Pretending to Be Human Is Exhausting Again Today - Chapter 102

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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Pretending to Be Human: Episode 102

“…I never expected you to describe the Empress that way.”

“Hmph.”

At my words, Jeina’s smile vanished in an instant, her expression turning blank.

She rose from her seat and began walking toward the center of the Garden.

“Come along. We’ll talk while we walk.”

It seemed she was suggesting we walk together since there were no more chairs available.

I walked alongside her through the Garden.

I glanced around cautiously, but saw no hidden Guards or Servants. There was no risk of our conversation being overheard.

Jeina cast a sidelong glance at me and furrowed her brow.

“Needless worry. No one enters this Garden at this hour. Not the Empress, not Franz.”

It seemed her private tea time was particularly precious to her.

‘It wasn’t like this when we were younger.’

She used to invite me often as a child. Had she developed a hatred for humans in the meantime?

“…First, I have a question.”

As we passed through a path lined with roses, Jeina asked in a low voice.

“Why did you think I sent that letter?”

Recognizing that this was a test, I answered calmly.

“I suspected you from the start. I couldn’t think of anyone but you who would so boldly expose the Imperial Family’s secrets.”

The incident involving the Countess of Adonia was a past the Empress wished to keep hidden. Only Jeina possessed the power to expose the Imperial Family’s uncomfortable truths to the world.

She was the type who would not hesitate for a moment to expose and correct her family’s shameful secrets.

“Of course, that letter wasn’t sent asking me to report it on your behalf. Even if I hadn’t read it, you would have found the evidence yourself and denounced the Empress alone.”

Then what was the true purpose of sending that letter?

“The answer connects to the purpose of the previous letter.”

“The previous letter?”

“The Spring Flower Ball invitation you sent to Atlas. You wrote that too, didn’t you?”

“….”

Silence was affirmation. I slowly retraced the circumstances of that time.

“Back then, Atlas said he attended because of a letter from the Main Palace. Since Atlas and I already had a connection, it was natural we’d be paired at the ball.”

Throughout it all, Atlas followed behind me like a subordinate.

Witnessing that scene, Gilbert began to grow jealous, thinking I had stolen Atlas from him, and eventually resorted to such a foolish tactic as poison.

Moreover, the fact that Gilbert was targeting Atlas was apparently quite a well-known story among the nobility.

In such circumstances, appearing with Atlas in tow made their interpretation obvious.

“The nobles would have thought this: Princess Deina has stolen Gilbert’s talent and is now opposing him…”

In other words, they concluded that the moment Deina returned to high society, she had stepped into factional strife.

This reasoning naturally extended to this current incident as well.

“The second letter follows a similar logic. That letter forced me to confront the Empress’s weakness—her hidden past.”

Before long, the Empress would notice that I had visited the Countess’ Mansion.

If she believed I was investigating her secrets, she would naturally become wary.

In other words, those two letters were a scheme to drag me out of neutrality and deliberately create enemies for me.

I counted off on my fingers as I spoke.

“Franz was already on bad terms with me, and Gilbert, who had been avoiding me because of the Temple Faction anyway, has now become openly hostile. On top of that, the Empress is wary of me.”

Let me think through this by process of elimination.

So who’s left among the Imperial Family?

Jeina crossed her arms and spoke quietly.

“Clearly, only me.”

She fell silent in thought for a moment, then nodded with a satisfied expression.

“That was quite a decent deduction. I’d give it an eighty.”

“What about the remaining twenty?”

“You only uncovered half the reason why I sent those letters. And you still don’t know how I discovered the Empress’s secret.”

She clicked her tongue, noting that two of the five W’s and one H were missing from my analysis.

‘Are you asking me to read your mind or something?’

As I stared at her incredulously, Jeina snorted and continued.

“I learned that the Empress was targeting the Countess by checking the records in the Imperial Palace Treasure Vault. There was a record that the Empress had removed a magical mirror that shows dreams.”

“…She left an obvious record of it?”

“Only a handful of people can access the Treasure Vault records anyway, and they’re all on the Empress’s side. She had no sense of danger.”

Besides, Jeina added with irritation.

“The Countess was already in decline. Even if the mirror was the final blow, it’s hard to place all the blame solely on the Empress.”

‘True enough—she was already ruined before ever seeing the mirror.’

Even if the Countess had never received the mirror, she would never have returned to high society. She would have spent every day waiting for death.

From the Empress’s perspective, she could have made excuses—that she gave the gift out of pity for her sister-in-law.

“Of course, that doesn’t erase her crimes. I made copies of all those records so I could expose the Empress someday.”

“All those records? It wasn’t just one or two incidents?”

“Do you think the Empress buried only one or two people?”

Jeina pointed at me sharply as she spoke.

“The reason I sent you that letter is exactly what you’re thinking. I don’t want you to remain neutral. I want you to participate in court politics as befits the Imperial Family—openly and fairly.”

I couldn’t hide my displeasure at the notion that fair competition could even exist in such circumstances.

“That’s why I showed you the Countess’s horrific state. If you simply endure passively like that, you’ll inevitably fail to escape death. So….”

“Wait, hold on.”

A word I couldn’t overlook had slipped out, and I hastily interrupted her.

“I understand your intentions, but there’s one error. The Countess didn’t die.”

“But you said she won’t wake up because she’s intoxicated by the mirror. That’s as good as being dead. She’d certainly die if the mirror broke, though.”

‘Ah, so she only knows about the mirror’s effects.’

It made sense—Jeina couldn’t possibly have known what actually happened at that mansion. Besides, I had come to her immediately after the incident concluded, so her information wasn’t up to date.

I spoke with a displeased expression.

“The Countess is alive and well. I woke her up.”

“…What?”

“By now, she’s probably heading back to her County.”

Jeina’s expression shifted into something I had never seen before.

“No, how did you… What, really, a miracle?”

She was so flustered that her words stumbled. I patted her shoulder to calm her down.

“Take a deep breath. It just happened by chance.”

“That makes no sense… I sent several people to that mansion! They all came back unconscious!”

‘So the person who drained life force that Biki mentioned was one of Jeina’s subordinates.’

Jeina swatted my hand away and muttered.

“The Sun God’s miracle is real? Were you a saint?”

“I’m telling you, it was truly coincidence. The Countess just woke up the moment I arrived.”

“You expect me to believe that? Do you think I’m as foolish as Gilbert?”

To think she could call her brother a fool so decisively—truly, she was my sister.

She muttered about not believing me for a while longer, then cleared her throat as if regaining her composure.

“Fine, whatever. If the Countess has truly returned, that’s actually fortunate. I’ll become your new guardian.”

“Why do you care about my guardian?”

I asked in disbelief, and Jeina opened her eyes wide.

“Only now asking that question—truly an eighty-point answer.”

“What?”

“You still haven’t grasped why I’m trying to place you at the center of politics.”

I had vaguely assumed it was because she wanted an Imperial Family member who would stand and face adversity rather than flee. But Jeina’s intentions seemed to run deeper than that.

“Deina, listen carefully. I’ve been deeply disappointed in my siblings these past few years.”

She began her explanation with an expression of utter exasperation.

“A foolish Franz chasing his desires, Gilbert pretending to be brilliant but actually desperate for recognition, and those stupid siblings who claimed they’d renounce their Imperial status.”

As for the Imperial Family members currently absent from the Imperial Palace, Jeina hadn’t even bothered to mention their names. It was so like her—she despised those who shirked their duties most of all.

“The more disappointed I became in them, the more I found myself worrying about the Empire’s fate. I simply couldn’t see anyone worthy of succeeding His Majesty the Emperor.”

The way she spoke, as though she alone held dominion over the Empire’s destiny.

Yet because it was Jeina speaking, I found myself believing her.

She was the one who loved this Empire more than anyone else, who carried the greatest pride in being of Imperial blood.

“In the end, I decided to elevate someone other than a prince to the throne. Only then could I entrust the Empire with peace of mind.”

She continued speaking with perfect composure.

“The Prime Minister’s Heir was among the candidates, but he wasn’t suitable. He lacked legitimacy. And then….”

A moment of silence fell between us.

“You came back, Deina.”

Jeina drew closer to me. At a distance where our breath mingled, she continued.

“You were just as you were before. Your brilliance, your decisiveness, your magnetic charm that draws people in.”

“Wait, hold on, Jeina. You don’t mean to say….”

“You are the Emperor I desire.”

Jeina spoke with unwavering resolve, ignoring my words entirely.

“Deina, become the Emperor.”

A glimmer of madness flickered in her eyes.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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