The Calculating Smile Behind the Butter Cookie
The splendid but suffocating golden walls pressed down on my vision. The sweet taste of the butter cookie crumbling in my mouth lingered on the tip of my tongue, yet even that sweetness couldn’t wash away the complicated thoughts churning through my head. When I closed my eyes, Elena van Laque’s face from the market alley floated up vividly. A lovely beauty that would captivate anyone at first glance. Bright hair that looked as if it had been spun from warm sunlight. Eyes that curved into perfect crescents whenever she smiled. A clear, disarming smile that could shatter anyone’s wariness in an instant. And behind that adorable expression, the cool, razor-sharp mind that made you imagine the clicking of a calculator.
She was the owner of Silver Feather, the empire’s largest merchant coalition. The one place even the imperial family had to bow their heads and beg for help whenever they needed war funds or emergency capital. Her organization didn’t simply sell goods—it circulated the empire’s entire economy. From the capital’s most extravagant luxuries to the massive logistics network that even the military couldn’t ignore. This empire began in Silver Feather’s vaults and inevitably flowed back into them. Her economic influence had grown far beyond what the term “merchant leader” could contain; it already threatened the imperial family’s authority. The only group that could deal with the imperial family on equal footing when it came to money. That was Silver Feather.
But to my eyes, it looked a little different. A sandbag with nothing but enormous size. They believed money could solve everything, but this world wasn’t that forgiving. They lacked the qualifications to enter noble salons, and in the social hierarchy they remained firmly in the commoner category. Having no title meant that even if the nobles flipped the board, there was no court where they could appeal. In this empire, the law belonged to the nobility. If a noble embezzled a merchant’s money or plundered their goods, and the judge was also a noble, the merchant couldn’t even testify properly—simply because they were commoners. In other words, no matter how unfair things got, they didn’t have the weight class to fight back legally. Even if nobles made outrageous claims, there was no political channel to confront them head-on. Without a title, they had no territory. Nobles had the right to maintain armies to protect their lands. Without land, Silver Feather couldn’t keep private soldiers and could only hire mercenaries with money. The qualitative gap between them and professionally trained knights was inevitable.
The only reason the nobles hadn’t recklessly destroyed Silver Feather was that no substitute existed with comparable capital and distribution networks. Who else could supply the rare wines for tomorrow morning’s banquet or the provisions for the battlefield? They were merely keeping the coalition alive for their own convenience. But that was clearly poison. If anything replaceable appeared—or if an excuse arose to fall out of the imperial family’s favor—that enormous vault could disintegrate overnight.
Yet the reason I had stared at her so intently wasn’t because she was the formidable owner of Silver Feather, nor because of her striking beauty. It was because she was the heroine of the original story.
How to Tame a Tyrant Emperor was a possession novel. In other words, Elena van Laque hadn’t been born in this world—she was a transmigrator from another world, just like me. Had she come from the same world? Or was it simply a difference in when we’d possessed these bodies?
I rolled the piece of cookie around my mouth and stared blankly into space. So this world had experienced two layers of transmigration. Elena had possessed an ordinary romance-fantasy novel. And then I had possessed the romance-fantasy novel that Elena had already possessed. Tens of thousands of variables spun like interlocking gears inside my head. How could I use this? Would it benefit me to reveal my identity to her? There was an information gap. What I knew only began after Cayden became the tyrant emperor. I had no choice but to remain ignorant about earlier events. But she, who knew the original romance-fantasy, would possess far more comprehensive information than I did.
The fact that we were both foreigners from the same world could become a stronger key to an alliance than any gold coin. Above all, she was still a person. In this bleak, medieval empire, meeting someone who could share the nostalgia of our original world would be an incredible temptation. All I knew were fragments of her personality and way of thinking, but that was enough. I could thoroughly exploit them.
Knock, knock.
A sound broke through my thoughts.
“Your Highness, I’m coming in.”
It was Adeline.
After our outing to the market, she had visited my room every single day. I put on my most foolish smile and scampered over to open the door.
“Adel!”
The door opened. Our eyes met.
Adeline’s coldly frozen gaze melted like snow the instant she saw me. She looked at me with a bright, radiant smile.
“It’s been a while, Your Highness.”
“Didn’t we see each other yesterday?”
“Wasn’t it a whole day apart? To me, that time felt quite long.”
She lowered her head to meet my eyes, wearing a slightly sullen expression.
“Did Your Highness not miss me?”
That look was seriously cheating.
“I missed you. This much—this muuuch!”
I spread my arms as wide as I could, standing on tiptoe to draw the biggest circle possible.
“I missed you even more than that. I always will. No matter how much you miss me, I’ll always miss Your Highness more.”
I froze up from sheer embarrassment. She gazed at my stiffened form as if I were adorable, then sat down in the chair by the table. I followed and sat across from her.
Resting her chin on one hand, she began observing me intently. I grinned awkwardly and glanced at her, trying to read the room.
The “Wow, it’s huge” I had muttered after seeing the diamond necklace around Elena’s neck in the market. Adeline’s strange reaction afterward. I had only said it out of pure worry—Doesn’t her neck hurt wearing something that heavy?—so what exactly had I done wrong?
Even while thinking that, my hand kept reaching for more cookies.
“Won’t you choke if you eat so quickly?”
“My throat feels stuffy!”
I clutched my neck dramatically. She immediately summoned the maids and ordered drinks.
“Bring something to drink. Milk, and… what would Your Highness like?”
“Adel, do you like milk?”
Ever since that day she had been drinking milk instead of tea. Had she always liked it?
“…I just want to grow a little.”
“Are you talking about height?”
She stared at me for a moment before replying.
“…Would Your Highness like some too?”
“Will I get taller if I drink it?”
“Probably.”
No way. My growth plates had already closed. Still, I diligently gulped down the milk.
Adeline slowly leaned forward. Without thinking, I leaned back—only to be stopped by the chair’s backrest. I squeezed my eyes shut instinctively. Then I felt a warm touch against my lips.
“I asked you a question.”
In a calm tone, she lightly brushed my lips with her thumb. Adeline gazed quietly at the milk on her finger, then slowly brought it to her own mouth. She drew the finger down the length of her lower lip. Her slightly extended tongue licked the milk from it.
“W-what are you doing?!”
My heartbeat stuttered wildly. Adeline slowly withdrew the finger that still lingered near her lips and murmured in a low, sunken voice.
“It would be a waste, wouldn’t it?”
The faint droplet of milk clinging to the corner of her lips carried a strange sensuality. She lifted the edge of her mouth in a tiny, satisfied smile—like a beast that had just devoured something delicious.
Embarrassed for no reason, I turned my gaze away. The maids hastily cleared their throats when our eyes met. The fact that she had done that in front of everyone made my face burn even hotter. Adeline was watching the maids with an odd glint in her eyes.
“Adel? What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?”
Without even turning her head, Adeline asked in a low voice.
“Your Highness. When you look at those maids, what do you think? Do you suddenly feel the urge to hug them tightly, or anything like that?”
“Huh? Where did that come from all of a sudden? Why?”
She thought for a moment, then called several of the maids out into the hallway. Why is she acting like this? I quietly manipulated the shadows to eavesdrop on their conversation.
In a corner of the corridor, Adeline stood the maids in front of her and remained silent for a long time. Then, as if she had finally gathered her courage, she asked with reddened ears.
“……Um, how do you make your breasts bigger?”
The corners of her eyes trembled. At first the maids exchanged bewildered glances, but soon sly smiles spread across their faces. It seemed they found it quite entertaining that the noble Lady Adeline would confide such a personal concern to them.
“Well… since it seems His Highness prefers them large…”
When did I ever say that?!
“Oh my, my lady. For that, you must massage along the lymph nodes with oil every night before bed. Very thoroughly.”
“Diet is important too. So…”
The advice coming from the end of the hallway grew increasingly explicit, while Adeline’s voice became smaller and smaller.
“……If I do that every day, will it… really have an effect?”
Through the shadow I could see everything—how she asked with an expression on the verge of tears yet more seriously than anyone. How she nodded, ears burning crimson with embarrassment, as she tried to commit every massage technique the maids described to memory.
Come to think of it, it had been strange from the moment she selected which maids to bring. Every single one she had taken outside possessed voluptuous figures.
So even Adeline worried about things like that.
Deciding I really shouldn’t listen any further, I hastily severed my connection with the shadows.