The Villainess’s Reputation [Kingdom Building] 330. Magic Tools Distribution

Princess Serena’s Study, West Wing, Imperial Palace, Capital City, Ancorna Empire

“Do we still have no lead on who was behind the assassination attempt on Ravenna?” Princess Serena asked. She was perched on the lap of her husband, Baron Gray Josep, as they both looked over a spread of intelligence reports on her mahogany desk.

“The investigators are searching, but whoever planned it concealed their tracks with worrying precision,” Baron Gray replied, his fingers idly stroking her hair. “Still, there’s sothing undeniably odd about the whole affair.”

“Odd how?” Serena asked, leaning back against his chest.

“If it was Prince William, why hasn’t there been a similar attempt on you?” He raised a brow, posing the question that had been gnawing at him. Serena nodded slowly. “It’s true. The timing makes perfect sense for William to strike, especially since his most trusted aide, Ser Eugene, seems to have abandoned him. Desperate n do stupid things.”

“Exactly. But if it was truly Prince William, he would have tried to clear both of his major competitors in one fell swoop,” Baron Gray added, shifting a docunt to the center of the desk. “With the Emperor’s death already pinned on the Conley Empire, blaming them for the deaths of two more heirs would have been an easy sell to the public.”

“Yet, here we are,” Serena mused, finishing the reports. “The attack was focused solely on Ravenna. It suggests either a personal vendetta or a very specific fear of her growth.”

She tapped a finger on a separate ledger. “Speaking of growth, look at this. The Raven Casino has beco a sensation. It’s not just the gas or the financial services anymore; people are clamoring for the items being imported from the Kim Dukedom. Ever since Ravenna opened that direct route after Aurora Flask conquered those mainland territories, her influence has beco impossible to ignore.”

“Yes... things like stainless steel utensils, fountain pens, high-quality paper, and even crystal-clear glass are flooding the markets. Her reputation grows with every shipnt that arrives from the North,” Serena noted, letting out a frustrated, heavy sigh. “She even has a stranglehold on the floral imports now. With Otto’s border under her thumb and the Bolita City still struggling to stabilize after the Syndicate was eradicated, she has complete, uncontested control over the Otto-Bolita Strait.”

“And then there is Prince William,” Baron Gray added, his voice low. “The commoners hail him as the Hero of the Capital and the savior of the war against Conley. Even the mages are in awe; apparently, at the last Humanity Defense Force eting, Eugene revealed a breakthrough recipe for genetically crossbreeding distant flowers?”

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not ant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Serena nodded with confirmation as she tapped the table sharply, her eyes shifting to et Gray’s. “We are the only ones falling behind. Our plans are stagnant, and the new succession law is on the verge of being ratified. If we don’t move now, we’ll be irrelevant before the first trial even begins.”

“I understand your anxiety, my love,” Baron Gray replied, his arms tightening around her reassuringly. “But don’t worry. By the ti the new law is officially passed, we will have gathered enough influence to crush any task the Imperial Court throws at us.”

Serena pulled back slightly, searching his face. “Wait... you an—!”

Baron Gray’s smile was sharp and triumphant. “Yes. I finally received word from the Hilde Alchemy Institute. Thanks to our secret deal with King Julian, we are ready to begin the mass distribution of those magic tool blueprints we acquired during our travels in the Western Continent. Before we returned for our wedding, we secured technology that the Ancorna Empire hadn't seen in a century!”

Serena’s eyes sparkled with newfound hope and predatory excitent. In a sudden rush of relief and affection, she leaned forward and kissed him, a kiss that began with gratitude but quickly deepened into sothing far more primal.

Gray let out a low growl of approval, his hands sliding from her waist to pull her closer until there was no space left between them. He stood up effortlessly, sweeping her into his arms without breaking the kiss. Serena wrapped her legs around his waist, her fingers tangling in his hair as the cold calculations of politics were replaced by a burning, breathless yearning.

He carried her toward the heavy silken curtains of the bed, the docunts on the desk forgotten as the room echoed with the sound of their shared, hurried breaths.

Prince William’s Room, West Wing, Imperial Palace, Capital City, Ancorna Empire

Prince William took a final, burning sip of his liquor, staring at the sprawling map of the Eastern Continent with a dark, twisted smirk.

“He really just walked away,” Prince William muttered to the cold shadows of the room. “After all that ti of whispering in my ear... after all that talk about how only I was capable of saving this world from the Absolute Being’s arrival.”

He hurled the crystal glass across the room. It shattered against the stone floor with a sharp, violent crack that mirrored his own fractured composure. A manic, hysterical laugh escaped his throat as he wobbled, his legs nearly buckling before he collapsed back onto the plush velvet sofa.

He stared up at the intricate, faded murals on the vaulted ceiling, his vision swimming.

“He even convinced to fra my own sister for Mother’s death... and now, he’s gone.” His eyes burned with a desperate, localized fury as he gripped the fabric of the sofa. “You will see, Eugene. You will see how wrong you were to abandon . I will be the one to save this world, just you wait and see. I’ll show you all what a true Emperor looks like.”