# 43
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“Just because someone is an enemy of a villain does not mean they are a good person.”
When Aglaya appeared in 「Revolution Star」, readers were divided into two camps.
The first camp saw it as fortunate that the hero Etheus had someone by his side when he had no one to rely on, and that Aglaia was undoubtedly a good aunt.
The other camp sensed that there was something fishy about Aglaia.
I was from the second group.
‘If she was such a good aunt, how could she let her nephew go hungry?’
Even if she had to be careful because Etheus and the Emperor were political rivals, the True Auntie would have at least ensured that he had enough food and decent shelter.
But in the novel, Etheus was often hungry, lived in a ramshackle house looking like a guard, and wore old, worn-out clothes.
Of course, most of his salary from the government office went directly to the Revolutionary Army, but there were many ways to provide financial support.
'Even I, an ordinary person, can take care of Etheus with little problem.'
If I hadn't helped him, he wouldn't have been able to move from that freezing hut to a two-story house, and he would still be hungry.
Perhaps he would even have to l memorabilia of the deceased emperor to pay for his missions.
He would walk to such occasions without even an old horse and a humble carriage.
'While she herf lives in such opulence.'
When I arrived at her incredibly luxurious party, many eyes turned to me.
I was the daughter of the Duke of Elmore, the apex of the Imperial faction opposed to the Parliament faction.
Catherine Elmore.
Some of the Imperial Faction's guests were present, but there was no one else who was a born-and-bred elite like me.
There have been rumors that Aglaia has been ling the rights to works only to the Imperial nobility lately, and whispers that she has regained the Emperor's favor by retaking control of the Frozen Lands.
'Maybe they will see the Emperor riding on my back.'
Hostile, hate-filled looks were directed at me.
“Miss Catherine Ellimore extends her greetings and congratulations to the Speaker of Parliament.”
She approached Aglaya, the star of the party, and bowed elegantly.
Aglaya answered with a bright smile.
“Thank you for accepting my invitation, Miss Elmore.”
I looked up at her face.
There was an unmistakable gleam of contempt in her eyes.
Was it directed only at my father, or was part of it directed at me as well?
Aglaya gestured, and the musicians who had stopped returned to playing.
“I have prepared a place where we can enjoy the party more privately, will you join me?”
She wanted a private conversation.
I answered obediently.
“A place to better enjoy the party? Looking forward to it.”
We walked to the far side of the park.
I heard the nobles of Parliament talking in faint voices as we passed.
“What audacity does Catherine Elmore have to come here?”
“She couldn't be so naive as to not know what her father did.”
“Naive? Ha, do you know how cruel she was to His Highness the Prince at the academy?”
'I wasn't being cruel, I admitted to him, screw it.'
Well, maybe it was the same for them.
We reached a glass table beside the rose garden, and Aglaya dismissed her maids.
“Here, we can talk alone.”
I sat quietly in front of her, meeting her cold gaze.
She took out something and put it on the table.
My lips parted slightly.
“This is...”
It was a dagger in a black burnt scabbard, engraved with the Elmore family crest.
As she picked it up and examined it, Aglaya spoke.
“It was found in the ruins of Kampot Palace.”
“Near where the body of the deceased Empress was found, experts say it definitely belonged to the Duke of Elmore.”
My eyes trembled.
Kampot Palace – where Ethios spent his childhood.
It was built by the deceased emperor for his empress and his son.
My memories of him were vague, but I remembered visiting him several times.
After the emperor's death, the palace burned down, leaving only ashes.
‘Then it is possible that the Duke of Elmore set the fire and killed the Empress.’
My eyebrows twitched again.
That fire killed the empress.
She made Etheus an orphan.
'my dad … . 'Cause it...?'
「Revolution Star」 never explained the cause of the fire.
Readers debated whether it was a planned development or simply forgetfulness on the part of the author, but the truth was not revealed until the end.
So assume the last option.
I remained silent, staring at the dagger bearing my family's crest.
If the Duke of Elmore had indeed burned down Kampot Palace—
I will never, in all my life, be forgiven by Etheus.
I will be the daughter of his arch enemy.
I would become someone more deserving of his contempt.
'I really have no right to love him in this body.'
After a long silence, Aglaya spoke.
“I heard that Etheus helped you during the last attack, and that you entrusted him with the case of your uncle’s betrayal.”
Her cold eyes drilled into me.
“Ethios only helps women like you because he is fair. Do not use my nephew in your schemes. This is a warning.”
“You think I don’t know that you accused Vadelmon Elmore just to gain favor with His Highness? His Highness wants Ethios to investigate cases of treason and to intimidate them.”
Well, that was a sharp enough warning from an aunt.
“I would advise Etheus to stay away from this case. Once an official withdraws, reinvestigating such matters becomes almost impossible.”
That's what a really loving aunt says.
But I didn't think so.
Readers who have finished 「Revolution Star」 would be horrified to know what I know about Aglaya.
“How much did Vadelmon offer you?”
I laughed, crossing my arms.
Aglaya's eyebrow twitched.
“W-what are you saying?”
“When he offered you half of Elmore's property if you helped him seize it, didn't Filius promise a share as well? But you, as Speaker of Parliament, might have asked for half or more.”
“Or was it more than half?”
Aglaya's face distorted with shock.
“What are you talking about? I have lived my life for my nephew! Of course, for Etheos...”
“Ha-ha-ha, a-ha-ha!”
I burst out laughing at her words.
I wiped tears from my eyes and smiled sarcastic.
“A very loving aunt...”
Aglaya's fingertips trembled violently.
“An aunt is very angry about her nephew’s tragedy...”
I pulled a card from my pocket, which I had prepared especially for her.
“Did you send my father a letter negotiating the price of your nephew’s life?”
Aglaya's face became pale as death.
I burned the lists of the Revolutionary Army in the library, but kept secondary documents – such as blackmail materials on various nobles.
Among them is a secret message from Aglaya.
When the Duke of Elmore aggressively attacked Parliament, he responded by sending copies of all the evidence of her corruption.
In her panic, Aglaia sent him a letter proposing a deal on Etheus' life to silence him.
The Duke of Elmore never responded.
That dagger was most likely Aglaya's attempt to get more dirt on him by searching the ruins of Kampot Palace.
“I never knew the aunt who negotiated the price for killing her nephew was such a loving person.”
“How did you know...!”
You probably never imagined that the Duke of Elmore would keep such dangerous letters, nor that I would survive and find them after his library burned.
“You didn't expect me to have this, did you?”
Before the revolution, Aglaia was useful to Ethios.
At least it kept him alive.
But Etheus was equally useful to Aglaia.
Before the current emperor took the throne, Aglaia was just a low-class daughter and an ordinary member of parliament.
But the moment she spoke in defense of Ethios, the nobles who resented the new emperor gathered around her.
She became a symbol for them, gaining a power she never had before.
Aglaya jumped from zero to three out of ten in political power – a huge leap.
This woman is nothing but a malicious hypocrite who pretends to care about her nephew to maintain her power.
“Hypocrite.”
My lips curled into a cold smile while Aglaya's face turned pale like a ghost.