The next day I woke up in a great mood. There was a lightness in my body, and I felt calm and relaxed.

«I have a feeling that today will be a good day.»

— My Lady, you are simply shining! I've never seen you like this before. Did something good happen? Camilla's personal maid asked with a smile.

I was confused by her remark.

— Ah… well…

While I was changing from a nightgown into a dress with the help of a maid, I was thinking about it absent-mindedly. Was it worth telling her that yesterday, in fact, was the best day of my life?

My worst nightmare has finally left me behind. Yesterday, the Duke publicly announced that he had decided to postpone the issue of my engagement. This was due to the fact that there were no suitable applicants on the horizon.

Of course, my brother was the first to be outraged about this.

— Father! — exclaimed Yufil, — Cancellation of the engagement? What does it mean? Didn't you say that this girl should benefit our family?

— «Benefit»? — the owner of the house coldly let out a laugh, — And what use were you going to find in these garbage?

After the most profitable options selected by the Duke himself were eliminated, it was scary to look at the remaining list of applicants. The last straw for the man was the incident at last night's dinner. He decided that he would not allow the de Walt family to be subjected to such humiliation.

— But…! — the heir tried to object.

— The de Walt family did not find themselves in the trash. How can we agree to such proposals? This is a disgrace to our ancestors.

Of course, this decision had nothing to do with the Duke's paternal love for me.

If the baron's worthless son had been an elderly aristocrat with a harem of mistresses and a disgusting reputation, but at the same time with money and power, my father would have agreed without hesitation. I'm just a bargaining chip in his hands and nothing more.

I was well aware of my situation. And now, when there is no profitable deal in the near future, I was temporarily «free».

However, at the moment, it was already a big victory.

When it became known that I was staying at their house, the duke's eldest son was beside himself with rage. If I was interested, I would certainly take this opportunity to mock him. After all, when else would this asshole have been so vulnerable?

But… Unfortunately or fortunately, I don't care too much.

Therefore, even now I did not betray much importance to this. I shook my head at all the maid's questions with a smile.

Finally, having solved this problem, now I just wanted to take off the accumulated stress. Perhaps it would be nice to spend the whole day on the veranda, enjoying various snacks.

Soon, when Elisha finished dressing me and tidied my hair, I did so.

Ignoring the family meal has already become a habit for me, so I just walked past the dining room, immediately heading outside. The warm summer breeze really gave me life.

Imagining my bright future without burdensome responsibilities and financial constraints, I felt genuine delight. Since I have reincarnated as the daughter of a duke, I must use these opportunities to the fullest.

In this regard, my best friend was much less lucky…

It so happened that we were both not very lucky, and died for completely absurd reasons. I'm from an alcoholic coma, and he's from insomnia.

It's almost impossible, but after death we were brought into the same universe. I thought that now that we finally met, everything would get better, but…

Even when we were in the same world, we didn't have many opportunities to see each other.

Firstly, after yesterday's brawl, the Duke will not want to see someone from the Kimberly family on his doorstep any time soon. And secondly, the guy himself was pretty busy. The Baron still hasn't given up on the idea of finding him a profitable bride…

I was hoping that soon, we would be able to meet on neutral territory somewhere in a cafe.

In the meantime…

— Is today an unusual day?

I couldn't help noticing that the manor was a bit noisier than usual. According to my newfound tradition, I was about to send the servants to the clothing stores, when suddenly it turned out that they all already had things to do.

— Of course! — Elisha was surprised, — My Lady, don't you know?

— Eh?

I was a little puzzled.

— Our empire turns 500 years old! — the maid's voice sounded unprecedented delight, — In honor of this, holidays are held all over the country. Of course, everyone is getting ready.

Ah, that's the thing.

After learning the reason for the general hype, I quickly lost interest. Deep down, I didn't care too much about this kind of thing. In the end, even my own birthday ceased to matter to me after twenty years. What can we say about the anniversary of some empire?

In short, I lay back down and did not think at all about the upcoming holiday.

Until one thought struck me.

— Wait! — I sat down abruptly, — You say, anniversary? Five hundred years?

Elisha was surprised when I was so suddenly alarmed.

— Y-yes…

— And when will it take place?

The maid rolled her eyes.

«My Lady, do you really not know?» This is the biggest holiday of the decade!

I waved impatiently, wanting to get an answer to my question as soon as possible.

— You know I've been in the hospital for a long time, right? — the first random excuse sounded ridiculous from my mouth, — During this time, many things are forgotten.

Elisha hesitated. It was as if it was at such moments that doubts crept in: was I definitely lying in an ordinary hospital, and not a psychiatric dispensary?

— Well… At the end of this month.

The maid muttered uncertainly.

— …First, the holiday will be held in the palace, and then the residents of the capital and the rest of the empire will celebrate.

The guess that dawned on me was confirmed.

«In the imperial palace?» I asked.

— yes. His Lordship is also invited to the banquet, so he will not be at home this evening.

When I received this information, I remembered everything. The banquet episode was one of the final ones in the original novel. At least, this is exactly the information I found on the forum where I read spoilers. It was said to be one of the most violent scenes in the entire book.

To be honest, at such moments I especially regretted that I could not read everything to the end on my own. Now I just had to rely on the opinions of people from the comments.

I didn't know exactly what happened then, but the next day the main villain died. Of course, the person who defeated the «world evil» was Princess Lilian de Ronan. It was she who was declared a national heroine and savior of the empire.

As a result, a fierce battle between the sisters ended with this.

After Cayenne's death, de Ronan was accused of her numerous crimes, and posthumously stripped of the title of a member of the imperial family. She was buried in an unmarked grave and wished to erase her existence from the history of the country forever.

At the end of the novel, Lillian became a crown princess, and later a queen. The epilogue took place thirty years after the main events.

Then the adult Lillian comes to her sister's grave, the only one in all these years. No one knew that the former Crown Princess was buried in this cemetery among the commoners.

The last chapter was filled with notes of nostalgic memories. Anyone who followed the sisters' story from the very beginning would have burst into tears at this touching moment.

Lillian brought a flute with her and began to play — a long-forgotten melody from their shared childhood. Back when they hadn't become enemies yet.

«Cayenne, do you still remember this song?»

The novel ended there.

In other words, the main moral of the novel was that revenge does not matter. Cayenne, who had longed for revenge on the imperial family all her life, eventually lost everything. So was the game worth the candle?

If in the future the girl found the strength to forgive her family, did everything turn out differently? Would it have been possible to avoid those terrible consequences and, as a result, death? One way or another, this question has remained unanswered forever.

But all these snotty details of the plot did not interest me at all. I was only thinking about one thing right now.

If the banquet episode really was the final one, then…

This meant that there were only a couple of days left before the finale of the novel.

When I realized this, I couldn't believe my luck. This world will finally be safe.

The bandits who were constantly on duty on the streets of the empire will no longer be able to threaten me. And most importantly, the villain, who suffered all these misfortunes, will die.

I threw my head back and burst out laughing. The maid stared at me in surprise.

«Freedom! Freedom at last!»

In addition to liberating the empire from the tyranny of Cayenne, I also pursued personal gain. After all, then nothing can stop me. I will be able to fulfill my main goal — to gain independence and escape.