smirked. “A guilty person always says that.”

Ksania agreed with her niece, “If you are innocent, you should be able to tell us who that man was in the library.”

I knew they would never be able to find out it was Clodys. Usually, anyone entering the main castle was required to sign in. On that day, Clodys did sign in as well, and I knew leaving this record was dangerous. Not only for this incident but if the dowager empress ever happened to look at it, it would look suspicious. So I asked Liliana to delete this record that day.

Then, I ordered Agnes and the trusted guard to hide Clodys out of the castle by having him leave inside a vegetable carriage. This meant there was no record of Clodys ever being in the castle that day.

The only problem left was to figure out how to explain who the man I supposedly met in the library was.

If I gave them a reasonable answer, this whole thing would go away.

In fact, this could be a chance for me to get rid of the Genoans.

When I remained quiet, they looked triumphant. Just then, I addressed the dowager empress.