Opportunity

I summoned Bella with the intent of storming into the Yousef Dukedom right away, but Bella couldn’t wrap her head around the fact that Lily was me, and she earnestly demanded an explanation of the situation, so I had to go into the lab with Kane.

Following the guidance of the gatekeeper, Leo, we arrived at the reception room, and a waiting maidservant quickly brought out drinks and desserts, showing good sense. Bella hadn’t come to the reception room yet, probably taking deep breaths somewhere.

I picked up what looked like an expensive teacup and took a sip. It had a unique taste. It felt unfamiliar, but not for the first time. Without realizing it, I brought the teacup to my nose and smelled it.

My sense of smell dredged up memories from my mind. I definitely remembered drinking it. This was probably….

“…Lemon balm tea.”

It was the tea that Derick had given us when we visited the lighthouse with Navier. As if she heard my muttering, the maidservant smiled and said.

“That’s right. It’s a tea known to have a good effect on calming the mind.”

At those words, Kane also picked up his teacup and took a sip of the tea. Judging by the frown on his face, it didn’t suit his taste. I had stopped by a cafe on the way, so I was full. In the end, I didn’t touch the desserts.

“Sorry. It was so sudden, I needed a moment to calm down.”

Saying that, Bella sat down opposite me, and there was no trace of the confusion from before on her face.

Her gestures, expressions, and voice were soft and relaxed. Hiding the sincerity that could be a weakness and showing false emotions to others. It was the appearance of a survivor who had lived through a fierce succession battle.

Kane looked extremely uncomfortable just being in the same place as Crown Princess Bella. He lowered his gaze and kept his mouth shut like someone who had committed a crime.

I turned my gaze to Bella and casually said.

“Let’s talk about the mask separately, just the two of us.”

I had no intention of revealing to Kane that I was Lily. It was enough for me alone to wallow in the mud.

Quick-witted Bella understood the meaning at once and nodded slightly, returning the mask to me.

Bella looked at Kane’s face for a moment with an observing gaze before shifting her gaze to me. Then, the corners of her lips slightly lifted.

“Looks like you desperately need my help? To reveal such an important card that you’ve been hiding so easily.”

I twisted one corner of my mouth at Bella, who was giving a snake-like smile. Was it a snake’s instinct to bite when it sees an opening?

I took a small breath. And said in a low voice.

“I’m giving you a special opportunity to help me.”

I felt Kane, who was sitting next to me, flinch at my words. Kane turned his head to the side and looked at me with surprised eyes. No matter that I was his hyung’s girlfriend, he couldn’t understand how a commoner like me could act so arrogantly towards the Crown Princess.

Ignoring Kane, who was sweating and looking around nervously, I kept my gaze fixed on Bella.

Bella looked dumbfounded at my words, asking if she had heard correctly.

“An opportunity to help…?”

Without a long explanation, I put Lily’s mask into my spatial storage. And I took out a prototype of the improved portal and placed it on the table.

Bella’s golden eyes widened slightly at the sight of the improved portal. She glanced at me, then carefully reached out and pulled the prototype closer. Bella, as if handling precious items sensitive to human touch, checked every part of the improved portal and moistened her lips with her pink tongue, asking in a voice full of anticipation.

“Could this be…?”

“It’s the prototype to be revealed at the meeting. A product that has improved efficiency and cost-effectiveness by at least several times compared to the existing one. In particular, there are no environmental restrictions, which were the biggest problem, and if there are enough mana stones, it can be used for one-way trips.”

A minimal explanation would be enough. The business that made the most profit in the Imperial Family was the portal. Naturally, they would have acted to gain an advantage over their competitors. In fact, they had requested information related to the improved portal from Modist as well.

I said with a cool smile.

“Are you going to refuse the opportunity to have a positive conversation with me?”

Bella unknowingly swallowed hard, then belatedly realized her mistake and cleared her throat slightly.

“Of course, I’m happy to help. My reception room will always be open.”

In fact, from the beginning, I had only intended to sell the improved portal to Bella. Even if another noble offered several times more than Bella, I couldn’t let them become an obstacle to Bella’s future as Empress. Still, I wasn’t just a pushover, so I planned to get as much as I could.

I nodded to Bella with a satisfied face and turned my gaze to Kane, who was still tense with a dumbfounded expression.

“If you want to get help from Bella, you have to bring up your story, even briefly. She needs to understand the situation to think of a good solution… Is that okay?”

It was a story involving Kane’s complicated family affairs. It was a sensitive issue to tell others easily, even to a friend. When I asked for permission, Kane hesitated for a moment before reluctantly nodding.

I organized my thoughts for a moment and then briefly explained the situation to Bella. I omitted the part about Kane stealing Kalikum’s root from the alchemy department’s warehouse and summarized the important parts as much as possible.

After listening to the explanation, Bella tapped the table with her finger before slowly opening her mouth.

“Let me summarize. The Yousef Dukedom used the rights of a guardian to forcibly submit Kane’s withdrawal from the academy, and there’s a situation where the members of the Messiah club, where Ross is the head, could secretly interfere, right?”

At Bella’s neat summary, Kane and I nodded. Bella, lost in thought for a moment, fiddled with her lips and then looked at Kane.

“Even if Kane is an adult, the rights of a guardian cannot be ignored. As long as he attends the academy, he’s a student. That’s determined by law.”

At Bella’s words, Kane bit his lip with a gloomy face and lowered his gaze. Bella smiled brightly at Kane, who had slumped his shoulders.

“But that doesn’t mean there’s no way. Rather… there are so many ways that I’m worried about which one to choose.”

At those words, Kane looked at Bella with a slightly brighter face. Bella, who had leisurely taken a sip of the lemon balm tea in front of her, gave a comfortable smile. It seemed she had decided on a way to help.

“Okay, here’s what we’ll do. I’ll pass the withdrawal form to pending approval and then secretly get rid of it. That’ll solve the withdrawal problem. And I’ll send someone to the Yousef Dukedom separately. They won’t be able to move a finger without my permission. Because there are many things to lose if you make the Crown Princess an enemy.”

As Bella’s words ended, Kane nodded vigorously with a happy face.

“Th, thank you!”

Kane looked at me with shining eyes, but I ignored that gaze and silently looked at Bella. Bella, sensing something strange in my unchanging attitude despite her suggesting a solution, looked at me with a puzzled face.

It was definitely a good solution. But I wasn’t satisfied. Because this wasn’t the best method Bella could use. Looking straight into her golden eyes, I asked.

“…Do you still not understand why I bothered to reveal the card I had been hiding?”

Even without revealing that I was Lily, I could have received this much help. Bella owed me a personal debt, and I was Roel’s younger sibling.

But I deliberately revealed to Bella that I was Lily. It wasn’t something I did impulsively in a fit of anger. Rather, it was an action I had coldly calculated with a cool head.

“That’s….”

I sighed softly at Bella, who was trailing off, and pulled the improved portal on the table towards me. Bella’s greedy gaze followed my fingertips like a snake.

“It was to tell you not to waste time chasing illusions, but to focus entirely on the real thing.”

If I had continued to hide that I was Lily, I could have had a huge advantage in future deals. Because I had the improved portal, a treasure that anyone would covet.

Understanding the intentions of someone whose identity is unknown consumes a tremendous amount of mental energy. Even in simple conversations, you have to be careful not to offend the other person, constantly watching their mood and guessing what answer they want.

If it was Bella that I knew, she would have definitely tried to win my favor by giving me all sorts of bribes and promising various benefits. Because I had the final say in the deal.

But if she had only looked at the immediate benefits and acted that way, Bella would have blown up Modist’s building or tried to kill me somehow, even by using the Imperial Knights after all the deals were done.

I can be sure. Because I know her personality and settings better than anyone else.

From Bella’s point of view, Lily is a mysterious person who suddenly appeared. She is someone who may become Roel’s enemy in the future and knows how to make the improved portal. She is someone who has no reason to be kept alive.

So I revealed my identity. Bella doesn’t repeat the same mistakes. She won’t try to kill her beloved man’s younger sibling again.

Even if the deal is over, she can’t kill the other party. It’s impossible to use force, or to use despicable threats involving family or lovers. Because the other party in the deal was me. Then there’s only one thing Bella can do. To desperately try to look good to me.

Bella no longer needs to be wary of how to treat Lily, whose identity she couldn’t figure out. She just needs to focus entirely on me, who is right in front of her. Even if the deal is over, I won’t become an enemy.

Just by making the choice to reveal my identity, I can gain so much. It’s close to a divine move, as they often say in Go. It’s exactly the right choice.

It’s not that I read the game. Because I’m not Eunice. I just created the game in the direction I wanted from the absolute position of power I gained thanks to the improved portal.

A game that can only be beneficial to me.

Silence fell in the reception room for a moment. Kane, who didn’t know what was going on, kept fiddling with the handle of his teacup.

Bella silently looked at me with shining golden eyes. As if she had finally realized the meaning of giving her an opportunity, she erased the artificial smile she had been faintly wearing and returned to her snake-like, sharp appearance.

Our gazes intertwined in the air. Bella smiled innocently.

“I sincerely apologize. I was thinking stupidly. If I was lucky enough to get an opportunity, I should have done my best to prove my worth.”

Bella, who stood up from her seat, said to Kane, who had a bewildered face.

“Forget the stupid things I said earlier. Let me explain again. The withdrawal form will be processed neatly without a trace of being submitted. And I’m going to the Yousef Dukedom right now. I’ll make sure they can’t move a finger without my permission.”

Bella gave a snake-like smile and asserted that.