"THE POWERHOUSE of the noble faction that supported the faction from the outside is the Marquess House of Zoliel. He is loved by the common folks and is well respected by the noble families because of his love for his wife, the Marchioness. Marquess Zoliel holds the Trading Union, which is an assembly of noble and aristocratic proprietors in the Empire. In short, he supports the pocket of the noble faction. If we weaken him, we weaken the noble faction. That would give us the opening to strike the Rozenreff Duchy and Castaña Duchy." Count Helisos explained the main agenda of the meeting. Everyone at the round table was thinking deeply before opening their mouths. Prince Corean was seriously listening to the Count and was also lost in his thoughts. Tori observed them interact with each other.

Lord Tofera's bald head glistened under the chandelier, "So what do we do? As a merchant myself, he will be difficult to strike down. Especially that the king is backing up the Trading Union."

The Trading Union's goal was to gain a monopoly. This was the reason why most newly established businesses went bankrupt. First, they monopolized the trading places like the capital's square or the seaport cities. Then, they would pull some strings to monopolize suppliers. Everyone knew marquess Zoliel for being a snake in the trading industry. The aristocratic merchant like Lord Tofera would not risk just antagonizing the Marquess alone, hence he supported the aristocratic faction secretly. The only one who could dare publicize his disdain to the Marquess was Count Sozeni, who was very silent the whole time. His sharp eyes were calculating like a military man. He was after all the second biggest arsenal trader in the Empire but still before the Count was still the Marquess. But even with this, the Marquess couldn't touch Count Sozeni since his iron mine was impenetrable, though Count Sozeni disliked the Marquess for conquering a part of his mine with the covert help of the king.

The king may try not to show it too much, but he was supporting the noble faction from the shadows.

"We can target his shipments. I say we sink his ships."

"We will be suspected immediately. That is too risky."

"Then we can stage a natural phenomenon. Let's destroy his part of the iron mine, it wasn't his in the very first place."

Lord Sozeni strongly opposed, "Exactly. It's not Marquess Zoliel's because the mine belongs to me, so if you destroy it then you're destroying my property."

"Enough. Let's hear what our newest member has to say about this." Lady M's voice boomed in the room. All bickering stopped with no second thoughts as all the eyes looked at the young lady sitting beside the smiling prince.

Finally, all those nonsense stopped. To think that I once respected them, but hearing their plans made me think twice about them.

Tori clasped her hands together on the table and looked at each of the members sitting at the round table. "Lords and lady, did you know that fifty percentile of the Trading Union is being managed by the Marchioness?"

No one reacted so Tori continued, "The Marquess trusted her too much that he just let her manage it without his supervision."

They seem to catch what she was saying. Lady M was the first one to comment. They were all looking at her funnily. Their eyes were telling her that they were insulting which made Tori mentally scoff.

"You do know that the Marquess and Marchioness of House Zoliel are beloved by the people both from high society and commoners because of their love story?"

Grinning like a Cheshire cat, Tori asked Lady M back. "Are they? In love, I mean? If we hold the Marchioness by her neck, she will become a knife that will stab the Marquess from the back. With that, we can switch the power to the aristocratic faction without them knowing."

"Your plan looks great only if the Marchioness will let us hold her neck," Lord Wolfgang countered Tori with doubtful eyes. The others were murmuring by themselves as if they were contemplating the very possibility of her plan.

Tori glanced at the second prince, only to be surprised when she found him looking at her with twinkling golden eyes. A soft and proud smile painted on his lips.

What's your deal, Corean? One time you doubt me, then the next moment you're looking at me like I'm your puppy. Are you daft or something? What a weirdo.

Tori blatantly ignored him and answered Lord Wolfgang instead. "I can hold her neck though. After so many preparations, I can bring you the Marchioness to our next meeting." Her wicked smile evinced her confidence in her claim.

"And how sure are we that you won't waste our time, Lady Rozenreff? This might be a trap from the noble faction for all we know."Lord Harum of the Baron House of Harum asked her in a no-nonsense tone.

It's both relieving and annoying that the aristocratic faction doesn't trust anyone easily, I guess. He's like my friend Gemini from my past life.

Well, I have no choice but to prove my worth to them.

"By the time of my birthday, come and send a spy or an informant. See if the Marchioness will give me the Jewel Eyes of Rhea, after all, that is a rare gem that is given only to show your unyielding support."

The confident red eyes of Tori partially convinced the aristocratic members. Lady M and the second prince, on the other hand, did not need any proof since they experienced firsthand how reliable and cunning Victoria Rozenreff was.

Tori was too late to notice the looming shadow of the amber-eyed prince leaning on her right side. His tickling, fiery breath made her visibly flinch. She twisted to her right just to have a much closer look at the amber eyes of Prince Corean.

"Holy cow," Tori said without realizing she was in front of a lot of prying eyes.

Prince Corean smiled warmly at her. He placed his left arm at the back of her seat like what couples do in her past life.

What the fuck are you doing?

Tori suddenly stood up. She could not take Prince Corean's crazy humor. Tori tried to reason out, but everything that she thought to say would only lead to an unfavorable view from the aristocratic faction. She could not just leave, nor could she take a seat away from the second prince.

Sensing her dilemma, Prince Corean stood up. His soft locks looked so soft to touch, "I have something to discuss with Lady Victoria. Can you all leave us?"

Though his voice was gentle and warm, his amber eyes were sharp and calculating as he looked at them. When no one opposed him, Prince Corean whispered to her. "Let's talk privately."

The lords left without a single word saved for Lady M. "Just talk, okay."

What the! Are you nuts? Her expression mirrored her thoughts as Tori looked at the smiling prince.

Why the fuck are you smiling, you piece of shit?

When the two were left alone, Prince Corean sat on the table a foot away from Tori, who was sitting rather comfortably even in the presence of royalty. Her action did not insult him in the slightest. Instead, Prince Corean was in owed with how the young lady behaved herself in front of those who were far superior to her.

"So, what's the Empire's star's business with a humble young lady like me?" The mockery laced in her voice was clear.

Prince Corean crouched closer to Tori, their faces a few inches away from each other. His right hand supported his upper body while his left hand caressed the tendril of her golden hair, Prince Corean played with it while looking straight at her. "The bet you made with the aristocrats back there, aren't you a little too confident to claim the Jewel Eyes of Rhea?"

Everything clicked like a puzzle for Tori. She now knew why the second prince wanted to talk about something with her alone. It was because of the Jewel Eyes of Rhea.

Hmm, so that's why you wanted to talk to me so bad, huh? Prince Corean, you are quite a cunning man. We might be using each other this whole time.

A playful smile appeared on Tori's lips, which surprised Prince Corean. There were no traces of uneasiness anymore.

"I have every right to be confident. After all, I have the evidence that can break Marchioness Susana's most beloved person. All I have to do is corner her and make her submit to my demands."

No more façade of a respectful young noble lady in front of Prince Corean. Before him lies a beast playing with her prey. "What did my brother do to earn such wrath from you?"

With the mere mention of the first prince, Tori's aura suddenly changed. Her confident red eyes shone with obvious hatred for the first prince.

"Woah! Lady Victoria!" Prince Corean who was sitting comfortably at the table got completely startled when Tori cornered him. She pinned both her arms on both sides of his face to the table. Her body was in between his legs as she leaned down to whisper her answer to his question.

"Your brother has a debt to settle with me, Prince Corean. With the amount of help I am giving you, you must remember that all of these are in exchange for your brother's head." Words that held promise were uttered by Tori to the startled prince beneath her.

The sixteen-year-old lady elegantly made a safe distance between them. The shock coursing through Prince Corean was still within him. He never expected Victoria to be that aggressive when she's talking about his brother to him. It made him even more curious.

"So, the second prince has an interest in the Jewel Eyes of Rhea, huh." Tori swiftly changed the subject. She was just standing in front of Prince Corean, who just stood up after being pinned to the table. His disheveled brown hair didn't go unnoticed by Tori.

Damn, look at that piece of meat. It is such a shame that I'm trapped inside a sixteen-year-old body. You should be thankful, dearest prince. Oh, the things I'd like to do to you.

Tori suppressed her slutty thought and her habit of lip-biting when horny.

"I am just merely concerned for you, Lady Victoria. No need to make me the villain of this conversation."

Oh-ho. Is that so?

Tori smiled slyly at the second prince. "And here I thought you were just manipulating the meeting by targeting the Marquess first. You need to have a reason to seize the House Zoliel to get your original aim. I was always wondering during the meeting. Why Marquess Zoliel when the Castaña Duchy and Rozenreff Duchy were more of a threat than the House of Zoliel? It was a perfect diversion if only you did not slip by asking me personally about the jewel hiding behind the pretext of your alleged concern for me. Queen Aurina loved that particular jewel, right? So you tried to persuade me to give up on my plan privately."

Prince Corean clapped his hands slowly with a serious look in his eyes, "What a splendid theory. You truly offended me, Lady Victoria. I think I can't dissuade you with your plan when it is so risky. Then I have to go." He sounded dejected, but Tori never faltered and remained standing, even if the prince was now walking towards the door.

But you won't walk out from me though. After all, you loved your mother so much, who also loved the Jewel Eyes of Rhea so much. You wanted her to be happy even once.

"And here I thought I can give you the Jewel Eyes of Rhea secretly."

Prince Corean stopped walking immediately. So Tori continued, "But this one comes with a price. Don't worry, it won't hurt Queen Aurina."

"What do you want?" Prince Corean spoke with his back to her. His words were bitter since they were talking about something that involved his beloved mother.

Ah, emotions. Such a fickle thing.

"I will give you the jewel in exchange for arranging a private meeting with the queen and me."

Tori couldn't hide her wicked gleam, knowing that the second prince couldn't turn her down.