Chapter 27
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Empress Lillian was clearly the weakest link in the aristocracy.
She was not related to Schwaben, nor was she completely under Ezekiel's control due to her status and position. Most importantly, she was not entirely on the same page as Schwaben, as evidenced by the results of her last life.
So that's where you need to start swaying.
Hearing Olivia's words, Ferdinand looked at her with a mixture of bewilderment and shock. He wondered what this woman could possibly believe in, but he was even more curious about something else.
"Assuming I cooperate... even if what you say is possible, why would you want to do it?"
"I'm a member of Count Andex’s family, does it seem so strange to you that I'm trying to free His Majesty the Emperor, even just a little?"
The Emperor was practically imprisoned.
All the servants and vassals of the imperial court were the hands of the Empress, or more precisely, in the hands of the Schwabens, who borrowed her name to wield power.
The Schwabens knew everything about the Emperor, down to the last bite of his meal. Conversely, even if there were loyalists outside who followed the Emperor's wishes, there was no way to communicate with them.
To say that the emperor was chipping away was a misnomer. Instead of issuing an imperial decree that would never be fulfilled and making his will known, the emperor simply kept his mouth shut.
The forces that could fight back were dwindling. Duke Klaus had become mentally ill after the former Empress's assassination, and the royalist faction had no rallying point. Even if they wanted to oppose the Schwabens, once the Emperor was gone, power would eventually return to the Schwabens through Princess Loella.
That was what Ferdinand meant when he said that the family was doomed to fall. Once Duke Klaus was dead, the Count of Capelin would naturally fall. But that didn't mean he would betray them now and join the Duke of Schwaben.
Count Andex would be in no different situation, so what would she do now?
Besides, it was hard to tell if this woman was even related to Count Andex. At best, she was a distant relative.
When Ferdinand stared at her, Olivia smiled, tossing her flowing hair back over her shoulder.
"Even if it fails, it’s just an attempt by an extremist to seduce a nobleman with a handsome man."
"If that happens in the Litch Theater, I'm not irrelevant."
"So you're just going to go down without doing anything?"
"......."
She sounded like she knew he couldn't, or rather, he didn't want to.
Ferdinand had been frustrated for a long time. The lack of a focal point in the royalist faction, and the fact that old Duke Klaus was bedridden, was beyond his control. But shouldn’t he do something?
So far, the nobility's resistance had been limited to opposing the politics of the Duke of Schwaben. Playing tricks on the imperial court was something that not a few had thought of, but all were too afraid to do so.
Olivia's face turned grim.
"You cannot grant me an audience with Duke Klaus, and you have no desire to learn the Emperor's will; if you choose that course, I cannot help it; I will find another, for the Count will have no inclination to rat me out to the Duke of Schwaben."
"You're hurting my pride."
"Isn't that true?"
Ferdinand replied bitterly, the beauty's mockery hurting him to the bone.
"The lady's eyes are correct. Since this is not a topic to be snitched on, you have chosen the right person.”
"Will you help me then?"
"Before I do, I'd like to know your specific plan. If you succeed in cutting off the Empress's hands and feet, what do you plan to do about it? It won't be enough to simply shove a few servants in the court."
"That would depend on how far the Empress falls... but at the very least, I plan to at least prepare to replace her chamberlain or the head maid."
That role would be filled by Count Andex. Ferdinand was surprised to learn that there would be a new movement within the royal family, but at the same time he realized how badly he had wanted it.
"I see, and...."
He let out a long sigh.
"I'll tell Duke Klaus about it, too."
That probably wouldn't get Duke Klaus off his sickbed and involved, but it would be the least he could do.
Olivia hesitated for a moment, then added.
"Please let him know that Gisela's daughter would like to see him."
"Of course."
Ferdinand replied, not realizing how important it was. Even if Olivia's parents were related to Duke Klaus, he didn't expect the duke to meet them.
8. Waves of emotion
After the music salon, the Empress's quarters were even quieter than before.
The maids were greatly disappointed. On the day of the performance, Empress Lilian seemed to be in good spirits, and the performance was excellent. So there were many expectations that similar plays would continue to be held.
With more work to do, the ladies-in-waiting could increase their influence. But the Empress seemed to grow more depressed afterward.
"I must be getting old."
Lillian muttered to herself as she sat before the mirror. Her maid, who was brushing her hair, quickly replied.
"What do you mean by that? The Empress is still young, and the most beautiful woman in the empire."
"Yes. In fact, even with the Princess, you look like her sister."
The handmaiden who had been sitting beside her, on one knee, trimming her nails, added.
But Lillian didn't respond to the comment.
In the mirror, she had aged. Though, as the maids said, she retained her beauty.... Honestly, she probably looked more beautiful than she did when she was young and had nothing, but she still felt old.
Youthful beauty was something you couldn’t keep, no matter how hard you tried. Standing next to those young actors, Zion and Luna, she would probably look noticeably older....
‘What the hell are you thinking?’
Lillian stroked her cheek, trying to shake the thought away.
But ever since she saw The Curtain Rises, she kept thinking about her own girlhood, and it seemed as if the heroine of the opera was herself.
She was the daughter of an ordinary carpenter in the countryside. From a young age, she was told she was beautiful, and then she became a servant to a noblewoman who stopped in town on her travels.
The lady took good care of her and paid her well. City life seemed very glamorous to a country girl. Several young male servants from the same manor courted her, and on holidays she would pick any of them for a date.
Lillian loved to dance. She enjoyed going to the dance hall with her dates, and she often went to the theater to watch performances. Then she fell in love. Her date was a young professional dancer who used to perform in dance halls.
He taught her some difficult dances. They met at the dance hall and dated outside of it. Eventually, she performed as her lover's partner on a few occasions.
It never occurred to her that it was strange. The extra money was nice and the accolades were gratifying, but she enjoyed dancing with her lover more than anything else.
But when her hostess found out, she was furious.
"I kept you with me because I thought you were a good and lovely girl, not because I wanted to keep a servant, a maid for others to watch."
She was thrown out of her master's house without a word of explanation.
She stayed with her lover for a while, but love didn’t last forever. He soon found a wealthy new lover and left, leaving Lillian alone.
She could not return to her hometown. When she left to become a servant to a noblewoman, she severed ties with her disapproving parents.
She traveled from place to place as a third-rate dancer until she caught the eye of the Duke of Schwaben.
And now....
'If I could go back to that time again....'
Lillian stared at herself in the mirror as she pondered the thought. It was ridiculous. What she missed most now was not her parents back home, nor the comfortable days of being a servant to a noblewoman, but the passion she had during those days.
She understood what it was like to feel like the heroine while watching an opera. The excitement of falling in love, the heartbreak when she felt her lover's heart move elsewhere, the unstoppable love and tragic sweetness.
She didn’t think she could fully feel any of it now. But then she looked at the lily she had received from Zion Miller.
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