“If I’m here, it might be uncomfortable for you two to have a chat, right? I’ll leave first.”

Eve was looking at Charles with a more astonished expression than she had expected, without saying a word about whether he was really okay.

‘Does she still see me as her husband?’

Charles responded with a bright smile and then turned away.

“Well then, enjoy your visit.”

Charles disappeared, and after a moment, Eve awkwardly smiled and said, “See, he’ll take good care of you. Did you both go to the gathering?”

“….”

“Noah.”

“Yes.”

“I hope you’re happy. If you’re happy, it doesn’t matter who you marry, whether or not it’s a stranger.”

“….”

“Don’t pretend to be happy forcibly. I don’t wish that for myself, Aunt and Uncle.”

Eve was at a loss for words. The word “happiness”…. she thought she had forgotten it a long time ago.

‘Noah, I… I swore I would seek revenge. I vowed to inflict on him the same pain. No, even greater pain. How can I forget the deep-seated resentment that made me vomit blood and die in agony? But… I can’t ignore my little brother’s sincere wish for his sister’s happiness. Above all, that man is not Arsen.’

“Eve, I’m here.”

The man who had smiled and said those words at the gathering, and the man who had just given up his seat for us, were not the targets of revenge. There was no need to make that man unhappy.

‘Then what should I do now?’

What should I do now? I hadn’t thought of that because I had been focused on exposing the true identity of the fake Arsen. And now, thanks to Noah’s advice, Eve was in confusion.

‘From now on, should I try to find the real Arsen? Find him and make him unhappy? Should I put my time and effort into it, even if he’s no longer my husband?’

Anyway, at this rate, Arsen and Cecilia won’t meet, and the man trapped in a body that isn’t his will lose both the status of Fontaine and his appearance, preventing him from moving as freely as before.

Then, another voice within Eve whispered to her.

‘Isn’t that what matters? If I find happiness in my own way, wouldn’t that be my revenge? Living as the lively young lady of Laurent, spending time with my parents and Noah…’

Eve’s expression became poignant as she recalled her past happy days. If she could go back to those times, she wouldn’t regret anything. Perhaps ignoring the unhappiness that would befall Arsen and Cecilia would be the real revenge.

But how? She was the Duchess Fontaine, how could she return as the young lady of Laurent?

‘Even if I go back to the past, there’s no way…’

At that moment, a word crossed Eve’s mind that she had never considered once in the past.

‘Divorce.’

If she divorced him, she could be free from Fontaine and have her own home.

Oh, yes.

“Noah, I…”

At that moment, a tear rolled down Eve’s cheek.

“I want a divorce.”

* * *

Emperor. No, Arsen felt as if he were trapped in an invisible prison. Although he had finally taken the Emperor’s body, there was nothing he could do as he wished.

“Darn it, I have to live like a monk with this face.”

Heaving a sigh as he looked at his unbelievably beautiful face in the mirror. His long, golden hair was finer than any gold and shone brightly, while his transparent eyelashes and the sparkling pupils below them seemed as if they were set with sunstones.

The marble-like white skin, well-sculpted nose, and jawline would make one doubt if a god had crafted the statue, not a man.

Although he thought his own face was quite handsome. He had been looking at the Emperor’s face for over a month, and still, he was in awe of it every day. It was truly the pinnacle of beauty.

Whenever he frowned with that face, it felt as if the world was becoming gloomy.

‘No opinions are allowed in the council. I will convey Your Majesty’s opinions instead.’

‘Give orders as necessary, and those orders will be reported to me.’

‘Please try not to leave the room.’

With the bitter last warning, he turned coldly and left Duke Bonaparte. He remembered well the fact that the Emperor was actually the Duke’s puppet.

Although he had received praise for his administrative skills under the Emperor’s name, Arsen now knew that it was all the Duke’s work. In the council, whenever he mentioned anything, the nobles would grumble, so what work did the Emperor do? Of course, he wondered why Duke Bonaparte turned his own accomplishments into the Emperor’s, but Arsen rarely thought deeply about things he wasn’t interested in.

In any case, what mattered most was that he was now being manipulated by the Duke, and he had to get out of the Duke’s sight in order to use this excellent body for something worthwhile.

So for several days, he had been stubbornly insisting every time the Duke came.

“Duke, can’t you let me go outside for a while?”

While Duke Bonaparte, who was busy working in the Emperor’s study, looked at Arsen, who was almost lying on the sofa, he gave no hint of his thoughts.

“The palace is spacious enough. The garden is beautiful, too.”

“I’m tired of walking in the garden! Even if you accompany me, I’ll be fine if you let me go outside.”

“I have to go home after I finish my work and see my wife.”

“….”

“Then, can I go outside alone?”

“No, Your Majesty.”

“Am I the Emperor or your puppet?”

Duke Bonaparte stifled a yawn, pondering.

How can someone with the same face be so different in terms of power? Although changing to another face, some people had the talent to make people feel small.

“All right. Then you can go out in a carriage for only 30 minutes after I finish my work.”

“Thank you.”

Arsen was thrilled to bits and summoned a servant to prepare for his outing.

About a month ago, when he felt strange, he had sensed that something was odd. When he was on his way to the palace, he was sure of the weirdness he had felt.

‘I, I’m the Emperor?’

It was the day when the great Emperor uttered such foolish words, and then he acted strangely.

Charles Louis de Frey, to be frank, he ascended to this position, and half of it is undoubtedly due to Duke Bonaparte’s work. Therefore, Duke Bonaparte was well aware of the Emperor. And the man in front of him now was not at all like the Emperor.

He felt the familiar concern in the afternoon, a letter in his familiar handwriting flew to him.

[It feels like I’ve switched bodies with Duke Fontaine.]

It was just one sentence, but he immediately recognized that this was his real master’s letter.

After that, Bonaparte placed Tiago by Charles’ side and searched the entire country for a way to exchange Charles’ and Arsen’s bodies, but for a whole month, he found not a trace of it.

He had reviewed all the records of the past 100 years. Going further back in time made finding records an even more challenging task.

‘As if I didn’t have enough problems already…’

In any case, the author, who had proclaimed himself the emperor, showed no responsibility but instead kept going as if nothing had happened.

‘If things get worse…’

It might be necessary to cut his throat.

I am the one who has become the emperor. For the sake of a better empire, I have shed blood without any hesitation for the empire’s citizens. I couldn’t lose the holy prince I had worked so hard to create through such a ridiculous incident.

However, it wouldn’t be easy to occupy the emperor’s seat or to cut the emperor’s throat. I am the emperor who has risen to power by cutting the throat of the previous emperor and climbing up. I can’t just cut another.

‘For that, I would need the support of the noble aristocrats.’

He had to receive the support of at least the three ducal families of the Holy Imperial. Fontaine was also a duke, but he was not a ducal family of the Holy Imperial.

The ducal families who founded the empire together with the previous emperor. One was Bonaparte, one was himself, and the other was the Chesscon family. Up to this point, things could be sorted out. The problem was…

‘Laurent.’

The family that has watched without offering any help or interference when Charles ascended to the throne. Yet the family had maintained its power, and the Laurent family was still strong. The oldest noble and hero of the Turan Empire.

If he got their powerful support, the power of the Chesscon family might no longer be needed.

‘…Duchess Fontaine is the illegitimate daughter of that family.’

Charles already knew this. To turn this situation around, it was necessary to gain the support of the Laurent family. No, he didn’t know if they were a few steps ahead of him.

‘…Killing him with that ugly face wouldn’t be a waste, but…’

Exile would be enough.

With such absurd thoughts in mind, he finished his sermon and got up from his seat to accompany the fake emperor’s walk, that man who was more of a troublemaker than his four-year-old daughter.

* * *

“Do I have to go out like a thief in the night like the Emperor?”

Arsen’s grumbling prompted Bonaparte to remind himself of patience once again.

“If His Imperial Majesty is to go out, the entire population of the Imperial Palace should prepare. Do you know how much labor and expense that would incur?”

“I’m the D–… Oh, forget it.”

Arsen, who almost said ‘duke,’ instead deliberately changed the subject. He didn’t know he had been exposed as not being the Emperor even in his dreams.

“Then can we go to the western part of the Imperial Palace? They say there are many exquisite sights there.”

What kind of exquisite sights. Most likely, he was heading to the entertainment district.

In Bonaparte’s opinion, watching Charles enjoy himself in the entertainment district would be even more of a spectacle. Of course, he had absolutely no intention of doing that.

But if it wasn’t allowed here, this man would cause a ruckus all day again. With this in mind, Bonaparte said, “Fine, let’s go.”