The Woman Who Hated Her (1)

Lerian didn’t love Leonard purely from the beginning. Due to the environment in which she was born and raised, she couldn’t help but not love purely.

At the age of sixteen, during the summer, when she first met the Crown Prince at her debutante ball and he showed interest in her, Lerian couldn’t allow herself to be swept away by a purely romantic love.

She had a father who was addicted to gambling and had squandered all their wealth. Watching the family’s dwindling fortune, she suspected that someday she, too, would be sold somewhere instead of money from the gambling table.

She knew too well the harsh reality of getting lost in a beautiful love story like in novels.

She also knew she must not miss this opportunity of him showing interest in her. To Lerian, Leonard was like a lifeline, a glimmer of hope. So, she used him to the fullest.

However, it wasn’t as if she didn’t love Leonard at all.

He was handsome, held a high position, and was kind and good to her. In other words, he was like a prince from a fairy tale. How could she not like someone like him?

It all felt too much like a dream. She had gained everything she had once only been able to admire from afar – power, wealth, and love.

Now, she no longer had to worry about money problems because of her father, and there was no need to fear about being married off to an old nobleman like she was being sold. Meeting the Crown Prince was the greatest blessing and pride of her life.

She was happy every day. She was going to continue to be happy like that in the future.

However, Lerian’s dreams were shattered by the arrival of one woman.

Kilianerisa La Hameln.

The legitimate daughter of the proud Duke Hameln and the highest-ranking noble in the empire. She had been chosen as the future Crown Princess despite the fact that Lerian was the Crown Prince’s lover.

It was unbelievable. Because of this, Lerian believed that Leonard would naturally refuse such an absurd situation, but Leonard was not as strong as she thought. He still lacked power, and she had even less.

Lerian, who had borrowed the Crown Prince’s power and acted as if it were hers, woke up from her delusions and faced reality.

Reality, when faced, was always cruel. But it was familiar. Thanks to that, she could quickly adapt to reality.

To avoid having the remaining things taken from her, she considered her situation objectively. Leonard liked the kind and compassionate Lerian. To become the Lerian that Leonard liked, she always had to be kind and compassionate. She couldn’t afford to be jealous.

She hid her crumbling heart and told him that it was okay, while feeling sorry for herself. In reality, it was far from okay. However, he seemed to genuinely believe that she was okay.

Or maybe she just wanted to believe that.

Lerian’s dream of becoming the Empress was shattered. While it was a thousand times better than being married off to an old nobleman and living as a widow, but Lerian, who believed that she would become the Empress, couldn’t shake the feeling that Kilianerisa had stolen her position. As a result, she couldn’t bring herself to like her.

But there was nothing she could do even if she didn’t like her.

The only power Lerian had was her position as the Queen. Unlike her, Kilianerisa had the title of Empress and the backing of the Hameln family as well. They were in completely different leagues that they couldn’t even be compared.

Lerian, as always, adapted well to this harsh reality.

Then, one day…

Slap―!

Suddenly, Lerian, who had been slapped by Kilianerisa, stared at her with a bewildered expression. The moment their eyes met, Kilianerisa began to vent her frustration.

“How dare you, of all people…!”

Even though it was Lerian who got slapped, Kilianerisa was the one who seemed to be crying as if she had been slapped instead. Lerian was baffled. Her cheek stung from the slap, and despite being in an unjust situation, she couldn’t find words when she saw Kilianerisa wearing an even more aggrieved expression.

At that moment, when Lerian was still silent,

“Your Majesty! What on earth is this all about all of a sudden?”

The voice of her personal maid, Mary, snapped Lerian back to reality. Kilianerisa’s piercing gaze turned towards Mary.

“How dare you speak so insolently? I am the Empress! The Empress of this empire. But how dare someone like you talk to me like this!”

The maids who attended to the Empress or the Queen were usually not commoners. In other words, Mary was also of noble birth. Moreover, Mary’s family was an incredibly prestigious one, to the extent that Lerian, in her original status, wouldn’t even have considered looking at them. Therefore, even if the other party was the Empress, she was in a position where she could confront without being intimidated.

However, Lerian, who had only Mary as her personal maid, was afraid that Mary might take out her frustration on her in some way, so she nervously turned her gaze toward Kilianerisa.

“Your Majesty the Empress, what are you doing right now?”

But her voice didn’t come out as confidently as she had hoped. Instead, her body trembled slightly. She looked frightened and cowered, and anyone could see it. When Kilianerisa’s fiery gaze finally landed on her, her fear intensified.

She was even more scared than Mary, who had tried to save her.

Shame and embarrassment overwhelmed her. However, no matter how much courage she mustered, Kilianerisa seemed like an insurmountable mountain to her. Kilianerisa yelled at Lerian with disdainful eyes.

“What right does someone like the Queen have to block the path of an Empress? I am His Majesty’s consort! But why does His Majesty only care about someone as lowly as you? Why does he not look at me! I didn’t become the Empress for this… I didn’t become the Empress just to be treated like this!”

Tears welled up in her red eyes, and Lerian, looking at her eyes filled with moisture as if tears could flow at any moment, felt lonely and angry.

I am also His Majesty’s consort, not just you. He doesn’t see me all the time, either. I also don’t want to be treated like this. Isn’t that something you should discuss with His Majesty?

Many words surged up to the tip of her tongue, but she didn’t utter a single one of them.

Could she afford to mess up everything just because of a momentary emotion? She tightly clenched the hem of her dress, suppressing her emotions with all her might. Her inability to even speak her mind made her feel insignificant and pitiful.

Even though she had become the Queen she had longed to be, her situation was not much different from when she had lived in meager circumstances without money as a minor noble’s daughter.

Lerian couldn’t tell what expression she had on her face. Kilianerisa stared at her with a subtle expression, then eventually turned away and left the room. Lerian found her unusual behavior of withdrawing from the situation a little puzzling.

Her exit was quiet compared to her noisy entrance. It might be a somewhat amusing thought in the midst of being slapped, but Lerian was thankful nonetheless. The tension drained from Lerian, and she could finally exhale a sigh of relief.

However, she shouldn’t have felt relieve then.

Kilianerisa’s attacks continued several times after that, to the point where Lerian began to wonder why she had simply walked away that first time. At first, it was just getting slapped lightly on the cheek, but later on, there were instances where Lerian suffered bruises or wounds from the objects thrown at her by Kilianerisa.

She could endure it once or twice, but as it continued to happen repeatedly, Lerian no longer wanted to tolerate it anymore.

To be more precise, she didn’t want to hide her injuries anymore.