The Villainous Family Loves Me Too Much!

Beatrice led us to the reception room of the Crown Princess’s palace.

The Roati staff besides Hailey and myself were asked to wait outside the palace gates.

Though disconcerted, I had anticipated as much.

“You two keep watch over the comings and goings around the Crown Princess’s palace, inside and out.”

Whispering discreetly, I followed Priscilla’s guidance inside.

“Please wait here briefly while I call for His Highness the Crown Prince.”

In the interim, maids began serving refreshments and tea.

Nothing seemed particularly amiss in this process.

It was merely the usual hospitality procedure for guests.

Yet their gazes felt strangely vacant, somehow.

For palace maids, their nail and hair grooming appeared just slightly unkempt – a subtle detail only a former princess like myself would notice.

I knew all too well the stringent requirements to become an imperial maidservant.

“My apologies for the delay.”

Just as I was about to sip my tea, Liam appeared.

Hailey and I rose from our seats, greeting him with due courtesy.

“We greet His Highness the Crown Prince, the glory of Castien.”

“Hahaha, many thanks. Please, be seated.”

Whatever he had endured, Liam appeared far more haggard than the fleeting glimpse at his investiture ceremony.

“I’ve been unable to sleep properly lately, you see. Hence this weariness, even in the day.”

“Let us not dwell on unpleasantries, Your Highness. Surely more agreeable topics abound?”

“You are not the Crown Prince. I am.”

At that moment, their exchange seemed to douse the atmosphere in cold water.

‘Just what is going on here?’

Contrary to my expectation of the lovey-dovey betraying couple fawning over each other, a peculiar tension hung between them.

* * *

After the relatively straightforward first day’s consultation, we were shown accommodations for our palace stay over the next few days.

“The atmosphere between those two felt rather odd, didn’t it?”

As we summarized the consultation details, Hailey suddenly remarked.

“They’re the couple soon to be married, aren’t they? And…”

Glancing at Gabriel, Hailey briefly paused.

Gabriel simply shrugged with a smile, easing her concern.

“I’m alright, go on.”

“Well… Those two hurt someone and committed infidelity to be together and claim their position. Yet I sensed no affection whatsoever between them.”

She articulated precisely my own impression – Beatrice and Liam today were utterly unlike their intimate garden demeanor in Gabriel’s memories.

Completely different from the two I had known as well.

Some rift clearly divided them.

“We’ll likely need to secretly observe the Crown Princess’s palace tonight.”

When I declared watching alone overnight, both Gabriel and Gebino vehemently objected.

“Are you out of your mind, suggesting such recklessness!”

“His Highness the Archduke strictly commanded never leaving you unattended, Your Highness!”

“Then if you two accompany me, does that mean leaving Hailey alone?”

As the flustered men turned to Hailey, she waved them off with her trademark bright smile.

“It’s safe here. No need for suspicion, how wonderful.”

“You can never be too cautious.”

I pondered thoughtfully.

If one had to keep night watch with me outside the Crown Princess’s palace, who would be better suited…?

“Let’s have just one of you come with me.”

* * *

“Didn’t expect you’d choose me to accompany you.”

“You told me yourself, brother. This is your revenge too.”

We crouched in hiding at a distance from the Crown Princess’s palace entrance, keeping vigilant watch.

“More than anyone, you know those two as well as I do. If anything seems off, you’ll likely sense it.”

For a while, the palace front remained utterly silent, devoid of passersby.

“Don’t you wish to see Her Majesty the Empress…?”

“…Not yet. If I meet Mother now, I may lose my temper.”

Perhaps a few hours passed when suddenly, the sound of multiple footsteps approached.

“Now now, I apologize. But where are you taking me?”

The palace staff dragged a man wearing an inverted mask into the Crown Princess’s quarters.

Guiding them was Priscilla.

Just as abruptly as the commotion arose, silence descended once more.

Around daybreak, Liam slowly emerged from the palace.

No, to be precise, he staggered drunkenly, unable to walk unaided as palace staff supported him.

“This is too strange, brother.”

“What is? Isn’t that brat just stumbling out after drinking himself silly?”

Unfamiliar with Liam, Gabriel seemed unable to detect anything amiss.

“Liam… doesn’t drink alcohol, brother.”

Unlike his companions utterly devoted to wine and women, abstaining from drink was Liam’s sole restraint.

Not for any profound reason, simply that like Queen Yuliana, Liam was constitutionally unable to process alcohol.

A matter of intolerance, not preference – beyond his control.

For such a Liam to have consumed enough to become utterly inebriated? Absolutely inconceivable.

As he staggered near the Crown Prince’s palace, Liam suddenly ducked into nearby shrubbery to vomit violently.

“Just watching that is turning my own stomach.”

After Liam disappeared from view, I quietly approached the bushes where he had lingered.

“Why are you going over there?”

Following me obliviously, Gabriel lowered his voice in question.

“Just wait.”

Recalling Liam’s suspicious behavior, I used a nearby branch to sift through the area.

“What is… this?”

Clearly expelled from Liam’s stomach, caught on the branch were human bone fragments.

* * *

“For the dresses, we are collaborating with the renowned Madam Huron’s dress shop, considered the finest not just in Felosite but the entire Empire. For Your Highness the Crown Princess, only the utmost quality will suffice. On our next visit, I shall bring the dress team along with accessory samples across all categories for your consideration.”

“Thank you, Lord Roati. I’m astonished at how well you understand a woman’s heart.”

“Well, I was born one myself, you see.”

“Hohohoh, quite right.”

After the final pleasantries with Beatrice, we departed the imperial palace.

Our palace visit over the past few days had proven successful in numerous ways.

First, following the initial bone fragment discovery, we continued witnessing the same pattern – various people being hauled into the Crown Princess’s quarters.

Those taken never reemerged, until sometime later at dawn when a staggering Liam would exit and violently vomit.

“It’s clear Liam is devouring people.”

“That’s an appalling thing to say, Rena. Liam, devouring people?”

“But you saw it too, brother. From people being dragged in to Liam vomiting – you witnessed it all.”

Suddenly, my chest tightened with distress.

“However, it surely wasn’t Liam’s intention to commit such acts.”

“Either way, he did devour people, didn’t he?”

Quietly listening to our exchange, Gebino cautiously spoke up.

“That humanoid demon beast from my dream… Could it have been Prince Liam?”

Though I expected Liam had done wrong, I never imagined to this extent.

My calculations involved Beatrice and Colin – the two the ‘piece of God’ mentioned.

-Karena and the entire Felosite Family perish in battle against the Great Demon Beast.

Could the prophesied Great Demon Beast have been Liam?

“Brother…”

I took a deep breath.

“We may… have to kill Liam.”

Gabriel offered no reply, surely conflicted.

Though vengeance was mentioned, slaying one’s own brother was no simple matter, no matter the circumstances.

Upon returning to Felosite, I immediately informed Lucian about the imperial palace and Liam’s condition.

Yet Lucian’s reaction differed somewhat from my expectations.

“No, what is all this?”