"Hahaha!"

Looking at Sofia’s appearance, Lance laughed as if he had gotten a very amusing toy.

For him, the feeling of conquest brought about by continuously manipulating, even defeating, those who are too clever for their own good was indeed exhilarating.

Sofia had no reaction to Lance’s unabashed ridicule, not even a trace of dissatisfaction arose.

Dead of heart, that’s all...

Yet, Lance was still not satisfied. What act are you putting on here?

"What’s with your attitude? It’s not like I haven’t given you a chance. When Grendel had suspicions about you earlier, I already laid the groundwork for you.

I don’t care about your identity, nor do I care about your secrets, as long as you adhere to the rules here, Hamlet can accommodate one more person.

But you? What did you do? You exploited Grendel’s trust to interfere with town affairs, and now you come to pester me, acting like this when you fail, as if someone wronged you.

Aren’t all these things brought about by yourself? You act like you’re so aggrieved, do you even have the right to feel that way?"

"You don’t understand! You have no idea how I’ve been living!" When Sofia’s disguise was torn off, she let herself go, directly rebutting after being humiliated by Lance, her face showing ferocity.

"I didn’t say much about you breaking Hamlet’s employment rules and going through the back door; hearing that you know about wine, I even arranged a relaxing job for you.

Yet you still refuse to behave, running over to find me for what? Don’t tell me you really came to test the wine, looking at your outfit and perfume, you believe that nonsense yourself?

But even then, I didn’t say anything. Haven’t I been advising you to go back to work properly since we met?

You insisted on entangling, and as soon as I laid out the facts, you overreacted, deliberately making it this unpleasant.

I sat in the chair doing nothing, just said a few words, and you acted insane, as if the whole world owes you, as if you’re the only one oppressed.

Then tell me what I did to you? Or what Hamlet did to you? Do you understand? Understand my foot!"

No one in Hamlet can outmatch Lance in argument, because what he says is always factual, naturally placing him in an invincible position.

Sofia may manage to fool Grendel, after all, he wouldn’t scold her this way, but Lance doesn’t care about appearances, which aren’t given but earned.

Sofia was speechless, unable to find words to refute, even her attitude changed.

Facing Lance’s gaze appeared very awkward, lacking her previous brash demeanor, even sitting seemed somewhat restrained.

With the silence, the atmosphere became peculiar, Lance seemed to calm down too, retracting the blatant gaze, then threw out a sentence.

"Now, explain everything clearly to me."

This interrogation broke the awkward scene, Sofia, as if to evade reality, inexplicably developed a strong urge to talk, just to change the topic, and the words spilled out.

"Our Empire has declined..."

Indeed, comparing her account with Grendel’s showed differences, while adding many details.

Also called a princess, but she is not the daughter of the current Emperor, rather his sister.

In childhood, she had a good relationship with her brother, living carefree until the old Emperor’s sudden death dragged the Empire into a shadow.

Under the Empire’s noble succession system, allowing the eldest legitimate son to ascend the throne is quite normal.

Being part of the Extraordinary World, the royal family’s succession involves a crucial factor, which is Extraordinary Talent.

Her brother did not possess this talent, but Sofia did possess it.

However, due to identity and emotional reasons, she didn’t seek to compete, instead, willingly withdrew.

Normally, unless too abstract, the situation wouldn’t greatly change, as the Empire’s system dictates that the Emperor’s succession is an internal royal matter and not significantly related to the local Lords.

Upon choosing to withdraw, events smoothly transitioned, her brother inheriting the throne while she embarked on the path of a [perfumer].

Logically speaking, once the Emperor succeeded, all should end.

Yet this Emperor was fond of meddling, various operations led to increased chaos in the Empire’s situation, heightened friction between central and local, eventually evolving into such a massive rebellion.

Thus, the previously laid groundwork emerged,

"Ever since the rebellion began, my nightmare started..."

The rebels wanted to overthrow the Emperor, while needing to maintain face within the noble system.

Thus, she, a peer possessing Extraordinary Talent, became an ideal choice.

She was busy with perfumer practices, paying little attention to these issues, but unfortunately, the retreat years ago brought about the Emperor’s distrust.

She was sent to the church’s monastery, spared from labor like ordinary nuns due to her noble status, yet it was a form of captivity.

Since her perfumer equipment and tools were lost, her powers were also sealed off, disconnecting her from the outside world.

Suspicion having arisen would never simply dissolve.

Until the situation worsened, those wishing to save the Emperor’s dignity were not just rebels, but even supporters.

"That guy has already sunk into madness; I never wanted to vie for his power, yet he wants to kill me..."