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🖤 The Villainess Just Wants to Sleep

Chapter 3: The Empress Sees a Threat

> “A quiet child is either empty… or calculating.”

— Empress Almyra

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The royal garden was hushed, its late-autumn breeze stirring the crimson leaves like whispering tongues.

Beneath the towering silver-leaf trees, two women sat cloaked in velvet and silk — power wrapped in perfume.

Queen Seraphine, graceful as ever, held her porcelain teacup with practiced calm. But her lips were bloodless, her knuckles white where they gripped the handle.

Across from her, seated in regal stillness, was Empress Almyra — the king’s mother, widow of the old emperor, and the silent spider at the center of every web.

> “You’re troubled,” the Empress said simply, placing her cup down with a soft clink.

The Queen took a breath. "That girl—"

"Kaelaira."

"She bowed lower than a crowned heir. Quoted forgotten proverbs. Presented calligraphy that would shame monks. And her smile—" The Queen’s voice wavered.

> “Her smile is dangerous,” the Empress finished for her. “Because it is practiced, not felt.”

The wind rustled. A crow called in the distance.

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“She’s only ten,” the Queen whispered.

“She’s only ten,” the Empress echoed, “and already better trained than your daughter, and far too clever for a child with no title. Did you see how she looked at us?”

The Queen hesitated. “Like… she was memorizing us.”

“Precisely.”

The Empress turned to look at the falling leaves, her voice low:

> “A girl like that doesn’t want dresses or jewels. She wants silence. Power. Control. Or worse — she may not want anything at all, which makes her even more dangerous.”

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“But she’s just a concubine’s daughter,” the Queen insisted. “Surely—"

“She’s also the daughter of the King,” the Empress cut in, her tone turning glacial. “And the court will whisper. Already they are. ‘The bastard child with silk manners and a sword at her hip.’”

The Queen swallowed.

“She will never be accepted—”

> “You underestimate the court’s hunger for novelty,” the Empress snapped. “They’re bored. They tire of your daughter’s pretty smiles and simpering bows. A cold girl who quotes philosophy? They’ll adore her. For a time.”

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There was a silence between them.

Then the Empress’s eyes narrowed.

> “If she gains favor, she becomes a shadow beside the Crown Prince. Not a threat in bloodline, but in mind. Heir or not, a clever girl can turn ministers, generals… even peasants. Especially when she’s wielding both words and steel.”

Queen Seraphine’s throat tightened.

> “What are you saying?”

The Empress leaned in.

> “I’m saying: watch her.

If she steps beyond her place — clip her wings before she learns she can fly.”

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The tea had gone cold.

But Queen Seraphine's hands had begun to sweat.

In her mind, she saw Kaelaira again — standing in the banquet hall, that ghost of a smile on her face, her voice low, too calm for a child.

> “Only in silence can one observe the world for what it truly is.”

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The Queen stood and smoothed her skirts.

> “I’ll assign a tutor. Someone difficult. Someone who’ll slow her brilliance.”

“And if that fails?” the Empress asked.

Queen Seraphine didn’t answer. But she didn’t need to.

In the world of the palace, failure was handled with silk gloves — and poison hidden beneath pearls.

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End of Chapter 3

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