The Girl Who Unknowingly Became Harem Queen! - 32 Special Encounter

Sitting inside of a vast, glamorous room filled with luxurious items and furniture was a woman whose appearance was shrouded in the shadows. Kneeling before the woman was a familiar purple-haired woman. Replacing her usual scowl was a trembling smile, shoulder quivering from the intensity of the woman’s glare that was aimed at her.

“Last time when I called you here, I asked for only one simple request, dispose of Archduchess Scarlet, and eliminate the House of Scarlet. Did you ever wonder the cause of asking such a task from you?” The woman’s voice was calm and firm; not a hint of anger could be detected but that only made the other woman on the ground tremble worse.

“No, your majesty, I only wanted to get the job done and get rewarded. T-There was no need for me to understand your intentions,” shakily answered the woman; the sweat from her eyes dropped to the ground like raindrops.

“The answer is really simple. It’s because I despise the sight of them.” The intensity of hatred that brewed in that woman’s eyes was a sharp blade that could cut through steel.

A flare of overwhelming power poured out of her, causing the room to vibrate and the glass to crack. The woman kneeling on the ground felt as if a hand was wrapped around her neck, squeezing the life from her before quickly vanishing.

“Did you know, before I married the emperor, at first I was betrothed to the next heir of the Scarlet House? He was a gentleman; never once did he treat me wrongly; plus he was handsome like a shining fair prince that only appeared in the novels.” A sweet fond smile marred the woman’s face as she recalled old memories.

“It was instantly love-at-first-sight for me; I could see our happy future together. When he confessed how he did not love me and that we should annul our arranged marriage, I refused him.”

Rising gracefully from her chair, the woman made her way to the window and gazed out towards the full moon that illuminated the dark skies. She reached out her hand and placed it gently against the cool surface of the window; a wry smile displayed itself on her face.

“You see, since I first saw that man, I branded him as mine. No other could have him except for me. Even if he did not love me at the beginning, I believed that after some time had passed, he would grow feelings of love towards me.”

Suddenly a sarcastic laugh escaped from her; ruby manicured designed nails were sharp enough to scratch the window, and her pearly white teeth bit down hard on her lower lip. “But then one day, after coming back from a seven-month scouting trip, he returned with a woman and that woman was none other than the current Archduchess of the Scarlet House.” Blood began to drip down the edges of her crimson lips.

“A woman of unknown origin suddenly came and stole away my possession. It was supposed to be me he pampered and love! Me who he fought for and stood proudly at my side! I was the one who should have bore him a son!”

The beautiful woman of elegance and poise quickly reacted as if she was possessed by something, a crazed look in her eyes. “After he betrayed me and married that destitute woman, I vowed for vengeance! No matter how long it took, House of Scarlet would fall at my feet, but I couldn’t do that as the daughter of a powerless aristocrat house. No, I extended my sight onto something much grander.”

Smirking, she recalled the many lives that she tormented, manipulated, and discarded away to get to where she was now; the woman felt not an ounce of remorse.

“No one other than my trusted maid, Linda, knows of methods I used to pave my path, and throughout it all, my thirst for vengeance for the House of Scarlet only grew stronger. But along with that so did my thirst for power, which brings us to the current subject of discussion.”

The woman strolled back over to the sofa and took a seat. “In order for me to become Empress Dowager, my son must inherit the throne, even though he had been crowned as the Crown Prince, his position has yet to become stable. Other than my son, the emperor has two more children, Prince Cloud and Princess Luna.”

Possessing the elegance and poise from before, the woman reached towards the table, lifting a proclaim cup to her lips. “Ever since he witnessed the tragic death of his mother, Prince Cloud’s state of mind has never been the same, so there is no need to worry about him. My biggest concern rests on Princess Luna, daughter of Lady Elaria, from the elf clan.” These latter two names brought a sense of displeasure to the woman.

“Astral’s relationship with the elf clan is important because of the magic crystal trade we have with them. Which we only value because of their territory that is abundant with magic crystals. If it weren’t because of this, I could’ve eliminated that elf-slut before she had the change to bear a child.”

A spike of annoyance could be spotted in the woman’s eyes, speaking of eliminating another person’s life as if it was no big deal to her. “I can’t let that slut gain power, luckily I managed to dissipate some of the emperor affection for her, but it’s not enough.”

A cruel smirk marred the woman’s face, “I must eliminate both Princess Luna and Lady Elaria. Not only must I rid them from existence, but the elf-clan must vanish. If they vanish, we can get our hands on their lands. But in order to achieve their land, the alliance between the elf-clan and Astral must be broken, which I have a plan to break.”

“To achieve this plan, their death must be guaranteed which is why I need you to eliminate Princess Luna. Diamond Academy has a camping trip coming up soon. You’ll strike than as she’ll have no protection to save her. Oh, and I need it to be brutal and merciless as possible so that Lady Elaria will do the of well… taking her own life.”

The smile that appeared on the woman’s face was terrifying. Kneeling on the ground, the woman couldn’t help but tremor with the fear. Even though she was a mercenary that killed for a living, the piles of bodies she left behind could not compare to this fearsome woman sitting regally in front of her.

For the first time, she felt inferior. Many labeled her a demon, but this woman before her was nothing more than a devil wearing human flesh.

“Your wish is my command, your majesty.”

♦*♦*♦*♦*♦*♦*♦*♦*♦*♦*♦*♦*♦*♦

During breaktime, Maria was strolling through the corridor outside of Diamond Academy. Usually, she would be with Mai and Julian but both were occupied with other things, leaving just Maria with her thoughts. ‘Why when a picture of granny appeared in my head, my heart felt so heavy and void? Now that I think about it, it like their a piece of my memory missing.’

Maria contemplated, clutched her head in frustration, paying no attention to where she was heading. Wonder why the thought of her grandmother from her old world, sprung forth this aching pain in her chest as it was someone was clutching at it.

‘Something is not right.’ Maria allowed her feet in control of her destination while pondering on her thoughts and took this chance to view her surroundings. The corridors of the academy were like mazes, the exterior of the academy was grand but also simple.

Soon her eyes were peering outside to the fresh greenery of the trees and grass, the aromatic smell of flowers was the air, emeralds eyes taking in the vivid colors of the flowers blooming everywhere; everything was truly breathtaking.

Taking a left to where the corridor branched off, Maria continued admiring the view and that was when she came upon a sight that made her pause. Lying fast asleep on a bench was Astral’s very own Princess Luna, but that wasn’t what caught Maria’s attention.

No, it was the two girls behind the bench holding a freaking caged tarantula above her head. “Ha, this will put her in her place and teach her not to compete with Belle-sama!” said the girl with short hair.

“Belle-sama is a thousand times prettier than this princess!” insulted the second girl with hair pulled up into pigtails.

Towards that last remark, the words that came to mind were, ‘Yeah, you definitely need to get your eyes checked.’ Seeing the girls about to open the cage, Maria sighed, seeing how she would have to go over there and save a damsel. Summoning forth her courage, Maria ran over and yelled,

“Hey, you two! Get away from the princess!”

The two girls were not expecting a voice to yell out to them, causing both to panic, and when they saw the princess about ready to open her eyes, they locked the caged that sealed the tarantula and booked it out of there.

Rising from the bench, the princess caught sight of the two girls running away. Turning towards the voice that woke her up, amethyst clashed with emerald.

“A-Are you okay, princess?”