Chapter 284: Room 204, Mission Room – ‘Hotel Cinema’ (8)

– Yu Songee

The final battle with Evelyn was honestly anticlimactic.

After all, I wasn’t going to fight with my fists like Jinchul-oppa, nor was I going to hop in and out of other people’s bodies like Kain-oppa.

Evelyn, tormented by the sudden appearance of monstrous toad illusions all over the carriage, screamed and leapt towards a “safe place”. In simple terms, she suddenly flung open the carriage door and jumped out.

The duke’s servants and knights were horrified as they went down to retrieve Evelyn, who had fallen off the cliff by the coast. Seeing her crushed limbs and scarred body, I couldn’t help but sigh. It might have been better if she had died, but somehow she survived.

Anyway, we couldn’t have the carriage stopped like this.

“Lord Cedric.”

“What? Right now, Lady Evelyn is—“

“Let’s head to the capital. We’re almost there anyway, right? If we take her to a hospital in the capital, we might be able to save Evelyn. Also, have you forgotten Lady Evelyn’s last order?”

“Lady Evelyn’s order?”

“She told me to go to the palace and inform them that Lady Crossbell had fallen ill with a fever.”

Cedric, seemingly convinced by my words, started urging the people around. The carriage moved about 1.5 times faster than before. Or at least, it should have. As soon as the carriage started moving, there was a “scene transition” and we arrived at the palace.

Whoever was in the carriage, we’ve arrived at the palace, so that was that.

As soon as we arrived at the palace, I saw Joshua running towards us. While receiving his welcome with a smile, I glanced at Cedric, wondering what he was doing, and saw the most ridiculous sight.

What was he thinking until just now? He probably thought he would reveal the “shocking truth” to the surprised Crown Prince who saw the “wrong person” instead of Crossbell?

There was none of that.

After all, I am the real deal!

“Oh, Your Highness.”

“Yes?”

“I’d like to express my gratitude to Lord Cedric here. On the way to the palace, we had a carriage accident and faced a great ordeal.”

“What? What on earth are you talking about!?”

“Oh my! You needn’t worry, Your Highness. I’m right here in front of you, aren’t I?”

“D-don’t say such embarrassing things…”

“We received help from the duke’s family who happened to be passing by.”

The Crown Prince seemed doubtful that Evelyn’s family had helped me, but soon he told Cedric that he would remember this help and moved on. Cedric, with a dazed expression, couldn’t take a single step from that spot for a long time.

The long-awaited conversation with the Emperor was meaningless.

To begin with, it would be stranger if the Emperor of the empire had a lot of time. He only said in a ceremonial tone that he had heard about me from Joshua and hoped we would have a good relationship. It was all over in less than 10 minutes, and he left saying he had some business to attend to.

The variable was elsewhere.

“I hear Evelyn has been severely injured and hospitalized in the capital. Crown Prince, have you heard this news?”

“Ah, I did receive a report earlier—“

“And yet you’re so calm? How can you be so heartless!?”

What is this? Openly worrying about Evelyn right in front of me?

As I was flustered, not knowing how to react, a sharp dagger flew.

“Come to think of it, Lady Crossbell. I heard you were in the same carriage as Evelyn?”

“Yes. It was an unfortunate accident—“

“It’s strange that Evelyn suddenly screamed and jumped out of the carriage. You were in the same carriage at that very moment, weren’t you? Even the knights don’t know exactly what happened inside.”

“Oh, Mother! What on earth are you saying?”

This was blatantly saying, “Didn’t you harm Evelyn?” For a moment, I almost frowned as anger surged. If the Crown Prince hadn’t taken my side, I might have talked back.

…But actually, I did harm her, so my anger subsided. When I thought about it, did I really have a reason to be angry.

This kind of conversation continued for a long time. The Empress, who had welcomed me with an awkward smile when the Emperor was present, didn’t hide her discomfort once he disappeared.

Only then did Evelyn’s setting come back to my mind. She was a relative of the Empress and met the Crown Prince through the Empress’ introduction. In other words, she was the Empress’ pick.

How did I look to the Empress? I probably looked exactly like a thieving vixen that snuck in when the relationship between her cherished future daughter-in-law and her son became strained. Moreover, I was from a much less prestigious family, and was even suspected of harming Evelyn.

As these thoughts occurred to me, I began to understand. Thoughts I hadn’t considered before, various possibilities came to mind. The final picture heading towards the ending, that final punctuation mark, began to be drawn.

After the meeting with the imperial couple, the Crown Prince showed a somewhat apologetic reaction.

“Um… Songee. It seems Mother isn’t quite ready to accept this yet.”

“That’s understandable.”

“D-don’t worry! I’ll talk to her properly.”

“I’m not worried.”

Perhaps because my attitude seemed composed? The Crown Prince saw me off with a happy smile.

I felt a bit sorry. If he knew the “plan” I was now contemplating, he wouldn’t have been able to smile so comfortably.

Late at night, I left the quarters arranged by the Crown Prince and headed towards the Empress’ palace. When I told the maids that I wanted to meet with the Empress, they reacted as if it were outrageous.

“My! To think you’d act so impudently just because you’re His Highness’s lover! Do you take Her Majesty for a commoner from the marketplace? There are proper procedures to follow—“

“Just tell Her Majesty that I’ve come. I assure you, she’ll want to meet me even if she has to cancel her schedule.”

“What nonsense!”

“Oh my, do you really believe one such as yourself can presume Her Majesty’s will? You don’t even know the reason I’ve come here.

Judging by the maids’ sharp attitude, it seemed the Empress had already gossiped about me quite a bit. However, finding my words persuasive, the maid, though displeased, returned to the Empress’ palace.

As expected, word immediately came back to let me in. Unlike the confused maids, I could understand the reason. She must be dying of curiosity.

As the Empress, she must not understand why I survived, and Evelyn fell into a critical state!

– Clack!

Walking through the center of the tense palace, I thought.

Is this ending I’m about to create alright? I know there’s a more “stable and ordinary path”. I know that the ending I’ve chosen might be seen as a crazy development from some perspectives.

But let’s go back to the basics.

What is my goal in the first place? To bring down Evelyn? To overcome the Empress’ opposition and marry the Crown Prince? I’m sorry to Joshua, but that’s all wrong.

My goal is simple. It’s to get three circles from the “evaluators” outside.

I recalled the words of one of them, Lee Hyung’s existence.

— A new era! The 21st century! It’s time for romance movies where the female lead rips the male lead apart! This is peak FPT! This is peak multiverse!’

I think I understand your standard. You don’t like familiar and comfortable developments, right?

「You don’t like familiar and comfortable developments, right?」

“Huh! This seems a bit unsettling…”

Kim Sanghyun immediately agreed with Cha Jinchul’s words.

“It’s not just one crazy merchant among the evaluators. The lady at the souvenir shop seemed to prefer sensible developments.”

Ahri answered simply, “Both of you, be quiet. From what I’ve seen so far, Songee seems to understand this genre much better than you guys.”

The two men immediately shut their mouths.

Perhaps because there were only people the Empress could trust nearby, except for me? The content of the conversation was even sharper than before.

“So, you seem excited at the thought of changing your fate?”

“…”

“I was already displeased when you started acting up without knowing your place, but I never thought you’d come to see me at this hour. You’re quite lucky indeed. I wonder what Joshua saw in you—“

“This line is too cliché.”

“What?”

“My thoughts are a bit different. Meeting me was lucky for His Highness. At least he fell into a normal love, right?”

“What insolent words are you speaking?”

“I wonder how it would have been with someone else? One person has already beaten the Crown Prince to death with scales. Another person is even thinking of possessing a man.”

“I… I don’t understand what nonsense you’re spouting. The more you speak, the more I keenly feel your vulgarity and inadequacy.”

“Well, it can’t be worse than a mother-in-law who instigates murder against her future daughter-in-law, can it?”

The Empress flinched and stepped back. Perhaps embarrassed by this action, she approached me again with murderous intent in her eyes.

“What are you saying!? You! Do you think you can take responsibility for these words?”

“When you think about it, it’s quite obvious, isn’t it? The timing of His Highness’ carriage arriving at the Crossbell estate—wasn’t that supposed to be confidential? How could even a ducal family know this so easily? Well, let’s say they somehow found out because they’re such a great family.”

“Shut your mouth this instant!”

“Your Majesty, please listen a bit more. Up to here, it could be possible, but then I realized that Evelyn was the person you had chosen.”

“How can you think that such a thing could be evidence?”

“Actually, the most important evidence is something else. Let’s call it the characteristic of the ‘genre’.”

“What?”

“Keu! The battle of wills between the future daughter-in-law and mother-in-law! It would be a shame to miss this crazy development. How could this be missing from a romance fantasy? No way~! This has to be there. And sure enough, it was in this world too.”

For the first time, the Empress showed a truly puzzled reaction, forgetting even to be angry.

“I really don’t understand what you’re saying. Are you drunk? Guards!”

“One last thing. Your Majesty, what evidence do we need between us? I’m sorry, but I don’t need such things. Conveniently, this place is on the fourth floor.”

Now believing me to be completely insane, the Empress gestured to call someone. I gave her my final greeting.

“It’s even better that you’re calling ‘witnesses’ directly. Have a good night, ‘Mother’.”

The next scene would be an unforgettable sight for the maids and knights rushing in.

The Empress, shocked by the suddenly shaking palace and flames erupting from all directions, fled in panic and ended up jumping from the fourth-floor terrace with her bare body. Soon, wails began to echo throughout the entire Empress’ palace.

Having taken down the ex-girlfriend and defeated the mother-in-law, there was no one in this world who could stand in my way now.

A dark and gloomy atmosphere. I watched the moving coffin, dressed in black mourning clothes. Although I created this, I didn’t expect the ending to come in such an atmosphere.

The Crown Prince, who had suddenly received news of his ex-girlfriend’s death followed by his mother’s sudden passing, truly became a young boy, crying and crying. Thinking it was time to comfort him, I approached and grasped his hand tightly.

“S-Songee. Huuuuk! Why, why did this suddenly happen!”

…Huh! I’m truly speechless just now. I almost said, “I’m sorry for killing your mother!”

Kalm daun, Yu Songee! Kalm, kalm!

“Your Highness, at times like this, you must stand firm. People are bound to die someday.”

Your mother would have died when her time came, anyway. I just sent her off a “little” early.

“I, Songee Crossbell, will be your strength.”

As the boy’s swollen eyes turned towards me—my instinct told me.

This is the ending of this movie! Shouldn’t I say something impactful?

Looking at the Empress’ coffin with the most wistful attitude I could muster, I left a “beautiful sentence” to decorate the end of this movie.

“‘Mother’. I pray for your peaceful journey. I will take good care of your son! Fighting!”

And then…

The end credits rolled.