"Your highness, please follow me." Outside the room, the maid was waiting for her. She greeted Hilda as soon as she came out. "The empire's brightest sun had asked us to prepare a courtyard for your highness to stay."

“Oh! But I have to go. I have an important task to complete. I need to meet with someone.” Hilda had made it clear that she had no intention of staying here. She wanted to get out of here as soon as possible.

"Your majesty is referring to the delegates from the Armstrong families, right? The empire's brightest sun had dispatched someone to reschedule your meeting."

'It's impossible to keep anything from him.' Hilda couldn't stop cursing in her heart. The only thing Hilda could do at the time was to follow the maid.

'Now that I think about it, it was probably inevitable.' Hilda looked around the manor, remembering that all the servants were Eric's people.

What surprised her the most was that the emperor was aware of what had occurred in the mountain forest. 

After all, her own soldiers couldn't be the source of the leak, and the count's soldiers had no idea what had happened between her and Joefred or the bandit leader.

'Could he have sent a spy behind me?' Hilda couldn’t help wondering. After all, she'd read that emperors and kings once had a vast network of spies on Earth. Even if this world had magic, he was still a human being.

'However, it does not appear that I have done anything that has crossed his bottom line.' Hilda was confident of it. If that had happened, she would undoubtedly have ended in a worse situation than Duke Gerald or Fiona. After the meeting, Hilda had a rough idea about his bottom line.

'I need to communicate with Scar. I need to start cashing them as soon as possible if he doesn't mind me taking over the bandit.' However, it did not appear that she would be able to leave the manor at this time.

As she examined her surroundings, she noticed two imperial knights following her. Hilda could easily defeat these intermediate knights without having to transform. But there was one catch: they weren't alone. 

Countless imperial knights were hiding in the mansion. Even if she could defeat all of the imperial knights, she was not so naive as to believe she could defeat Eric.

‘Scarlett.’ Hilda remembered. 'Can you hear what I'm saying?'

[Of course, I can do it. What do you want?]

'Could you please send my words to Scar?' Hilda was sure that she no longer needed to be concerned about the news leaking out. After all, as long as Eric was okay with it, she could carry on with her plan.

[Didn't I say I was in the capital? Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to communicate with you.]

Hilda couldn't help but frown when she heard it. It appeared that she would have to wait until she could leave.

[If you want, I could tell your word to the wolf girl covered with your odor.]

"Wolfgirl?" Hilda asked, frowning. "Where are you now?"

[The wolf girl's hair was grey, and she only had one eye. There's another human girl who smells like you.]

'It's Wolfy. You can try, but I doubt she'll believe you.'

[Stop.]

Hilda didn't know why Scarlett screamed in her head, but her steps came to a halt. Scarlett explained in her head before she could ask.

[A constraining spell has been cast on the building in front of you.]

"Your majesty, you will remain here." At the same time, the maid explained. "We've finished cleaning the house. This courtyard has its own maid and servants. They will attend to all of your requirements. They would do anything for you as long as you wanted it."

The maid did not receive the expected response. After all, Hilda was having a conversation with Scarlett. 'How did you find out?'

[I may not be able to see or hear what is going on around you, but I can feel it if there are large enough mana fluctuations. That man has the mana energy of a guardian beast.]

"Guardian beast?"

[His aura gave the impression of a guardian beast. And the constraining spell felt the same way. That man could have cast the spell.]

"Your highness, do you require anything?" the maid inquired once more.

"No need," Hilda said, shaking her head and asking Scarlett, 'What kind of spell is that?'

[A restraining spell. It had some other effects as well, but the most important one was that it prevented you from coming out.]

‘Shit.’ Hilda couldn't stop cursing in her heart.

[You have my tail core and the blessings of the white tiger. Breaking the spell will be difficult, but not impossible.]

"Your Majesty, please come in. Someone important is expecting you."

Hilda sighed, knowing there was no other option. Hilda was sure she wouldn't be able to flee without spilling the blood. Even then, she wasn't sure she'd be successful.

Hilda remained silent. Under the eyes of the escorting imperial knights, Hilda entered the building.

The silence was the first thing she noticed. The sound from outside was suppressed as soon as the door was closed. She acted as if she couldn't hear anything outside the building.

The next thing she noticed was a pair of maids wearing revealing clothes. It was the same maid cloth Wolfy wore, but the chest part had a deep cut, and the skirt was more like a mini skirt than a long one. Their white butt cheeks would be exposed if they make careless movements.

"Your Majesty," the maids bowed far enough for Hilda to see their unsupported melons inside the loose dress.

Hilda realized for the first time that spending some time here might not be such a bad idea. "What is your name?" Hilda asked, waving her hand.

“YOU!” A yell was the answer to her question. It was a voice she had heard many times since she was a child. And she'd sort of expected it.

The shadowy figure jumped at Hilda, attempting to assault Hilda. But her strength was insufficient. "Why are you here? Did you come here to mock me?"

“Laugh? Why would I do something like that?”

Fern frowned as if she didn't believe a word of Hilda, saying, "Stop faking it. You're aware that I'm getting married, and you're probably laughing at me."

Hilda couldn't stop shaking her head. Hilda realized Fern had no idea how horrible things were for her (F).

It is natural for a noble family's son and daughter to be sold without compensation in the name of politics, business, and support. Fern was not an exception.

Fern's ending doesn't appear promising just now. She could have been the first imperial prince's consort. Thinking back on the assistance she had received from the first prince, she (H) felt a bit sorry for her situation (F).

"Let's talk about it."

"Is there anything to say?" Fren's violent temper was as it had always been. "How did you gain entry to my courtyard? Why didn't the guards stop you? Get out of here. Get out of here right now."

Hilda sighed and asked Fern's personal maids, who stood behind Fern, for assistance. But as soon as their gazes met, they both looked down.

'It appears that she (F) is the only one who is unaware of the gravity of the situation.' Hilda knew she couldn't use force on Fern. But she didn't have any other options. 

"Where is my room?" she grabbed Fern's hand and asked the pair of perverted maids.

Fern had exited the left corridor, and the maids had led them to the right. Hilda dragged Fern to her room despite the screams. "Don't disturb us," he said as he threw Fern inside the room and shut the door.

"What are you..." Fern couldn't finish her sentence since Hilda covered her mouth and said quietly, "I am here to help you."

Fern clearly didn't believe her and continued to struggle. Fern bit Hilda's hand as Hilda tried to explain the situation.

"Do you dare to touch me?" Fern yelled.

Hilda was getting a headache. As Fern cursed, Hilda had no idea how to control this rampaging devil. Hilda grabbed her hand as she (F) attempted to leave and said, "First brother had sent me."

Of course, that was a lie, but it served its purpose. Fern gave her a suspicious look, but she stopped. "Don't come near me," she said as she moved to the other side of the room.

"You know about your marriage, right?" Hilda shrugged, staying as far away from her as she could. "The count?"

Fern frowned but nodded anyway. "I'd say he's quite attractive, but I prefer his older brother."

"He is gay."

“Gay? What?” Hilda had expected this, but Fern's words surprised her even more. "What exactly is that?"

'In this world...' Hilda sighed softly before saying, "he likes men."

“What? That bastard," Fern cursed aloud, "likes men and dares to come and propose marriage to me? Just wait until I rip off that mask on your face."

"You wouldn't do it if you wanted to live a good life."

"A happy life? Do you think I'd have a good life if I married that jerk?" Fern's suspicion deepened as she stared at Hilda. "Or are you supporting him because he's a freak like you?"

"The emperor had decided the marriage," Hilda sighed. "Unless he cancels, you are obligated to marry that man. And if you spread rumors about his sexual orientation, then..."

Hilda didn't need to finish the sentence because Fern's face had already been drained of blood. "Uncle did it?" she mumbled. "Why, though?"

'He is your father, not your uncle.' Hilda didn't dare to say anything out loud.

"I need to inform the uncle..." Fern became restless and was about to flee in panic, but Hilda intervened in time.

"Did you think the emperor, who has eyes and ears everywhere, wouldn't know?"

"He might not be aware. It's understandable that he was uninterested in learning about his subject's sexual orientation..."

"The emperor had said it to me," Hilda couldn't sugarcoat it.

Fern's powerless body slumped on the ground as all of her energy was drained from her body. Even if Hilda tried to console her, she knew it would be hollow words and empty promises.

"Brother, brother," Fern exclaimed, "What did first brother say?"

"I apologize, Fern. But brother doesn't know about it," Hilda apologized. "Even if he was aware, there was nothing he could do about it."

"However, you stated..." Fern was at a loss for words. She just sat there, helpless, staring at Hilda as tears streamed down her cheeks.

Hilda simply sighed and remained silent. Looking at her, Hilda didn't have the heart to tell her that her (F) own father had sold her to be her (H) shadow wife.

Anonbee: As I had told you, I had surgery on my right leg and currently going through rehab. Even if I was resting in bed all this time, I wasn't in the right mind to write some smut. So, sorry for the inconvenience. And thank you for your support.

Look forward to the extra chapters next week.