“Are Rose and Lucian siblings or not?” Celestia asked, her voice sharp yet controlled, eyes locked unblinkingly on Olivia, who now stood only inches away.
“I… I…” Olivia’s mouth opened, but no words came. Her tongue felt like lead.
Celestia didn’t rush her. She simply stared, waiting. Her expression was unreadable no smile, no frown, just unsettling stillness.
“No… not really,” Olivia finally said, forcing a nonchalant tone. “What are you even talking about? They’ve both been with me since birth.”
But her voice wavered.
Her eyes wouldn’t meet Celestia’s.
And that was enough.
Celestia’s gaze narrowed. Her lips curled into a faint, mirthless smile. It didn’t reach her eyes.
Something was off.
She could feel it.
Then her head turned sharply toward Avey.
“How did you know Rose is adopted?” she asked, voice quiet too quiet. There was no visible threat in her tone, but the suspicion laced within it was suffocating.
Avey stiffened like a deer caught in the open.
“I..I didn’t know anything,” she stammered. “I just… asked out of confusion. It was just a question. That’s all.”
Celestia didn’t respond right away. She just stared.
The silence was louder than anything else in the room.
Even without words, both Olivia and Avey felt it the shift. The air grew colder, the tension tighter.
Then, without warning.
Celestia’s heels clicked softly against the polished marble floor as she gracefully made her way back to the sofa and sat down directly across from Avey. The air between them thickened with invisible tension.
Her lips curled into a smile that was anything but kind.
“Alright, don’t tell me,” she said sweetly. “I’ll find out the truth myself.”
Then her gaze sharpened.
“But why don’t you tell me what really happened during your engagement ceremony with the prince?” she continued, voice dipped in sugar and poison. “And what, exactly, do you have to do with my darling Lucian?”
She emphasized the last words like a possessive seal, her eyes glinting with venom as she watched Avey’s face for a reaction.
Avey didn’t flinch.
“What lies were you spreading back then?” Celestia pressed on, amusement dripping from her voice. “Getting pregnant wasn’t that the headline? Don’t tell me you got knocked up by that boyfriend of yours… What was his name again? Ah, yes Victor.”
Her tone curled with contempt. Each syllable carried hatred, sharp and intentional.
Celestia didn’t bother hiding it anymore.
The loathing in her eyes was plain.
Avey’s eyes narrowed slightly, her voice low and calm.
“I don’t think I need to explain anything to you,” she said coldly. “Whatever happened is between me and Lucian.”
She met Celestia’s gaze without hesitation.
“And don’t ever call him your ‘darling’ again. He is not yours. He’s my future husband.”
“And for the record,” Avey snapped, her tone steady but cold, “I don’t have a boyfriend and I never did. So stop spouting bullshit.”
She leaned forward slightly, her gaze sharp as a blade.
“If you’re so curious about who was chasing who, why don’t you go ask your brother why he was so obsessed with me in the first place?”
The room went dead silent for a moment.
Celestia’s smile didn’t falter but a faint tremor passed through her fingers.
“Your… future husband?” she echoed softly, like she was savoring the taste of the words that weren’t hers.
A dangerous glint flickered in her eyes.
Still smiling, she leaned back, her posture poised and elegant yet something in her aura screamed unhinged.
“Marrying my brother would’ve been the greatest honor of your pitiful life,” she said, voice airy, sarcastic. “But I suppose… your taste in men has always been questionable.”
She gestured lazily. “You didn’t want Lucian when he treated you like gold. So what would my brother be worth to a woman like you?”
Avey didn’t reply.
But her silence wasn’t weakness it was contempt.
Celestia wasn’t done.
“I would regretfully and very happily inform you that Lucian has changed. And from now on he will be mine.”
Her tone was sickeningly sweet.
“I don’t know why you’re still dreaming that you and he could ever be anything more than a mistake. After the mess you made…” she gave a small, cruel laugh, “Do you even remember?”
She leaned forward, smile sharpening into a blade.
“Or would you like me to remind you, Miss Useless?”
Avey held her gaze.
Celestia’s hand twitched slightly.
She wanted to do something strike, scream, anything. But she restrained herself, only barely.
Avey’s system flared to life, allowing her to pick up on Celestia’s inner thoughts and what she heard made her heart stop.
[Should I kill her now?
No… not yet. If Lucian finds out, he’ll hate me.
But I will. I’ll definitely kill this bitch. Sitting there so smug saying his name like she owns it. Calling him her husband.]
[The audacity. The sheer audacity to think she could touch him—my darling, my darling, my darling, MY DARLING… my darling, my darling, my darling]
The voice was distorted. Twisted. Filled with an unholy mix of obsession, jealousy, and seething rage.
Avey’s eyes widened slightly.
A chill ran down her spine, spreading into her limbs like ice water.
She had heard her inner thoughts before but never anything like this.
She blinked once.
Then slowly turned her eyes to Celestia.
The woman still sat there, legs crossed, chin slightly tilted, a smile so serene it could’ve been carved from marble. Graceful, elegant, a picture-perfect aristocrat.
But that voice… That wasn’t a whisper. It was a scream.
A scream wrapped in lace and hidden under pearls.
Avey’s stomach twisted.
What the actual hell?
She stared at the woman across from her. Celestia was still smiling. Still poised. Still dressed in pristine white, like the perfect aristocratic lady.
No one would ever guess.
But she’s actually thinking about killing me.
Her stomach turned. She almost gagged.
She’s dangerous. Beyond dangerous. She’s mentally unstable. She needs a doctor no, a psychiatrist. Locked doors. Padded walls.
She kept her face calm, but her thoughts were racing.
Avey’s jaw clenched. She resisted the urge to physically lean back, to put more space between them.
Lucian has no idea… He has no idea what kind of monster is wearing this beautiful mask.
She bit the inside of her cheek, forcing herself to focus.
I have to stay calm. I have to keep my guard up around her from now on. And most importantly… I have to keep Lucian as far away from this woman as possible.
She looked down at her hands for a brief moment, then back up at Celestia.
The smile was still there.
Unmoving. Serene.
But now, Avey could see it for what it really was:
A mask.
And underneath it?
A ticking time bomb.
Keeping her expression calm and unreadable, Avey slowly turned her head toward Olivia.
“Aunt Olivia,” she said, feigning innocence, “why is she here? Is she… staying with you now?”
Her tone was light, almost casual like she was genuinely curious. But her eyes said otherwise.
Olivia opened her mouth, clearly about to answer with a carefully worded explanation when
“Of course I’m staying with my husband, naa~” Celestia cut in, her voice bright and airy as she spread her arms with exaggerated grace. “This is my home now, after all.”
Avey blinked.
Olivia frowned.
“Not at all,” Olivia said, her voice calm but firm. “Princess Celestia only came here for some personal business. She requested to stay temporarily. But now that I think about it…”
Her gaze shifted.
“I have Rose to take care of, and it seems I’ve overlooked some priorities,” she continued. “I’d like to apologize, but we won’t be able to host Miss Celestia any longer.”
She turned to face the blonde woman, her expression polite but final.
There was no room for argument in her voice.
In truth, Olivia had already been looking for a reason to get Celestia out of the manor. Only she and Rose knew how much respect celestia have towards them after Time stop event. But now? Now there was no need to act anymore.
Just be direct and be done with it, Olivia thought coldly, holding Celestia’s gaze.
Celestia’s left eye twitched.
Her smile remained, but her eyes darkened slightly, locking onto Olivia’s face with quiet hostility.
Before the tension could rise further, Avey jumped at the perfect opening.
“Well, if it’s really something important,” she said smoothly, “then perhaps we can invite the princess to stay at Starline Manor. We’re not so bad at hospitality either.”
Her voice was honeyed, but the message was sharp.
It was a dismissal wrapped in courtesy.
“Well then… we’ll see,” Celestia said softly, her smile lingering but her tone suddenly dropping to a strange calm.
She didn’t argue further.
She didn’t lash out.
She simply fell silent.
But in the very next breath, Avey’s system activated and a sickening whisper echoed through her mind.
[Tonight… after Lucian comes back… I’ll go into his room and get pregnant.]
[I should take a shower now and prepare. Maybe even search how to do it properly for the first time.]
[Yes. Tonight it is, then. Let’s see how these unwanted people will try to stop me after that. And Lucian… he’ll have to take responsibility.]
She have decided
Avey’s heart dropped.
Her body trembled out of anger.
She stared at Celestia who still wore the same poised smile, her golden hair cascading perfectly, her posture unshaken as if she were a goddess carved from porcelain.
But inside… she was rotting.
This woman is serious. She’s actually planning this.
—